The NCAA Tournament was supposed to be a fun experience for the University of Utah women’s basketball team. The Utah women’s basketball team had to move hotels this week due to some concerning actions from others.
Usually, the most upsetting part about exiting the NCAA Tournament is losing before you want to but that wasn’t the case for Utah women’s basketball.
University of Utah head women’s basketball coach Lynne Roberts informed reporters Monday night that members of her team were victims of “racial hate crimes” at a hotel in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, prior to their opening game in the NCAA women’s basketball tournament.
Following Utah’s defeat against Gonzaga in the NCAA Tournament’s second round on Monday night, Roberts disclosed what transpired. Roberts said there were multiple incidents that occurred last Thursday night after the team arrived in the area for the tournament and that they were unsettling enough to cause worries about safety, though she did not provide specifics.
Utah was staying in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, some thirty miles away. On Friday, they moved to a new motel.
“We had several instances of some kind of racial hate crimes toward our program and [it was] incredibly upsetting for all of us. In our world, in athletics and in 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, via the Associated Press.
Members of the Utes, including cheerleaders and the band, heard racial slurs yelled at them, according to KSL.com. Utah assistant athletic director Charmelle Green claims that this occurred more than once when the squad was strolling to and from a neighboring Coeur D’Alene restaurant.
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According to KSL.com’s Josh Furlong, “A white truck got near the team, revved its engines to make its presence known, and then yelled the N-word toward the team before speeding off.”
Roberts, who has been the head coach at Utah since 2015, further explained what her team went through:
“Racism is real and it happens and it’s awful. So for our players, whether they are white, Black, green, whatever, no one knew how to handle it and it was really upsetting. For our players and staff to not feel safe in an NCAA tournament environment, it’s messed up. …
“It was a distraction and upsetting and unfortunate. This should be a positive for everybody involved. This should be a joyous time for our program and to have kind of a black eye on the experience is unfortunate.”
The University of Gonzaga would soon release a statement:
“We are frustrated and deeply saddened to know 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.”
Utah had its first-round NCAA tournament matchup against 12th-seeded South Dakota State on Saturday, beating the Jackrabbits, 68-54. This would be the third consecutive year that the Utes reached at least the second round of the tournament.
However, their run would not extend any further as they 77-66 to fourth-seeded host Gonzaga in the Round of 32 on Monday night.
NCAA Women’s Tournament Is Generating More Excitement Than The Men’s
The excitement for this year’s March Madness is much more different than other years because much of the talk about matchups is coming from the women’s side.
Terrific broadcast ratings and near-capacity crowds have been a theme for the ladies in the NCAA Tournament. There are just so many more high-profile and known athletes on the women’s side and the competitiveness of the games is showing why fans keep tuning in.
