Antoine Pettway Addresses Current Situation in Minnesota

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama men’s basketball assistant coach Antoine Pettway talked briefly about the ongoing events in the state of Minnesota during a livestream on the program’s Instagram page on Friday afternoon.

The situation arose when a video was released of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin stepping on the neck of a man in custody identified as George Floyd, an unarmed black man. The use of force by the officer resulted in the death of Floyd, which has caused protests and riots in the ensuing days.

The released video is graphic in nature and will not be shared here, but can easily be accessed on the internet.

Just moments before Pettway’s Instagram livestream it was announced that Chauvin was arrested and charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter.

While Pettway did not comment on the arrest, he did comment on the overall situation in Minneapolis.

“With everything going on out there man make sure we treating each other like we want to be treated,” Pettway said. “Just do the right thing, man.”

Pettway also revealed that on Thursday during a Zoom meeting with the players, the coaches hosted two local police officers and held an informative session.

“Yesterday we had a Zoom with our players,” Pettway said. “We wanted to emphasize to them that these instances — you just gotta be aware of ‘em. But you also can’t judge every COP by a couple of COP’s actions or whatnot.”

“We actually had a chance to put a couple of COPs on. Officers Sebo Sanders from the Tuscaloosa Police Department and officer Bostic from UAPD on with our guys man and just talk to ‘em. You know, just maintain that good relationship and basically just talk to our guys about it you know because this is something — it’s a reality for the guys that we coach or whatnot.”

The majority of the Crimson Tide student-athletes on the men’s basketball program are African-American, composing 14 of the 17 players of the 2019-2020 roster. While the situation in Minnesota is troubling, it is good to see that coach Nate Oats along with Pettway and the other assistant coaches are reaching out to their players and openly addressing the situation.

Regarding how the situation can be resolved, Pettway didn’t offer any solid answers. However, he did offer some advice to fans during this difficult time.

“Just pray for each other and just do the right thing,” Pettway said. “Treat everybody like you want to be treated. I think that’ll take care of a lot of things in this world.”