BYU Basketball Coach Ladell Andersen was scheduled to talk with star player Michael Smith on Tuesday for the first time since Smith publicly criticized Andersen's coaching tactics.
Andersen said Monday night he had not talked with Smith since Saturday night's game. Smith was benched for eight minutes Saturday night after shouting "Shut up!" at the BYU coaching staff.Following the 70-69 loss to St. Mary's, Smith also leveled criticism at the coaches in front of members of the media, saying that after he had been beaten on a rebound, one of the coaches had shouted someting "derogatory" to him. Smith said he responded by shouting back at the bench.
In a telephone interview Monday, Andersen said that, to his recollection, assistant coach Carl Ingersoll merely yelled, "Box out, Mike, box out!"
Smith also criticized Andersen's coaching tactics in the post-game locker room.
Andersen was scheduled to talk to team members individually and collectively on Tuesday.
The sixth-year Cougar coach said he is considering closing his locker room to the media after games.
"It's a cruel thing to happen," said Andersen. "You have a situation where you want to handle it in-house and keep it quiet the best you can, and the media won't let it happen."
Smith spoke to reporters approximately 30 minutes after the end of the game Saturday.
"The bad part of it is he (Smith) spoke out. You catch a kid right after a game, and you've just lost a game, and things may not be going just right that night, and then he says things that, now, he may feel bad about. The funny thing is it all went in the papers."
The Cougars didn't practice Monday, the first day of final exams. BYU hosts Utah State on Saturday.
Andersen said the weekend's events were painful for team and coaches. "I have enough to be concerned about this year, and then this comes out," said Andersen. "I shouldn't have to be worrying about that . . .
"I've never really seen anything like this come out. I've never had a case where a player has gone and said things (like he said Saturday night) and been quoted in the papers. I've got to check with him to make sure he was quoted right. This has never happened to me."
Smith, a 6-foot-10 senior, was last year's GTE Academic All-America of the Year. He was a USBWA and UPI second team all-America. Smith is averaging 24.6 points a game.
Andersen said he will review the situation with Smith but wouldn't say whether he plans to take disciplinary action against his star player.