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Assistant Jamall Walker Receives Two-Game NCAA Tournament Suspension

It seems the Illini assistant was just as happy with the officials following the Miami loss as we were.

By Apollo Forza
You can tell by the back of Walker's head how angry he was here
You can tell by the back of Walker's head how angry he was here
Stephen Dunn

Remember how you felt at the end of Illinois' loss to Miami in the NCAA Tournament? Remember how you wanted to strangle the referees for blowing such an obvious call in the final minutes, when the ball clearly went off Kenny Kadji's hand but possession was given to the Hurricanes?

REMEMBER THE URGE TO KILL?

Well, okay, maybe you didn't want to kill anybody, but you were pretty mad. And you weren't the only one. Apparently Illinois assistant coach Jamall Walker was pretty ticked off too as the NCAA announced that Walker has been hit with a two-game NCAA Tournament suspension for his conduct after the game.

"Coach Walker's behavior violated the expectations that championship participants act in a manner that represents the highest standards of sportsmanship," said Ron Wellman, chair of the Division I Men's Basketball Committee and athletic director at Wake Forest in the NCAA release. "The nature of his actions led us to issue the two-game postseason suspension."

As for what the nature of his actions were, apparently Coach Walker "made inappropriate contact with a game official and verbally confronted the game officials and a police officer" after the game. What probably happened was Walker touched one of the refs while yelling "SEE, I'M THE LAST PERSON TO TOUCH YOU JUST LIKE MIAMI WAS THE LAST TEAM TO TOUCH THE DAMN BALL YOU MORON!"

The suspension only applies to NCAA Tournament games, so he will not miss any games in the regular season.

"I accept the NCAA's penalty regarding this matter and am ready to move forward," said Walker in a statement.

You can come watch the games at my house, coach.

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