Vanderbilt's Kevin Stallings apologizes for telling player 'I'll kill you'

Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings apologized for vulgar comments he made in an intense exchange with guard Wade Baldwin following the Commodores' 73-65 victory against Tennessee.

Stallings was informed that Baldwin was clapping in Tennessee players' faces after the final buzzer sounded. Upon learning of the poor sportsmanship, Stallings confronted Baldwin during postgame handshakes and demanded that he apologize. As Baldwin appeared to ignore the Vanderbilt coach, Stallings fired off several verbal jabs and was caught on camera saying, "I'll (expletive) kill you."

Stallings apologized for his comments in a release by the university.

"One of our players acted inappropriately and violated what we believe is good sportsmanship following the game," Stallings said in the statement. "In my haste to resolve the situation, I made a very inappropriate comment. While obviously it was not meant literally, it was still inappropriate. I apologized to the player immediately following the game. Displaying good sportsmanship is of the highest priority in our program, win or lose. I am very remorseful of my actions tonight."

In his postgame news conference, Stallings said Baldwin has "got some things to learn, some growing up to do if he's going to play in this program.

"One of their assistants said that he went and clapped in one of their players' faces after the game. We will not do that, not get by with that. We believe in sportsmanship, and that's not a part of who we are, who we're going to be. He better understand that's his one and it better never happen again."

On Friday, Vanderbilt athletic director David Williams released a statement:

"I met with Coach Stallings earlier today about last night's post-game incident. We agreed that Kevin's offensive and inflammatory language directed toward a student-athlete was inappropriate, regardless of the high emotions at the time. Coach Stallings and I agree that as head coach, he must exemplify the high code of conduct he expects from his team members. This is an unfortunate incident since Coach Stallings has always stood for high ideals in academics, character and sportsmanship during his 16 years as our head coach.

"I understand that coach's action has generated discussion and opinions; we have heard from those supporting the coach's intent and from those angered and embarrassed by his comment. Coach Stallings apologized to the student-athlete after the game as well as issuing an immediate public apology. Vanderbilt considers this a personnel issue and as such it will be handled internally."

Baldwin tweeted after the game that he took no offense to Stallings' behavior.

Baldwin, a freshman guard, had said Wednesday in light of the rivalry game that "we're going after Tennessee and we're going after their fans."

Coaches' behavior with players has been an issue in the past. Morehead State coach Sean Woods was suspended in 2012 for making contact with one of his players and forcing him to tears in a game.