Iona senior forward Roland Griffin said he was kicked off the team after a physical altercation in which he punched an assistant coach earlier in the week.
Griffin told Stadium in a story published Friday that he punched assistant coach Garfield “Ricky” Johns multiple times Monday morning but said he did so in self-defense after Johns “tried to wrestle me down” after a face-to-face verbal confrontation in the locker room.
According to Stadium’s Jeff Goodman, Griffin said he punched Johns in self-defense after the coach grabbed him in the locker room:
“We got in each other’s face. It was really heated. He eventually grabbed me by the jacket and tried to throw me down on the ground physically. We were against the locker, wrestling against the locker. He was grabbing me and holding me.
Top Player kicked off team for fight with coach that lands assistant in hospital. @WatchStadium Exclusive: https://t.co/nCQ7dQ4j50
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) October 26, 2018
Griffin said the altercation happened Monday after Johns told him to go to study hall and began yelling at him even though he wasn’t scheduled for study hall that day.
Griffin and his mother reportedly filed a police report Friday. According to Stadium, the university hasn’t taken any disciplinary action against Johns.