Iona College men’s basketball senior forward Roland Griffin has been dismissed from the school after an altercation with an assistant coach, according to Stadium’s Basketball Insider Jeff Goodman.

“Iona College takes all matters of health and safety seriously,”  the school told Stadium. ““We take every action necessary to ensure the well-being of the members of our community. The College does not comment on student disciplinary matters or student information.”

Griffin got into an altercation with assistant coach Garfield “Ricky” Johns on Monday morning. According to the Stadium, Griffin and Johns got into each other’s faces in the locker room before the fight broke out.

“We got in each other’s face,” Griffin told Stadium. “It was really heated. He eventually grabbed me by the jacket and tried to throw me down on the ground physically. We were against the locker, wrestling against the locker. He was grabbing me and holding me.”

“He tried to wrestle me down, and I ended up on top,” Griffin continued. “I’m not going to let another man physically do that to me. I punched him four or five times, then I stopped.”

Griffin also told the Stadium that Johns was the one who started the incident. The two have had problems over the past year.

Griffin meet with Head Coach Tim Cluess and athletic director Matthew Glovaski after the incident. Griffin had a hearing on Tuesday before being suspended by the school on Wednesday. Griffin will face school disciplinary suspension through May 2020. Griffin is not allowed to attend classes, participate in Iona sponsored events or step foot on school property.

The suspension means Griffin’s college basketball career at Iona is over.

Griffin declined to talk to The Ionian on the incident.

Griffin and his mother, Fay, filed a police report on Friday. There has been no word on any action taken towards Johns.

Griffin was expected to play a major role on the roster this year, as the Illinois native was named the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Sixth Man of the Year last season.