Faculty Basketball
It’s a case of he stated, he stated.
Connecticut coach Dan Hurley insisted he didn’t attempt to get St. John’s fan Tom O’Grady ejected for allegedly cursing at him.
And O’Grady, a longtime Pitino good friend, stated he didn’t say something to Hurley aside from to tell the officers he was out of the teaching field.
Ultimately, it was a lot ado about nothing, aside from a humorous facet story to the entertaining Massive East Match semifinal between the 2 groups on the Backyard.
Prime-seeded UConn received the sport, outlasting the No. 5 Johnnies, 95-90.
O’Grady returned to his courtside seats after halftime.
“Clearly, the place was in a frenzy when [Pitino] received his technical,” Hurley stated. “After which there was a brief [man] in a crimson blazer that was on the court docket yelling on the refs, after which he began yelling at me and shifting in my route.
“So I used to be simply sort of stating to [official] James [Breeding] that he was behaving worse than Coach Pitino.”
Hurley wound up getting a technical foul, too, and may very well be seen motioning for O’Grady to be ejected.
O’Grady left his seats however ultimately returned.
Hurley stated he spoke to Backyard officers at halftime and wished O’Grady to be allowed to return.
“Not as a result of I assumed he was a very good man,” he joked. “I assumed it is likely to be unhealthy luck. Karma.”
O’Grady, a Floral Park native who has identified Pitino relationship again to his days at Louisville and resides there now, declined to say if Hurley tried to get him ejected.
“I didn’t say a phrase to Dan. Not one phrase,” O’Grady stated. “I stated to the referee, ‘He’s out of the field,’ and he gave him a T. That was it. If somebody was cursing at him, it wasn’t me.”
Requested about O’Grady, Pitino stated: “I advised him, I’m going to present you these seats on one situation: You don’t say something to the officers. He’s a genius fuel dealer, and he’s received deep psychological issues with officers.”
“Dan Hurley is a tremendous basketball coach. I received no downside with Dan Hurley.
“All I do know is it was an excellent recreation. St. John’s performed nice. UConn is a tremendous basketball workforce. Dan Hurley is a hell of a basketball coach. He misplaced his mood. That’s it.”
Hurley has had points with opposing followers this 12 months in video games towards Creighton and Windfall, and now he has added O’Grady to the listing of contentious run-ins.
“I’m in all probability the boy who cried wolf due to [the other games],” the coach stated. “However I promise you, if we play Marquette tomorrow night time, there might be no incident as a result of these individuals are extremely stylish followers, and we’ve got unbelievable respect for them.”
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