Altercation between fan and coaches in Hawaii vs UC Santa Barbara Stops Play
NCAA Men’s Basketball is supposed to be fun, passionate and full of conference rivalries, but this form of March Madness is not what college administrators, coaches, players and fans had hoped for.
This season incidents involving first players and fans and now a fan and a coach have created concerns over the security and safety of those playing, coaching and attending the games.
On Thursday night, a fan from the University of California Santa Barbara ran onto the court while play was stopped and confronted in an angry manner the coaching staff from the University of Hawaii. It is just the third time in a month a fan during a college basketball game has come into contact with a coach or player in a violent way.
The fan, wearing the royal blue Class of 2014 shirt from UC Santa Barbara was arrested shortly thereafter after he was quickly ushered from the court during the victory by the Gauchos.
Gib Arnold the coach of Hawaii said it was something he never had seen in the 22 years he has been a coach and the many years of playing the game. He said it did not concern him since it is rare.
The Hawaii coach said he had thought security would have been tighter. Arnold described the fan as wasted and not in the same world as everyone else.
The incident took place only a week after an incident of violence on the court involving players and fans that resulted in two players from the New Mexico State Aggies being suspended.
On Thursday, play had been halted after an intentional fan was committed with six minutes remaining in the first half. Arnold at the time was busy arguing the case of his player Brandon Spearman.
The fan ran onto the court and into the face of Arnold following Arnold’s argument with the officials. Christian Standhardinger a forward for Hawaii pushed the fan away before Garrett Nevels a teammate also shoved the fan. The fan kept gesturing at the players as he backpedaled from the court.
Bill Mahoney a spokesperson for UCSB said the fan was thought to be a student. Campus police arrested the fan shortly thereafter. Mahoney did not give the fan’s identity, but said he could be disciplined and even expelled if he was a UCSB student.
Usually if this sort of incident took place, said Mahoney, the student would go before a Judicial Affairs committee, which is part of the Student Affairs department.
The extent of the punishment is unknown, but Mahoney said he doubted it would be just a slap on the wrist.
What remains unclear is how long following the incident the fan remained inside the arena. However, he could be seen in replays gesturing towards the court following the incident while he walked unimpeded through the area of fans.
K.C. Ross-Miller from New Mexico State was suspended last week for two games and teammate Renaldo Dixon for one for being involved in a brawl that took place following the Aggies games against Utah Valley.
In that incident fans rushed onto the court following a win by Utah Valley and some could be seen in violent exchanges involving players.
Marcus Smart, the star guard for Oklahoma State was given a suspension of three games following his altercation with a courtside fan last month.
