Vanderbilt Coach Kevin Stallings sorry for saying he’d ‘kill’ player

Vanderbilt’s Kevin Stallings wasn’t happy when he learned one of his players had behaved inappropriately after a victory over Tennesse on Thursday night.

The way the coach handled the situation, however, was even more inappropriate.

Stallings was caught on camera during the postgame handshakes shouting obscenities toward Wade Baldwin, at one point saying he would “kill” the freshman guard for purportedly clapping in the face of a Tennessee player after the game.

In a statement issued by the university later that night, Stallings said he was “very remorseful of my actions tonight.”

“One of our players acted inappropriately and violated what we believe to be is good sportsmanship following the game,” Stallings said. “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.”

Stallings also offered an apology to Vanderbilt’s administration and fans, through ESPN’s Jeff Goodman.

Baldwin apparently held no hard feelings toward Stallings, who has coached the Commodores into the NCAA tournament eight times during his 16 years in charge of the program.

“Coach Stallings is the best coach in America,” Baldwin tweeted Thursday night. “I felt no offense to anything. We are both fiery people and that’s why I chose Vandy.”

Twitter: @chewkiii