The Sun Belt Conference has suspended University of South Alabama student-athletes Amyah Sutton, Daniela Gonzalez, and Cordasia Harris for the upcoming tournament game against Texas State. The suspension follows an incident during Wednesday’s game against Coastal Carolina, which officials classified as a fight.
Dr. Joel Erdmann, Director of Athletics at the University of South Alabama, addressed the situation in a statement. “The University of South Alabama does not condone fighting under any circumstance. The incident that took place during Wednesday’s game is extremely unfortunate and unacceptable. We will use this as an opportunity to learn and grow in our efforts to become better in the future.”
Erdmann also expressed concern for an official who was injured during the game. He acknowledged the challenges faced by college basketball officials but questioned whether all three athletes’ actions met the NCAA definition of fighting. “However, after an extensive internal review, I do not believe the actions of all three of our student-athletes rose to the level of being classified as fighting as defined by the NCAA rule book. This judgement has negatively impacted the tournament experience of our suspended student-athletes and stripped them of limited opportunities to compete in the postseason,” he said.
Despite disagreeing with the decision, Erdmann stated that the university would comply with it and focus on supporting coach Jackson and her team in their next tournament matchup. “Though I strongly disagree with the judgement of the officials, we will accept the decision from the Sun Belt Conference and turn our focus to supporting coach Jackson and her team in tomorrow’s tournament game against Texas State.”
