ESPN’s Seth Greenberg lambasted Notre Dame head coach Micah Shrewsberry for his actions during Friday night’s game between Notre Dame and Cal. Following the Irish’s 72-71 loss, Shrewsberry charged at officials leaving the court while being held back by his staff.

Shrewsberry was fired up about a controversial foul call which gave Cal‘s Dai Dai Ames a four-point play with five seconds left, which propelled the Golden Bears ahead by one. As soon as Micah’s son, Braeden, missed a three-pointer at the buzzer, Shrewsberry made a run at the referees.

“Micah Shrewsberry‘s a good human being, a terrific basketball coach, and a good leader,” Greenberg said during Saturday’s game between LSU and Texas A&M. “Having said that, his behavior (was) unacceptable, and if that happened during the course of a game, he would have been thrown out of the game. If it happens after the game, in my opinion — and look, I had many out-of-body experiences and I’ve done a lot of things that I regret now, looking back, you know, through that tunnel.”

“But I am shocked that the league didn’t give him a one-game suspension, because you have to send a message. Because, if not, the next time this same type of incident happens, you’re not gonna be able to suspend that guy either. So you’ve got to set a precedent. The precedent that the league has set is you behave this way, we’re going to reprimand you. We are not going to give you a suspension, which, I think, is going to be tough for the officials.”

Micah Shrewsberry issues public apology in fallout of situation

Saturday morning, the Atlantic Coast Conference issued its punishment to Shrewsberry. Instead of handing down a suspension of any kind, however, it demanded a public apology from the Notre Dame head coach.

“The Atlantic Coast Conference has issued a public reprimand of Notre Dame men’s basketball head coach Micah Shrewsberry for violating the ACC Sportsmanship Policy following Notre Dame’s game against California on Friday, January 2,” the conference wrote in a statement.
 
“Shrewsberry aggressively confronted a member of the officiating crew following the game. The unsportsmanlike behavior that was displayed is unacceptable and tarnishes the on-court play between these institutions. The ACC considers this matter closed and will have no further comment.”

Shrewsberry’s statement was released soon after. Instead of appealing a suspension, he will now begin preparing his team for next Saturday’s game against Clemson.

“I want to apologize for what took place immediately after the Cal game last night,” the statement read. “My actions were inappropriate and not symbolic of the leader I strive to be and what Notre Dame expects of its coaches and educators. I will learn from this lack of judgement and be better in the future. I want to apologize to our team, our University and its leaders, to Coach (Mark) Madsen and his team, and to the ACC, as my actions were unacceptable.”