HBCU basketball coach arrested on court after game in Atlanta

HBCU basketball coach arrested on court after game in Atlanta originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Tuskegee men’s basketball coach Benjy Taylor was arrested and escorted off the court following a Division II HBCU game against Morehouse on Saturday in Atlanta.

Taylor was briefly detained after Tuskegee’s 77-69 loss, but it's still unclear why the incident happened in the first place. During the postgame handshake line, the Golden Tigers coach can be seen in a video posted by Field of 68's Jeff Goodman. He was talking to a police officer on the court before being handcuffed. 

According to HBCU GameDay, Taylor was attempting to ensure conference mandated security protocols were followed after members of the Morehouse football team was there with basketball players, which is a violation of conference policy.

Tuskegee athletic director Reginald Ruffin said Taylor asked security to remove the football players to comply with those rules.

Tuskegee head coach Benjy Taylor was handcuffed by police after the loss at Morehouse.

Here’s his statement to @TheFieldOf68:

“I am at a loss for words and I am upset about how I was violated and treated today. For my players, my family and people of Tuskegee to witness that… pic.twitter.com/2AQRNCu1Dd

— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) February 1, 2026

“We have security measures for our protection of our officials, our student-athlete coaches and spectators,” Ruffin told HBCU GameDay. He said the procedures are “mandated by the conference office” and are standard across member institutions. However, it led to officers handcuffing Taylor. 

“I am at a loss for words and I am upset about how I was violated and treated today,” Taylor said in a statement to Goodman. “For my players, my family and people of Tuskegee to witness that is heartbreaking. I was simply trying to get the football team out of the handshake line.”

Taylor was released shortly after and traveled home with the team. He's currently in his sixth season with the Golden Tigers. 

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