Roland Griffin

Report: Iona star forward Roland Griffin suspended

Published Oct. 27, 2018 6:55 p.m. ET

NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. (AP) — Iona senior forward Roland Griffin says he's been kicked off the basketball team after an altercation with an assistant coach.

Griffin tells Stadium he punched assistant coach Garfield Johns multiple times in self-defense last Monday after a verbal argument in the locker room.

Stadium reports Griffin met with head coach Tim Cluess and then was told by the school he would face a disciplinary suspension that will bar him from campus activities through the end of May 2020.

The Stadium report said Johns was hospitalized briefly with a head injury and later released.

The college said in a statement it "takes all matters of health and safety seriously" but does not comment on student disciplinary matters or student information.

The 6-foot-7 Griffin, who is still listed on the roster on the university's athletic website, is a junior college transfer from Midland College in Texas who was set to play his second season for the Gaels. He had a career-high 29 points, four blocks, and made all 11 free throws he attempted in leading the Gaels to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament championship last March.

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Roland Griffin

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