Mountain West: Court-storming not to blame for Caroline outburst
In a statement released today, the Mountain West reported their findings regarding the postgame incident involving Nevada player Jordan Caroline following Utah State’s win over Nevada on Saturday.
Warning: The embedded tweet below contains strong language that may be offensive to some viewers.
Wow! Emotions running high after the Utah State vs Nevada game. This is incredible. @KUTV2News (WARNING: STRONG LANGUAGE) pic.twitter.com/mFl7wIP6W9
— Jake Edmonds (@JakeKUTV) March 3, 2019
The MW dispelled the notion that the incident was triggered by fans rushing onto the court after the game and claimed their management plan succeeded in getting Nevada players to their locker room safely.
“After a thorough investigation into the circumstances of Saturday night’s incident, which included a review of numerous video clips from various sources and the collection of written statements from multiple individuals, the Mountain West has concluded the situation was not caused by the court rush,” the statement said. “There was a postgame management plan in place and it was executed successfully.”
Additionally, Caroline is not the only party at fault. The release stated that personnel from both teams displayed “inappropriate” conduct following the game.
Ultimately, the Mountain West has left the doling out of punishments to the discretion of both universities for their respective personnel. Nevada has already made it known that Caroline will not be suspended for his behavior.
Stadium analyst Jeff Goodman specified that the situation arose when “one of the Utah State assistants did not want to shake the hand of one of Nevada’s assistants,” and that it “escalated from there.”
The following video shows what happened shortly after both teams left the court. Warning: The embedded video below contains strong language that may be offensive to some viewers.
Goodman also reported that after punching the fire extinguisher container, Caroline’s hand is injured but not broken. It is not know if the injury to his hand will keep him out of Nevada’s game at Air Force.
Utah State’s athletics administrator, John Hartwell, also released a statement today further clarifying USU’s role in the incident, saying that none of their players were involved but rather several staffers, a situation he called “unacceptable.”
This article will continue to be updated as more information becomes available.
Chain of events. Mussleman denies handshake to last few USU coaches in line. USU coach reaction to Musselman’s cold shoulder, a limp handshake arm. Following Nevada assistant’s reaction to USU coach cold shoulder, confrontation. See the film yourself. Everyone is blaming USU coach for the initial unsportsmanlike actions, but it isn’t the full story. Stop quoting Goodman and cite the film itself.