UPDATED 1/11/2017, 10:45 a.m. ET:
Florida State assistant coach Dennis Gates used on Twitter on Wednesday morning to let everyone know that he does not believe Grayson Allen shoved him on purpose while diving after a loose ball. Here's the tweet he sent out:
See original story below.
Duke guard Grayson Allen is quickly learning why it’s a bad thing to have an awful reputation when it comes to being a dirty player on the basketball court.
Earlier this college basketball season, the Duke guard was suspended "indefinitely" by Mike Krzyzewski after he intentionally tripped an Elon player during a game. It was the third time overall that Allen had gotten caught trying to trip an opposing player on purpose, and the suspension was meant to drive home the point that Allen can't go around trying to trip players and not face serious consequences.
Unfortunately, though, that suspension only ended up lasting for one game, and over the course of the last week, Allen has been involved in at least two more controversial plays. On Saturday, he appeared to try and trip a Boston College player during a game. And on Tuesday night, it looks like Allen may have shoved a Florida State assistant coach on purpose while diving for a loose ball out of bounds.
During the play, Allen dove after a loose ball that was heading out of bounds in front of the FSU bench. In doing so, he inadvertently crashed into a couple of FSU coaches, which wouldn’t normally be a big deal. But at the tail end of the play, it appeared as though Allen may have extended his arms and shoved one of those coaches, later identified as assistant Dennis Gates. Both Allen and Gates fell to the floor as a result of the collision before Allen got up and ran back out onto the court.
It all happened so quickly in real time that no one seemed to notice the alleged push take place. It’s why Allen and interim Duke coach Jeff Capel weren’t asked about it after the game, which Duke lost 88-72. But in the clip above, you can see what happened for yourself and make your own judgment as to whether or not Allen pushed Gates.
Allen probably won’t face any additional punishment for what he may have done to the Florida State coach. But this is further proof that Allen isn’t going to be able to outrun the reputation he has earned anytime soon. If anything, things are only going to get worse for him with fans continuing to scrutinize every single play he’s involved in from now on.
