On Thursday afternoon, the No. 9 Creighton Blue Jays upset the No. 8 Louisville Cardinals, 89-75, in the first round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament. But it was referee Ted Valentine who ultimately stole the show.
Late in the game, as Louisville began to find a rhythm and mount a comeback, head coach Pat Kelsey stepped out onto the court and started barking at referee Brooks Wells, who ultimately called a technical foul.
That ended any momentum the Cardinals had created and led to fan outrage with one throwing a water bottle onto the court, delaying the game for several minutes.
During the delay, Kelsey and Valentine exchanged words near the announce table and that prompted further outrage from the fans. As the heckling of Valentine continued, he turned to the crowd with a taunt of his own.
The original video included sound and it’s unclear how or why it was deleted. Once reuploaded, the video lacked audio but it did show Valentine blowing a kiss to the Rupp Arena crowd in Lexington, Kentucky.
Perhaps the rowdy crowd thought it was Valentine who called to technical on Kelsey or they were merely taking their frustrations out on the entire crew. Ultimately, the T was completely warranted and Kelsey is lucky his actions didn’t result in an ejection.
“I got frustrated and said something I shouldn’t have said, and he T’d me up. Far less than an ideal time to get a technical. I realized that, so it is what it is,” Kelsey told reporters after the game.
Either way, Valentine taunting the crowd isn’t the best look for the NCAA. As annoyed with the heckling as he may have been, he has to keep his cool and at least provide the illusion if impartiality. He failed in that regard.
