The Associated Press
The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES – Three officials who mistakenly ejected Southern Cal coach Henry Bibby from a recent basketball game were suspended yesterday.
The Pacific-10 Conference suspended Richie Ballesteros for two games and Jim Giron and Don McAllister one game each because of the wrong call.
The officials ejected Bibby in the second half of a Feb. 15 contest against Arizona State – only to call him back just four minutes later. USC beat ASU 80-68.
At the time, Bibby called it “the biggest travesty I’ve seen in basketball.”
“The officials improperly ejected a head coach from an important conference game because they misinterpreted the (technical foul) rules,” Pac-10 commissioner Tom Hansen said.
After a technical was called on USC assistant David Miller at the start of the second half, Ballesteros waved Bibby off the court.
Ballesteros had already called a technical on Bibby with 1:13 left in the first half. NCAA rules call for a head coach’s ejection if he has two technicals or if there are three on the bench. USC had only two.
On Dec. 9, Ballesteros made a goaltending call against Arizona in a 71-69 loss to Connecticut after UA’s Loren Woods blocked a shot with 1.8 seconds left. Replays seemed to show that the block was clean.