Did a Duke player intentionally trip a Clemson player? Explaining controversial call
Accidental, or intentional?
That was the question surrounding a play in Saturday night’s Clemson-Duke men’s basketball game that ended with a Blue Devils player being retroactively whistled for a Flagrant 1 foul at Littlejohn Coliseum.
The first-half incident between Duke forward Kon Knueppel and Clemson guard Jaeden Zackery didn’t directly impact the result of the game, a 77-71 Clemson upset win that snapped No. 2 Duke’s 16-game winning streak.
But the moment drew significant attention from the ESPN broadcasting crew, appeared to anger Blue Devils coach Jon Scheyer and prompted social media chatter during the ACC contest, given Duke basketball’s history with tripping incidents.
Here’s what happened:
With about five minutes remaining in the first half, Zackery was guarding Knueppel and deflected a pass intended for him near the top of the key. Knueppel and Clemson forward Chauncey Wiggins chased the ball into the backcourt and dove toward it.
Knueppel tipped the ball forward a second time as Zackery gave chase and ultimately secured possession, tossing it to a teammate from the ground. Then, as Duke pushed the ball back up court, Zackery (who was standing, bent over) and Knueppel (who was on the floor) got tangled up.
Zackery fell and hit the ground. He immediately gestured toward a nearby ref and indicated Knueppel had tripped him as he tried to get back on defense, replays of the play in the arena and on ESPN showed.
Lead referee Ron Groover let Duke’s next possession play out but stopped the game on the next possession change to review the play for a possible flagrant foul.
Scheyer was visibly upset with the officials for initiating the review, the broadcast showed.
ESPN’s broadcasting crew of play-by-play announcer Dave O’Brien and analysts Corey Alexander and Dick Vitale also covered the moment substantially.
A close-up of the play on the broadcast showed that Zackery’s left leg got trapped between both of Knueppel’s legs as Zackery tried to run back into the play and Knueppel started to get up from the ground.
“Watch Knueppel,” Alexander said. “Does he trip Jaeden Zackery?”
What ESPN analysts said
Fans in Littlejohn Coliseum certainly thought so as replays of the fall played on the arena videoboard. Alexander and Vitale did, too. Both ESPN analysts said they agreed with refs’ decision to assess Knueppel with a Flagrant 1 foul on the play.
“I’ve got one eye, not two like you guys, and I think it’s Flagrant 1,” joked Vitale, 85, who is blind in one eye. “I think it’s Flagrant 1. I really do.”
“I believe you have to call it,” Alexander added.
Groover, the lead ref, announced after a brief review that Knueppel had been called for a Flagrant 1 foul and as a result Zackery would shoot two free throws and Clemson would get possession. Groover didn’t use the word “tripping” or give a specific reason for the flagrant foul.
The NCAA defines a Flagrant 1 foul in basketball as a play that is either “excessive and/or unnecessary,” “not a legitimate play on the ball” or a “hold or push from behind.” A Flagrant 1 foul (unlike a Flagrant 2) doesn’t mean the player is ejected.
The foul was Knueppel’s second of the game. He did not foul out of Duke’s loss but was hampered by foul trouble in the second half after getting called for his fourth (one short of disqualification) with 9:54 remaining and finished with 14 points.
Neither Knueppel nor Zackery spoke to the media postgame. Scheyer was not asked about the play in his postgame news conference, and Clemson coach Brad Brownell said he hadn’t seen the play live in the moment or watched a replay of it.
“I never saw it,” he said. “Haven’t seen anything with it.”
Duke basketball and tripping incidents
Some observers of Saturday’s game on social media quickly made the connection between the Flagrant 1 foul on Knueppel and past incidents with Duke basketball.
Former Duke and current NBA player Grayson Allen was disciplined for tripping opposing players three times across two seasons in 2016 when he played for the Blue Devils, the News & Observer previously reported.
More recently, former UNC player Harrison Ingram also said last season he felt like former Duke player Kyle Filipowski tripped him during a 2024 game. Filipowski said he didn’t intentionally try to trip Ingram and his foot had slipped.
This story was originally published February 9, 2025 at 8:00 AM.
