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Todd Golden, Nate Oats react to Mo Wague suspension for elbow to Alex Condon

On3 imageby: Zach Abolverdi02/23/24ZachAbolverdi
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GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The SEC handed out a one-game suspension Thursday to Alabama forward Mohamed Wague following a dirty play he made in Wednesday night’s game against Florida. During the first half, cameras caught Wague throwing an elbow to the back of the head of UF forward Alex Condon.

The incident happened during a loose ball play where Wague appeared to lower his right arm on Condon in the pile after the two collided in the paint. Not only did officials miss the cheap shot, but they called a foul on Condon.

Gators coach Todd Golden shared his reaction to the suspension on Friday.

“We got a notification from the league,” he said. “I think everybody would have liked for it to be handled in real time a little better. Obviously, during the game, the foul was called on Alex and that was tough to swallow. But the speed of the game is quick. People make mistakes. Credit to the league and Mike Eades, director of officials, for addressing it. Obviously, the suspension and hopefully the Alabama player learned from it.” 

Both Golden and UF guard Walter Clayton Jr. said they didn’t realize Condon took an elbow to the head until he told them after the game. However, Golden could tell something had happened to him when he was grabbing his neck.

“I thought he did a good job of being the first to the floor and getting his hand on the ball. We saw multiple bodies diving in there. When we came out of that scrum with the foul on Alex, I was really confused. That’s why I was upset,” Golden said. “I knew he’d gotten hit because he got up and it was really his neck kind of getting twisted around.

“But in the heat of the moment, the game is going a million miles an hour, it wasn’t something we noticed as far as the intent until after the game. … It’s just another example of his toughness and his ability to play through different circumstances. He didn’t come out of the game, kept powering through, played really well again. Really, really tough young man.”

Clayton added, “He should have said something to us. We ain’t even know. A situation like that, we told him that you gotta just say something to us. We ain’t know what happened, so. It’s kind of crazy, though.”

Alabama coach Nate Oats said Wague has apologized to Condon. He will miss the 13th-ranked Tide’s game Saturday at No. 17 Kentucky.

If the SEC did not suspend Wague, Oats said he would have.

“I didn’t even see the play. I had no idea that it even happened until after the game,” Oats said. “I did have a talk with him. It’s not something that we do. He was extremely apologetic. For anybody that knows him, he’s a great kid. I think he told me that he apologized to the kid in the handshake line. I think he reached out on social media, apologized to Alex from Florida again.

“There’s still consequences for your actions. I 100% agree with the SEC’s decision. If they didn’t suspend him, we would have suspended him. That’s not behavior we condone or tolerate around here. The penalty is appropriate for that situation.”

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