Written by Gary Parrish at CBSSports.com
I’m not going to sit here and tell you I know exactly what Grayson Allen was trying to do, or what he even did, when his left leg shot up between Connar Tava’s legs during Duke’s 93-82 win over Boston College on Saturday. The ACC subsequently said “there is nothing conclusive that can be determined”as to whether it was intentional or accidental, and I don’t see how anybody could watch the video and argue convincingly against that statement.
Nobody fell down.
No foul was even called.
Whatever.
But it still turned into a national story, which, of course, is entirely Grayson Allen’s fault. And if the CBS Sports Preseason National Player of the Year didn’t know it before, he has to know it now: Folks are watching his every move.
I’ll be honest: I had Duke-Boston College on television Saturday when the incident occurred, and I didn’t even blink. Perhaps that’s because I was also on social media and not totally focused. Maybe it’s because my eyes are bad. Either way, the point’s the same. I didn’t notice it in real time. And neither did any of the three officials.
But somebody somewhere noticed it.
Then they put it on Twitter.
So here we are.
And this is Grayson Allen’s life now — probably forever. He’s the highest-profile player on the highest-profile team in college basketball, and he has tripped opponents three times in the past year. The third incident resulted in an “indefinite” suspension that was really just a one-game suspension. Which was fine as far as I was concerned because I never felt strongly that tripping was worth much more than that.
But another incident will prove Allen didn’t learn a lesson or can’t help himself. Either way, not good. So if what’s going on with his legs is intentional, it has to stop. And even if it’s unintentional, it also has to stop — meaning if Allen has to consciously make an effort to keep his legs under control, then so be it. Because it is impossible to overstate how big of a favor Connar Tava did for Grayson Allen by not falling down Saturday. Had Tava collapsed, even flopped and collapsed, the game would’ve stopped and people would be calling for Allen to be suspended again.
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