Norfolk State guard Jamarii Thomas was cooking against Illinois State, lighting up the home team Saturday night en route to a career-high 31 points. Then his coach got heated in the second half of the Spartans’ 64-58 victory.
NSU head coach Robert Jones went face-to-face in a screaming match with his Illinois State counterpart, Ryan Pedon, as players from both squads rushed toward them at halfcourt. Jones was hot about some ISU fans who had just interacted with Thomas from their courtside seats.
Illinois State says it’s investigating after Norfolk State said one of its players was subject to a racial slur.
“I’m not letting anybody call my players a racial slur,” Jones tweeted after the game in Normal, Illinois. “Those are my kids, and I will fight for them. We have come too far in society to be called the N-word at a college basketball game.”
Pedon was upset that Jones walked onto the court and didn’t receive a technical foul. Pedon became highly agitated after Jones explained what happened, and both men’s tempers flared. They had to be separated by officials and team members.
“I went to him and told him that the fan called my guy a technical racial slur. That’s why I’m on the court,” Jones told The Virginian-Pilot. “And (Pedon) was so fired up he said, ‘I don’t care. I don’t care. I don’t care.’ So that’s when I went off because you can’t tell me you don’t care that somebody called my kid a racial slur.
“Like you can’t tell me you don’t care. Forget about basketball, forget about whatever. He has African-American players on his team. … You can’t tell me you don’t care.”
The incident overshadowed a second consecutive road victory for Norfolk State (7-3), which also won at VCU on Dec. 1. Thomas scored the game’s first points Saturday, sinking a trey, and the Spartans never trailed. He hit 15 of 17 free throws and scored seven of NSU’s final 9 points. The Redbirds dropped to 6-4 overall and 2-0 in the Missouri Valley Conference.
Norfolk State said that a fan directed a racial slur at one of its players during a game against Illinois State (Adobe Stock)
Norfolk State was leading, 46-40, when the altercation began. Both benches and each coach were assessed a technical foul, and a student media outlet reported that three fans were ejected. At a postgame news conference, Pedon downplayed his behavior. “I was upset [Jones] was on the floor, and I was raising hell with the referees,” he told reporters.
“It was never personal towards him. I’ll take the high road on that. I’ll take the high road. But I’m a competitor, man. I’m Italian, so sometimes my emotions can get the best of me at times. Yeah, I don’t apologize for my competitive edge. That’s how I want our teams to play.”
But Pedon apologized in a statement issued Sunday night. “I was wrong for allowing the situation to escalate,” Pedon said. “I expressed to Coach Jones after the game — I absolutely did not hear what he was saying to me. Had I heard Coach Jones, my response would have been completely different.
“This was a misunderstanding in which I reacted to him without understanding the situation, and I own that mistake 100%. I would also like to apologize for any negative reflection my response may have brought to either institution, its student-athletes, or basketball programs.”
Norfolk State’s president, Javaune Adams-Gaston, and athlete director, Melody Webb, condemned the incident and said they look forward to the results of Illinois State’s investigation. They also expressed appreciation for Jones’ defense of players and commended the team for exhibiting restraint.
“Our student-athletes followed in the footsteps of the late Bill Russell and basketball great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar during their collegiate careers, and successfully played through racial slurs meant to traumatize and disrupt the team,” Adams-Gaston and Webb said in their statement. “Our students remained Spartan Strong, but that is not something they should have to overcome during an athletic event in 2023. We are so proud of our team maintaining a competitive game and spectacular performance for a win against Illinois State University.”
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