Austin Lashley stood just inside tunnel four in Stegeman Coliseum, enjoying a Georgia men’s basketball victory, when he got punched in the mouth.
It was Dec. 19, 2015. Georgia had just beaten Georgia Tech. Lashley was invisible to the rest of the world as he leaned forward inside Spike, Georgia’s inflatable 10-foot mascot. As then-freshman forward Derek Ogbeide ran past, Ogbeide punched Spike’s midsection -- and Lashley’s face. A small cut opened above Lashley’s lip. Lashley later sent a Tweet to Ogbeide.
“Dear @derektrigger,” Lashley wrote, “There is a real person in the Spike suit, and you punched him in the mouth today.