Kevin Keatts on Micah Shrewsberry going after official after loss to Cal: 'The behavior is unacceptable'

ESPN’s Seth Greenberg and Kevin Keatts were not fans of Notre Dame head coach Micah Shrewsberry going after an official Friday night. In the Irish’s 72-71 loss to Cal on the road, Shrewsberry was irate about a foul call that reversed twice and eventually in Cal’s favor.

Ultimately, Notre Dame lost on a four-point play and could not hit their final shot. Shrewsberry immediately marched after a referee and had to be held back.

Greenberg and Keatts reprimanded the head coach. Although, it wasn’t as harsh as the ACC did Saturday.

“Coach Shrewsbury, his reaction, look, we’ve all been there. We’ve lost tough games. But as a leader, as the head coach, you’ve got to be better than that,” Greenberg said. “I’m a big coach Shrewsbury fan, but his reaction, obviously pure emotion.”

Keatts added on and said it was unacceptable behavior from Shrewsberry. The Notre Dame coach eventually released a statement of apology the day after he was not available to reporters, and not requested, Friday night.

“I thought he overreacted a little bit. It’s a tough situation,” Keatts said. “He has the opportunity to win the game. He’s trying to foul to go to the free throw line, he doesn’t get the foul. He wanted to have time, but the behavior is unacceptable. You got to walk it off.”

Cal’s Dai Dai Ames nailed a three-pointer with 5.5 seconds left and was fouled in the process, giving him a chance at a four-point play which he made, and it gave Cal a 72-71 lead. But before the free throw, officials reversed the call, not counting the bucket.

Then, as to why Shrewsberry was heated, officials reversed their reversal, counting Ames’ basket. Once he made the free throw, Notre Dame had just 2.4 seconds left for a game-winning shot, which didn’t happen. The Notre Dame head coach lost it.

“I want to apologize for what took place immediately after the Cal game last night,” Shrewsberry said. “My actions were inappropriate and not symbolic of the leader I strive to be and what Notre Dame expects of its coaches and educators. I will learn from this lack of judgement and be better in the future. I want to apologize to our team, our University and its leaders, to Coach Madsen and his team, and to the ACC, as my actions were unacceptable.”

Shrewsberry is 38-43 (16-26 ACC) as the head coach at Notre Dame, and he’s 75-73 as a head coach including two seasons at Penn State. So, it appears we’ll all have to wait to hear his thoughts on the incident and whether there will be any follow up to the behavior.

Notre Dame is now 10-5 on the season and will return to action on January 10th at home against Clemson. It’s set for a 6:00 p.m. ET tipoff.