Arkansas AD Hunter Yurachek responds to incident between men's basketball staffer, Kentucky student reporter

After Friday’s loss in the SEC Tournament, a member of the Arkansas coaching staff knocked a Kentucky student reporter’s phone out of his hand as he walked off the court. Saturday afternoon, Razorbacks athletic director Hunter Yurachek responded.

The incident took place as head coach Eric Musselman walked off the court. The reporter, Kentucky Kernel photo editor Jack Weaver, was taking video when director of internal operations Riley Hall knocked the phone out of the reporter’s hand. Shortly after, the Kernel released a statement regarding the situation.

Less than 24 hours later, Yurachek tweeted a statement of his own addressing the incident and apologizing to Weaver. He also confirmed he spoke with Hall, who joined Arkansas’ staff in 2016.

“I have visited with Riley Hall, a member of our men’s basketball support staff, and others who personally observed an interaction between Mr. Hall and a reporter following our game Friday night at the SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament,” Yurachek stated. “During our conversation, Mr. Hall expressed his regret that while leaving the floor his engagement inadvertently resulted in knocking the reporter’s cell phone from his hand. While, based on our discussion, I do not believe there was malicious intent, I have addressed the issue with Mr. Hall and he agrees his actions were not appropriate or reflective of our program.

“On behalf of Mr. Hall and our program, I want to offer an apology to the reporter impacted by these actions.”

On his way way off the floor and heading toward the locker room, Musselman reportedly let fly a series of F-bombs, according to Weaver. But right as Musselman left the floor, Hall knocked Weaver’s phone from his hands.

Arkansas head coach Eric Musselman left the court in a rage of f-bombs after losing to Texas A&M in the #SECMBB Tournament. His assistant then grabbed my phone and threw it at the ground. @KYKernelSports pic.twitter.com/xRiX7O7dAN

— Jack Weaver (@jack_weaver_) March 11, 2023

Arkansas was playing in the third game of the day at the SEC Tournament, the intro to the night session. The Razorbacks made it to the meeting with the Aggies by beating Auburn on Thursday night.