Last week, Iowa Hawkeyes radio broadcaster Gary Dolphin was suspended for the remainder of the Iowa men’s basketball season after comparing a black Maryland player to King Kong.
This was the second suspension for Dolphin over the past few months; last fall, he was suspended after a hot mic caught Dolphin criticizing Iowa’s play, and their recruiting. This suspension had been announced as indefinite, but we now know exactly how long it will last: a few weeks. That’s because Dolphin will be back on the air for Iowa spring football practice, and will be fully reinstated for next year’s football and men’s basketball seasons.
The news was announced by Hawkeye Sports Properties via a release:
Hawkeye Sports Properties, the multimedia rights manager for the University of Iowa Athletics, today announced it will reinstate play-by-play announcer Gary Dolphin beginning with coverage of football spring practice. Dolphin will also return for the 2019-2020 football and men’s basketball seasons.
The reinstatement decision, like the suspension, was made by Learfield’s Hawkeye Sports Properties, following collaborative engagement with the Iowa Athletics Department. Dolphin has served as “Voice of the Hawkeyes” since 1996.
Dolphin was suspended on Friday through the remainder of the men’s basketball season for an inappropriate comment during the Feb. 19 broadcast of the Iowa men’s basketball game against Maryland.
Dolphin and Iowa Director of Athletics Gary Barta will participate in a 3 pm CT press conference.
Presumably Dolphin will apologize at the afternoon press conference, and things will move on from there. And while it is interesting that the indefinite suspension was resolved after less than a week, Dolphin will apparently still not be calling the remainder of the men’s basketball season, which isn’t nothing: Iowa is a projected tournament team, after all. All things considered, though, Dolphin has to be pretty relieved at the result.
