California athletic director Sandy Barbour released a statement late Sunday night calling Bear basketball coach Mike Montgomery’s shove of star player Allen Crabbe “unacceptable.” Barbour added, “I am confident that something like this will not happen again.”
California AD calls Mike Montgomery shoving player Allen Crabbe ‘unacceptable’
Though California basketball coach Mike Montgomery brushed aside his shove of player Allen Crabbe during the Bears’ win over USC on Sunday, athletic director Sandy Barbour called the incident “unacceptable” in a released statement.
With Cal struggling early in the second half of its game against USC on Sunday, an angry Montgomery gave Crabbe a two-handed shove to the chest as the guard walked to the huddle during a timeout. A visibly upset Crabbe then had to be restrained by a teammate. He walked to the California locker room, but soon returned to the bench.
Crabbe was later sent back into the game and promptly went off, scoring a game-high 23 points to go with 10 rebounds as Cal raced back to score a 76-68 victory. The performance led Montgomery to say after the game that the shove "worked," and that he would do it all over again if given the chance.
Montgomery released a more tempered statement later in the evening, which said: "I have great passion for this game and tonight, I let my emotions get away from me in the heat of the moment. While my intent was to motivate our student-athletes, my behavior was inappropriate and I apologize for my actions."
Morehead State head coach Sean Woods was suspended one game for a similar in-game incident back in November. There has been no word on whether or not Montgomery will be facing any sort of disciplinary action.
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