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Georgetown Basketball Coach Ed Cooley Charges Fan During Heated Altercation In Lieu Of Handshake

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Ed Cooley Xavier
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Georgetown head coach Ed Cooley did not appreciate how one particular Xavier fan acted toward his college basketball players on Tuesday night. The 55-year-old charged at the man as soon as the clock hit zero.

Although the altercation did not get physical, the Musketeers’ athletic director had to step in and prevent further escalation.

Cooley, one of the most expressive coaches in college basketball, claims his players were being verbally attacked. The alleged harassment took place throughout the entire game. A fan sitting on the baseline near the Hoyas’ bench was the supposed culprit. He did not roll over.

Rather, the Xavier fan chirped right back at Cooley and made sure to give him a piece of his mind — just as the visiting head coach did to him. They both yelled at each other from a short distance but neither party put so much as a finger on the other.

The incident took place right after the final buzzer. Sean Miller went to shake hands with Cooley but Cooley was already gone.

Unfortunately, Fox cut to its next game before the incident reached its conclusion. It is not entirely clear how long it took Ed Cooley to leave the scene or how the Musketeers chose to address the fan’s behavior. Things seemed to be calming down when Fox sent the broadcast to New Mexico. Athletic director Greg Christopher seemed to have it under control.

Cooley issued the following statement, which pointed to the fan’s verbal assault:

He also gave credit to the home crowd during his press conference after the loss.

Georgetown has not issued any kind of punishment for Ed Cooley at this time and does not seem keen on doing so. It likely will not be necessary. No punches were thrown. He did not get physical.

Xavier could chose to reprimand the fan, but he also kept his hands to himself. Moving on…