ACC levies suspension for Clemson guard Collins following flagrant 2 foul against Duke
Clemson guard David Collins has been suspended for one game, the ACC announced on Friday.
The suspension was levied due to Collins’ flagrant 2 foul on Duke forward Wendell Moore during the Tigers’ home game against the Blue Devils on Thursday night. With around three minutes left in the first half, Moore tracked down a loose ball after Collins turned it over and went for the fastbreak dunk. Collins wasn’t too far behind and put his elbow into Moore as he was coming down. Both players fell to the ground, but a loud thud echoed in Littlejohn Coliseum when Moore landed on his left arm out of bounds.
Moore stayed on the ground for a few minutes then got up and walked off the court under his own power. Tensions flared as both coaching staffs had to be separated by the referees. Collins walked over to the Duke bench and apologized to Moore during the video review, which Clemson coach Brad Brownell called a teaching moment, then on Instagram after he was ejected.
After the game, Moore took to Twitter and said he was ok. He finished the game with eight points, eight assists and four rebounds. His eight assists without a turnover were the most against Clemson in 51 games, per former Tigers SID Tim Bourret.
Collins took to Instagram again Friday afternoon, further explaining the ordeal and maintaining he didn’t have malicious intents.
“I decided when Wendell took the ball from me that I was going to chase him down to go up with him,” he wrote. “I wasn’t going to stop. I predetermined what I was going to do and I wasn’t going to give up on the play. I put both of us in trouble and as a competitor I’m supposed to know when I need to let it go. I was motivated by pride and just wanting to make up for what I did. ... I would never try to take a dream or the game from anybody else cause I know what basketball can do for people. Everybody in my circl wanted me to no longer say anything but I felt I had to say something.”
With Collins out for the next contest, Clemson is down two starters after Hunter Tyson broke his clavicle against Florida State on Feb. 2. The Tigers, who have lost three straight games, play Notre Dame at 7 p.m. Saturday then go to Florida State on Tuesday.
This story was originally published February 11, 2022 at 2:31 PM.
