Benji Taylor, Division II men’s basketball coach Tuskegee UniversityHe was led off the court in handcuffs following the postgame incident on Saturday.
Video posted on social media by HBCU GameDay shows Taylor confronting a security officer as a Tuskegee player and opponent Morehouse College Shake hands after Saturday’s game.
After a brief conversation, the officer handcuffed Taylor and led him off the court and into a hallway at Morehouse’s Forbes Arena.
We have fresh new footage and insight from Tuskegee 👀: https://t.co/eDyEz8cuSK pic.twitter.com/WdcYkcaCpE
– HBCU Gameday (@HBCUGameday) 1 February 2026
Taylor and Tuskegee athletic director Reginald Ruffin both said that Taylor asked a security officer to help remove several Morehouse football players from the handshake line. Taylor said in a statement that the football players were “shouting obscenities” while Ruffin said the football players were committing a “security violation”.
“I am at a loss for words and I am devastated at how I was abused and treated today,” Taylor said at a press conference Saturday. Statement to several media outlets. “It is heartbreaking for my players, my family and the people of Tuskegee to see this.
“I was just trying to get the football team out of the handshake line because they were coming right behind me and the team yelling obscenities! It was a very dangerous situation.”
Ruffin told hbcu gameday The security officer provided a different account of the exchange and claimed that Taylor was “very aggressive”. Ruffin said he disagreed with the officer’s assessment, citing “security measures” that are “mandated by convention” and saying he thought Taylor acted appropriately.
“He asked the security officer, ‘Can you please remove him from the line?’ That’s what he asked the security officer,” Ruffin told HBCU GameDay.
Civil rights attorney Harry Daniels announced Sunday that Taylor has hired him to pursue a potential lawsuit. Daniels said in a statement that Morehouse football players were behaving “aggressively” toward Tuskegee players and their families.
“Such behavior by Morehouse football players, particularly their interactions with basketball players on the court and during post-game handshakes, is prohibited by conference-mandated safety protocols,” Daniels said in his statement. “When Coach Taylor asked two police officers to enforce those protocols attempting to diffuse the increasingly dangerous situation, however, one of the officers decided to handcuff him and escort him off the court.”
It was not clear as of Monday morning which law enforcement agency the security officer represented. According to Daniels’ office, Taylor has not been charged with a crime, and the school confirmed that Taylor accompanied the team on the return bus trip to Tuskegee.
Taylor, who is in his sixth season as Tuskegee’s coach, declined to provide further details about the situation when contacted by USA TODAY on Sunday, saying: “I am devastated and will have no further comment at this time.” The Golden Tigers dropped to 15-5 on the season with a 77-69 loss to Morehouse on Saturday.
“It would be inappropriate for a police officer to treat someone this way,” Daniels said in the statement. “But to do this to a highly respected professional and role model like Coach Taylor, to handcuff him, humiliate him and treat him like a criminal in front of his team, his family and a gym full of fans is absolutely disgusting and they must be held accountable.”
