The Kansas City Star is reporting Iowa State authorities are looking into the validity and seriousness of death threats toward Kansas senior Elijah Johnson.
Johnson had the best night of his career in Ames on Monday, scoring 39 and lifting KU to a 108-96 overtime win that was tainted with controversy. Johnson's dunk at the end of overtime, when the game had been decided, was emphatic and proud. Naturally, ISU's crowd booed him relentlessly, continuing the boos when he was interviewed on the court by ESPN after the game.
Johnson's @ mentions on Twitter then became a breeding ground for hate and threats. You can't play the "it's only Twitter" card when it comes to this stuff. You just never know who's behind certain accounts and how serious or scornful they can be.
Here's the Star's report:
The screenshots of the threatening tweets showed one Twitter user using racial slurs and another user suggesting he and the first user wanted to take a gun and attack the KU bus. Both Twitter accounts that posted the messages have been deactivated.
“It’s unfortunate but we know it certainly doesn’t represent the Iowa State community and its fans,” KU associate athletic director Jim Marchiony said Wednesday. “We’re sure Iowa State is handling it appropriately.”
In general there was a lot of animosity from Iowa State toward Kansas. A fan apparently tried to confront Bill Self who, by the way, got win No. 500 in that game.
Let's hope it ends there, with regretful threats and tweets vaporizing into the air. Sports are too much fun to take this seriously.
For more college basketball news, rumors and analysis, follow @EyeOnCBB on Twitter, like us on Facebook and subscribe to the thrice-a-week podcast on iTunes. You can follow Matt Norlander on Twitter here: @MattNorlander.
