Loyola coach Jimmy Patsos has a long history of fiery confrontations with officials. But on Tuesday night against Cornell, he demonstrated his new, low-key approach: he climbed into the stands.
Patsos was given a technical foul in the first quarter, but instead of referee John Gaffney issuing it to the bench, he told the scorers’ table, “That’s a Grade A technical foul on Jimmy Patsos.”
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Patsos told reporters: “I really hadn’t done anything in the first place to warrant the technical, and there was no warning. But instead of arguing, I just moved to the other side of the bench and had [assistant] Matt Kovarick call the plays.”
Things got even weirder in the second half when Patsos says Gaffney switched positions with another referee and “yelled at me and my assistants.”
Patsos, out of options to deal with the rogue official, climbed two rows into the stands behind the team’s bench to talk to Loyola athletic director Joe Boylan. “I just told him to calm down,” Boylan told reporters. “As far as I’m concerned, he handled the situation well. He made sure there was no way he would be thrown out of the game.”
Loyola lost the game, 82-72, but Patsos made it to the final buzzer.
“He’s done a remarkable job in a very, very difficult situation,” Boylan told reporters of Patsos, who took over the program after a 1-27 season five years ago. “His passion is the conduit.”
