Auburn basketball provided the college hoops world a WWE-esque storyline on November 8 with “Plane Gate.” As the story goes, AU’s team jet, en route to Houston for a Saturday night game at the Toyota Center with the No. 4 Cougars, had to be grounded after a conflict on the plane.
Here’s where it gets tricky.
FOX6 WBRC’s Jonathan Hardison provided details from Air Traffic Control audio that pointed to a physical altercation on the flight.
“ATC audio includes pilot saying ‘flight deck is secure the threat level is contained. We just had—we’ll have police on the ground, we had 2 players that got into a physical altercation, clothes were ripped.’ And appears to say one of the players was bloody,” Hardison tweeted.
The Field of 68’s Jeff Goodman, who provided initial details of the incident, claimed it had never become a “kerfuffle.”
Now, as for who the players involved were, On3’s Justin Hokanson condemned a self-proclaimed credentialed college basketball reporter for spreading false news that Chad Baker-Mazara, Dylan Cardwell, and Drake Cardwell were the culprits.
“False. But I guess you got engagement from your lies, for whatever you think that’s worth,” Hokanson tweeted.
Auburn basketball building hype for marquee Houston matchup
Who knows what actually happened. For the plane to be grounded, a ruckus was clearly caused. As for who was involved and if it got violent? We may never know.
But this incident has the college basketball world talking about a No. 4-No. 11 game in an NBA arena, the Toyota Center.
During a controversial week that saw Bruce Pearl called out at a press conference for his politics after his team won their home opener by 51 points, “Plane Gate” was a climactic peak from an emotional standpoint.
We’ll see if AU thrives under the added attention or gives many reasons to be worried about team chemistry when the real story should be on how good this team could be.
