Utah coach: Team shaken by racist experience
Utah coach Lynne Roberts said her team experienced a series of “racial hate crimes” after arriving at its first NCAA Tournament hotel and was forced to change accommodations during the event for safety concerns.
Roberts revealed what happened after Utah lost to Gonzaga in the second round of the NCAAs on Monday night. Roberts didn’t go into detail but said there were several incidents that happened Thursday night after the team arrived in the Spokane, Washington, area for the tournament and they were disturbing to the traveling party to the point there were concerns about safety.
Utah was staying about 30 miles away in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, and was relocated to a different hotel on Friday.
“We had several instances of some kind of racial hate crimes toward our program and (it was) incredibly upsetting for all of us,” Roberts said. “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.”
Tony Stewart, an official with the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations, said in a news conference Tuesday the Utes were walking from the hotel to a restaurant when a truck with a Confederate flag drove up. The driver began using racist language, including the N-word.
After the team left the restaurant, the same driver returned “now reinforced by others,” Stewart said, and they revved their engines and again yelled at the players.
“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,” Utah deputy athletic director Charmelle Green, who is Black, told KSL.com.
Coeur d’Alene police chief Lee White said about 100 people were around the area that night, but investigators still need to interview those affected. He said there are two state charges that could be enforced — malicious harassment and disorderly conduct — if someone is arrested. White also said he was working with the FBI.
“Until we get all the facts and the investigation is complete, what charges might actually be brought against the perpetrators is yet to be determined,” White said.
The NCAA issued a statement thanking the leadership at Gonzaga and Utah as well as law enforcement for quickly addressing the matter.
“The NCAA condemns racism and hatred in any form and is committed to providing a world-class athletics and academic experience for student-athletes that fosters lifelong well-being,” the statement read. “NCAA championship events represent the pinnacle of a student-athlete’s collegiate career. We are devastated about the Utah team’s experience while traveling to compete on what should have been a weekend competing on the brightest stage and creating some of the fondest memories of their lives.”
Idaho Gov. Brad Little issued a statement that read, in part, “There is no place for racism, hate, or bigotry in the great State of Idaho. We condemn bullies who seek to harass and silence others.”
CLEMSON HIRES CHATTANOOGA’S POPPIE AS COACH »
Clemson has hired Chattanooga coach Shawn Poppie
to be its women’s basketball coach.
Poppie received a sixyear contract worth $3.375 million through the 202930 season. The agreement was approved by the Board of Trustees’ compensation committee on Tuesday.
Poppie spent the past two years at Chattanooga where he was 48-18 and won the Southern Conference Tournament title and reached the NCAA Tournament both seasons. He was Southern Conference coach of the year this past season after leading the Mocs to 28 victories.
Chattanooga lost its first round game to No. 3 seed North Carolina State 64-45 on Saturday.
KENTUCKY GRABS VIRGNIA TECH COACH »
Kentucky hired Kenny Brooks as women’s basketball coach after a successful tenure with Virginia Tech highlighted by the ACC regular season championship a year after winning the tournament title and reaching its first Final Four.
The school announced Brooks’ hiring on Tuesday afternoon, hours after Virginia Tech said he would leave the program. Kentucky will introduce Brooks as its ninth coach on Thursday afternoon.
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Cincinnati
Miami
NY Red Bulls
Columbus
Toronto
Montréal
Charlotte
Atlanta
Philadelphia
D.C. United
Nashville
Chicago
Orlando
NYCFC
N. England
April 6
W
3
3
3
3
3
2
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
0
Saturday’s games
Sunday’s game
L
0
2
1
1
1
1
2
2
0
1
1
2
3
4
4
T Pts GF GA
LAFC at Colorado, 1 p.m.
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
0
3
3
3
2
1
0
1
NYCFC at Miami, 4:30 p.m.
Dallas at Austin, 5:30 p.m.
Seattle at Galaxy, 7:30 p.m.
Galaxy at LAFC, 4:30 p.m.
11
10
10
10
10
Colorado at Miami, 4:30 p.m.
7
7
6
6
6
6
5
4
3
1
Minnesota at Philadelphia, 11 a.m.
Cincinnati at Charlotte, 4:30 p.m.
Montréal at D.C. United, 4:30 p.m.
NY Red Bulls at Orlando, 4:30 p.m.
Kansas City at Toronto, 4:30 p.m.
San Jose at Houston, 5:30 p.m.
Columbus at Nashville, 5:30 p.m.
St. Louis at Salt Lake, 6:30 p.m.
Portland at Vancouver, 7:30 p.m.
Chicago at Atlanta, 12:30 p.m.
Toronto FC at Vancouver, 3 p.m.
New York at Cincinnati, 4:30 p.m.
D.C. United at Columbus, 4:30 p.m.
San Jose at Austin FC, 5:30 p.m.
Houston at Chicago, 5:30 p.m.
FC Dallas at St Louis City, 5:30 p.m.
CF Montréal at Seattle, 7:30 p.m.
5
13
8
7
5
8
5
6
8
8
5
9
4
3
4
Atlanta at New York City FC, 4:30 p.m.
Charlotte FC at New England, 4:30 p.m.
Real Salt Lake at Minnesota, 5:30 p.m.
Philadelphia at Nashville, 5:30 p.m.
2
9
5
4
2
7
4
4
6
8
9
10
10
7
11
REGULAR SEASON
Thurday’s games
Milwaukee at N.Y. Mets, 10:10 a.m. Angels at Baltimore, 12:05 p.m.
Atlanta at Philadelphia, 12:05 p.m. Toronto at Tampa Bay, 1:10 p.m.
St. Louis at L.A. Dodgers, 1:10 p.m.
San Francisco at San Diego, 1:10 p.m. Washington at Cincinnati, 110 p.m. Pittsburgh at Miami, 1:10 p.m.
Detroit at Chicago White Sox, 1:10 p.m. Minnesota at Kansas City, 1:10 p.m. N.Y. Yankees at Houston, 1:10 p.m. Chicago Cubs at Texas, 4:35 p.m. Cleveland at Oakland, 7:07 p.m.
Boston at Seattle, 7:10 p.m.
Colorado at Arizona, 7:10 p.m.
Friday’s games
Toronto at Tampa Bay, 3:50 p.m. Pittsburgh at Miami, 4:10 p.m.
N.Y. Yankees at Houston, 5:10 p.m. San Francisco at San Diego, 6:40 p.m. Cleveland at Oakland, 6:40 p.m. Boston at Seattle, 6:40 p.m.
Colorado at Arizona, 6:40 p.m.
St. Louis at L.A. Dodgers, 7:10 p.m.
Saturday’s games
Milwaukee at N.Y. Mets, 10:40 a.m. Detroit at Chicago White Sox, 11:10 a.m. L.A. Angels at Baltimore, 1:05 p.m. Atlanta at Philadelphia, 1:05 p.m. Cleveland at Oakland, 1:07 p.m.
Toronto at Tampa Bay, 1:10 p.m. Washington at Cincinnati, 1:10 p.m. Pittsburgh at Miami, 1:10 p.m. Minnesota at Kansas City, 1:10 p.m. Chicago Cubs at Texas, 4:05 p.m.
San Francisco at San Diego, 4:15 p.m. N.Y. Yankees at Houston, 4:15 p.m. Colorado at Arizona, 5:10 p.m.
St. Louis at L.A. Dodgers, 6:10 p.m. Boston at Seattle, 6:40 p.m.
Sunday’s games
L.A. Angels at Baltimore, 10:35 a.m. Atlanta at Philadelphia, 10:35 a.m. Toronto at Tampa Bay, 10:40 a.m. Milwaukee at N.Y. Mets, 10:40 a.m. Washington at Cincinnati, 10:40 a.m. Pittsburgh at Miami, 10:40 a.m.
Detroit at Chicago White Sox, 11:10 a.m. Minnesota at Kansas City, 11:10 a.m. N.Y. Yankees at Houston, 11:10 a.m. Chicago Cubs at Texas, 11:35 a.m. Cleveland at Oakland, 1:07 p.m.
San Francisco at San Diego, 1:10 p.m. Boston at Seattle, 1:10 p.m.
Colorado at Arizona, 1:10 p.m.
St. Louis at L.A. Dodgers, 4:10 p.m.