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The SEC’s Statement on Nick Weatherspoon’s Injury Falls Short, Much Like its Referees

By Ethan Lee

ST LOUIS, MO - MARCH 09: Lamonte Turner#1 of the Tennessee Volunteers looks to pass the ball while defended by Nick Weatherspoon #0 and Abdul Ado #24 of the Mississippi Bulldogs during the quarterfinals round of the 2018 SEC Basketball Tournament at Scottrade Center on March 9, 2018 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
ST LOUIS, MO - MARCH 09: Lamonte Turner#1 of the Tennessee Volunteers looks to pass the ball while defended by Nick Weatherspoon #0 and Abdul Ado #24 of the Mississippi Bulldogs during the quarterfinals round of the 2018 SEC Basketball Tournament at Scottrade Center on March 9, 2018 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /
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The SEC Releases Statement Regarding Nick Weatherspoon’s Injury

Last night, Mississippi State played in the SEC Tournament against the University of Tennessee. The Bulldogs ultimately lost the game by three points after battling the Vols close all game, but that wasn’t the hardest part of last night.

That would be the devastating injury that Nick Weatherspoon suffered while he was on the floor.

Early in the second half, the younger Weatherspoon brother fell and was apparently injured. Nick was completely defenseless and unable to move. And yet, despite that, the game was not stopped.

The referees in charge of the game did not stop play.

One possession later, as Nick was still unable to move, a couple of players unfortunately crashed into him while he was on the ground. That included Nick having his head and neck accidentally landed on in a horrifying fashion by a Tennessee player.

Again, this all occurred because the officials in the game did not stop the play. They did not stop things to let Nick get off the court as he was clearly unable to move and help himself. The SEC refs’ inaction allowed for those events to unfold.

And that’s a shame. It could have, and should have, been stopped. That injury should not have even occurred.

Now, the SEC has released a statement on the matter.

In this statement, the Southeastern Conference states its concern for Nick and his family. Mark Whitehead, the man in charge of the conference’s officials, then goes on to blame the quick succession of the plays on the court for his referees not stepping in and stopping play.

That’s not good enough.

It falls short of accepting responsibility for the inaction of the Southeastern Conference’s referees that led to Weatherspoon’s injuries. Whitehead acknowledges that his officials didn’t even recognize the fact that Weatherspoon was down. And Mark Whitehead, the SEC’s Coordinator of Officials, for whatever mind boggling reason, doesn’t acknowledge in that same sentence any sort of course of action to prevent anything like this from happening again.

This statement, like the officials in last night’s game, just isn’t good enough.

The SEC must make a better effort to protect its athletes. And when something like this happens, the conference must step forward. The SEC must be proactive about how it’ll help train its officials to be better at keeping the players safer.

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