A plane carrying the Auburn men’s basketball team was diverted just minutes into their scheduled flight to Houston, reportedly due to a physical altercation between two members of the Auburn squad.
Official word from the Auburn communications team has not identified the two players involved however internet sleuths were quick to deduce that the only two players who ultimately didn't make the trip to Houston were Jahki Howard and Ja’Heim Hudson.
The flight was diverted back to Montgomery only seven minutes into the scheduled trip and conversations with air traffic control revealed the cause.
After requesting clearance for an emergency landing back at Montgomery Regional Airport, the pilot was asked by air traffic control what the issue was to which the pilot responded, “We have a bunch of basketball players fighting.”
Minutes later the pilot gave another update saying, “The flight deck is secure. The threat is contained for the moment, we just had - we’ll have police on the ground, and we had two players that got into a physical altercation, clothes were ripped.”
Ultimately, the two unnamed players were taken off the plane as corroborated by the Auburn Police Department and the plane eventually took the rest of the Auburn team to their scheduled matchup against No. 4 Houston in which the Tigers won 74-69.
In the aftermath of the victory, head coach Bruce Pearl chose to speak positively about the game, what that means for his team and their season. However, a few ears perked up at the end of his press conference when Pearl gave the quip, “This is gonna be one happy ride home.”
Another Auburn player, Dylan Cardwell, appeared to comment on the plane debacle following Saturday night's big win saying, “When you lock a bunch of dogs on a plane what do you expect to happen?”
Since Coach Pearl clearly decided not to take the opportunity to teach these children a lesson in maturity and professionalism let me.
What we expect, Mr. Cardwell, is for your basketball team to be able to make an hour-and-a-half flight to Houston without going full UFC on your privately chartered flight.
Tens of thousands of athletes ride buses or Spirit economy flights in order to play the game you all love without incident. Here’s what we expect, for those blessed enough to be coddled and pampered to play a child's game, act like a freaking professional.
