UNC Fan Ejected After Halftime Verbal Exchange With Louisville Coach Rick Pitino

A UNC fan was ejected from the Dean E. Smith Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina on Wednesday following a verbal dispute with Louisville coach Rick Pitino during the Tar Heels’ 74-63 victory over the Cardinals.

UNC Fan Ejected After Altercation with Louisville’s Rick Pitino

Pitino began heading toward the locker-room tunnel past the student section at halftime when a male fan “got in my face and said something I didn’t like,” the 64-year-old coach stated.

“I take it from the students all the time; you expect it from the students. But from an adult? And then to turn his back on me like he’s a coward?” Pitino said. “And he is a coward, but North Carolina is a classy place and he doesn’t speak for the rest of the people.”

According to ESPN’s Maria Taylor, the fan in question shouted, “Pitino, you suck!”

Pitino responded by also angrily yelling at the heckler, and had to be restrained by his coaching staff. Louisville trailed 33-30 at halftime.

Jonathan Jones of Sports Illustrated caught the altercation between the coach and the fan:

Rick Pitino is very displeased with a UNC fan pic.twitter.com/z4bYUuyMw6

— Jonathan Jones (@jjones9) February 23, 2017

Jeff Greer of the Courier-Journal reported on the aftermath of the heated exchange:

U of L support staff just came out with UNC staff and the cops in the corner of the stands where fans/Pitino exchanged words.

— Jeff Greer (@jeffgreer_cj) February 23, 2017

“I’ve always said this is the classiest place in college basketball, until I met a fan on the way out,” Pitino said. “It always reminded me of a class place, but they’re getting just like some of the other places now.”

North Carolina coach Roy Williams wasn’t informed of the incident until after the game and said he apologized to Pitino.

“I don’t like that. We’re North Carolina. We don’t have to be like everybody else,” Williams said. “You can raise Cain, you can boo, but you don’t have to say stuff that we as coaches have to put up with on the road. I hope that never happens again at North Carolina.”

Pitino, a Hall of Famer, has been a college basketball head coach since 1978, including two stints in the NBA. He has long been a polarizing figure, which partly explains Wednesday night’s incident at UNC.

Justin Jackson scored 21 points for the Tar Heels (24-5, 12-3), and Donovan Mitchell also scored 21 for the Cardinals (22-6, 10-5).

Louisville next host Syracuse on Sunday, while UNC will visit Pittsburgh on Saturday.

SYRACUSE, NY – FEBRUARY 18: Head coach Rick Pitino of the Louisville Cardinals calls a play for his team against the Syracuse Orange during the second half at the Carrier Dome on February 18, 2015 in Syracuse, New York. Syracuse defeated Louisville 69-59. (Photo by Rich Barnes/Getty Images)