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Morehead State Coach Faces Disciplinary Action After This Wild, Caught-on-Tape Rant

Nov. 22, 2012 7:11pm Erica Ritz

Morehead State Basketball Coach Sean Woods Shoves Devon Atkinson During Kentucky Game

Morehead State coach Sean Woods gestures to one of his players during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Kentucky in Lexington, Ky., Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2012. (Photo: AP)

(TheBlaze/AP) — Morehead State first-year coach Sean Woods is facing possible disciplinary action after appearing to shove Eagles’ point guard Devon Atkinson during Wednesday’s 81-70 loss to Kentucky.

Athletic department spokesman Matt Segal said Thursday the situation is being discussed internally and any disciplinary action would be announced Friday morning.

Atkinson fouled out with 5:51 remaining, and an agitated Woods shouted at the senior as he walked toward the bench. The coach then appeared to shove Atkinson in the back, pushing him forward, and continued yelling at him during the timeout.

Morehead State coach Sean Woods gives pointers to Chad Posthumus Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2012. (Photo: AP)

Woods, who led Mississippi Valley State to last year’s NCAA tournament before arriving at Morehouse State, said he wants his team to reflect on his intense personality. He was especially animated while facing his alma mater Wednesday – which has the former point guard’s jersey hanging from the rafters at Rupp Arena.

Woods rarely stood still during the game, pacing the sidelines and getting in Eagles players’ faces. Morehead State responded with a physical game that the Eagles held the lead against Kentucky in both halves.

It also resulted in 32 personal fouls that helped the Wildcats rally to win.

“How did they look tonight? They look just like me, right?” Woods said. “They see me every day and that’s how we’re going to be every day. We’re going to fight. …

“Every day we step out in practice and in games, we have got to have a chip on our shoulders that we have something to prove.”

But Woods may have crossed the line against Kentucky.

The game ended with his second intense sideline encounter with a player this season. During a 67-45 loss at Maryland on Nov. 12, Woods was seen yelling in the face of Chad Posthumus while the junior center was sitting on the bench.

Morehead State players seemed unaffected by their coach’s behavior, but AOL’s Sporting News noted that on Wednesday, Atkinson appeared to be fighting back tears.

Here’s video of the intense exchange:

“It doesn’t make us uncomfortable,” junior forward Drew Kelly commented. “We can handle it and it makes us better.”

Woods’ passion landed him in the spotlight before Wednesday night’s game.

Earlier in the week he criticized some of the current Wildcats’ attitude and for their limited knowledge of Kentucky basketball history. It bothered him that Wildcats freshman center Willie Cauley-Stein was unaware of Christian Laettner or “The Shot” that beat Kentucky in 1992.

“They don’t get it,” Woods said. “They play basketball, but they don’t know what basketball really is. And they’re very, very fortunate. We live in a microwave society now, and it’s a shame that kids don’t know the history.”

Woods later apologized for his comments via Twitter and said Wednesday night that he was ready to move on from that incident. Now he is trying to put another controversy behind him.

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Comments (56)

loneindividual
Posted on November 24, 2012 at 6:33am
That coach probably threatened to kick him off the team.

WHERE IS THE PLAYER TO GO! This is his job…it’s a ****ing miserable JOB. What other skills does he have?

Remember people. He’s black. Unemployment hit them the hardest. Where is this player to go? What skills et does he offer….especially if he is FIRED and subsequently have his character Blackballed & Blacklisted.

Remember….23 million unemployed. Blacks hit hardest….Libertarians & Conservatives predicting the Collapse of America….the Few Blacks that actually see what coming….the despair they must feel for their family and friends.

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- DadRocked
  Posted on November 24, 2012 at 12:58pm
  “23 million unemployed. Blacks hit hardest”
  Who cares if black is hit hardest…
  Whatever your skin color, being unemployed is hard.
  
  Not a race thing… It’s a government thing… No matter who is the admistration…
  Unemployment, inflation and war (amongst other issues) is caused by government.
  
  Be it over regulating, expenditures, idiologies…. they are the common denominator.
  
  Report this comment
- DadRocked
  Posted on November 24, 2012 at 1:01pm
  “I better listen to the coach or my scholarship is gone…”
  
  Report this comment
- loneindividual
  Posted on November 24, 2012 at 4:46pm
  Dad Rocked
  
  Of course race doesn’t matter, but I’m trying to get people to empathize with what is going on inside this players mind.
  
  Blacks do see themselves as a collective identity. Therefore, if Blacks already have a bleak future and it gets worse, they are more likely to lose heart.
  
  This is what makes them more susceptible to creating mobs. The Despair welling up in their hearts. Living in a world where everyone else has seemed to made advancements where they make none.
  
  I’m against affirmative action, but I am one who believes there has been a conspiracy to put the ***** down. This isn’t to say that the Continent of Africa isn’t an example that Blacks have issues that go deeper than skin or genetics regardless of whether or not White Devils ever set foot there..
  
  The world sucks in general. For Blacks, the darkness is darker for them.
  
  Everyone else has more hope to eek out a survival and are not consigned to such a depressing condition of inertia.
  
  Report this comment
repairsea
Posted on November 23, 2012 at 10:08pm
Men will be men. Let them be.

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Lucci
Posted on November 23, 2012 at 4:17pm
Give me a break….the guy was disaplining a player that made a bonehead foul after the team has kept a game close against a ranked team. People have got to simmer down about this crap.

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- scrudge
  Posted on November 23, 2012 at 4:37pm
  after the game gun shots firing in locker room
  
  Report this comment
fukjihad
Posted on November 23, 2012 at 11:41am
at least they are both black, or else the white guy would be racist

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- Eastinfection
  Posted on November 23, 2012 at 2:25pm
  i’d be lying if i said i didn’t think the same thing right away.
  
  Report this comment
- sillyfreshness
  Posted on November 24, 2012 at 12:16am
  I third that statement.
  
  Report this comment
Mark
Posted on November 23, 2012 at 10:47am
Twenty years ago you would not have the back talk you have now. The last time I checked he is the head coach and he is the leader. If you give him one lip you should be treated like a three year old. He problem is we are raising a bunch of babies that want to tell you what to do and that they have all the answers.

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- who_is_john_galt_in_RI
  Posted on November 23, 2012 at 11:06am
  20 yrs old ago the coach would have been punched in the eye if he ever touched me like he did that player…
  
  if the coach wants to yell, scream and lose his cool that’s his problem, but shoving that player like he did deserves no respect…
  
  Report this comment
Walkabout
Posted on November 23, 2012 at 10:32am
“Every day … we have got to have a chip on our shoulders that we have something to prove.”

Bad way to live your life.

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gunslingerpatriot
Posted on November 23, 2012 at 9:45am
I would be more impressed if the average person graduating from high school and college could read at their grade level rather than a coach from an HBC abusing their player.

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BrerRabbit
Posted on November 23, 2012 at 9:29am
It is a d$@n game. Roman empire revisited. Keep the peons distracted while we pilliage.

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hempstead1944
Posted on November 23, 2012 at 9:24am
Quite a contrast to the Duke and NC basketball coaches………wouldn’t you say?

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- Rowgue
  Posted on November 23, 2012 at 10:23am
  Are you kidding? Mike krzyzewski is one of the biggest douche bags in history.
  
  Report this comment
Jethro212
Posted on November 23, 2012 at 9:23am
Holy cow, really? I have had coaches do way worse… Grow a backbone, protip, if you don’t like the coach getting like that with you, QUIT BACK TALKING! He kept jawing and not shutting up.

We have turned into a nation of babies.

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BashfulBob
Posted on November 23, 2012 at 7:07am
I remember the In the good old days,another Coach lost his job for this kind of antics,his name Woody Hayes,of course,firing Isn’t the answer for all misconduct.

This young man may never be the same after being abused on TV,ah heck,Woody was also On TV.

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- P-Daddy
  Posted on November 25, 2012 at 9:52am
  @BashfulBob Well sir, the first person I thought of after this was Mr. Bobby Knight of IU fame!
  
  Report this comment
EPROM
Posted on November 23, 2012 at 3:31am
I guess the coack should have gave him some candy instead of an @ss chewing? What has this world come to???

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- Ed_North
  Posted on November 23, 2012 at 5:16am
  Sports has really become politically correct and all manly characteristics have been removed. Read fresh political commentary at: http://smallcraftadvisorychronicles.blogspot.com/
  
  Report this comment
TruthPolice60
Posted on November 22, 2012 at 11:27pm
What’s the problem? You do something dumb, you deserve to get yelled at. It’s going to happen in the workforce too. Get used to it. I like the coach”s intensity. Maybe he should wear a red sweater from hear on out…. throw a chair…. moon some Puerto Ricans from the team plane…
.

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THXll38
Posted on November 22, 2012 at 11:21pm
What do you expect .. . we live in a PC pussified nation.

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KevINtampa
Posted on November 22, 2012 at 10:50pm
OMG he shouted and pushed him to the bench and someone didn’t get their trophy!

WAHHHHH!

Mama told me there would be days like this, but teacher told me Mama was wrong and I’d always get a trophy!

WAHHHHH!

Grow a sack people. He didn’t hurt him, just put him in the place he belonged after a stupid foul. The smile came off his face pretty quick too, great talk coach but you’re 30 years too late. Tell Coach Knight I said hi when you see him in the unemployment line.

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JeffMT
Posted on November 22, 2012 at 9:32pm
Yelling, swearing, etc. at a player is one thing. Any kid who has played sports at any level has heard it and you learn to deal with it. Unfortunately, that is a substitute for teaching for some coaches, usually younger ones, who don’t know what they are doing and they try to hide that by yelling. I had a couple of young coaches who handled themselves that way when I was in high school. Five years later both of them were out of coaching because they were no good at it. Their incompetence was exposed and they moved on to something they were better suited for.

Physical contact by the coach, such as what occurred here, is something completely different. There is no need for it but there a lot of coaches who just can’t keep their hands off their players. If a coach can’t communicate what he wants verbally and must include physical contact in order to make his point, then he should not be coaching at any level. Period.

One of these days a player is going to lose it when a coach puts his hands on the player and the player is going to kick the hell out of the coach right there on the floor or the field. The cameras will catch it and it will go viral on YouTube.

The most successful college coach in history, John Wooden of UCLA, rarely raised his voice to his players. He didn’t have to: he knew what he was doing and he knew how to coach. He won 10 national championships – that says it all.

http://www.coachwooden.com/

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- Eastinfection
  Posted on November 23, 2012 at 8:39am
  Wooden is over-rated. There were only 22-25 teams in the tourney when his teams won and the field was exclusively conference champions. The NIT champ was widely considered to be a bigger deal during much of that era.
  As far as this non-story goes… big deal. Coaches yell and swear all the time. Coach K is celebrated and curses like a sailor. If “Dangum” was a real curse, then Roy Williams would be just as guilty because his cruelty and venom is arguably even more intense. Ditto Bobby Knight, Dean Smith, Jim Calhoun and most other Hall of Fame NCAA coaches.
  These aren’t kids they’re yelling at. They are grown men who would be holding a rifle in a different era.
  Cry now…. and they may not have to when they face disappointment and adversity in the real world.
  
  Report this comment
- JeffMT
  Posted on November 23, 2012 at 12:33pm
  EastInfection:
  
  If you knew college basketball history, you would know that by the mid-1950′s the NIT was no longer considered to be the premier post-season tournament. It had been overtaken by the NCAA tournament and was only a consolation tournament for those teams not good enough to earn their way into the NCAA tourney via a conference championship.
  
  You might want to re-think your statement that ‘only conference champions’ were in the NCAA. Precisely. The teams not good enough to win their conference were not good enough to play in the NCAA tournament, thus making the case that the NCAA field had only the best of the best in it, unlike today when there are what, 68 teams that are supposedly worthy of being in the tournament.
  
  Wooden won those 10 titles between 1964-1975, after the NCAA had become the premier tournament in the country. He got good to great players to play for him and made them into a virtually unbeatable teams year after year after year, the mark of a legendary coach. Read the testimonials from his players – they tell the story.
  
  Overrated – HA!
  
  Report this comment
- Eastinfection
  Posted on November 23, 2012 at 1:06pm
  JEFF :) ….
  
  I live in ACC Country and this is a debate i often hear. While the conference champions may have proven to have the best overall record in their respective conferences, that is far from being evidence of them being the best teams in the nation since conferences are hardly equal to one-another.
  
  To folks in my neck of the woods, the ACC teams that didn’t win the conference every year were still way better than 20 of the 25 teams in the NCAAs in that era.. and they were showcased in the NIT, making IT the premiere tournament (after the ACC tournament, of course ;)
  
  Report this comment
- JeffMT
  Posted on November 23, 2012 at 5:52pm
  Talk about over rated during that era, the ACC fits the bill.
  
  How many ACC teams made it to the NCAA national championship during the 12 year (1964-75) stretch that UCLA won 10 titles: Duke in 1964, North Carolina in 1968 and NC State in 1974. NC State (David Thompson, et al) was the only team to win a title in that stretch, in 1974, against Marquette.
  
  UCLA was 10-0 in NCAA national championship games during that period, yet only 3 ACC teams even made the championship game and only one ACC team won a championship. If the ACC was so great and the NCAA tourney field so weak, why didn’t they have a team make the national championship game more than 25% of the time? And win it 8% of the time?
  
  And you are trying to claim that Wooden was overrated basically because there was only one ACC team in the tournament most of those years?
  
  Let me guess, if Wooden had coached an ACC team, say Wake Forest, during that same period and won 10 titles there, he would not only be a legend but a god. But since he was doing it across the country in LA, he is over-rated. That sound about right in your world? Please.
  
  And I’ll say it again – he didn’t have to lay hands on his players to accomplish that and rarely even raised his voice.
  
  The Rule of Holes: When you’re in one, stop digging. Time for you to put the shovel down.
  
  By the way, I heard the Morehouse State coach has been suspended for a game by the school’s AD.
  
  Report this comment
- Eastinfection
  Posted on November 23, 2012 at 9:07pm
  lol JEFF… this is fun… :)
  
  funny you mention NC State’s 1974 championship… State lost to UCLA in the regular season that year, split the season series vs Maryland, then beat Maryland in the ACC final… Seems to me that the NCAA tourney may have been a fairer fight had Maryland been in it?
  Alas… you are fighting windmills as i am a “Yankee” transplant to ACC country.. a UCONN and Big East fan to boot… but i DO know my hoops history.. and have been schooled in what is truly important to folks in these, here, parts.
  Sing your songs for the legend that is John Wooden- as you said “if Wooden had coached an ACC team, say Wake Forest, during that same period and won 10 titles there, he would not only be a legend but a god.” as that would be true if not for the fact that these folks only believe in one God… and his name is Dean Smith….
  I’ve fought the good fight against that theory for 10 years… to no avail. Fact remains that in Tobacco Rd., Wooden is 2nd banana to Smith, Coach K, Lefty Driesell, Valvano, & even Roy “the ole ball coach” Williams…. He will never get the juice you squeeze for him here… he will always be perceived as a front-runner in a sissy-conference.
  I didn’t write that history… just giving you the “eagle-eye” view of facts that are facts on Tobacco Rd.
  
  Report this comment
- Eastinfection
  Posted on November 23, 2012 at 9:23pm
  PS Jeff….
  
  just so you know… Norm Sloan’s State teams had some dominant seasons… but he is regarded as a footnote compared to Valvano… because the folks ’round here are suckers for basketball romance…
  You know those “tingly” scenes in “Hoosiers”?… that’s what EVERY game is like for ACC fans…
  
  It’s like this… try telling an SEC football fan that an SEC team is not the best team in college football… every year…. FUTILITY…
  
  PS.. if you think UCLA would have still won 10 championships with 68 teams in the field then you are drinking as much KOOL-AID as ACC fans.
  
  Report this comment
DeeCee
Posted on November 22, 2012 at 9:20pm
What a P.O.S. to be called “coach”. If I were in that players shoes, at least one of us would be needing a doctor and/or a lawyer. I don’t like basketball and generally speaking, don’t like BB players…. what you see is what you get, from the staff on down.

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ClaudeRains
Posted on November 22, 2012 at 8:44pm
He seems a bit tense. Maybe he should get Morehead and mellow out. I wouldn’t be surprised if one of his players deck him sometime.

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- roostercogburn
  Posted on November 22, 2012 at 9:27pm
  Well, when you realize that this took place in the People’s Republic of Minnesota, it makes sense, I wonder how many on that team can read and write??? Minnesota has turned into a joke, and will be worse, now we not only have a Governor that is a clown, but the democrats took over so will be fun watching things go down the tubes, get ready for more taxes and spending, I can hear the jobs leaving the state as I type..
  
  Report this comment
- JRGJR
  Posted on November 22, 2012 at 10:48pm
  rosterare we talking about the same article??
  
  Report this comment
- SovereignSoul
  Posted on November 22, 2012 at 11:10pm
  So, the state of Kentucky is now part of Minnesota? I was only asleep for 8 hours, what did I miss?
  
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- Anonymous T. Irrelevant
  Posted on November 23, 2012 at 1:06am
  @CLAUDE
  I’ve NEVER heard THAT one before Morehead, pfffft.(sarcasm).
  
  Report this comment
demsrtraitors
Posted on November 22, 2012 at 8:22pm
He should be fired. This is NO way to treat people. If a student had shoved him for his stupid coaching decisions the student would be thrown out of school. Fire the bum and get a class act coach.

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- joey g
  Posted on November 22, 2012 at 8:35pm
  savages
  
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- endthemindlessspending
  Posted on November 22, 2012 at 8:48pm
  It’s people like you that are killing the competitive instinct in our kids. Here you go, excellent job on your last place finish, so we have a participation trophy for you and a ribbon. Makes me sick to see how people feed their kids this lie that they are good at everything just cause they showed up. Everything is not going to be all sunshine and rainbows.
  
  Report this comment
- GeorgieJo
  Posted on November 23, 2012 at 6:29am
  This “coach” is the african american version of Bobby Knight (ex coach from Indiana who threw chairs) Moreheads coach has an ego so big—amazing he can get inside the arena.
  WINNING!!
  This country is LOSING.
  
  Report this comment
- Eastinfection
  Posted on November 23, 2012 at 8:50am
  I disagree GEORGIE…
  
  The ones with the ego problems are the players. They often enter NCAA level competitive sports with a fully-cultivated messianic complex and have rarely experienced criticism of their talent and attitude.
  “Team” is a concept difficult for them to grasp and coaches are required to correct this flaw.
  BTW.. Knight coached dozens of players in his career. The vast majority of them sing his praises and credit him with their successes later in life on the court and off.
  
  Report this comment
Anonymous T. Irrelevant
Posted on November 22, 2012 at 8:17pm
Erica, as an Alumnus of Morehead State, I’d like to ask you to change the name on the 4th paragraph from Morehouse to Morehead.
This new coach doesn’t seem to realize that Morehead doesn’t go to the NCAA every year like UK does. The new Bobby Knight.

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Gremlin1974
Posted on November 22, 2012 at 8:11pm
Oh, for the love of Pete, he is the kids coach, not his build a bear instructor. He didn’t shove him he did hurry his **** off of the floor to help avoid a penalty. As far as the yelling, well boo hoo, if you can’t take the motivational speeches then go back to slap fighting in the bathroom.

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endthemindlessspending
Posted on November 22, 2012 at 7:59pm
Oh, poor baby, I guess all a coach can do is give them a pat on the **** and say better luck next time. Oh wait, can’t pat them on the **** or its sexual harassment. This PC b-u-l-l-s-h-i-t is killing any aspiration to strive for better results.

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- MBA
  Posted on November 22, 2012 at 10:07pm
  I agree. This country is becoming a bunch of pansy * s s ed whimps because their selfish little feelings might get hurt if someone disagrees with them or tries to “coach” them to be better.
  
  Report this comment
- Oldphoto678
  Posted on November 23, 2012 at 4:30am
  PC this, PC that, PC, PC, PC… The only reason you toothless hicks are so anti-PC is because you can’t use words like N..I..G..E..R..without being called out as racists by the rest of us.
  
  Report this comment
- darkknight91
  Posted on November 23, 2012 at 7:10am
  Oldphoto, what are you talking about? We’re called racists by you mental midgets at every turn. We can’t even say Chicago or urban anymore. Get a clue, moron.
  
  Report this comment
- Walkabout
  Posted on November 23, 2012 at 10:38am
  Oldphoto678
  
  That word is not used in my household ever much less in public discourse. Try Again Harder!
  
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mbean
Posted on November 22, 2012 at 7:45pm
It’s just a game man get a grip.

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- Eastinfection
  Posted on November 23, 2012 at 2:07pm
  lol… “just a game”?
  
  It’s a multi-billion dollar industry!
  
  NCAA basketball generates over a $billion per year in TV contracts alone.
  Then add in attendance, jersey sales, video games, etc.
  
  just a game… right.
  
  Report this comment
chips1
Posted on November 22, 2012 at 7:33pm
The coach is a pussycat. If you wanted to see what could be a shove, you would have had to be at MCRD in the 60′s. It saved many Marines lives. Thanks to all of the D I’s.

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- TIME_2_END_THE_PAUL_CAMPAIGN_IN_12
  Posted on November 22, 2012 at 7:44pm
  Yeah…. no kidding… Semper Fi Marine.
  
  This coach just gave him a little encouragement and some forward momentum. He was putting some pep in his step…
  
  Report this comment
jungle J
Posted on November 22, 2012 at 7:22pm
dey know what baketball is they don’t know what civilized is…it is just a game to the sane.

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