Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images
When Scotty Pippen Jr. found out 11-seed Vanderbilt was going to play six-seed Alabama in the SEC Tournament, he was overjoyed. In fact, he wasn’t hesitant to share his excitement before the game.
“They’re a very beatable team,” Pippen Jr. said, via AL.com. “They’re a team we wanted to play. We’ll see tomorrow.”
An Alabama assistant didn’t take Pippen’s words lightly. Pippen claimed after Thursday night’s game – which ended in a 82-76 Vanderbilt victory – that an Alabama assistant had a few words for Pippen before the game.
“Before the game, one of the Bama coaches said that you asked for it, so you’re going to get it or something like that,” Pippen said afterward, “so it’s kind of good to get back at him and get the win.”
Alabama head coach Nate Oats is going to get to the bottom of this. When pressed about Pippen’s remarks, Oats said he wasn’t sure about what happened but he’ll be sure to investigate.
“That’s probably not the smartest thing to be doing,” Oats said. “I’ll address that afterwards here. I didn’t know anything about that.”
Nate Oats on Scotty Pippen Jr. saying an #Alabama coach said something to him before the game: “That’s probably not the smartest thing to be doing. I’ll address that afterwards here. I didn’t know anything about that.”
— Charlie Potter (@Charlie_Potter) March 11, 2022
Coaches talking to opposing players is completely unnecessary unless it’s complimentary. Whichever assistant spoke to Scotty Pippen Jr. was out of line.
Pippen got the last laugh, though. The Vanderbilt guard dropped 26 points and dished out seven assists in Vanderbilt’s big win.