Jeff Walz lost his mind over a terrible call during the ACC Women’s Basketball Tournament quarterfinal and was promptly ejected from the game after picking up his second technical foul. The 17-year head coach at Louisville made it count!
He and Atlantic Coast Conference officials are not on good terms right now, to say the least.
Walz completely melted down on a referee during thee Cardinals’ second round matchup on Thursday. It was shocking that he was not issued a technical foul for getting right up in the official’s face.
Friday was a different story, though everybody still got an earful!
The first incident came with under 90 seconds left in the third quarter when Notre Dame bungled its inbounds pass from the baseline. A turnover was not called despite the illegal procedure. Jeff Walz ran onto the court to give the nearest official a piece of his mind.
In doing so, the 52-year-old picked up his first technical foul of the afternoon.
March Madness got Jeff Walz STRESSED 😂😂😂😂
— Future Of The Retro (@TraeK_) March 8, 2024
He was right to be mad in both of these clips though. https://t.co/FH5S1S6YIH pic.twitter.com/pgsN3n8Ee9
Walz’s first tirade was entirely warranted. His second blow up was less so.
Louisville wanted a foul to be called with about 20 seconds left in a five-point game. Instead, the Fighting Irish came up with a loose ball to put the win on ice. They did not commit a foul.
Walz was not in agreement with the no call and blew a gasket.
He stormed onto the floor once again to unleash his fury on the same official that was the target of his first verbal attack. His players had to pull him back after a second technical foul was administered.
Two technical fouls results in an ejection so his day came to an end 18.3 seconds early.
Walz, ever the showman, took his final opportunity to go out in a metaphorical blaze of glory and waved to the women’s college basketball fans in attendance as he made his way back into the tunnel.
Here is how Jeff Walz got his second technical foul of the game vs. Notre Dame and an ejection. He even waved on his way down the tunnel. pic.twitter.com/s4fj5SWrTk
— Tyler Greever (@Tyler_Greever) March 8, 2024
It is likely that the Cardinals will sneak into the NCAA Tournament, but their quarterfinal loss puts them firmly on the bubble. Walz, like he vowed to do on Thursday, will presumably chase his loss with some (read: a lot of) vodka.