A college basketball coach at the University of Pittsburgh allegedly called for a security guard to confront a student over his harmless criticism during a three-point loss to Clemson on Saturday. If the allegations are true, the Panthers might be the softest program in the country.
Meanwhile, they are firmly on the outside of the March Madness bubble looking in.
Pitt started hot at 6-0 with wins over West Virginia and LSU. Its only losses during non-conference play were to Wisconsin and Mississippi State. Both teams are likely going to make the NCAA Tournament. There was a lot of hope for an extremely successful college basketball season.
That hope has since dulled over the last four games with blowout losses at Duke and Florida State, and losses to Clemson and Louisville at home. Pittsburgh’s most recent loss in overtime was especially demoralizing.
To make matters worse, the coaching staff apparently had an embarrassing meltdown. A student who was at the game told his story of an awkward exchange during the first half on Reddit:
About half way in the first half, Pitt let up 3 or 4 WIDE open threes in a row. At this point I’m pissed and frustrated, so I yell toward Jeff Capel “Capel make some f—— adjustments” since I’m right behind him. The entire student section proceeds to react like their dog was just shot in front of them.
Is “Make some f—— adjustments” that bad? I don’t think so.
Then like 5 minutes later one of the assistant coaches (Kyle Cieplicki) was looking for who said it. I literally didn’t even notice him at first and he was calling out for over like 30 seconds LMAO.
I took ownership and he told the security police officer to talk to me. The fact that a high ranking assistant coach makes such a big deal out of a chip about a head coach who just lost 4 straight ACC games is so f—— funny. There’s literally 0 accountability in this program.
— Curriy, via r/ACC
Yikes. Big yikes.
As a former college student who has sat (stood) in the student section of many college basketball games, I can confidently say that “make some f—— adjustments” is very tame. Far worse things have been said, both to the home team and certainly toward the away team.
For Kyle Cieplicki, Pittburgh’s Chief of Staff, to send a security guard over to the student section in an effort to subdue harmless criticism is a really bad look. That is the fastest way to get students to stop showing up. I know that I certainly would not want to attend a game if there was a chance that my words could get me in trouble. I would rather watch the game at a bar where I can say anything I want.
If Pittsburgh keeps losing and the staff continues with this kind of attitude, they will lose the fanbase.