On Thursday, Feb. 18, six IUS basketball players were suspended for one game due to an altercation during a game against Berea College.
Ruth Garvey-Nix, vice chancellor of Student Affairs, said there will be no disciplinary actions taken against the six players, even though she said she disagrees with their behavior.
“Certainly, this is a huge learning opportunity for the whole team,” Garvey-Nix said. “That’s not the behavior we expect of student athletes from both institutions.”
While she does not agree with the players’ behavior, Garvey-Nix said the Grenadier players did not instigate the fight.
“Our team was not the initiator, but there are definitely more sportsman-like ways to handle it,” Garvey-Nix said.
The suspension was levied by Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference commissioner and 1969 Berea graduate, Bill Melton.
The six Grenadier players suspended by the KIAC commissioner were forced to sit out their team’s game against IU East on Saturday, Feb. 20, along with two additional players who were suspended by Pat Mrozowski, athletic director, and Wiley Brown, men’s head coach, due to them leaving the bench during the fight.
The Grenadiers were forced to use walk-ons for the game and lost, which was their first lost in conference play.
Mrozowski said he hopes the team can grow from this experience.
“It’s not something we’re proud of, but everyone makes mistakes,” Mrozowski said. “If they can learn from it, maybe some good will come from a really bad situation.”
Mrozowski said no further action will be taken by the athletic department and the department would have taken the same action had the KIAC not suspended the players.
Shortly after the incident, a video of it surfaced on the internet. It was promptly pulled off of YouTube, but can still be found elsewhere.
Garvey-Nix said the video had nothing to do with IU Southeast.
“It wasn’t our video and we didn’t post or remove it,” she said.
Garvey-Nix also said there would be no further punishment by the university based on the footage, but that if there were further punishment, it would have to be on the part of Melton and the KIAC.
“We will and have abided by the suspension,” Garvey-Nix said, regarding Melton’s decision.
The Grenadiers won in a game on Tuesday, Feb. 23, with a 88-35 victory against St. Louis College of Pharmacy in the first round of the KIAC tournament.
Several attempts were made to speak with Brown, but he was unavailable for comment.
By DERRICK HOLDRIDGE
Staff Writer
dvholdri@umail.iu.edu