Michigan Coach hits Wisconsin Coach in the face, a breakdown
What Happened
In a highly anticipated Big Ten matchup, the Wisconsin Badgers hold a 15-point lead over the Michigan Wolverines with just 15 seconds remaining in the game. As the Badgers attempt to inbound the ball, Michigan head coach Juwan Howard applies a full-court press, aggressively attacking the ball handler. This prompts the Wisconsin coaching staff to call a timeout, much to the displeasure of Howard. After the timeout, the game concludes, and the two teams line up for the traditional handshake line. However, the tensions from the game boil over, as Howard refuses to shake the hand of Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard. The two coaches engage in a heated exchange, with Howard ultimately striking Gard in the face with an open-handed slap. The altercation quickly escalates, with players and coaches from both teams rushing to intervene. Michigan forward Moussa Diabate steps in to hold back his head coach, while the Wisconsin players attempt to de-escalate the situation. In the chaos, one of the Wisconsin assistants is knocked to the ground, further adding to the pandemonium on the court. After the incident, Juwan Howard addresses the media, stating that the initial "touching" during the handshake line prompted him to "protect myself." However, the video footage suggests that the contact was minimal, with Gard simply attempting to engage Howard in a more extended handshake or conversation. Ultimately, the incident overshadows what was a competitive and hard-fought game between two top-ranked college basketball programs. The fallout from the altercation will likely result in suspensions and disciplinary action, as the Big Ten and the respective universities investigate the matter further. The clash between Juwan Howard and Greg Gard serves as a stark reminder of the intense emotions and high stakes that can sometimes boil over in the heated rivalries of college basketball. As the teams and their fanbases grapple with the aftermath, the sport will be left to reckon with the consequences of this unfortunate incident.
Full Transcript
Click timestamps to jump to that momentthe requests wouldn't stop pouring in so
here we go wisconsin michigan
wisconsin's up 15 trying to bring the
ball up michigan full court press
attacking the ball attacking the ball
turnover how about that still
wisconsin's ball though this one is
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off this is where it all starts because
wisconsin before putting this ball back
in play
calls time out there's 15 seconds left
juan howard's like dude you're really
going to prolong this game and rub it in
that you're winning wisconsin coach
here's his explanation for why he did it
i called the timeout to to reset the 10
second call because we only had four
seconds to get the ball over half court
and i didn't want to put my back up so i
had all my bench guys in the game i
didn't want to put them in that position
of scrambling with only four seconds so
i took a timeout and i got us a new 10
seconds
and helped him you know get organized to
get the ball in and
he did not like that when he came
through the the handshake line he did
not like it i didn't like the timeout
being called and i'll be totally honest
with him
okay
i mean you know to break it down he's
like it is kind of silly why would you
have to call it timeout like what's if
your backups get you know some press for
four seconds
who cares
but then you can say well practice like
you play and maybe they're gonna be in
this situation when it matters and they
need to practice let's call it timeout
and regroup blah blah blah blah but also
if john howard doesn't want them trying
at the end of the game and he wants them
to just run out the clock then why is he
putting so much pressure on the defense
why isn't he telling his team hey
there's 15 seconds of this game's over
just end it and here someone actually
asked him that question you wanted the
game to get done why keep the press on
against wisconsin's backups at that
point oh we it wasn't pressed it was
just five pressure defense man-to-man
now you got to color me confused because
i'm a dummy i know a little bit of
basketball i go to the book i figure
something out i'm like wait doesn't
press mean pressure and yeah it's short
for pressure
pressure defense
it wasn't pressure it was just pressure
so i don't know if he thinks we're dumb
or he's dumb but that doesn't make sense
and then he fouls and he says good
we'll foul
if you're gonna do that we'll just foul
you we'll play for keeps too put my mask
on i'm a badass so then the game ends we
get to the handshake line there's some
hot mics here i'll use those because you
can kind of hear what's going on and uh
he doesn't want to shake his hand he's
mad here you go
[Music]
oh okay so you know i'll remember that
don't touch me don't touch me and then
just gets this guy right in the head
with a really odd hit is it a slap is it
a grab i've never seen someone kind of
go the open hand but then a little
squeeze at the end the thumb gets them
up top it's a really
odd
you know throwing hands is the best way
because
i mean look at that palm in his head
like a basketball
big ass hands
and then kind of like in slow-mo a
gentle caress down the side
with the thumb lingering on the cheek
we've all done that
just a gentle caress
i think you're beautiful i love you
i'm here for you i he's got mad at that
guy and then i like this a lot it's
really hard to see
there's a bald head
here
uh right there you see this guy's bald
head here he i'll show you earlier um
right there that bald head he just
popped up he's gonna duck under right
there and he's gonna pop up in between
this player's arms like right in his
personal space his head is about to
pop up like a turtle
right in between this guy's arms
see
this guy's face
okay i'll do it again it's up all right
so see this guy's yelling he's yelling
and yelling all of a sudden turtle pops
up in between his arms and he's like
what the hell gets scared obviously gets
spooked and just rips that dude to the
ground because hey man you can't enter
my personal space so hot like that
scared the hell out of me then we got
coaches on the ground everyone's going a
little bit crazy michigan players are
holding their coach back that's always a
good look wisconsin coach kind of
sending his players back that's always a
the better look this guy bye bye bye bye
bye oh and one more thing you can suck
it
i've seen
i hadn't seen someone not ironically do
that since fifth grade i mean bam
bam got him
yup
yup
hey we're gonna sit down
man we're singing varsity
[Applause]
and then davison just wants to sing real
bad while the wisconsin crowd starts
chanting anarchy and suddenly like i'm
on no one's side now
uh it kind of deterred me
both ways and wisconsin coach he's
looking he's looking he's looking he
gets eye contact with howard the other
coach he's nodding at him saying hi
howard's pointing at him you can poke
his head out and be like
yep i'm here i'm here i don't know if
that's like
let's we can still fight i'm good let's
keep fighting or maybe john howard's
like hey i apologize man i'd love to
chat with you after the game uh when you
get a moment he's like i'm here i'm here
probably the former
[Applause]
[Music]
they can go
come on
we're singing varsity guys come on come
on going streaking through the quad into
the gymnasium so howard's got to leave
he gets suspended for the rest of the
season i believe
here's his comments after the game
which are also fun well as far as
touching i mean obviously there's
obvious touching with the handshake line
there it must have been more than that
oh yeah it was more than that yeah yeah
touching touching me unnecessary
wasn't cause for that when we talked
all right so they weren't talking he was
just saying i'll remember that [ __ ]
that's all and then the guy tried to
stop and talk with him yeah yeah
touching touch and i like this little
hand motion he puts on his chest here he
was like yeah it was more than that it
was more than that
and then like that
through the
at that point you know i thought that
was
you know time to protect myself and then
he had to protect himself naturally so
let's go slow-mo with it that's here's
what he says as it was more than that
yeah yeah and at that point you know i
thought that was
you know time to protect myself it was
more than touching
it really wasn't though so let's go slow
now howard does open up his hand last
second like fine see i will shake your
hand
and it looks like wisconsin's coach
going for
the classic
double-handed handshake where you go
you know the shake hands and the little
elbow pat because we're the head coaches
and we should do something a little
extra special who knows or he's just
trying to stop and talk to him and this
is the touching that happens here just
that little elbow
not even a grab or a push just like kind
of like an elbow like embrace and after
that howard says it was a little too far
so he had to protect himself so he goes
schoolyard bully mode grabs the shirt
twists it
and now this is a classic
shot
of like a a senior picking on a freshman
in the locker by the lockers look he's
got his shirt all twisted up he's
grabbing him
wisconsin coach standing his ground but
he's petrified about it and that's what
happened that's a breakdown of
everything howard comes off looking bad
i think because everything he said was
kind of a lie and didn't make sense
and uh he
said pressure pressure and all that
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