Pac-12 issues public reprimand to Oregon State’s Scott Rueck for comments about officiating

The Pac-12 issued the following release Friday morning:

Oregon State University head coach Scott Rueck has been reprimanded by the Pac-12 Conference for public comments made about women’s basketball officiating, Commissioner Larry Scott announced today.

Rueck was reprimanded for comments made to the media in a postgame press conference that called into question the officiating during Oregon State’s game versus Arizona on [Sunday], Feb. 9.

“The Pac-12 membership has established rules that prohibit our coaches from publicly commenting about officiating,” stated Scott. “We have an obligation to our members to enforce approved Conference rules. As a part of our officiating program, there is a protocol in place for our coaches to provide feedback directly to the coordinator of officials.”

Arizona won the game, 65-58, earning the program’s first win over a top-10 team on the road.

On Wednesday, Arizona State head coach Charli Turner Thorne also criticized Rueck for comments he made about the Sun Devils prior to a matchup between the two teams on Friday according to the Arizona Republic:

Last week, before ASU’s game at Oregon State, Beavers’ coach Scott Rueck said in an interview that the Sun Devils “play football, that’s what they do. It’s an absolute bloodbath when you play them.

“You either rise to it and play tougher than them and harder than them or they push you around.”

“It was incredibly disrespectful and insulting to our team,” Turner Thorne said in comments to the newspaper. “We did contact their administration. We’re in your own conference.