Notre Dame Coach Micah Shrewsberry rushes at referee

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- The basketball game between Notre Dame and California Friday, Jan. 2, caused Fighting Irish coach Micah Shrewsberry to confront one of the referees. 

Notre Dame was ahead, 71-68, in the final seconds, Golden Bears guard Dai Dai Ames shot and made a ‘3’, drawing a foul from Logan Imes in the process. The referee initially ruled it and a -1 opportunity but then overturned the call and said the foul occurred before the shot.

Later, the referee overturned that ruling, deeming the basket good and sending Ames to the free throw line for a chance to take the lead with five seconds remaining.

Ames made the free throw to put the score up, 72-71.

After a timeout with 2.4 seconds left, Notre Dame had one last shot. A three-point attempt from Braeden Shrewsberry clanked off the front iron giving Cal an ACC win.

As soon as the final horn sounded, Micah Shrewsberry charged toward the referee that awarded the four-point play opportunity, yelling at the referee. 

Multiple Notre Dame players and staff members had to restrain Shrewsberry for a few seconds before Shrewsberry led the postgame handshake line with the Cal team.

Saturday morning, Shrewsberry issued a statement on the incident through the official team account on social media. 

Shrewsberry wrote, ""I want to apologize for what took place immediately after the Cal game last night. My actions were inappropriate and not symbolic of the leader I strive to be and what Notre Dame expects of its coaches and educators. I will learn from this lack of judgement and be better in the future. I want to apologize to our team, our university and its leaders, to Coach (Mark) Madsen (head coach of Cal) and his team, and to the ACC, as my actions were unacceptable."

On Saturday, Jan. 3, the ACC released a statement that said it had publicly reprimanded Shrewsberry for his actions and that there would be no further comment.