After pleading guilty in court Tuesday to two misdemeanor charges, University of Wisconsin running back Lance Smith said he hopes the program the court referred him to will help make him a better man.

Smith, a 19-year-old sophomore, was arrested the weekend of July 14 after a fight with his girlfriend allegedly got out of hand. After Smith pled guilty to battery and disorderly conduct Tuesday, the court referred him to Dane County’s first offender program.

“It was something I was hoping that would happen,” Smith told The Badger Herald. “All I have to do from here is make a lot of right decisions, and hopefully I can get through this program and it can make me a better person.”

But despite Smith’s positive outlook about the program, he said accounts of the incident that led to his arrest have been exaggerated.

“I honestly think the media took it and blew it up a little more than it was,” Smith said. “I would like to tell everybody it did not start over cab fare. It was just a heated argument, and one thing led to another.”

In addition to misinformation about the origins of the argument, Smith said he also never locked his girlfriend in a room, nor did he steal her shoes.

“She slipped and fell from the whole little incident, and I was trying to pick [her shoes] up and give them back to her,” Smith said.

As a further consequence of his arrest, the UW Offices of the Dean of Students suspended Smith Sept. 5 from the five regular season away games this fall. According to UW assistant athletic director for communications Justin Doherty, Smith will not face any further consequences from the athletics department.

“Basically, as far as the athletic department goes, there won’t be any further suspension or action taken against Lance,” Doherty said.

Smith said the decision to miss the away games was a choice made by head coach Brett Bielema and Smith together, as the player was given a choice to miss either the first five games of the season or the five away games.

Smith said he hopes his fans and fellow UW classmates do not think he beat his girlfriend, as he said he has never hit her.

“If anybody got the impression that I put my hands on a female, I’m not like that, and I wasn’t raised like that,” Smith said. “I enjoy ladies and I’m not that type of person.”

After the three-month ordeal, Smith said he would like to thank all those who have supported him since his arrest.

“The reason I was able to make it through everything is because of the support of coach, my family, my teammates and the athletic department,” Smith said. “My teammates have been very supportive with me the whole time, and there’s actually people on the team who have been through similar situations.”

Smith said he is currently waiting for someone from the first offender program to contact him about the next steps to take. He is expecting to hear from them in the next couple of weeks.

Meanwhile, Smith said he has turned his attention to other priorities.

“I’m just tying to focus on football and school and all of the things I need to do to be a successful man in life,” Smith said. “I’m taking this as a learning experience. I’m trying to get a positive outcome out of this more than let it bring me down.”

Smith’s misdemeanor charges will be dismissed if he successfully completes the first offender program without breaking any of its requirements or getting rearrested. If he fails to complete the program, however, he will be sent back to court for sentencing.