Arkansas AD Says There Was No 'Malicious Intent' When Assistant Coach Grabbed Reporter's Phone

NASHVILLE -- Arkansas athletic director Hunter Yurachek has responded to the incident on Friday night involving an assistant basketball coach.

ARKANSAS ASSISTANT GRABS REPORTERS PHONE, THROWS IT TO THE GROUND FOLLOWING LOSS

Following the loss to Texas A&M in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals, Razorbacks director of internal operations Riley Hall grabbed a reporter’s phone and threw it to the ground. Arkansas coaches were heading towards the locker room and reporter Jack Weaver was recording the coaches coming off the court.

Weaver works for the Kentucky Kernel, an independent student newspaper for Kentucky.

Arkansas AD Hunter Yurachek responded to OutKick on Saturday afternoon, after asking the school for comment on Friday night, detailing a conversation he had with the assistant, Riley Hall.

“I have visited with Riley Hall, a member of our men’s basketball support staff, and others who personally observed an interaction between Mr. Hall and a reporter following our game Friday night at the SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament. During our conversation, Mr. Hall expressed his regret that while leaving the floor his engagement inadvertently resulted in knocking the reporter’s cell phone from his hand. While, based on our discussion, I do not believe there was malicious intent, I have addressed the issue with Mr. Hall and he agrees his actions were not appropriate or reflective of our program. On behalf of Mr. Hall and our program, I want to offer an apology to the reporter impacted by these actions.”

Head coach Eric Musselman of the Arkansas Razorbacks. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

This area is open for reporters, meaning there was zero reason for the assistant to act like he did. Also, Weaver did not look to be intimidating the coaching staff in any way. 

I don't know if I would classify this as not 'malicious intent', but this is how Arkansas is presenting it. What it does not say in this statement is if the school or the coach reached out to the reporter.