Seton Hall’s Herb Pope once had a promising career ahead of him after being one of the most sought after HS recruits in the nation after the ’07 season. But because of a number of off the court issues, he had to settle on New Mexico State. After being forced to sit out last year due to transferring to Seton Hall, the 6’8 forward excelled this season and was a beast down low, averaging 11.5 ppg, 10.7 rebs, and nearly 2 blocks per game for the under-achieving Pirates this season.
Although both Pope and Seton Hall had a decent season at 19-13 overall, and 9-9 in the tough Big East, they missed the NCAA Tournament, and accepted an invitation to the NIT. To make a long story short, the Pirates lost to Texas Tech 87-69, in part because of an altercation between Pope and Texas Tech big man, Darko(don’t call me Milicic) Cohadarevia.
You see, Pope decided it was a good idea to wind up and punch the Red Raider player not once, but twice in the…..(er) nether-regions. Surely, you get my drift. Pope was ejected as coach Bobby Gonzalez was given his 7th technical foul of the season. Gonzalez was seen patting Pope on the back as he left the bench and was sent to the showers.
Surely, not purely based on this incident, Gonzalez was relieved of his duties as coach, the following day. Word from Seton Hall’s president claimed that Gonzalez was let go because he didn’t approve of “conduct associated with the program.” The former coach recently threw a player off the team this past weekend over another disagreement.
Anyhow, who says that the NIT isn’t worth watching! In any case, use this video as proof of how not to act as a student athlete. (As a heads up, Pope is near the top of the screen in the beginning of the video.)
Thanks to Chris Chase at the Dagger.
Allen Moll is an avid NBA and College Basketball fan who watches and studies games religiously and coaches youth basketball in his native Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. Allen is a regular columnist for thehoopdoctors.com, Bleacherreport.com, UpperDeckblog.com, and his own site, Hoops Haven.
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