Pac-12 Reprimands Montgomery

Larry Scott releases a statement reprimanding California head men's basketball coach Mike Montgomery for making contact with Allen Crabbe on Sunday night.

The Pac-12 Conference announced on Monday afternoon that it had reprimanded California head men’s basketball coach Mike Montgomery for shoving junior wing Allen Crabbe during a time out with 16:31 left in Sunday night’s game against USC.

The conference said in a statement that Montgomery had “made aggressive, physical contact with one of his own players during a timeout in the second half of California’s game with USC.”

Shortly after the game Montgomery and athletic director Sandy Barbour released a joint statement, saying that “Sunday’s game was an emotional one for everyone who cares deeply about our men’s basketball program, and the Bears certainly showed tremendous resolve coming back to earn a win over USC. However, it is unacceptable for our coaches to have physical contact with student-athletes regardless of the circumstances. The second-half incident was certainly out of character for Mike Montgomery, and I am confident that something like this will not happen again.”

In that same statement, Montgomery said, “I have great passion for this game and tonight, I let my emotions get away from me in the heat of the moment. While my intent was to motivate our student-athletes, my behavior was inappropriate and I apologize for my actions.”

In response, on Monday afternoon, Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott issued a statement of his own.

“While emotions can run high in competitive environments, Pac-12 coaches are expected to conduct themselves in a manner that will reflect credit on the institution and the Conference,” Scott said. “Each Pac-12 coach must be aware that they are an example to student-athletes and other students, and consistent with this influence and visibility, must meet a particularly high standard.”

Following the game, Crabbe said of the incident that, "It was coach's way of motivating me. Everything's fine. It's under the bridge. No hard feelings."

Montgomery said of the contact in his postgame press conference that “nobody was ready to play. We were just standing. I was trying to get him going.”

"Allen's my guy. I need him. We can't get going if he's not ready to play,” Montgomery continued. "I was asking him if he wanted to play. He had no expression. It was all, 'Woe is me.'"