Arizona Star Bennedict Mathurin Apologizes for TCU Cheerleader Incident

The Wildcats’ guard reached out to TCU to say sorry for his actions in the viral video.

After Arizona’s 85–80 victory over TCU on Sunday, a video surfaced on social media showing Arizona star Bennedict Mathurin celebrating the win with his arms spread out, and as he heads back to to the locker room, his left hand approaches a TCU cheerleader’s chest.

Arizona’s Benedict Mathurin makes contact with TCU cheerleader pic.twitter.com/Q3WGNJ2Rhq

— Main Team (@MainTeamSports2) March 21, 2022

On Wednesday, Arizona athletic director Dave Heeke addressed the incident, saying Mathurin has reached out to TCU to apologize.

“Shortly after returning to Tucson, I was notified that people on social media were claiming a video clip showed Bennedict Mathurin may have made physical contact with a TCU student while walking off the court,” Heeke said in the statement, via ESPN. “I have reached out to TCU’s Athletics Department and I spoke with Bennedict. While he does not recall any contact, he has attempted to reach out to the TCU student through their Athletic Department to apologize.”

TCU athletic director Jeremiah Donati confirmed Mathurin has contacted the TCU athletic department to say sorry.

“We have been in contact with the University of Arizona and received communication from their student-athlete,” Donati said.

Mathurin played a key part in the victory, hitting a three-pointer to send the game to overtime and scoring six points in the extra time.