As expected, Darion Atkins had some second thoughts about telling the media that he "wanted it more" than some teammates during Virginia's loss to Michigan State on Sunday.
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The senior forward apologized in a statement on Monday for questioning the desire of his teammates and for describing the second-seeded squad as "p------" after the upsetting 60-54 loss to the seventh-seeded Spartans. It was the second straight year Virginia had been eliminated from the tourney by Michigan State and the last college basketball game for Atkins.
Here's Atkins' apology from the Virginia men's basketball Twitter account:
"I would like to apologize for my inappropriate comments to the media in Charlotte. I let my emotions get the best of me during the NCAA tournament and I did not intend to offend anyone. In hindsight I wish I had used more appropriate words to express myself. I've met with my teammates and coaches to express my remorse for this unfortunate situation. I want everyone to know that I care so much about this program and I hope this does not become a distraction from all that we were able to accomplish this year."
Part of the reason we love the NCAA tournament so much is that the emotions of the participants are on such clear display. It's all real, whether it's a Villanova band member crying because it's the last game she'll ever play at or a senior forward so devastated that he says something he shouldn't.
Not that we condone Atkins' original remarks, but we can definitely understand why they happened. Credit to him for realizing the mistake he made in the heat of the moment and for apologizing for it later.
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Kevin Kaduk is a writer for Yahoo Sports . Have a tip? Email him at kevinkaduk@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
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