IOWA CITY, Iowa — Iowa play-by-play announcer Gary Dolphin has been suspended for the rest of the season for referring to Maryland’s Bruno Fernando as “King Kong” during a broadcast.
Hawkeye Sports Properties, the multimedia rights manager for Iowa’s athletic, announced the move just hours before the 21st-ranked Hawkeyes hosted Indiana.
No. 24 Maryland beat Iowa 66-65 in Iowa City on Tuesday night. Fernando had 11 points and 11 rebounds, including a go-ahead putback with 7.8 seconds to go.
In describing the game’s closing moments, Dolphin said that Fernando — a 6-foot-10, 240-pound African-American player who was born in Angola — “was King Kong at the end of the game.”
This is the second time that Dolphin has been suspended this season.
He sat out two games after being caught on a microphone criticizing Iowa guard Maishe Dailey in a win over Pittsburgh in November.