Grayson Allen appears to shove Florida State assistant coach, but coach says play has been "misread"

Grayson Allen is at the center of controversy again, though this one appears to have been snuffed out by the opposing coach on the other end of it.

While Saturday’s controversy was questionable and not at all violent, this one looked more incriminating — until, that is, Florida State assistant coach Dennis Gates tweeted out a statement that included the phrase, “I know what a dirty play is and I was not the victim of one.”

With Duke trailing Florida State by 14 in the second half, Allen raced toward the sideline to try to grab a rebound, and dove head first into the Florida State bench to save the ball from going out of bounds. After saving the ball, he appeared to shove a Florida State coach with both hands:

It was tough to see on the broadcast in real time, and no Florida State coaches or players immediately retaliated or even responded to the play. In fact, they sort of helped Allen back toward the court. But the play became a story given Allen’s past.

As you probably know by now, Allen has a history of dirty plays, though they’ve all been carried out with his feet. He tripped Louisville’s Ray Spalding last year, then kicked his leg back at Florida State’s Xavier Rathan-Mayes a few weeks later.

This year, the issue came to the forefront of college basketball discussion again when Allen kicked Elon’s Steven Santa Ana. He was suspended indefinitely, and sat out one game.

Then, this past Saturday, two games after returning from the suspension, he appeared to lift his leg in a tripping motion after getting screened by Boston College’s Connar Tava. Tava didn’t fall or react, but a fan’s video of it went viral on social media, and most (if not all) major sports media outlets picked it up.

Allen’s latest incident drew more scrutiny, but Gates put an end to the storm early the next morning:

The major takeaway from the night in Tallahassee, however, was Florida State announcing itself as a legitimate top 10 team.