At halftime of the Atlantic Coast Conference men’s basketball semifinal game over the weekend, Clemson trailed the University of Louisville. They planned to use halftime as a much-needed time to refocus. However, the Tigers were surprised to find themselves locked out of the team locker room at Spectrum Center in Charlotte, N.C.
According to TRIB Live, the Clemson settled in on the cement floor outside the locker room for their half time meeting while security scrambled to unlock the door. A task that ultimately took all of halftime. As a result, the ACC granted a two-minute extension to half time for the Tigers.
An ACC spokesperson told TRIB Live, “It’s unclear how the door, which locks from the inside, wound up getting locked. The conference posts a security guard outside every locker room for every game, and there had never been any incidents reported before.”
After the final buzzer, in which the Tigers ultimately fell short of the victory, head coach Brad Brownell said, “It’s disappointing, obviously,” in reference to the team’s locker room fiasco.
Brownell also mentioned speaking with Bryan Kersey, “the officials’ coordinator, and expressed my displeasure on a few things, but those are in the past now. We need to look forward to the NCAA Tournament.”
According to The Clemson Insider, ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips reached out to Brownell after the incident to apologize for the mix-up. The ACC has not made that statement public at this time and it remains unclear what led to the locked locker room.
