However, ESPN personality and former Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg claims he spoke to the referee after the strange scene in which Hurley appears to intimidate Ayers.<\/p>\n
![\"Dan](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/dan-hurley-referee.png\")
Dan Hurley goes forehead to forehead with Roger Ayers. <\/p>\n
\u201cFirst of all, Roger Ayers is the best official in all of college basketball,\u201d Greenberg, who coached the Hokies from 2003-\u201912, said on \u201cSportsCenter\u201d\u00a0to ESPN anchor Matt Barrie. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a tremendous communicator. And he refereed a ton of my games. There were games he put his arm around me, walked me back to my bench. There were times where he said, \u2018Seth, that\u2019s enough.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Ayers, through Greenberg, claims that his interaction with Hurley was nothing more than a competitor reacting in a moment. <\/p>\n
\u201cBut that situation right there, that is absolutely nothing,\u201d Greenberg said. \u201cI talked to Roger today. He said, \u2018What are you talking about?\u2019 He literally didn\u2019t know what I was talking about. He said, \u2018Nothing happened. The ball went in. I was running back. They were celebrating. Danny leaned in and said something to me. I said something to him. It was absolutely nothing.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Seth Greenberg: “I talked to [Roger Ayers]\u2026 He said, ‘What are you talking about?’ He literally didn’t know what I was talking about. He said, ‘Nothing happened’\u2026 That was social media trying to create something out of nothing because of Dan Hurley’s ‘allegedly’ reputation.” pic.twitter.com\/hsmp0AixR4<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 30, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n The emotions were certainly running high as UConn battled back against Duke after being down by as much as 19 points in the first half.<\/p>\n The Huskies showed serious resilience and stole a victory from the jaws of defeat to advance to the Final Four. <\/p>\n \u201cI spoke to Dan as well,\u201d Greenberg said. \u201cAnd Dan said he didn\u2019t understand what was going on. He has so much respect with Roger. He\u2019s never had a problem with him.\u201d<\/p>\n Hurley\u2019s interaction with the referee has been getting loads of steam online, as many believe he should have been assessed a technical foul for his antics, where he made contact with a game official.<\/p>\n A technical foul would have given Duke two free throws with .3 seconds remaining and could have turned the fate of the game, while also sparking a major controversy. <\/p>\n But it instead became an afterthought for the result, as Duke\u2019s full-court Hail Mary heave was knocked away by the Huskies, who move on to face Illinois in the Final Four for the right to play the winner of Arizona vs. Michigan on Saturday.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Duke coach Jon Scheyer picks up the pieces<\/a> for the Blue Devils after criticism for imploring freshman Cayden Boozer<\/a> to push the ball up the floor on the game\u2019s final possession, which led to a turnover and a Mullins 3-pointer to win it.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/dan-hurley-referee-forehead.png\")
Longtime ocllege basketball coach Seth Greenberg claims he spoke to referee Roger Ayers. <\/p>\n