Duke’s scoring and assist leader Grayson Allen has been stirring up a lot of controversy in recent games by tripping players. Now I honestly feel like Allen should receive some type of consequence for tripping Florida State Guard Xavier Rathan-Mayes, only because the NCAA has to stay consistent with how they discipline athletes. For example, earlier this season the AAC (American Athletic Conference) suspended Memphis’ Shaq Goodwin for a game after he tripped a player from South Carolina.
I know some of you are probably reading this and thinking, “give the kid a break”, but I also need you to remember that this is Allen’s second time tripping an opponent, and ironically he received more heat from the first incident than the second one. When Allen first tripped a Louisville player in the win over the Cardinals, Grayson received a flagrant foul; and against FSU the refs didn’t whistle a foul call.
Neither ACC, nor Duke have suspended Grayson – with Coach K saying that he has spoken with the sophomore guard, as well as the conference, and will comply with whatever discipline they hand down.
“We were proactive with that,” Krzyzewski said. “I called the ACC the morning after the game and told them I had to talked to [Florida State head coach] Leonard Hamilton. After I saw the thing, I brought Grayson in that night and talked to him. I told the ACC, ‘This is what we’ve done. You tell us what to do.’”
I think the ACC (Atlantic Costal Conference) should definitely step in and at least place a one game suspension on Allen for his unsportsmanlike conduct during conference play. The NCAA has to remain consistent with their rules and punishments for certain actions, and those rules and consequences have to apply to all players and schools no matter the rank and talent. We are now in March and tournament time is approaching, let’s see if Grayson can put his tripping ways aside while trying to lead his team to the big dance.