The mea culpas in the wake of the Kansas State-Kansas court-storming fracas continued Tuesday night, less than 24 hours after a celebratory moment at Bramlage Coliseum turned into an ugly spectacle and a national talking point.
Kansas State's campus newspaper, The Collegian, posted a letter of apology addressed to the publication -- the author claiming to be the man seen in widely circulated photographs and Vine posts throwing a forearm into Jayhawks forward Jamari Traylor in the seconds after the Wildcats upset the No. 8 team in the country, 70-63. The note of contrition was signed by Nathan Power and read:
"K-State friends, I was the individual identified as the fan who bumped Jamari Traylor during the court storm following K-State's victory over KU. I want to take this moment to share a sincere apology in breaking from the Wildcat way and stepping outside what is acceptable in the spirit of the game. Following the basketball game I simply let my emotions get the best of me in all of the chaos. In my excitement I was not careful of the people I was around. I am sorry that I made the KU basketball team -- Jamari Traylor in particular -- feel disrespected. By no means can I change what took place but in the future I will be aware of how emotions can impact good judgment."
The man who struck Traylor was one of thousands to mob the court immediately after the contest, a wave of bodies that came so quickly, K-State coach Bruce Weber and Kansas coach Bill Self appeared to get pinned against the scorer's table as they met to shake hands at midcourt.
For a few seconds, based on video replays of the incident, it appeared Weber was shielding Self from onrushing fans.
Earlier Tuesday, K-State campus police took to Twitter with a picture of a fan colliding with Traylor, asking for any tips or leads via social media.
At 5:19 p.m., the search was declared to be over:
The letter signed by Power was published on The Collegian's website later Tuesday evening.
Wildcats athletic director John Currie released a statement earlier in the day condemning the behavior of the onrushing fans, apologizing for the failures of the game-day management crew that jeopardized the Jayhawks, and vowing to seek out those who inappropriately approached KU fans, coaches or officials.
"Additionally, we are actively reviewing video and working in concert with law enforcement to identify any fan who intentionally touched visiting players or personnel," Currie's statement read. "We will take appropriate action with such identified persons, including turning over all evidence to law enforcement so that any applicable charges can be filed."
It was not immediately clear as of Tuesday night what punishment, if any, would be meted out toward the fan who signed the aforementioned letter.
A Twitter account belonging to a K-State fan named Nathan Power (@npower80) was deleted as of late Tuesday evening, although caches of earlier posts showed the administrator of said account wasn't exactly rooting for the Jayhawks when they were upset at West Virginia, 62-61, back on Feb. 16:
And a #KState Twitter account w/ the same name published in the @kstatecollegian said THIS earlier in the month: pic.twitter.com/H9CoD7KR7G
— SeanKeeler (@SeanKeeler) February 25, 2015
You can follow Sean Keeler on Twitter at @SeanKeeler or email him at seanmkeeler@gmail.com.
