February 3, 2026
“I’m puzzled and I’m upset about how I used to be violated and handled right this moment,” Benjy Taylor mentioned.
Morehouse Faculty is dealing with fines from the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Convention (SIAC) after a college safety guard handcuffed Tuskegee basketball coach Benjy Taylor following a males’s basketball sport.
Taylor mentioned he was simply asking safety to take away Morehouse soccer gamers from the handshake line following Morehouse’s 77-69 win towards Tuskegee on Saturday, Jan. 31, HBCU Gameday experiences.
Following a short change, video exhibits Taylor being put in handcuffs and led off the court docket at Forbes Enviornment in Atlanta.
“I’m puzzled and I’m upset about how I used to be violated and handled right this moment,” Taylor, who employed a civil rights legal professional after the incident, mentioned in an announcement. “For my gamers, my household and folks of Tuskegee to witness that’s heartbreaking for me. I used to be merely attempting to get the soccer crew out of the handshake line as they have been following proper behind me and the crew yelling obscenities! It was a really harmful scenario.”
Taylor was reportedly launched after the sport and traveled with the crew. Tuskegee athletic director Reginald Ruffin mentioned soccer gamers becoming a member of the road is towards convention coverage.
“Now we have safety measures for our safety of our officers, our scholar athlete coaches, and spectators,” defined Ruffin, who disagreed with the officer’s account that Taylor was appearing aggressively.
A Morehouse spokesperson mentioned the college is conscious of the incident and has launched an inside investigation.
The SIAC, following its personal investigation, mentioned it should nice Morehouse an “undisclosed quantity” and can mandate “corrective measures to make sure full compliance with convention safety insurance policies going ahead.”
In line with SIAC, Morehouse didn’t “fulfill the required safety requirements for a bunch establishment, particularly because it pertains to crowd management and guaranteeing the secure entry and exit of visiting groups and sport members.”
“The SIAC holds its member establishments to the best requirements of sportsmanship, professionalism, and institutional accountability,” SIAC Commissioner Anthony Holloman added. “Our historic establishments are anticipated to supply aggressive environments that prioritize the security, dignity, and mutual respect of student-athletes, coaches, officers, and followers. The convention stays dedicated to upholding these expectations and to making sure that every one SIAC contests are performed in a way in line with our shared values.”
Tuskegee College launched a letter signed by Ruffin and college President Mark A. Brown extending help to Taylor and expressing concern over Morehouse’s safety measures.
“At no time did Coach Taylor interact in conduct that could possibly be characterised as unbecoming, unprofessional, or inconsistent with the requirements of Tuskegee College, the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Convention (SIAC), Morehouse Faculty, or intercollegiate athletics broadly,” the assertion mentioned. “Conversely, the circumstances that culminated in Coach Taylor being handcuffed—albeit briefly—fall nicely exterior the bounds of what’s regular, acceptable, or acceptable in collegiate athletic environments. No coach ought to ever be positioned in such a place for finishing up their obligation to safeguard student-athletes.
“Tuskegee College is deeply involved in regards to the breakdown in established safety procedures that contributed to this incident.”
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