Just one day after CBS Sports released a report accusing Pac-12 head of officials Ed Rush of making inappropriate comments toward Arizona coach Sean Miller, Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott announced on the Scott Van Pelt radio show on Tuesday that Rush would not be fired.
Pac-12 officials coordinator Ed Rush won’t be fired, Larry Scott says
Just one day after being accused of making inappropriate comments towards Arizona coach Sean Miller, Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott said head of officials Ed Rush won’t be fired. Rush has been with the Pac-12 since 2012, after a long NBA career.
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The news came after CBS’ Jeff Goodman reported on Monday that Rush had offered $5,000 or a trip to Cancun to any referee who either gave Miller a technical foul or ejected him, during last month’s Pac-12 Tournament.
Miller received a technical foul in Arizona’s semifinal loss to UCLA on March 15.
Scott said that he first found out about the accusations against Rush on the Sunday following the NCAA Tournament, and launched an independent investigation with the Pac-12 Conference.
Scott shared the findings of the investigation on Tuesday’s Scott Van Pelt show:
"What we found was that Ed Rush, who is our coordinator, was being very hard on the officials because he didn’t think they were doing their job... That coach decorum was getting out of control. Not focused solely on Coach Miller, but several coaches.
As part of that banter and discussion, this discussion was of ‘What do I got to do to get you guys to enforce the rules or to ‘T’ a coach up if he won’t listen to warnings. Do I got to give you a trip? Do I got to give you money?’"
Scott later added that he found it “completely inappropriate” to make jokes of the nature.
Rush was named the Pac-12’s director of officiating in 2012, after an NBA career dating back to the 1960’s.
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