Benjy Taylor was escorted off of the college basketball court in handcuffs after the HBCU game between Tuskegee and Morehouse. Local police claims he was acting out of line.
Taylor and athletic director Reginald Ruffin strongly disagree.
The Golden Tigers claim the head coach tried to enforce conference-mandated security protocols after a group of football players from the opposing school intermingled with the college basketball team during its postgame handshake line. The security officer thought he was being aggressive.
Morehouse lost to Tuskegee on the road.
For those who may not be familiar, Tuskegee University is a private HBCU in Alabama. It enrolls approximately 2,500 students. Morehouse College is a private, all-male HBCU in Georgia. It also enrolls approximately 2,500 students.
Both schools compete on the Division II level of NCAA competition in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. The Tigers defeated the Golden Tigers by eight points in Atlanta on Saturday afternoon.
Tuskegee shot 44.8% before halftime but Morehouse took a five-point lead into the locker room at halftime through efficient perimeter shooting and free throws. It did not give the lead back.
The visiting Golden Tigers dropped only their fifth game of the season and third in conference. The Tigers picked up their 13th win of the season at home.
The visiting college basketball coach was escorted out of the arena in handcuffs.
Both teams met near the scorer’s table for the postgame handshake line, as is customary in college basketball. However, a group of Morehead football players — who were vocal toward the visitors throughout the entire game — got behind Tuskegee head coach Benjy Taylor in the line.
Taylor tried to diffuse the situation and asked a police officer to help enforce SIAC protocols and remove the football players from the court. The police officer did not do so.
Benjy Taylor said that a group of football players from Morehead had been vocal all game from their seats next to the Tuskegee bench.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) February 1, 2026
He went to the end of the handshake line after the game and some of the football players were behind him the line.
He tried to diffuse the… https://t.co/sVyPEZGGnS pic.twitter.com/hSAPgQTTHV
Instead, the officer put Taylor in cuffs and walked him out of the building.
Here is a better look at how it all went down in real time:
The officier removed Taylor’s cuffs shortly after he had been walked out of the gym. The coach was able to make it on the team bus in time for the trip home. He was baffled by what happened.
“I am at a loss for words and I am upset about how I was violated and treated today. For my players, my family and people of Tuskegee to witness that is heartbreaking for me. I was simply trying to get the football team out of the handshake line as they were following right behind me and the team yelling obscenities! It was a very dangerous situation.”
Golden Tigers athletic director Reginald Ruffin issued the following statement to HBCU Gameday:
“We have security measures for our protection of our officials, our student athlete coaches and spectators... You got to intermingle football players shaking hands with the team. You don’t do that. That’s a security breach.”
Ruffin said the security measures are “mandated by the conference office” and used “at all levels” across member institutions. He claims Taylor did nothing wrong, even though the police officer said Taylor was being “very aggressive” as “the aggressor.”
“He asked the security officer, ‘Can you please remove them from the line?’ That’s what he asked the security officer.”
The conference has not yet released a statement. An investigation will take place in the coming days.