NEWS
Utah Coach Says ‘Racial Hate Crimes’ Forced Team To Change Hotels During NCAA Tournament
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University of Utah women’s basketball coach Lynne Roberts revealed her team was forced to change hotels last week due to racial hate crimes directed at players while they were staying in Idaho for the NCAA Tournament.
Roberts said the team experienced multiple incidents while staying at hotel in Coeur dAlene, Idaho, about 30 miles east of Spokane, Wash., where they were set to play against Gonzaga University. They were staying in Idaho due to a lack of hotel availability in Spokane during the tournament.
“Racism is real and it happens and its awful,” Roberts told reporters on Monday. “For our players, whether they are white, Black, green, whatever — no one knew how to handle it.
That’s because in our world, in athletics and the university settings, it’s shocking. There’s so much diversity on a college campus and so you’re just not exposed to that very often, Roberts said.
And it was really upsetting, Roberts said. And for our players and staff to not feel safe in an NCAA tournament environment, its messed up.”
Roberts said the NCAA and Gonzaga helped move the team to another hotel closer to Spokane.
Although Roberts did not elaborate on the incidents that led to the move, Utah deputy athletics director Charmelle Green, who is Black, described multiple instances of racial harassment to Salt Lake City’s KSL News.
When the team, cheerleaders and band members walked to a restaurant for dinner, a white truck revved its engine and an occupant yelled the N-word at the students before speeding away.
We all just were in shock, and we looked at each other like, did we just hear that? … Everybody was in shock — our cheerleaders, our students that were in that area that heard it clearly were just frozen, Green told KSL. We kept walking, just shaking our heads, like I can’t believe that.
As they left the restaurant, two trucks drove near them and did the same thing, revving their engines and shouting the N-word.
“I got emotional and started to cry,” Green told the outlet. “I was just numb the entire night.”
Gonzaga University issued a statement about the situation on Tuesday.
“Gonzaga University has been made aware of the racially disparaging comments made to visiting student-athletes and travel party members in Coeur dAlene, Idaho, in advance of the NCAA Womens First and Second Round Basketball Tournament games these past several days,” the statement read.
“Hate speech in any form is repugnant, shameful and must never be tolerated. We worked hard to secure the opportunity to serve as the host institution, and our first priority is and must be the safety and welfare of all student-athletes, coaches, families and supporting staff. To this end, we have worked closely with the NCAA and program participants to support the security and safety of everyone involved. We are frustrated and deeply saddened to know that what should always be an amazing visitor and championship experience was in any way compromised by this situation, for it in no way reflects the values, standards, and beliefs to which we at Gonzaga University hold ourselves accountable.”
TMX contributed to this article.
