Auburn basketball flight forced to turn around due to altercation between players
By Grey Papke | Last updated 11/9/24
The Auburn Tigers basketball team saw its flight get turned around for a very strange reason.
The Auburn plane returned home with the basketball team due to “horseplay between players” that “could have escalated into a fight,” according to Jeff Goodman of Field of 68. The 11th-ranked Tigers were en route for Saturday's game against No. 4 Houston, and the team is expected to fly there on a different flight later Friday.
Justin Hokanson, who reports on Auburn for On3, said he had been told there was an “altercation on the plane between players,” but could not offer any further details.
Jonathan Hardison, who is a reporter for a local Fox affiliate, added a few more details:
The incident was clearly serious enough that the plane was diverted back to Alabama. There is not much precedent for that, especially since the Tigers play a very big game on Saturday.
Auburn is coming off a 27-8 season and expectations are high. Bruce Pearl’s programs have faced questions about a lack of discipline in the past, and this is not exactly a great sign.
