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Referee defends Dan Hurley after alleged headbutt incident

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports | By Grey Papke | Last updated Mar 31, 2026 4:15 PM ET

The referee involved in the bizarre headbutting incident involving UConn coach Dan Hurley has defended the coach.

ESPN’s Seth Greenberg revealed that he spoke to referee Roger Ayers, who was involved in the face-to-face moment just after the Huskies’ Braylon Mullins hit the game-winning shot against Duke in the Elite Eight. Ayers told Greenberg that the incident was nothing.

“I talked to Roger today. He said, ‘What are you talking about?’ He literally didn’t know what I was talking about,” Greenberg said. “He said, ‘Nothing happened. The ball went in. I was running back. They were celebrating. Danny leaned in and said something to me. I said something to him. It was absolutely nothing.'”

Greenberg said he also spoke to Hurley, who said he was leaning in because he did not understand what was going on.

Seth Greenberg: "I talked to [Roger Ayers]… He said, 'What are you talking about?' He literally didn't know what I was talking about. He said, 'Nothing happened'… That was social media trying to create something out of nothing because of Dan Hurley's 'allegedly' reputation." pic.twitter.com/hsmp0AixR4
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 30, 2026

We can only go off what Greenberg is saying here, but as long as he’s telling the truth, it sounds like the incident got much more attention online than it did from those actually involved in it. Some even felt Hurley should have been hit with a technical over the situation.

Hurley is not helped by his reputation for being unreasonable toward referees. In this instance, though, none of the people who matter seem to have an issue with how things went down.

This article first appeared on Larry Brown Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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