Tuskegee coach Benjy Taylor 'at a loss for words' after being escorted off court in handcuffs

In a bizarre postgame scene following Tuskegee’s 77-69 road loss to Morehouse on Saturday, head men’s basketball coach Benjy Taylor was handcuffed by an officer and escorted off the court in Atlanta — a moment that quickly overshadowed the rivalry game.

Video of the incident shows Taylor speaking with a uniformed officer after the final buzzer before the officer suddenly reached for his handcuffs and placed them on Taylor, leading him off the court in front of players and spectators.

Taylor later addressed the situation, saying he was confused and frustrated by his treatment. “I am at a loss for words and I am upset about how I was violated and treated today,” he told Field of 68. “For my players, my family and people of Tuskegee to witness that is heartbreaking for me.”

Taylor insisted he was only trying to address what he saw as a security concern after the game: he says Morehouse football players entered the postgame handshake line, a situation he believed violated conference protocols and posed a risk. “I was simply trying to get the football team out of the handshake line as they were following right behind me and the team yelling obscenities! It was a very dangerous situation.”

Tuskegee athletic director Reginald Ruffin told reporters that Taylor had asked an on-site security officer to have the football players removed from the handshake line in accordance with Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) policies, but the interaction didn’t go as expected. Ruffin said the officer later described Taylor as “very aggressive” and “the aggressor,” a claim he disputes.

The handcuffing was brief, and Taylor was released soon afterward. He traveled home with the team, but the strange encounter has drawn widespread attention within the HBCU basketball community and raised questions about postgame procedures and security enforcement.