Sports

Pitt Basketball Scapegoat Reveals Hateful Messages From Gamblers Who Lost Money On Bad Foul Call

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Zack Austin Pittsburgh Foul Basketball Messages Social Media
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Zack Austin was cast as the scapegoat for Pittsburgh after a demoralizing college basketball loss in the ACC Tournament on Tuesday afternoon. The fourth-year senior forward received a lot of hate for a controversial foul call just moments before the clock hit zero.

He shared a few messages that he received on social media, which he said was “not even half of it.” They are truly appalling.

Notre Dame and Pitt were tied at 54 with five seconds remaining in regulation during the 1st Round of the ACC Men’s Basketball Championship. The Irish missed their first attempt at a game-winner but they came up with the rebound and immediately tried to beat the buzzer with another shot attempt. It missed, which would’ve sent the game to overtime.

However, Austin was called for a foul on the shot so the game was not yet over. It was a questionable decision, at best. Most people would agree that it was a bad call.

Here’s another look:

Right or wrong, for that specific call to determine the outcome was a real bummer. Notre Dame won and Zack Austin was beside himself. He could not hold back his tears during the postgame press conference.

It was an emotional scene in Charlotte.

Not long thereafter, Austin shared an inside look at his inbox on Instagram. He posted four really horrible messages from strangers to social media. They prayed that he would die of cancer, called him both the n-word and the r-word, and told him to “keep crying clown.” Terrible stuff.

Two of the four culprits are big gamblers who probably lost money on the Panthers. One is a Penn State fan. The other, a “watch enthusiast,” presumably had money on the game as well.

Regardless of who these people are or what they say, their messages to Zack Austin are really disheartening. Especially when the foul was absolutely not his fault.

Unfortunately, this kind of thing is not uncommon. Athletes often receive angry messages on social media after frustrating results. That is true on every level — amateur or professional. It shouldn’t be, but it is.

For this to happen to Austin is truly heartbreaking. He feels horrible already. The foul was not his fault. It was a bad call. To make him the scapegoat and choose to pile on with disgusting messages to his inbox because the officials cost you a few bucks is pathetic behavior.