Good luck with that.
In a perfect world, perhaps -- and if it's established that the fan used a racist epithet, I'd be all for Tech 86'ing him from their arena permanently. But Smart's behavior cannot be condoned, no matter what the fan said. Thousands of college basketball players have put up with fan nonsense and not lost their cool, and you can rest assured that many of the remarks shouted over the years have been offensive in one way or another.
But how many college players have gone up in the stands and attacked one of those fans?
Again, I have no defense of the fan if he crossed a line, but there's no defending Smart's behavior either.
Totally agree. Smart deserves a suspension as well as the fan. Lose the fan's tickets.
As far as college players getting into fan's faces, surely, Skyvue you remember Art Heyman at Duke, early 60s? Fiesty, Jewish ball player getting worked over by fans and players all through the South. Here's a piece of Wiki:
Heyman, who was Jewish, was born in New York City. After attending Oceanside High School in Nassau County, New York, the 6'5" guard/forward was heavily recruited by many schools, and originally signed a letter of intent to play for the North Carolina Tar Heels. At the last moment, however, Heyman changed his mind and agreed to play for the Tar Heels' greatest rivals, the Duke Blue Devils.
Due to NCAA eligibility rules that prohibited freshmen from playing varsity sports, Heyman played his first year at Duke with the Freshman team, which compiled a record of 10–5, including three victories over the Tar Heels. During one of the Duke-North Carolina freshman games, North Carolina freshman Dieter Krause attacked Heyman, leading to a melee where the two coaches had to be restrained from attacking each other. Heyman needed five stitches after the attack.
During his sophomore season, Heyman starred for the varsity team, and North Carolina and Duke again were at each other's throats. On February 4, 1961, the Duke and North Carolina Freshman teams had played the first game of the double header. There were multiple fights during the game, and North Carolina had finished the game with only three players on the floor (five North Carolina players had fouled out, and three more had been ejected for fighting). During the varsity game that night, Heyman was involved in two incidents, where he first pushed over a fan who he thought was attacking him, and then in the closing minutes of the game, while trying to protect a slim Duke lead, Heyman committed a hard foul against future Hall of Fame coach Larry Brown who was attempting to drive to the hoop. Brown threw the ball and then a punch at Heyman, touching off a general melee, which saw future basketball executive Donnie Walsh, then a substitute player for North Carolina, also attack Heyman. The melee lasted about ten minutes, and despite Heyman being ejected for fighting, his 36 points had given Duke the victory, 81–77.
Brown, Walsh and Heyman were all suspended for the remainder of the ACC season. Heyman was allowed to play in non-conference games, and the ACC Tournament. However, Duke failed to make the postseason, despite Heyman being voted the tournament's outstanding player, losing the ACC Tournament final to the Wake Forest Demon Deacons, 96–81. At the time, only the league champion was admitted to the NCAA Tournament, and league rules prohibited ACC teams from playing in the NIT Tournament. Heyman finished the season averaging 25 points and nearly 11 rebounds per game, and despite his suspension, Heyman was voted to the All-ACC basketball first team. He also won numerous national plaudits, being named to the UPI and AP Third-Team All American squad.
