Should Baylor’s Rico Gathers be suspended?

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You Fanatics often times poke fun at me for the man-crush I have on Baylor’s football and men’s basketball programs, but even a shill like me can look at the following and know that it isn’t a good look. 

That’s Baylor’s 6-foot-8, 275-pound big man Rico Gathers cheap-shotting Texas Tech’s Justin Gray at the tail end of an 84-66 loss to the Red Raiders. Here’s a still image. 

Gathers is averaging 12.4 points and 10.2 rebounds per game this season for the Bears, who are 18-7 (7-5) heading into Tuesday night’s 8 p.m. (ESPN2) tip vs. the Cyclones. The big man struggled to four points in five rebounds when the Bears upset Iowa State in Hilton Coliseum on Jan. 9. 

I’ve gotten the following question a lot over the last 24 hours: Will Gathers be suspended for Tuesday night’s game vs. the Cyclones? 

It’s up to the Big 12 commish. Here are the actual rules. 

The following apply to situations in which a fight has been reported by an official during his jurisdiction. When a fight is not reported by an official, the conference or assigning authority may invoke its own penalty. For the rules on suspensions for fighting see Rule 10-5.

1. The official shall inform the offender(s), the head coach and the official scorer that an ejection for fighting has occurred (the official scorer shall note this in the scorebook). 2. After the game, the referee shall contact the coordinator of officials/ assignor for the game and report all ejection(s) for fighting.

3. The coordinator of officials/assignor shall report the ejection(s) for fighting to the conference commissioner or, if the offender is from an independent institution, to that team’s athletics director. 

4. The conference commissioner shall call and follow up in writing to the following people: a. The athletics director of the team whose individual(s) was involved; and b. When the opponent’s individual(s) was ejected for fighting, that team’s conference commissioner or, when that school is an independent institution, that team’s athletics director. 

5. Fight-reporting procedures should be handled quickly since the long-term participation of the offender(s) shall be affected by a second fight. 

6. Related considerations: a. The head coach should withhold the offender(s) from the next scheduled game even if the conference or athletics director has not contacted him or her. b. Institutional and conference policy dictates whether a suspended individual shall be permitted to attend a game from which he or she is suspended. If the individual(s) attends the game, he or she shall not be in the team’s bench area. c. After a game, conference offices or the assigning authority may correct an error about who was involved in a fight but can neither change an official’s ruling that a fight took place nor lessen the severity of the penalty. 

Paint it any way you want though. That was a cheap shot.