The NCAA News - News and Features

April 14, 1997

Marquette men's basketball coach reprimanded

The NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Committee has reprimanded Mike Deane, Marquette University men's basketball coach, and will suspend him for the first game of the 1998 Division I Men's Basketball Championship for misconduct during the 1997 championship.

Should Deane not coach a team in the 1998 championship, the penalty still would expire with the end of the first round of the 1998 tournament.

The incident that drew the suspension occurred during the second half of Marquette's first-round game against Providence College. With about 4:20 left in the game, Deane was assessed a technical foul for his unsportsmanlike comments to an official. His comments followed a sequence of activities in which a Marquette player accidentally received a scratch near his eye and another Marquette player was assessed his fifth foul. When Deane continued his outburst, the official imposed a second technical foul.

Basketball rules stipulate that a coach is automatically ejected from a game and must leave the court when a second technical is assessed. Instead, after receiving his second technical, Deane charged and verbally abused the involved official who was at the official scorer's table discussing the play with the scorer.

During its recent meetings in Indianapolis, the committee reviewed reports submitted to it by the involved individuals and institution, examined relevant portions of a videotape of the game, and met with Deane.

"Conduct of this nature is unacceptable," said Terry Holland, director of athletics at the University of Virginia and chair of the Division I Men's Basketball Committee. "In recent years, sportsmanship has been a point of emphasis and has been stressed to the coaches through correspondence and during pretournament meetings at each round of the tournament. Unsportsmanlike conduct toward game officials will not be tolerated."

Holland added, "Coach Deane was cooperative and expressed regret for his actions."

Holland also noted that the committee considered several misconduct penalty options. It could have withheld all or a portion of the member institution's share of championship revenue distribution. The suspension, however, reflects the committee's desire to focus the burden of a penalty for misconduct as directly as possible on the involved individual. Although no coach previously has been suspended from participating in the tournament, the suspension is consistent with one-game suspensions assessed in recent years to student-athletes involved in on-court unsportsmanlike behavior.

Deane and Marquette have advised the committee that they do not intend to appeal the decision.