Timothy Hubert
Technical Fouls with Tim
The Casper College Men’s Basketball Team saw numerous memorable moments this season. Some of these memories include Sophomore Abdul Bashir breaking the Casper College single-game, single season, and career scoring records while another came in watching Sophomore Nate Sasser III fly high to the rim, making highlight dunks regularly. Yet another memory sticks from when Sophomore Yel Deeng’s posted a breakout game with a stat line of 21 points, 20 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 steal. However, arguably none of these memories top the game in late February against Central Wyoming College.
What made the CWC basketball game stand out was less about the basketball players and more about the fact that the shorthanded T-Birds suited up three soccer players to compete in that game. The soccer players– Court Gonsalez, Shon West and Jael Reyes– collectively accounted for 3 points, 3 rebounds, and 1 steal in the 17 point victory. Obviously, though, soccer players suiting up for a basketball game is not a common occurrence at the collegiate level. As fun as it was for fans to watch that game and cheer on the soccer players, they were only in that position due to an incident at the end of one of Casper’s previous games.
On Feb. 15, the T-Birds traveled north to take on rivals, the Gillette College Pronghorns. The matchup had high stakes, as the game ended up deciding the tiebreaker for first place in the North region, granting the winner home court advantage at the Region 9 tournament.
After an action-packed, back and forth game, the Pronghorns of Gillette College pulled away to secure a 99-92 victory over the T-Birds. However, in the final second, Casper’s Parker Davis hit the ground hard on a contested layup as the buzzer sounded. While on the ground, a Gillette player taunted Davis, leading to Casper Sophomore leader Ethan Connery stepping in between Davis and the Gillette player.
The incident caused pushing and shoving, which ultimately led to the benches clearing. Officials, coaches, managers, and some players desperately attempted to separate the two teams. Through the madness of what could have turned out to be an all-out brawl, the Casper players were all led to their locker room. The gym echoed with Gillette fans and players booing and taunting the T-Birds while celebrating the Pronghorns win.
In total, Casper’s Connery was the only T-Bird that was assessed a technical foul for the scuffle, while Gillette had multiple technical fouls enforced at that time, as well as an assistant coach ejected for making contact with an official.
Over the course of the next week, Region 9 and the NJCAA compiled both video footage and personal accounts from different personnel in attendance that saw the incident transpire. The investigation came to a close when teams were notified of numerous suspensions as punishments for the scuffle. Seven of Gillette’s 11 active players received suspensions, with all but one receiving a two-game ban. Gillette’s assistant coach was also suspended one game for his actions.
On the Casper side, Ethan Connery, Rohan Butler, Binael Basil, Nate Sasser III, and Yel Deeng all received two-game suspensions while Blake Neverdon and Buai Luak were suspended for just one game.
The reasons for these suspensions were very controversial and even unfair. By rule, any player that leaves the bench area during a fight or potential fight over the course of the game is automatically suspended for at least one game. Any physical contact or unsportsmanlike conduct to opposing players, coaches, or the officials can also leave team members subject for suspension. No punches were thrown and minimal unsportsmanlike conduct was made between opposing players during the scuffle.
I believe the NJCAA followed the letter of the law too tightly, as opposed to the spirit of it, as they suspended players who stepped one foot onto the court and did not get involved at all in the scuffle, as well as players who were only trying to separate the teams and maintain the peace and order of the sport. However, the NJCAA and Region 9 completely looked past these details in an attempt to put their foot down and take control of the incident by suspending a total of 14 players and leaving both teams with just four players for their next game. Fortunately for the teams, they both won those games short-handed, as a loss in that point of the season could have had extreme consequences in both teams’ push to the playoffs, as well as the location of the region tournament.
If I were in the shoes of the NJCAA officials that made that call, I would have similarly seen the need to not leave this incident unnoticed and the players involved unpunished. Some of the actions of certain players absolutely left them subject to punishment based off of the NJCAA code of conduct and sportsmanship policies. I would have suspended the main culprits of the incident from each team, specifically Ethan Connery from Casper and Caleb Hollenbeck and Andrew Fuquay from Gillette College for just one game.
The reason for this would be because they did initiate a scuffle and potential fight and continued to instigate as opposed to preventing further escalation. I would not suspend them for longer though due to the fact that the game was over and no punches were thrown. I would not have suspended the rest of the players who left the bench, as the game clock had expired and the game was over. At that point the schools are responsible for the players, not the officials. If the school wanted to punish players, by all means, they could do so. However, I believe the NJCAA officials did not handle the situation in the most unbiased, professional, or fair way possible.
