Arkansas AD apologizes for incident at SEC Tournament involving Razorbacks staffer, reporter
Arkansas AD Hunter Yurachek has issued a statement after a member of the Arkansas staff grabbed a reporter’s phone and threw it at the ground after the Razorbacks fell to Texas A&M on Friday.
Despite having a 13-point lead over the Aggies, Arkansas was defeated 67-61 in the SEC basketball tournament. Student journalist Jack Weaver reported Razorbacks head coach Eric Musselman left the court with multiple expletives after the loss. Musselman’s assistant, later identified as Riley Hall, appeared to grab Weaver’s phone and throw it to the ground.
Yuracheck’s statement acknowledged the incident, and the AD stated the behavior was “not appropriate or reflective of our program.” Yuracheck believes there was not any ill intent on the part of Hall.
“Mr. Hall expressed his regret that while leaving the floor his engagement inadvertently resulted in knocking the reporter’s cellphone from his hand.”
Yuracheck closed out his statement with an apology to Weaver on behalf of the school.
— Hunter Yurachek (@HunterYurachek) March 11, 2023
“Inadvertent “? Poor losers, then bully a student reporter, then Admin covers your ass and lies about it. At least no one got killed.
Damage control, “inadvertently” my azz.
If he was holding the phone out recording questions and answers to a disappointed coaching staff or players, it’s conceivable some would reach out and grad whatever to clear the way! Not the patient or courteous behavior we all want to see but if you think media are always patient and courteous, think again. Still this was probably at least an escalation of discourtesy and maybe worse but since I wasn’t there I’m not convinced either party was blameless. Yuracek did the best thing an institution leader could do, he stepped in and took some responsibility and apologized, also without witnessing exactly how this happened. Unless you were there, a fair mind has to say what we say in Missouri “Show Me”
I mean it was there on the video, it “showed us”. The Assistant Coach literally went out of his way to get around Musselman and grab the guys phone. There’s nothing inadvertent about it.
Not a good look for the Hogs. Meanwhile an accomplice to murder continues to play for Alabama and most of the national media looks the other way.
And the Nate Oats “Clueless Statement-of-the-Week Award” goes to…Arkansas AD Hunter Yurachek.
His apology was clueless? Um, OK.
“Inadvertently” lol
Lol yeah, this is clearly a case of Arkansas coaches simply being “at the wrong place at the wrong time.” Well played Captain Aubie!
Sure, because some kid having a phone knocked from his hand is on par with a woman being shot and killed. Brilliant.
As an Arkansas fan, I am embarrassed by this behavior & it clearly demonstrates our coaching staff to be poor losers….one would think as much as we have NOT lived up to the hype & as often as we have LOST many games this year (which we should have won) our coaching staff would be used to it by now. There is no excuse for these actions. Pointing out problems w/other teams is NEVER an excuse to make yourself, your team or your coach feel better.
Well said. Go CATS!!!
@wagglepuss GMAFB.
How ’bout y’all quit with the lying about the phone being grabbed and thrown? Those are very specific and distinct actions which are not evidenced at all by the video of the incident. The assistant knocked the phone out of the reporter’s hands which is an entirely different action. And people in the media why they are increasingly not trusted.
The bad responses go a lot higher than assistant coaches. The ‘direct reports’ to Yurachek act like they are better than others.