The Southwestern Athletic Conference has announced the suspensions of 10 student-athletes and two managers as a result of the altercation that followed an 81-54 Texas Southern win over Alabama State on Monday.
As reported by NBC affiliate WFSA, five players from each school have been suspended for one or two games, and each school has been fined $5,000. One Alabama State manager faces a two-game suspension, and a second has been suspended indefinitely pending further SWAC investigation.
Video of what many news outlets termed a brawl has attracted hundreds of thousands views on Twitter. What sparked the brawl has yet to be disclosed.
On Tuesday, before the suspensions had been announced, Alabama State director of intercollegiate athletics Jennifer Lynne Williams condemned the actions of ASU representatives, according to the Montgomery Advertiser. “We are investigating the incident that occurred Monday night, February 3, at the Dunn-Oliver Acadome at the conclusion of the women’s basketball game,” Williams said in a statement. “The conduct of a few of our women’s basketball players at the end of the game was unacceptable. That type of behavior is not a true reflection of who we are at Alabama State University.
"We have begun the necessary steps to review all of the footage from the event, along with the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) to determine the appropriate action necessary. I would like to apologize to Texas Southern University, the Southwestern Athletic Conference and Hornet Nation for the lack of sportsmanship from members of our team. There is no place in the world of college athletics for this type of behavior.”
Texas Southern Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Kevin Granger added Tuesday, "The incident has overshadowed the efforts of our team's success on the court as this directly counters the expectations of sportsmanship which has been placed upon our student-athletes by Texas Southern and the Southwestern Athletic Conference. The SWAC and both universities are actively reviewing the events which took place last night in order to bring closure to this unfortunate incident."
