Bill Self has reviewed ‘all angles’ of melee, reiterates ‘there will be consequences’
Bill Self and Bruce Weber say player punishments are on the way following the melee that broke out at the end of an 81-60 Kansas basketball victory over Kansas State on Tuesday at Allen Fieldhouse.
“Well, I have had a chance to review and we all have — the university, everybody has reviewed all angles that you could possibly have, much more than probably the general public has,” Self said Wednesday on the Big 12 coaches teleconference. “There will be consequences, as I stated (on Tuesday night).
“It’s only 10 (a.m.). We are still in the process of communicating with the league office, officials, everything else. Regardless of what is said out of the league office, regardless of any of that, there will be consequences, there will be penalties. I am not at liberty, nor do I know at this particular moment what will be appropriate at this time because we are still in the process of discussing (it).”
After the conference call, Self said he would suspend Silvio De Sousa indefinitely.
Weber said KU and K-State officials had been in contact with Big 12 officials on Wednesday morning and that they will work together to decide on any player suspensions or other penalties.
He expects those punishments to be announced “sooner rather than later.”
He also expressed remorse about what happened a day later.
“Last night’s incident is not good for K-State, not good for Kansas, not good for college basketball,” Weber said. “It’s disappointing. Obviously, there are many people to blame. I am the head of our program and it falls back on me. It’s a shame. It shouldn’t have happened.”
Self said he did not know if any fans seated in a section for persons with disabilities, where the fight between KU and KSU players broke out, were injured.
“I can’t really speak to all of that because I am not totally aware of everything. It obviously escalated and went into the (disabled-seating) section,” the coach said. “I actually did speak with one of the persons that was there at the time and was hit — not hit physically but backed into or whatever to the point where I’m sure we’ll correspond with her today, (to) see how she is feeling today. I do not know basically everything that transpired or talked to anybody more than that one person.”
The end-of-game incident that occurred after K-State freshman DaJuan Gordon stole the ball from KU’s De Sousa as he attempted to dribble out the final seconds of KU’s 81-60 victory.
Gordon then tried to end the game with a layup, but De Sousa blocked the attempt into the stands and then taunted Gordon by towering over him.
That sent players from both teams converging under the basket, where a fight broke out and spilled into the disabled seating behind the court. Video replays show the brawl began when K-State forward Antonio Gordon shoved De Sousa and De Sousa responded by throwing punches at K-State guard David Sloan.
Then injured K-State forward James Love jumped into the skirmish and things got out of control. At one point, De Sousa lifted a stool over his head and looked around for someone to smack with it before coaches intervened and the teams were separated.
“It doesn’t really matter to me what went down or what happened,” Self said. “The bottom line is in competition and obviously it’s heated, some things can escalate sometimes and you never ever want that. This was not part of that. This was not part of heated competition. It was something I said last night I feel strongly about … we’ll accept responsibility for the role in which we played.
“Obviously we did play a role. I’m not saying K-State was innocent in this, by any stretch, but I am saying I’m going to comment on our situation. I’m not saying they’re guilty. I’m just saying I want to comment on our situation and what I could potentially have influence on.
“That would be the actions of our guys, regardless of what has transpired, always having discipline and keeping a cool head and being responsible and being unselfish. Certainly that didn’t occur last night within our group. I won’t speak to any of the things that transpired before that.
“People saw … it’s very obvious what took place. I think you had a situation that escalated because of emotions getting the best of the situation.”
This story was originally published January 22, 2020 at 10:59 AM with the headline "Bill Self has reviewed ‘all angles’ of melee, reiterates ‘there will be consequences’."
