MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[sac]

I haven't found many examples but one game seems to be the standard first offense suspension.  That's across pro, college and high school.  A couple high schools went further but those seemed like much more severe incidents.

I could only find one college incident.
Duke women's coach a year ago, one game suspension for contact w/official  (who got a 2nd game for recruiting violation)
Duke women's asst. coach, same game, same penalty


Lastly, Hargraves has always been a passionate guy even back in his playing days at Calvin.  I've watched close to a dozen Alma games the last two years and have found him to be an extremely positive and encouraging coach.  Where he has tended to lose himself a little is in very close and meaningful games such as in Holland last winter, at Albion last year and a really weak and funny moment at Albion this year that frankly I couldn't blame him for one bit.  Saturday's blowup was really out of character for the coach I've seen the last two years.

[HopeKnight]

A couple things to consider in observing Coach Hargraves' actions on Saturday: (Only 1 game suspension is really a gift)

Pregame - the Alma announcer reads a statement about positive attitudes and showing respect, bla bla bla. Really all good stuff but obviously this is selectively applied & does not apply to the Coach.

Coach Hargraves' childish temper tantrums started 20 seconds into the game ridiculing the referees consistently. In his apology, he says he is emotional - perhaps, but also extremely arrogant and immature. His crazy temper tantrums at the end were pathetic - he was out of control bumping the referees at least twice and having to be restrained. It was the right call and even if it wasn't, act with some maturity & class. He states that "he is very emotional" this reminds me of the drunk driver who tells the judge he is very sorry but he was very thirsty.

It's too bad that Coach Hargraves models this obnoxious behavior and then he serves as the advisor for the campus of (FCA) Fellowship for Christian Athletes - I wonder what the students who are contemplating what it means to be a Christian think when they see this. We live in a world where there is cynicism for our Christian faith and this type of behavior is really sad to see; especially, by those who are in leadership positions.

Hopefully, Coach Hargraves will learn to control himself and model better behavior for his team but also for the others who look to him as a leader and an example. Glad to see he won't be at Calvin this Wednesday.

[HOPEful]

It's too bad that Coach Hargraves models this obnoxious behavior and then he serves as the advisor for the campus of (FCA) Fellowship for Christian Athletes - I wonder what the students who are contemplating what it means to be a Christian think when they see this. We live in a world where there is cynicism for our Christian faith and this type of behavior is really sad to see; especially, by those who are in leadership positions.

I have a harder time with those who get on their high horse and make statements as though they have been given the divine authority to differentiate between those of genuine faith and those not. I have personally witnessed KVS in isolated incidents that I was not too happy with, but I would never question his faith or ability to be a Christian leader of young men. Perhaps that's just me though...

[GreatScot!?]

A couple things to consider in observing Coach Hargraves' actions on Saturday: (Only 1 game suspension is really a gift)

Pregame - the Alma announcer reads a statement about positive attitudes and showing respect, bla bla bla. Really all good stuff but obviously this is selectively applied & does not apply to the Coach.

Coach Hargraves' childish temper tantrums started 20 seconds into the game ridiculing the referees consistently. In his apology, he says he is emotional - perhaps, but also extremely arrogant and immature. His crazy temper tantrums at the end were pathetic - he was out of control bumping the referees at least twice and having to be restrained. It was the right call and even if it wasn't, act with some maturity & class. He states that "he is very emotional" this reminds me of the drunk driver who tells the judge he is very sorry but he was very thirsty.

It's too bad that Coach Hargraves models this obnoxious behavior and then he serves as the advisor for the campus of (FCA) Fellowship for Christian Athletes - I wonder what the students who are contemplating what it means to be a Christian think when they see this. We live in a world where there is cynicism for our Christian faith and this type of behavior is really sad to see; especially, by those who are in leadership positions.

Hopefully, Coach Hargraves will learn to control himself and model better behavior for his team but also for the others who look to him as a leader and an example. Glad to see he won't be at Calvin this Wednesday.

HopeKnight, first of all pick a team please. 2nd of all, I'm not sure of what your personal vendetta is against Sam Hargraves, but all coaches throw fits at refs, and Christians like everybody else make mistakes, but judging others is frowned upon and that is what you've done. He made a mistake and owned up to it, not sure what else you want him to do. In his years at Alma he has shown himself as a great christian role model and individual to the college and the community.

[HopeKnight]

No question at all on any man's faith - simply was disgusted by his actions. Coach Hargraves' actions were questioned not his faith in any way.

Leaders also have a higher level of responsibility; especially when influencing young adults & children. His actions can be very impactful even to people he never meets.

Completely disagree that all coaches act like that - coaching with intensity & passion is one thing, getting physical and out of control is another.

I know he is an excellent Coach & I trust he is an excellent Christian man - just look forward to seeing him succeed in the future and be in control.

BTW - sorry, I have many family members & friends that have attended both schools Calvin & Hope and I want to see them both do great! Absolutely, love the education and the athletics rivalry is awesome! 

[Gregory Sager]

A couple things to consider in observing Coach Hargraves' actions on Saturday: (Only 1 game suspension is really a gift)

As sac pointed out last night in citing the Duke case, a one-game suspension is an established precedent on the NCAA level for bumping an official, not a "gift".

Pregame - the Alma announcer reads a statement about positive attitudes and showing respect, bla bla bla. Really all good stuff but obviously this is selectively applied & does not apply to the Coach.

Huh? He was suspended for his actions on Saturday. How in the world can you claim that the statement is "selectively applied & does not apply to the Coach" when he has been punished for violating it?

[sac]

Lets not go off the rail here guys.  I think the fallible human being involved has been properly punished and has properly apologized.  You can't ask for more than that. 

[Flying Dutch Fan]

Lets not go off the rail here guys.  I think the fallible human being involved has been properly punished and has properly apologized.  You can't ask for more than that.

I completely agree. As one of the Hope fans that was in attendance, I accept his apology. Let's move on to basketball.

[bigboy32]

Hey folks, I'm a new poster here after being a reader of the board for the past few years. For the first time, I felt compelled to get a login so I could share my thoughts. After being at the Alma-Hope game on Saturday I never thought it would see some of the things being said about Coach Hargraves that I've seen. A few thoughts that I feel strongly about:

-Seeing HopeKnight question his suitability to be the advisor for FCA at Alma is one of the most offensive things I've read over the past few years. Yes, I know Coach. Yes, I think highly of him, and that will certainly color this comment. There is no person I would rather have coach my children or mentor young men than Coach Hargraves. He is an absolute pillar of the Alma community, despite the mistake he made in making contact with the official on Saturday.

-I saw the phrase "childish temper tantrums". I have watched, played in, or coached thousands of games over the years. I have never seen a coach who is highly competitive with a more even view of officials than Hargraves. I am sometimes amazed that he lets so many close calls go. I don't need to name names, but there are coaches in the MIAA that spend more time talking to the refs than their own players during a game while Hargraves is coaching, teaching, encouraging, and of course, at times, also talking to the officials. In fact, I recently had a college official (women's) tell me how positively he is viewed in that community because of how fair he is. Doesn't sound like a person who throws childish temper tantrums to me.

-Sam Hargraves now has 2 technical fouls in MIAA competition this week, and exactly that same amount since he arrived at Alma in 2011. Those were his first T's in the MIAA.

-Coach Hargraves is highly respected among peers and by former players, as well as those he works with. People who know him.

-Coach Hargraves made zero contact with any opposing player at the JCU 2nd round game last March. I was sitting 15 feet from the scrum, where a JCU player appeared to punch a former Alma player, and Hargraves stepped onto the floor and drew attention to the issue. Was it spirited? Yes. Was it loud? Yes. Were there words from the opposing player toward Hargraves? Yes. Did Hargraves cross any line? Absolutely not. I 100% disagree with the post by sflzman that said if it were the NBA he would have been disciplined.

-I wonder if the official has any regrets about not making the call and getting the heck out of there. Watch any good official give a T and they are moving away. Why did this official stand and face the bench?

I appreciate Flying Dutch Fan and sac asking us to get back to basketball, but I couldn't let it go any longer. Hargraves is one of the best men I've ever been around and there's no way I could let this go without my opinion being expressed.

As for tomorrow, I'll be interested to see if the Alma players answer the bell without their emotional leader. Should be a good one!

[Gregory Sager]

Lets not go off the rail here guys.  I think the fallible human being involved has been properly punished and has properly apologized.  You can't ask for more than that.

That's my sentiment as well.

[sac]

-I wonder if the official has any regrets about not making the call and getting the heck out of there. Watch any good official give a T and they are moving away. Why did this official stand and face the bench?

I'll probably regret continuing this, but....

Jordan Parks makes the traveling call from the standard officiating position just inside the timeline on the sideline, signals travel and begins back peddling down court, (ie he's already facing the Alma bench and can clearly see Hargraves coming towards him).  Hargraves says something and briefly stops well out of the coaches box but short of the timeline, its at that point that Parks issues the  first T and Parks is right in front of the scorers table.   He's in or near proper position for the coming Hope in-bounds I believe.    Hargraves then continues and bumps Parks in my view either on the mid-court line or on the Hope side of the mid-court line.  Parks did not linger near the Alma bench at all.  He was not looking for a confrontation, it came to him.



Unfortunately the video has been removed which I'm saddened to see for a whole other set of reasons.  There were other Alma games available to view.  What specifically about this game are we afraid of here?

[sac]

A  funny moment for me involving one coach this year.....

Earlier this year I heard this coach on at least 3 separate occasions, once only loud enough for those around him to hear and twice loud enough for the officials to hear, tell the officials that they needed to "know the rules".   He was right once, wrong twice.

Anyway, at a recent game after a foul call this coach can be heard screaming "that's bonus, that's bonus, why isn't that the bonus".  The foul count at the time was his team 5, opponent 3.    Know the rules indeed.

[sflzman]

-I wonder if the official has any regrets about not making the call and getting the heck out of there. Watch any good official give a T and they are moving away. Why did this official stand and face the bench?

I'll probably regret continuing this, but....

Jordan Parks makes the traveling call from the standard officiating position just inside the timeline on the sideline, signals travel and begins back peddling down court, (ie he's already facing the Alma bench and can clearly see Hargraves coming towards him).  Hargraves says something and briefly stops well out of the coaches box but short of the timeline, its at that point that Parks issues the  first T and Parks is right in front of the scorers table.   He's in or near proper position for the coming Hope in-bounds I believe.    Hargraves then continues and bumps Parks in my view either on the mid-court line or on the Hope side of the mid-court line.  Parks did not linger near the Alma bench at all.  He was not looking for a confrontation, it came to him.

I actually would blame his partners (I can't remember if Parks was the R or one of the O's) but if he was one of the O's, in a 3-man the R's "responsibility" on a technical (if parks was the R, it would've been the O1's) to a bench is to quickly move towards that bench, to intercept conversation and to direct attention away from the official issuing the technical.

If the technical is issued to a player that isn't really as big of a deal since generally the coach knows why the technical has been issued to the player and likely will calmly converse with the issuing official - if he converses with him at all.

Then again, without seeing the video one more time it's hard to tell if there was even time for the R to get over and "rescue" Parks from the situation.

[FyteOnne]

Alma senior Nick Sullivan played JV his basketball his freshman and sophomore years at Alma.  He then quit the basketball team and joined the football team where he proceeded to rush for 1728 and 21 touchdowns the past two years.

Basketball Nick:  http://almascots.com/sports/mbkb/2014-15/bios/sullivan_nick_szww

Football Nick:  http://almascots.com/sports/fball/2016-17/bios/sullivan_nick_g9e8

I remember a half dozen years ago or so the Scots had Matt Brown who (if I remember correctly) was a four year starter on both the football field and basketball court.  He was a tremendous football player and I believe he was one of a few Scots in that time frame that went and played a season or two professionally overseas.  He had over 1000 receiving yards and 12 TDs as a senior as well as being amongst national leaders in punting.  I believe he was around a 20 and 10 guy his senior year in basketball once he got healthy, but I remember him missing significant time that year due to an injury from the end of football season.

Alma 5th year senior Troy Gahm also played basketball at Alma before being a star defensive lineman for the Scots and All-MIAA if I remember correctly. On top of that Alma's JV roster has had two individuals play both football and basketball in recent years, along with a student athlete now competing in track and field that played two years of JV basketball. A senior on last years team Matt Launstein also played basketball and baseball for four years at Alma as well.

Albion's JC Cruse was first team All-MIAA in basketball 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 and second team All-MIAA in football in 2010 and 2011.

[HOPEful]

Anyway, at a recent game after a foul call this coach can be heard screaming "that's bonus, that's bonus, why isn't that the bonus".  The foul count at the time was his team 5, opponent 3.    Know the rules indeed.

Hahahaha... I didn't know which coach you were talking about until I read this last part. I clearly remember turning and asking, "Why does he seem to think they should be in the bonus right now?" I thought maybe he was making some sort of statement that the officials missed calls and was doing some funny math.

If I were to order the "hot headedness" of the MIAA coaches, I would probably put KVS, Mitchell, Miller, May, Lindsay, and Ernst all ahead of Hargraves. Not in that order.