COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The Mountain West Conference, the University of New Mexico and the University of Wyoming have completed a thorough review of the incident that occurred at the 1:10 mark in the second half of the Wyoming at New Mexico men's basketball contest played Tuesday, January 30 in Albuquerque, and have jointly established the following disciplinary actions for the involved parties. In addition to the automatic NCAA penalties, violations of MWC Sportsmanship Rule 4 were also identified and addressed accordingly.
#23 Brandon Ewing, University of Wyoming
• Automatic one-game suspension from next WYO regular-season game due to flagrant technical foul and ejection for fighting (NCAA Rule 10, Section 19, Article 1). To be served Saturday, February 3 (Wyoming at Air Force).
#53 Daniel Faris, University of New Mexico
• Public reprimand due to violation of MWC Sportsmanship Rule Section 4.2.
#15 J.R. Giddens, University of New Mexico
• Public reprimand due to violation of MWC Sportsmanship Rule Section 4.2-(c).
#0 Aaron Johnson, University of New Mexico
• Public reprimand due to violation of MWC Sportsmanship Rule Section 4.2.
#1 Brad Jones, University of Wyoming
• Automatic one-game suspension from next WYO regular-season game due to flagrant technical foul and ejection for fighting (NCAA Rule 10, Section 19, Article 1). To be served Saturday, February 3 (Wyoming at Air Force).
• Additional one-game suspension from subsequent WYO regular-season game due to violations of MWC Sportsmanship Rule Sections 4.2-(a) through (d). To be served Saturday, March 3 (New Mexico at Wyoming).
#24 Darren Prentice, University of New Mexico
• One-game suspension from subsequent UNM regular-season game due to violation of MWC Sportsmanship Rule Section 4.2. To be served Saturday, March 3 (New Mexico at Wyoming).
#10 Jamaal Smith, University of New Mexico
• Automatic one-game suspension from next UNM regular-season game due to flagrant technical foul and ejection for fighting (NCAA Rule 10, Section 19, Article 1). To be served Saturday, February 3 (New Mexico at Colorado State).
• Additional one-game suspension from subsequent UNM regular-season game due to violations of MWC Sportsmanship Rule Sections 4.2-(a) through (d). To be served Saturday, March 3 (New Mexico at Wyoming).
#20 Joseph Taylor, University of Wyoming
• Indefinite suspension by the University of Wyoming from subsequent WYO regular-season games due to violations of institutional guidelines and MWC Sportsmanship Rule Sections 4.2-(a)-(c). Conference to accept institutional sanction. At least one game of the suspension to be served Saturday, March 3 (New Mexico at Wyoming).
Each of the involved student-athletes in now also subject to more stringent penalties under MWC Sportsmanship Rule 4 if they are involved in any future unsporting behavior.
"This altercation was extremely unfortunate, totally unacceptable and reflected negatively on the Conference and the two participating institutions," said Commissioner Craig Thompson. "A swift and forceful response was warranted in this case and I want to thank both UNM Athletics Director Paul Krebs and WYO Athletics Director Tom Burman for their cooperation and for their support of the MWC's sportsmanship standards. I would also like to commend both coaching staffs and the game officials for their efforts at the time of the incident to bring it under control."
The Mountain West Conference will have no further comment regarding this case. The provisions of the MWC Sportsmanship Policy can be found in Rule 4 of the MWC Handbook - which can be accessed via the
www.TheMWC.com