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Duke Basketball Suspends Grayson Allen After Latest Tripping Incident

By Amy Feinstein
Published on: 13:37 PST, Dec 22, 2016

Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski has decided to suspend player Grayson Allen indefinitely after yet another display of bad sportsmanship. The junior guard tripped his third player of the year against Elon last night, and after reviewing the situation, Coach Krzyzewski decided that it is best for everyone for Grayson Allen to sit out. Though Allen apologized to the player and Elon’s coach, Matt Matheny, this behavior has become a pattern for Allen that Coach K can no longer overlook.

Duke is known as a program that doesn’t tend to hold onto troublemakers, but many of those players go on to find a better fit elsewhere, says the Inquisitr. Rasheed Sulaimon left Duke for the University of Maryland Terps, under a shadow where nobody was saying much. Sulaimon rose to the occasion, and proved himself to be a valuable member of last year’s team, helping the Terps make it back to the NCAA Tournament. Sulaimon was reportedly no problem for Terp’s coach Mark Turgeon, and was actually a team leader with Melo Tremble, Jake Layman, and Robert Carter, Jr. If last year’s team had any trouble, it was freshman Diamond Stone, who was forced to sit out a game after bouncing another player’s head off of the floor.

But Grayson Allen is proving to be a problem, and Duke has not even started its ACC season. Duke handily beat Elon, so it’s somewhat confusing that Allen lost his temper, assaulting another player, says Yahoo!. Coach K put out a statement, calling Allen’s behavior inexcusable.

“We have had the opportunity to thoroughly review the incident involving Grayson Allen from last night’s game against Elon. As I stated last night, the incident was unacceptable and inexcusable.”

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Though Coach K says that Allen said he was sorry to Elon player Steven Santa Ana, it is unclear whether someone had to make him apologize, as one would a child.

“As a program, we needed to take further steps regarding his actions that do not meet the standards of Duke Basketball. To that end, we have determined that Grayson will be suspended from competition for an indefinite amount of time.”

This tripping was the most blatant of the three this season, with Allen sticking his foot out and knocking Steven Santa Ana’s legs out from under him. In the past, Grayson Allen has been reprimanded by the ACC, but with no suspension. Fans and critics alike are now becoming more vocal, referring to Allen’s behavior as “temper tantrums.” Others are calling Allen out as a cheater.

ESPN shared an open letter from former Duke player Jay Williams, sharing what he hopes will make a difference for Grayson Allen, if he wants to return to the Blue Devils, and be a productive member of the team. He opens by saying that obviously, Allen is getting some unexpected time to think about his behavior. Williams says that while Allen is still discovering who he is as a man, he needs to think about who he wants to be.

“It’s public knowledge that I felt strongly that Grayson needed much more accountability than just a required apology after his third tripping transgression, this latest one coming Wednesday night in the first half against Elon. His inability to suppress his need to trip an opponent at times out of on-court frustration — not once or twice, but three times in the span of a calendar year — demanded serious discipline.”

Williams says that one point that Coach K made to the team that sticks with him is that you could never hide from your actions. Williams says that Coach K was the first to visit him when an immature decision landed him in the hospital after a motorcycle accident. Williams said that the decision to take that ride put an end to what he believes would have been a solid NBA career.

Williams said he has now had years to sit and think, and strongly thinks that Grayson Allen should use his time to come back, because luckily, this tripping streak has not yet led to the end of his basketball career. Williams says that in closing, he hopes that Allen will take his advice.

“Don’t let this time away from the game slow you. Let it be the defining moment, as it was for me, when you truly realize that although we can’t hide from our actions, we can certainly learn from them.”

Do you think that Grayson Allen will learn anything from his suspension? Do you think Coach K should have suspended him sooner?

[Featured Image by Lance King/Getty Images]

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