Cal Sports Report

ACC Reprimands Notre Dame Coach for Charging Official After Loss to Cal

Notre Dame Coach Micah Shrewsberry apologized but was not suspended for his actions after the 72-71 loss to Cal
Jake Curtis|
Notre Dame head Coach Micah Shrewsberry
Notre Dame head Coach Micah Shrewsberry | D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images

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California Golden Bears

The ACC issued a public reprimand but no suspension for Notre Dame basketball coach Micah Shrewsberry for angrily charging at an official following the Irish's 72-71 loss to Cal on Friday at Haas Pavilion in Berkeley, California.

With Cal trailing by three points, Cal's Dai Dai Ames made a three-point shot and was fouled with 5.5 seconds left. The shot was immediately called good, but officials then reversed the call and said the foul occurred before the shot. Several seconds later, officials reversed the call again and called the basket good.

That tied the game, and Ames made the accompanying free throw to put Cal ahead by one point.

When Notre Dame's Braeden Shrewsberry, son of the head coach, missed a three-pointer at the buzzer, Cal had the win.

Seconds after the final buzzer Notre Dame head coach Micah Shrewsberry ran after the official as he was exiting the arena and angrily yelled at him as several Notre Dame staffers restrained him.

Here is another angle:

The ACC responded Saturday morning with this statement:

The Atlantic Coast Conference has issued a public reprimand of Notre Dame men’s basketball head coach Micah Shrewsberry for violating the ACC Sportsmanship Policy following Notre Dame’s game against California on Friday, January 2.

Shrewsberry aggressively confronted a member of the officiating crew following the game. The unsportsmanlike behavior that was displayed is unacceptable and tarnishes the on-court play between these institutions..

The ACC considers this matter closed and will have no further comment.

There was a belief among observers that Shrewsberry might be suspended for a pariod of time.

Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua has yet to make a statement on the issue as of Saturday morning.

.Shrewsberry issued an apology, according to Associated Press:

“I want to apologize for what took place immediately after the Cal game last night,” Shrewsberry said in a statement released by Notre Dame. “My actions were inappropriate and not symbolic of the leader I strive to be and what Notre Dame expects of its coaches and educators. I will learn from this lack of judgement and be better in the future.”

Shrewsberry also apologized to his team, Notre Dame and its leadership, to the ACC and to Cal coach Mark Madsen and the Bears, “as my actions were unacceptable,” he said.

Here is a new angle of the play in question:

The Cal win improved the Bears record to 13-2 overall and 1-1 in the ACC while Notre Dame slipped to 10-5 overall and 1-1 in the conference. Notre Dame was coming off a 47-40 victory over Stanford on Tuesday while Cal had lost to Louisville 90-70 that same day.

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Jake Curtis
JAKE CURTIS

Jake Curtis worked in the San Francisco Chronicle sports department for 27 years, covering virtually every sport, including numerous Final Fours, several college football national championship games, an NBA Finals, world championship boxing matches and a World Cup. He was a Cal beat writer for many of those years, and won awards for his feature stories.

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