ATS Consultants posted on February 19, 2012 00:16
Officials are not supposed to be part of the game. They call fouls, they make sure the play isn't too rough on the floor and they give coaches technical fouls if they go too far.
But on Saturday, in Raleigh, N.C., Karl Hess may have gone too far in throwing out former NC State players Tom Gugliotta and Chris Corchiani when they were in the stands during the Wolfpack's game against Florida State.
The Wolfpack fell to Florida State, 76-62 loss to Florida State but the ejection of the former great NC State players became the bigger story.
Gugliotta and Corchiani were in the stands behind the scorer's table when they were removed from their seats by Hess with 6:40 left as Wolfpack player Scott Wood prepared to shoot a free throw.
NC State athletic director Debbie Yow issued a statement Saturday night saying she spent the afternoon and evening seeking an explanation from the Atlantic Coast Conference about what happened. She said she spoke to commissioner John Swofford and Karl Hicks, the league's associate commissioner for basketball operations, "regarding our concerns and our need for clarification as to why this occurred."
John Clougherty, the ACC's supervisor of officials, said in a statement later Saturday night that game officials have the authority to ask the home team's management to remove fans when, in the official's judgment, their behavior is extreme or excessive. After Hess gestured to have Gugliotta and Corchiani removed, they were approached by an officer from the Raleigh Police Department.
Gugliotta scored 1,536 points while playing for NC State from 1988-92, before beginning a 13-year NBA career that included an All-Star selection in 1997. Corchiani, who spent three seasons in the NBA, played for the Wolfpack from 1987-91 and is second on the NCAA Division I career assists list with 1,038 -- behind only Duke's Bobby Hurley.
Both Gugliotta's and Corchiani's jersey numbers hang from the RBC Center rafters.