SALT LAKE CITY — Utah basketball coach Larry Krystkowiak has been reprimanded by the Pac-12 Conference for comments he made after his team’s 83-64 loss to Arizona State Saturday night.
Krystkowiak broke the news of his reprimand during his weekly press conference Tuesday morning and the Pac-12 issued a statement shortly after.
“The Pac-12 membership has established rules that prohibit our coaches from publicly commenting about officiating,” commissioner Larry Scott said in a statement. “We have an obligation to our members to enforce approved conference rules. As part of our officiating program, there is a protocol in place for our coaches to provide feedback directly to the coordinator of officials.”
Krystkowiak was given two technical fouls after protesting a technical foul that was whistled on Ute center Matt Van Komen, apparently for hanging on the rim too long after a dunk. Krystkowiak felt that his 7-foot-4 center had an opponent underneath him and was allowed to hang for his own protection.
“I’ve been reprimanded by our conference for comments I made after the game,” he said Tuesday. “The mistake I made was talking negatively about officiating after the game and that’s a mistake and I’m ready to move on. I’ve said it before the game is full of mistakes, players make ’em, coaches make ’em, refs make ’em. I was trying to stand up for one of our players in a situation I thought could have been let go, but that’s a decision that they make and we’ll move on.”
Krystkowiak’s comments after the game were as follows:
“I saw a 7-foot-4 guy dunk the ball and somebody’s underneath him and you’re allowed to hang on the rim. It wasn’t the proper call to make at that time. I had no problem with the officiating. I like all those guys. But it was BS at the end, so I lost my fuse.”
“... It was a really bad call at a really bad time that was really uncalled for, I love Matt Van Komen, the kid’s been working his butt off. I don’t think anybody knows what it’s like to be 7-4 when you’re 5-5 and to make that kind of assessment at that point of the game was out of line. I didn’t keep my cool, which is unfortunate but it happens.”
Krystkowiak is the third Pac-12 basketball coach to be reprimanded this season. Earlier, UCLA’s Mick Cronin and Washington State’s Kyle Smith both received reprimands from the conference. There is no fine involved with a reprimand.