Iona basketball player Roland Griffin said Friday he was kicked off the team and suspended from the school for punching assistant coach Garfield Johns multiple times following an argument about his schoolwork. Johns was hospitalized with injuries to his face according to the website Stadium.
Griffin told Stadium that he was defending himself in a physical altercation that broke out at an Iona practice in the men’s locker room on Monday. Griffin claimed Johns attempted to wrestle him to the ground after a verbal argument regarding tutoring and he responded in self-defense.
“It was really heated,” Griffin said. “He eventually grabbed me by the jacket and tried to throw me down on the ground physically. We were against the locker, wrestling against the locker. He was grabbing me and holding me.
“He tried to wrestle me down, and I ended up on top. I’m not going to let another man physically do that to me. I punched him four or five times, then I stopped.”
Source: Iona basketball player Roland Griffin off team after punching coach