Student manager was out of place
Stan Holt cost the USC men’s basketball team Saturday’s game against the Oregon Ducks.
Holt didn’t score a single point, grab one rebound or dish out an assist. He didn’t turn the ball over or miss an assignment on defense.
In fact, Holt didn’t play a single minute. 
But while he was sitting on USC’s bench during the second half of the Trojans-Ducks game in Eugene, Ore., Holt did inexplicably shout at referee Bobby McRoy.
McRoy proceeded to blow his whistle and hold up a “T” sign with his hands. Holt received the technical foul and an immediate trip to his team’s locker room.
On the other end, Oregon converted two free throws and scored the game’s next six points to pull away from a USC team that had fought back to tie the score just moments before Holt opened his mouth.
Oregon defeated the Trojans 67-57, handing USC its second consecutive conference loss.
So although Holt didn’t see any action on the court, he found a way to manage himself into trouble on the sideline.
Literally.
Stan Holt was the USC men’s basketball team manager.
And if you’re wondering, yes, apparently team managers can get technical fouls.
And yes, they can cost teams victories too.
While there are very few exceptions for technical fouls in my book, this one might just take the cake for the worst technical foul I’ve ever heard of. In order to understand the extremity of Holt’s mistake, the situation needs to be put into context.
Two nights prior to the Oregon game, USC lost a close contest to Oregon State, 51-45. In a year where the best USC can do is win the regular-season Pac-10 title, every loss is huge.
The Trojans needed a win against the Ducks to stay as close to the top of the Pac-10 as possible.
Trailing most of the game Saturday, USC used a 9-0 rally in the second half, highlighted by senior guard Dwight Lewis’ key steal and layup, to tie the score at 47 with 5:43 left to play. Although Oregon scored on its next possession, USC was hitting on all cylinders heading into the game’s final minutes.
That is until Holt, a third-year USC graduate student, decided to have a say in the matter.
Holt was signaled for the technical foul with 4:35 left, and all too quickly the momentum USC had built up over the entire half was gone.
And so was the game.
“We were on a run right then, and [the technical] deterred us from having a chance to win,” USC coach Kevin O’Neill said.
“After that, the momentum was all theirs,” Lewis said.
O’Neill dismissed Holt from his position following the game. The graduate student, who was in his third season with the USC basketball team, is gone from the program, according to the coach.
Although O’Neill tried to put some of the blame on himself for the call, he doesn’t deserve any of the blame at all. A team manager simply can’t put himself in a position to receive a technical.
In my book, there are only two types of people in basketball that can justifiably receive technical fouls. (The following does not include fouls received within the game’s final two minutes, when no technical foul is worth the points lost.)
You either have to be one of the best players on your team or the head coach. If you don’t fit into either one of those categories, you should never get a “T” thrown your way by the referee.
Here’s my reasoning.
Obviously, a technical foul is giving away free points to the opposition. The only players that can make those points up at a high rate are star players who can score at will.
For example, if I’m watching a Lakers game and Kobe gets a technical, I’m not happy about it, but I’m not too upset because I know within any given possession, Kobe can put the ball through the hoop.
But if I’m watching that same game and Sasha Vujacic gets called for a technical foul, I’m furious.
As for head coaches, they can use technical fouls as a rallying cry for their team. The fouls can be somewhat inspirational and light a fire for a struggling group that needs a wake-up call.
And that’s it. No one else should cost their team valuable points — including you, Rasheed Wallace.
Last time I checked, Holt isn’t USC’s star player or head coach.
A team manager receiving a technical is like a water boy getting an unsportsmanlike penalty during a football game or a batboy getting thrown out of a baseball game.
It’s just preposterous.
Holt’s ill-advised technical foul during such a crucial point of the game in what has already been a trying year for O’Neill’s program was inexcusable.
And now the basketball team has to pay the price for yet another mistake by someone who is no longer in the program.
“Soft Hands” runs on Tuesdays. To comment on this article, visit dailytrojan.com or e-mail Jon at [email protected].
Correction: The column originally stated the number of years Stan Holt had worked for the USC men’s basketball team. This was the third season Holt had worked for the team, not the second. The column also originally stated that Holt shouted obscenities at the referee.
KO should be fired for his poor gameplanning. To blame the manager for this loss is laughable. Who do you blame the loss to Oregon State on??
There’s a reason why KO has not succeeded in the college game anywhere he has gone. Bring back Tim! Fire Garrett.
then again…..maybe you should concentrate on baseball. LOL
In spite of what your fellow students think…and in spite of your incredible knowledge of baseball…I think you did a fantastic job on this article. Keep up the good work.
“Holt did inexplicably shout obscenities at referee Bobby McRoy.” …… Really? is this fact? Is there irrefutable proof of this. What kind of journalism is this. You report facts as facts and allegations as allegations. Stan should not have said anything at all but perhaps its possible the ref heard the wrong person? I mean he did have his eyes on the game right? I am not sure how you got this job but I can only hope you are the only moron attending USC for Stan’s sake.
As a journalist myself, I would have to say this is a trashy piece of work. You should be ashamed of yourself for producing such a piece of work — claiming that the entire loss of the basketball team versus Oregon was solely the faults of the student manager. This is a team sport from the minute the game begins until the last buzzer. Every single action of the team can affect the outcome of the game. A missed layup early in the first half, a bad pass can change the game, and so on. To punish this student manager by firing him is a sad reflection on Coach O’Neill – he should be ashamed of himself as well. This is about upholding integrity, allowing people to make mistakes, and moving on. I am so ashamed and horribly disheartened by Coach O.
A shallow and poorly developed piece of journalism from Mr. Haber. The technical was not the sole or even primary reason SC lost this game, even if it has been offered as an excuse by the team. To also argue that technical fouls be reserved just for star players or coaches is also silly logic. The dismissal of the student manager should be better explored since that is a direct reflection of O’Neil and his coaching.
What a terrible Column. Yes, Holt was out of place and should be fired for such a stupid action. People get fired for mistakes all of the time and this one was a doozy. However, the players on the court control whether or not they win or lose. A technical foul cost them a few points, but using it as an excuse for a loss will cost the team a hell of a lot more than that. I’ve never read your stuff before Jon, but this was very amateur. I’ve read better columns by 15 year old bloggers.
Saying the student manager cost the Trojans the game is ridiculous. As you noted he didn’t play a single minute. Oregon was the better team and beat USC. This loss falls on the coaches and players.
Student manager – out of place yes, responsible for game loss, don’t know, didn’t watch the game, but with 4:35 mintues left, think not. Keyword, student, there to learn, if he was an athlete would he be off the team? Student managers work hard, and are human and will make mistakes and are there to learn, sorry to hear the coach does not have it in him to coach him too. I am sorry to hear that a pac ten title is more important than teaching a student manager about technical fouls.
Cop out – the techincal foul was with 4:35 minutes left, that was enough time for the team to win or lose the game on the court, and not blame a student manager. Did the foul help, no, would they have to work harder, yes, but I think it is a cop out to blame the student manager for the game. It is up to the coach and the team to maintain the run and momentum. Know it is hard to get back, but not impossible.
Should the student manager have known better? don’t know, it is up to the coach to have taught him, but this is college basketball, important yes, but worth firing a student manager for a mistake, don’t know. Has he been warned?
What examples have been set? What instruction has previously been put out there by the coach? Not enough answers in your article. I think the coach and the manager know the answers to these questions. And when sportsmanship is put back in lots of sports, we won’t have as many technical fouls to worry about.
The declaration that the technical foul cost USC the game is simply not true. Unlike others commenting on the situation, I was at the game. In fact, I was sitting in the front row(press row) directly behind Mr Holt. I saw the refereel whip around in response to something that was said and without hesitation, called a technical foul. The technical foul did not cause a change in possession because Oregon already had the ball. Porter made both free throws so the difference in the game was 2 points. These 2 points were no more significant than any of the missed field goals or turn overs that led to Oregon scores. The notion that USC lost the game because of the technical foul is simply not true. They lost by 10.