MUSKEGON – The high school basketball official who pushed Muskegon coach Keith Guy during an exchange Friday night has been suspended for the rest of this season, the Michigan High School Athletic Association announced late Monday afternoon.
After saying earlier in the day that the official was suspended effective immediately for an unspecified amount of time, MHSAA communications director Geoff Kimmerly followed up later by stating the official was done for the remainder of this season.
William Ripple is the name of the official, confirmed by OK Conference commissioner Dave Feenstra. MLive has reached out to Ripple a couple times for comment, but he has not yet returned the phone calls.
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District tournament play begins Monday for girls basketball and Tuesday for boys. The season concludes with the girls and boys state finals April 9-10 at the Breslin Center.
The incident occurred in the final moments of a tight game between Muskegon and Zeeland East at Redmond-Potter Gymnasium. What looked to be a verbal exchange between Guy and Ripple resulted in the official putting both hands on Guy’s chest and appearing to push the coach away before Ripple headed toward the scorer’s table.
The incident was caught on camera, and Guy appeared shaken and emotional during a postgame interview with media.
The MHSAA, OK Conference and Muskegon Police Department have been investigating the incident.