Clemson's Collins Apologizes for Ugly Foul on Duke's Moore
CLEMSON, S.C. -- Clemson’s David Collins issued a public apology to Duke’s Wendell Moore after being ejected for a horrific foul late in the first half of the seventh-ranked Blue Devils’ 82-64 victory at Littlejohn Coliseum.
Collins was charged with a flagrant 2 foul with 3:01 remaining in the first half following a Moore steal. The Duke star had stripped the ball from Collins and charged up the court to dunk the ball. As he went up for the dunk, Collins lowered his left shoulder and crash into Moore, causing an ugly spill, one Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski described as something he had never seen before.
“I have never seen a player (parallel to the floor),” Krzyzewski said. “Scary!”
Following his apology to Krzyzewski and the Duke bench, Collins took to social media and tried to explain his intent while also issuing a second apology.
On his Instagram story, Collins said he was trying to block Moore’s shot, but he was going too fast and could not stop. By the time he realized it, it was too late.
His full statement is below.
After the game, Krzyzewski was asked about Collins’ foul and his apology. The Duke coach said it was a scary to watch, but he appreciated Collins coming over and apologizing.
“Brad (Brownell) is unusual. He is so damn good,” Krzyzewski said. “Brad is an old-school damn good coach and good guy. He is good people, and his kids are good people. And again, we did not want that to escalate. So, the fact that he brought him and we did some interaction, I think that was really good.
“You put it behind. Brad apologized afterwards and I said, ‘Please, let’s move on.’ Wendell is good. I hope he is good. We will see.”
Brownell said it was a teachable moment for Collins.
“Obviously, we take a lot of pride in how we do things in our program, from how we play to who we are on and off the court,” the Clemson coach said.
“He is fighting like crazy to get back in the play and then he makes the wrong play,” Brownell continued. “But we have a lot of respect for Coach K and his program. The last thing we are trying to do is hurt anybody. It was just the right thing to do. To take him over there and make sure, since he is leaving the court, that he has to stand up and apologize himself.”
