Phil Johnson, San Jose State University men's basketball head coach, was reprimanded today by the university and the Western Athletic Conference for his actions during the February 19 game at the University of Texas El Paso (UTEP). Chuck Bell, director of athletics at San Jose State, and Western Athletic Conference commissioner Karl Benson, made the joint announcement.
"Coach Johnson's verbal confrontation with a UTEP fan clearly violated the WAC's and San Jose State University's sportsmanship code of conduct. While recognizing that the fan's verbal harassment of Coach Johnson throughout the game led to the confrontation, under no circumstances can a coach allow himself to be placed in a situation that jeopardizes the safety of the players and the fans in an arena," said Bell.
Commissioner Benson said, "the WAC and its member institutions take the issue of crowd control and fan behavior very seriously. This incident is once again a reminder that there needs to be a healthy balance between a fan rooting for his team versus a fan rooting against the opposing team. However, this type of behavior cannot be tolerated."
"I was wrong to react to the fan's heckling. I should not have turned around and yelled back at him. I let him get under my skin and that won't happen again," said Johnson.