Don’t believe I have ever defended KU. Despise them with every once of my being. That being said, I don’t let my hatred for them change my opinion on a clear flagrant foul by the TCU player. Most on this board don’t understand the F1 rule. I read this from Seth Davis this morning. The accouncers were wrong.
I know a lot of people were upset that Kansas was able to escape TCU on Saturday — courtesy of a late flagrant 1 foul called on Horned Frogs center Ernest Udeh, who ironically is a former Jayhawk. But the call was correct.
The biggest mistake a lot of people make — and I am including game broadcasters here — is they look at a replay and say, “That was not done on purpose, so it should not be a flagrant foul.” If contact is made above the shoulders, then it doesn’t matter whether the player was struck on purpose. Referees are not in the mind-reading business. By rule, a player who strikes an opponent above the shoulders is essentially guilty until proven innocent. Unless it was 100% a strict basketball play, then the refs will almost always rule it a flagrant 1.
In this case, Udeh was attempting to clear out space as he was gathering the rebound. Hunter Dickinson was standing behind him. I don’t think he meant to hit Hunter Dickinson in the choppers, but again, it doesn’t matter. If Udeh had made the same motion with his arm and hit Dickinson in the arm or chest, then play on. But he popped Dickinson in the jaw, which forced the refs to make the call they are trained to make.