On Wednesday, Alabama Crimson Tide basketball player Mohamed Wague seemed to get away with an outrageous foul that many are calling “assault.”
During the first half of Alabama’s 98-93 win in overtime against the Florida Gators, officials seemed to completely miss a cheap shot delivered by Wague to the Gators’ Alex Condon. Not once, but twice.
As the teams engaged in a brief scrum for a rebound, Condon fell, but on the way down, Wague delivered a sharp knee to Condon’s head. And then, as he also went down next to Condon, it looks like Wague slammed Condon with an elbow.
Officials did blow the whistle on the play, but instead of a foul being called on Wague, the refs singled out Condon.
Fans quickly took to social media to ask why Alabama’s Wague was not penalized for kneeing and then elbowing Alex Condon.
Hail Florida Hail, for instance, lamented that missed calls like this could launch an open season on the floor.
“If players could deliver a UFC-style elbow to opponents while they are on the ground, then everyone would do it,” the site said.
Many jumped to X to express their outrage at Alabama. And few thought Wague’s actions were anything less than intentional.
Wague was finally suspended for the unsportsmanlike act.
By Friday, it was announced that he had been handed a one-game suspension for Wednesday’s foul.
“After video review in the conference office, it was determined that Wague committed the fighting act of striking Florida’s Alex Condon in the back of the head with his elbow/forearm with 9:25 remaining to play in the first half of Wednesday’s game,” the league said in a statement.
“NCAA rules require a suspension for the next regular-season game when a player commits an act of fighting defined as ‘a confrontation involving one or more players, coaches or other team personnel wherein (but not limited to) a fist, hand, arm, foot, knee or leg is used to combatively strike the other individual,’” the SEC added.
Mohamed Wague, #11 of the Alabama Crimson Tide, controls the ball during the second half of Jerry Colangelo’s 2023 Hall of Fame Series Phoenix game against the Arizona Wildcats at Footprint Center on December 20, 2023, in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images)
Wague is not the first Alabama player to be punished this season. Forward Nick Pringle has already earned two suspensions for his conduct on the floor, The Mirror noted.
Alabama head coach Nate Oats recently blasted his player for the suspensions.
“[Pringle] has got to decide whether he wants to be a part of this program or not with some of his decisions and how he conducts himself,” Oats said last month after the player earned his second suspension of the year. “Nothing bad off the court or anything like that, just in practice, in games, and we’ll see where it goes.”
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