Bush. League.
For the second time in less than a month, Duke sophomore guard Grayson Allen willingly and intentionally tripped an opponent. The first occurrence came in a game against Louisville on February 8th, which was reviewed and ultimately ruled a flagrant foul on Allen.
It’s clear from the video above that there was nothing accidental about what Allen did in that particular circumstance. Whether or not it happened again, fans of Louisville were never going to forgive the sophomore rival anyway.
However, it did happen again. Fast forward to Thursday night against Florida State. With time waning and the Blue Devils winning comfortably, Allen apparently had enough of Florida State sophomore Xavier Rathan-Mayes, and committed a similar trip to make his one former lapse in judgment an inexplicable and inexcusable habit.
Grayson Allen is a trip!(er)
(2nd time he has done this in a month) #Hoos #WaHooWa #Dookiehttps://t.co/FzbBI06V2w
— Jon Copper (@JonCopper) February 26, 2016
Just like that, Grayson Allen quadrupled the amount of people that will now be rooting against him for the rest of his Duke career.
Fear not, Blue Devils fans. Commissioner John Swofford and the Atlantic Coast Conference are in your corner. After reviewing the play from Thursday, the ACC decided to go quietly, issuing a “reprimand” to Allen and Duke.
Greensboro, N.C. – The Atlantic Coast Conference announced today that it has issued a reprimand to Duke’s Grayson Allen following Thursday night’s Florida State at Duke men’s basketball game.
The reprimand was issued following the review of the game by the league office, and is based on Allen’s involvement in the tripping of Florida State’s Xavier Rathan-Mayes at the end of the game.
The ACC considers the matter closed and will have no further comment.
Translation: The ACC doesn’t give a damn.
Why?
Because it’s Duke.
The conference comes off as nothing short of gutless, weak, and appeasing to the winningest coach in NCAA history, Mike Krzyzewski. As a conference, how could you take away the leading scorer from the league’s most beloved son in what is already a down year for the defending national champs?
So now as a result, it has come to this.
The uncomfortable, but increasingly factual narrative of the Blue Devils getting all of the breaks both on and off the court can no longer be dismissed. Every questionable call that goes Duke’s way at Cameron Indoor can no longer be completely characterized as media-driven, anti-Duke hate. Most importantly, the fact that a player on Coach K’s roster can repeatedly will intentional harm on another player without cost can no longer be disputed.
Allen has emerged as Duke’s star player and leading scorer this season. As a representative of the university, which is held to such high esteem both academically and athletically, he should have known better.
Not once, but twice.
It’s clear he’s not going to learn on his own, and the conference simply doesn’t care. In a scenario that is becoming more and more likely by the day, Allen will be involved in another incident down the line where his opponent will not be nearly as lucky as Louisville’s Raymond Spalding or Florida State’s Xavier Rathan-Mayes.
The empowerment of deplorable, bush-league behavior by the ACC will be to blame and any resulting, long overdue suspension after the fact will simply be too late.
Recruiting sex scandals, NCAA violations, and now a pass for dirty play is all fair game and in the news cycle for the so-called “best basketball conference in the land,” which leaves only one message for commissioner John Swofford and ACC personnel:
Get a grip.
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