Wednesday afternoon, senior basketball co-captain Jared Dudley was whistled for an offensive foul by an ACC official on his way to Cocoran Commons. According to several witnesses, Dudley was "texting" on his phone when he unintentionally plowed into a startled male student (who, coincidentally, was donning a Duke sweatshirt).
Officials immediately jumped to the student's defense, citing Dudley for a charge. It was his fourth personal foul of the afternoon.
Dudley expressed mild confusion about the call but, ever the diplomat, he refused to offer up any negative words toward the league officials.
"You know, I don't really get why they're following me around, but I've learned not to ask questions," said Dudley. "After what happened against Georgetown, I learned my lesson. You speak up, you get slapped with a technical. That's just the way it is."
Dudley was referring to an altercation in March's East Regionals, provoked by Georgetown guard Jessie Sapp, in which both players earned technical fouls.
As a battle-hardened senior and the conference player of the year, Dudley expected a little more respect from league officials this season. After a tough week against Duke and North Carolina in which the forward earned three ridiculous fouls in the first 15 minutes of play, Dudley learned that sometimes the calls just don't go your way - but that's what he gets for being that good.
"I guess by calling my game closer than everyone else, the refs are trying to level the playing field or something," he said with a shrug. "I understand. It's all in the fairness of the game. I mean, I guess that explains why guys like Paulus never foul out of games, right?"
Dudley's teammates then expressed some confusion as to why officials have continued to trail him around BC's campus, even after the conclusion of the basketball season.
"Where's the question?" deadpanned sophomore guard Tyrese Rice. "They try to make our lives miserable. Those officials cost us two games this year. And remember last year's Duke game? I got hacked on that last shot, man. No call."
"I don't know why they're wasting their time over here," added Dudley's captain-in-crime, Sean Marshall. "I heard Deron Washington is tearing it up down there in Blacksburg [Va.]. There's some serious s- going on over there. Like, ambulances all over campus all the time and whatnot. These refs really need to get on that before someone really gets hurt. The laypeople can't take the kind of hits that we do."
Still, despite the questionable judgment of ACC referees, Dudley contends that he will not change his style of playing - or walking - when he moves on to the NBA.
"I'm not really worried about next year," he said. "I mean, not unless all the ACC refs decide to go pro with me. Then we'll have a real situation on our hands."
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