Seton Hall has suspended guard Sterling Gibbs for two games after he slammed down his forearm into Villanova guard Ryan Arcidiacono’s face on Monday night. Gibbs was assessed a Flagrant 2 foul was ejected for the incident.
“Sterling demonstrated poor sportsmanship last night, and he recognizes that what he did was wrong and that he must be held accountable for his actions,” Seton Hall Coach Kevin Willard said in a statement, via USA Today. “This was out of Sterling’s character, and I believe this incident does not define the type of person he is or will become. Sterling will learn and grow from this unfortunate event.”
“We support Seton Hall’s decision to suspend Sterling Gibbs for his actions in the Villanova game. Unsportsmanlike acts like the one that occurred last night have no place in the Big East or college sports,” Big East Commissioner Val Ackerman said in a statement to USA Today Sports.
Gibbs, a junior, leads Seton Hall in scoring (16.2 points per game), assists, steals, free throws made and attempted, and three-pointers made and attempted. His suspension is the latest setback for the once-promising Pirates, who were ranked 19th at one point this season but have lost five straight and nine of 12 since their overtime win over previously undefeated Villanova on Jan. 3.
Steve Politi of NJ Advance Media is pointing the finger directly at Willard, saying he’s “lost control of his program.” Willard already has had one player — starting guard Jaren Sina — quit the program in the middle of the season, and Politi speculates that Gibbs will transfer out of the program after the season, spending his final year of collegiate eligibility as a graduate student somewhere else.
“You wonder sometimes how Willard would survive if he coached in a town where his program wasn’t the ninth-most important thing going on for the local sports media,” Politi writes.
After spending the first 17 years of his Post career writing and editing, Matt and the printed paper had an amicable divorce in 2014. He's now blogging and editing for the Early Lead and the Post's other Web-based products.
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