Dooley douses obscenity drama

Early Friday morning, Kansas University basketball assistant coach Joe Dooley apologized publicly for his oral exchange with Nevada’s Nick Fazekas.

Hours later, he phoned Nevada coach Mark Fox and expressed regret for uttering an obscenity while shaking hands with junior power forward Fazekas after the Wolf Pack’s 72-70 victory over KU on Thursday night in Allen Fieldhouse.

Apologies accepted.

“Joe Dooley is a personal friend and a good man. He has apologized to us publicly and privately, and we accepted his apologies,” Fox said Friday night.

“We emphasize that Nick Fazekas was celebrating with a teammate and did not say anything to Joe Dooley. It simply was an emotional moment after a hard-fought game. We wish Kansas the best of luck this season.”

KU (2-3) will meet Western Illinois (2-2) at 7 tonight in Allen Fieldhouse. It will be shown live on channel 38 (Sunflower Broadband channel 15).

Dooley met with athletic director Lew Perkins on Friday, and Perkins said “Joe has been dealt with appropriately,”

Dooley made the phone call to Fox on his own — he was not ordered to do so.

“He (Dooley) has already handled that with coach Fox,” KU coach Bill Self said Friday, responding “no” when asked if Dooley would phone Fazekas.

“Mark also talked to his guys about how that situation maybe could have been handled better,” Self said. “It certainly wasn’t a one-way street, but it was unfortunate that happened. Regardless of the outcome, you should never, ever, ever let it spill over past the final horn.”

Self, who was walking behind Dooley in the hand-shake line, said “he heard what was said. There were some things being said, ‘Good game, good game.’ There were definitely some things being said by some guys on their team (Nevada). I think Joe obviously responded in a way that he shouldn’t. Obviously he’s the adult. Emotion got the best of him.”

Perkins said regardless of whether there was trash talking coming from Fazekas, Chad Bell and others, Dooley was out of line in barking at Fazekas.

“Emotion is no excuse for unprofessionalism,” Perkins said. “He clearly acted inappropriately. He made a mistake, and I admire him for recognizing it immediately and not trying to backpedal.

“He is very apologetic. He feels he embarrassed the whole university, the athletic department, the kids, the whole (KU) family. He’s talked to the people at Nevada. They feel comfortable with his apology and have accepted it. I’ve talked with Joe. As far as I’m concerned, it’s a dead issue. There’s nothing further to do. I feel very, very comfortable, sure this will never happen again.”

Perkins would not say whether he disciplined the coach. “Joe has been dealt with. The embarrassment alone. …” Perkins said. “All of you (media) know Joe Dooley. That’s not Joe Dooley. If you lined up 10 guys and said they’d said that, Joe Dooley would not be on my list.”

Dooley was unavailable for comment besides his statement: “I have great respect for the Nevada team. They played well tonight. I responded in a negative manner to something that was said to me following the game. I certainly apologize to the Nevada program and this is not the manner in which Kansas basketball should be represented.”

¢ More postgame: Cameras also caught Self touching ref Scott Thornley’s hands after the final buzzer, when C.J. Giles’ shot was blocked by Fazekas with no foul called.

“I didn’t grab him in a bad way. I said, ‘Gotta call it, gotta call it,”’ Self said.

Indeed, replays viewed Friday show Self backpedaling in dismay after the no call and inadvertently stumbling into Thornley, who was standing by the scorer’s table. Thornley put his hand on Self’s elbow, almost helping the coach keep his balance.

“He (Self) said, ‘Scott, wasn’t it a foul?’ He wasn’t in his chest,” said Perkins, who saw the exchange. “It was, ‘Scott, before you leave the floor give me a response.’ It was like, ‘Don’t leave me, I need a response’-type thing. I didn’t think it was a huge issue at all. Could it become one? I don’t know.”

¢ Replays: Self watched replays of a pair of controversial plays Friday. First the no-call on the block of Giles to end the game: “I couldn’t tell,” Self said, asked if there was a foul. “I thought during the game he got fouled. After watching the tape I think he (Giles) probably could have gone up stronger. Officials don’t make that call very often. It’s not the officials’ fault we lost the game. We had numerous opportunities.”

Self also viewed the play in which Bell knocked frosh Mario Chalmers into the basketball standard. On the play, Chalmers suffered a sprained right big toe that has him questionable for tonight’s game.

“I thought at the time he deserved to be tossed,” Self said of Bell. “I don’t know if that’s right or not. It was a flagrant foul. What was bad about it, you got a big guy who hit him pretty good.”