California basketball coach throws shoes toward official; gets 6-game suspension (video)
JSerra Catholic boys basketball coach Keith Wilkinson was given a six-game suspension from the CIF Southern Section office Friday afternoon for arguing with an official during the Lions' basketball game against Mater Dei on Jan. 5 in Santa Ana.
Wilkinson threw one shoe onto the court toward the official in frustration before approaching and yelling at the official on the court. Wilkinson then proceeds to take off his other shoe and throw it to the ground. (video above)
The decision cannot be appealed, according to the CIF office. Wilkinson was in violation on bylaw 503 M (9).
The bylaw in the CIF Blue Book reads:
"Ejection for (Fighting/Assaultive Behavior/Gross Unsportsmanlike Conduct): Coach is disqualified from participating for the remainder of that season. Coach must immediately vacate the playing area and the vicinity in and around the contest and refrain from having any communication with the team or other coaches for the remainder of that contest and for all of the team’s remaining contests that season. If there are fewer than six (6) contest remaining in the season, the coach would be disqualified from participating for up to six (6) contests for the team’s following season as determined by the CIF Section Commissioner with jurisdiction in the matter."
Wilkinson will have to sit for six of the remaining eight games on the Lions' schedule, including crucial Trinity League games against St. John Bosco on Jan. 19 and Mater Dei on Jan. 24.
“I have zero regrets. My mentor, Tim Floyd, would have thrown a chair,” Wilkinson told the OC Register. “As mad as people think I am, that was more to have my kids’ back.”
JSerra is 16-3 overall and 1-2 in the Trinity League.
“It’s just not fair to our kids,” he told OC Register reporter Dan Albano. “I’m tired of the whistle being so against us in these games, especially against Mater Dei — at home and here.”
(Video courtesy of Dan Albano of the OC Register)
