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Samford coach, official Karl Hess involved in in-game confrontation

Pittsburgh v Maryland

Pittsburgh v Maryland

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Late in the second half of Samford’s 81-72 loss to East Tennessee State on Thursday night, Samford head coach Scott Padgett and longtime official Karl Hess got into a verbal altercation that resulted in Hess charging Padgett and confronting him while he was with his team.

The incident occurred as play was stopped with 1:57 left in regulation. The officials had been reviewing video of a separate confrontation between a Samford player and an ETSU player when Hess, after going back and forth with Padgett, ran up and got directly in his face:

Padgett, according to local reporters, began waving down John Iamarino, the Southern Conference Commissioner that happened to be in the crowd last night. Hess was eventually walked out of the Samford huddle by a Samford player:

“I’ve never seen an official charge a coach,” Padgett said. “I literally said ‘Are you stepping at me right now?’ That’s what I think’s hilarious. It’s not a real world out there because a guy like that stepping at me is not realistic. I mean, if we’re out on the street, he’s running the other way just if he sees me walking. I’m 6-9, probably 280 right now. Not a lot of people step to me.”

“I think it was kind of an unprofessional move.”

Kind of?

Let’s just say there is a reason that Karl Hess no longer works in the ACC and the SEC.