ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – The Mountain West Conference has reviewed and released a response to the incident that occurred on Saturday, before, during and after Saturday’s UNM vs CSU Men’s Basketball Game. Here is the official response:
The Mountain West has conducted a thorough review of various elements related to the New Mexico at Colorado State men’s basketball game played Saturday, January 14. This has included continuous engagement with both institutions, review of multiple video sources, collection of eyewitness statements, review of officiating reports, and the compilation of various media/social media accounts. The MW has examined all facets of the event – from pregame warm-ups through the postgame confrontation.
A number of conflicting perspectives have emerged and, in some cases, there is no definitive proof as to the responsible party or parties. Unfortunately, as a byproduct of our current electronic media society and immediate news cycle, there have also been inaccurate information and unsubstantiated reports circulated regarding what may or may not have occurred.
What has been determined is the entire incident created an undesirable athletic competition environment, and did not reflect favorably upon either basketball program, either member institution or the Conference. There were a number of errors in judgment throughout the course of the afternoon and poor decisions made by various individuals. Such conduct is unacceptable.
The Colorado State and New Mexico athletic departments have already initiated follow-up conversations with all appropriate parties to address the events of this past Saturday. Those will continue, with the institutions taking corrective measures they deem appropriate and advising the Conference office accordingly.
The Mountain West Board of Directors and Joint Council have been adamant in their emphasis on good sportsmanship and appropriate behavior. Those involved with this most recent incident will be under close scrutiny going forward – as will all Mountain West constituents.
So, the Conference has decided to leave the disciplinary actions to those involved up to the Universities. UNM Athletics released two responses to the findings. One from Athletic Director Paul Krebs, and the other from Assistant Coach Terrence Rencher. Here are those Statements:
Statement from UNM Athletics and Vice President of Athletics Paul Krebs regarding Mountain West findings
“As a follow-up to the Mountain West statement regarding the New Mexico-Colorado State game, we as an athletic department and the men’s basketball program hold ourselves to a high standard on the court, in the community and in the classroom. We are disappointed that some of the actions from Saturday took the focus away from a hard-earned victory on the court.
Some of the reports on the actions of assistant coach Terrence Rencher have been extremely inaccurate. While we are disappointed in the role that coach Rencher played in the situation after the game, the reports of him initiating the confrontation and making light of the tragic situation of Emmanuel Omogbo are simply not true, and this is backed up by video evidence and eye-witness accounts. I have discussed the situation with Coach Rencher, and how he can handle something like this better in the future.
Coach Rencher will receive a letter of reprimand for his role in the incident. We look forward to putting this incident behind us and getting back to playing basketball.”Statement from Assistant Coach Terrence Rencher
“I would like to apologize to my family, UNM, CSU and everyone affected by the incident and I acknowledge my fault in the situation. I should have walked away. The situation could have been diffused and I am very regretful of that momentary lapse in judgement. I don’t know Emmanuel personally but he seems to be a good person and good teammate.”
“I do want to reiterate that I did not instigate the confrontation and that I never once made light of his personal tragedy or made racially derogatory remarks to him. To be painted in that light is truly disappointing to me. Those types of accusations are very hard to recover from and are totally and unequivocally false. I am hopeful that we can all learn from this and move forward.”
There will be no other comments from The University of New Mexico regarding this matter.