Last week, a flight transporting the Auburn men’s basketball team turned around during a flight to Houston because two players reportedly got into a fight.
Audio obtained by WBRC appears to show the pilot saying it was a “physical altercation” that resulted in one “bloodied player” and clothes being ripped off.
The pilot turned the flight around to Auburn and had the “sheriff or police” waiting for its return, according to audio obtained by WMBA.
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Auburn Tigers head coach Bruce Pearl takes the court as Auburn takes on the Kent State Golden Flashes at Neville Arena in Auburn, Ala., Saturday, Nov. 13, 2024. (Imagn)
Head coach Bruce Pearl was asked during a recent appearance on OutKick’s “Don’t @ Me With Dan Dakich” about his message to the team after the flight got turned around.
“Well, look, (the message was), ‘You guys take a level of responsibility and accountability and learn from things.’ But our focus was on our trip. Our focus was preparing for Houston. And, unfortunately, we missed a community service event that we would have liked to be able to get to, and we got in a little late that night,” Pearl said.
But you have things that happen adversely in travel sometimes or just in preparation and just tried to keep the kids focused and let’s take the guys that are going down there and let’s play some great basketball. Let’s see how good we are right now, because certainly we all knew we were going to face a daunting task of trying to (beat) Houston in Houston.”
AUBURN BASKETBALL FIGHT ONBOARD FLIGHT RESULTS IN BLOODIED PLAYER, RIPPED CLOTHES: REPORT
Auburn Tigers head coach Bruce Pearl talks with his team during a game against the Vermont Catamounts at Neville Arena in Auburn, Ala., Nov. 6, 2024. (Imagn)
Despite the altercation on the plane, No. 11-ranked Auburn eventually made it to Houston and pulled off the upset, taking down the No. 4-ranked Cougars, 74-69.
While the Tigers were able to pull off the win, the fallout from the flight is not over.
“You understand how these things work, at least at this point. You know, I got be limited in what I say. Look, it was an unfortunate incident, and we’re dealing with it head-on. And it’ll be playing itself out here shortly,” Pearl said.
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Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl speaks during SEC Media Day at the Grand Bohemian Hotel in Mountain Brook Oct. 15, 2024. (Imagn)
Auburn is 3-0 on the season and faces North Alabama Nov. 18.
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