Arizona athletic director Dave Heeke has responded to a viral video of Benn Mathurin appearing to touch a TCU cheerleader.
Mathurin went mega-viral after he appeared to possibly touch a TCU cheerleader following the Wildcats beating the Horned Frogs in the second round. (RELATED: David Hookstead Is The True King In The North When It Comes To College Football)
Did A College Basketball Star Touch An Opposing Cheerleader? https://t.co/ItJHYkg2hs
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) March 21, 2022
In my opinion, the contact – if there was any – appeared to be completely accidental given the fact Mathurin wasn’t even looking at the cheerleader.
You can watch the video of the situation below and decide for yourself.
Does Arizona’s #Mathurin usually celebrate wins like this? pic.twitter.com/tXUTOTPW6h
— Andrew (@Andrew24276927) March 21, 2022
Heeke told ESPN the following about the situation:
Shortly after returning to Tucson, I was notified that people on social media were claiming a video clip showed Bennedict Mathurin may have made physical contact with a TCU student while walking off the court. I have reached out to TCU’s Athletics Department and I spoke with Bennedict. While he does not recall any contact, he has attempted to reach out to the TCU student through their Athletic Department to apologize.
Outside of this statement and possibly a private conversation between Mathurin and the cheerleader, I’m not sure what else people want to happen.
Again, in my humble opinion, it looked like a complete accident if contact was made. He wasn’t looking at her and had both of his arms out as he left the court following the win.
Arizona Wins After The Refs Make One Of The Worst Mistakes In The History Of Basketball https://t.co/wWuRytMHTJ
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) March 21, 2022
Now, does that mean he shouldn’t apologize to the young woman if contact was made? He definitely still should. Just because it was an accident doesn’t mean a brief conversation shouldn’t take place.
Having said that, the idea that we should rip this young man to shreds if it was truly an accident is a bit extreme.
Hey @MarchMadnessMBB @ArizonaMBB why did Benedict Mathurin have to touch a @TCU cheerleader in the breast? pic.twitter.com/4qe9rP7Oqx
— SportsFanatic (@GivingMyOpinion) March 21, 2022
Let us know in the comments how you think it should be handled.