High School Coaches Want Focus On Kids, Not OSU Coach Ejection

The OSU head basketball apologized after being ejected from his son's high school basketball game Thursday night.

We were told the reasons behind his ejection were debatable, but it's still not a good look.

Travis Ford addressed the situation that led to his ejection from his son's high school game in Bixby, releasing a statement saying, in part:

“While people can debate whether my comments to a referee during a high school game involving my son warranted being asked to leave the building, as Mike Holder and I discussed this morning, there is no question I should have exercised better judgement in not publicly expressing my feelings. I regret the situation, and apologize for the unfortunate and unwanted distraction it has caused."

Several eyewitnesses said the referee had his back to the section at the game Thursday night when he heard the comment, turned around and called Ford by name, and said “You're out of here.”

Ford being kicked out of the game is getting a lot of attention, but the coaches said there's more to it.

12/11/2015 Related Story: OSU Basketball Coach Booted From Son's High School Game In Bixby

Both coaches from the game said the situation started with three words, "Blow your whistle." The story exploded online, and now they want to set the record straight.

"What's really sad about this, this tournament is about the basketball kids playing and not about Coach Ford. Just so happens Coach Ford's son plays for us," said Stillwater head coach, Michael Davis.

Davis said during the matchup with the Bartlesville Bruins the crowd was lively, with someone constantly yelling, but it wasn't Ford.

"If you're really locked in and focused on the game you don't hear that anyhow," he said.

When the crowd got quiet, he said Ford did say, "Blow your whistle," and that's when, he said the ref kicked Ford out.

Davis said, "It was really odd. I never seen it happen, and I've been coaching for 23 years."

"I turned around when the ref said, ‘You, you're out of here.’ I didn't even know Coach Ford was in the gym,” said Bartlesville head coach, Clent Stewarts.

Stewarts agreed, the situation was odd, and so was the public's response.

"Anytime something minimal happens, with today's social media, Twitter and Facebook and Instagram, it really blows things out of proportion," he said.

The coaches hope that, after this, everyone will move on so the kids, who are the most important, can focus on having a productive season.

Immediately following the game, Stillwater's coach said Ford and the referee had a meeting, and that the referee agreed he probably made a mistake kicking Ford out of the gym.