Iona Basketball Player Kicked off Team For Punching Coach

By Brendan Ricucci

On Friday, October 26th, Iona basketball player, Roland Griffin was kicked off the team and suspended from school for punching assistant coach Garfield Johns on Monday the 22nd.   

Griffin insisted that he only threw punches because Johns started the brawl. He explained how Johns tried to wrestle him to the ground over an argument. Griffin explained he thought he had to do what he did to defend himself. The fight was said to be started over school work.

Griffin went into detail on the fight, stating, “It was really heated. He eventually grabbed me by the jacket and tried to throw me down on the ground physically. We were against the locker, wrestling against the locker. He was grabbing me and holding me, I’m not going to let another man physically do that to me. I punched him four or five times, then I stopped.”

Johns was taken to a local hospital due to the damage on his face.

Junior, Aidan Cooney stated  he would attack a coach if the coach was attacking him first,“I would if he was aggressive.”

However when another 11th grader, Brock Layden, had a different response, “No, I would push him off but by no means fight as I wanna keep a good relationship with my coach.”

It’s apparent everyone may have an opinion this subject but the only opinion that mattered was the school’s.

The University of Iona told Griffin that he was suspended from campus activities through the end of May 2020. This means he will be done for the this season and likely the rest of his career.

Griffin who stands at six foot seven, averaged 11.2 points and 5.2 rebounds per game last season for the Gaels. Griffin is still listed on the roster on the team website.

Griffin is probably wishing he could alter time at this point.