Andy Enfield and Tim Floyd had to be separated at Battle 4 Atlantis reception
The most anticipated potential game at this week's Battle 4 Atlantis tournament would pit two of the least heralded teams in the field.
What matchup would you rather see than USC-UTEP considering how intensely the two coaching staffs dislike one-another?
USC coach Andy Enfield and UTEP coach Tim Floyd apparently engaged in a heated argument during Wednesday night's pre-tournament reception and their assistants had to be separated. SI.com's Seth Davis, who is serving as a TV analyst for the tournament, witnessed the incident in person and tweeted what he saw.
Ugly incident at reception for Battle 4 Atlantis. Andy Enfield & Tim Floyd got into heated argument. USC & UTEP assts had to be separated.
— Seth Davis (@SethDavisHoops) November 28, 2013
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— Seth Davis (@SethDavisHoops) November 28, 2013
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Enfield's wife Amanda was standing next to him as Floyd was jabbing his finger towards Enfield's chest. Big crowd watched it happen.
— Seth Davis (@SethDavisHoops) November 28, 2013
It's probably safe to assume the argument stemmed from accusations Floyd made in July after prized UTEP recruit Isaac Hamilton sought a release from his letter of intent without ever playing a game for the Miners.
Floyd claimed Enfield and the USC staff tampered with Hamilton, a Los Angeles native who has since enrolled at UCLA and is sitting out the season. Enfield denied the claim and later fired back in a speech to USC boosters that was published in the December issue of Men's Journal.
Said Enfield, "Tim Floyd shows up every day at work and realizes he lives in El Paso, Texas. And he's pissed off that he didn't get the USC job two months ago. I told him, 'Tim, if I could have all this power to somehow convince a family to do this, why the heck didn't the kid come last spring, when I first got the job?'"
USC and UTEP are in opposite halves of the Battle 4 Atlantis bracket and could not meet until the final day of the tournament on Saturday. The most likely scenario for Enfield and Floyd to have to share the floor would be for the Trojans to lose to Villanova and either Wake Forest or Kansas in the opening two rounds and for the Miners to fall to Tennessee and either Xavier or Iowa.