TODAY’S TALKER

After backlash, NCAA vows to fix facilities at women’s tournament

The NCAA acknowledged wide disparities between the amenities at its men’s and women’s basketball tournament, after outrage spread online at images of the single dumbbell rack it had provided to women’s basketball players in its San Antonio tournament bubble, a stark contrast to the massive, stateof- the- art weight facility built for men’s players.

“We acknowledge that some of the amenities teams would typically have access to have not been as available inside the controlled environment,” said Lynn Holzman, the NCAA’S vice president of women’s basketball, in a statement. She said the NCAA would improve the training facility for the women.

An NCAA spokesperson said officials initially thought there was not enough square footage for a weight facility at the convention center playing host to the women’s tournament.

Prominent basketball players were sharply critical of the NCAA online. Las Vegas Aces star

A’ja Wilson called the facilities “beyond disrespectful.”

“Thought this was a joke,” said Sabrina Ionescu, the 2020 firstround draft pick, in a tweet.

“I can’t,” wrote Sue Bird in response to the images of the NCAA’S facilities.

Coaches and others inside the women’s bubble questioned the NCAA’S claim that space issues had prevented the organization from building a comparable facility for women and men. A video showed that the rack of dumbbells that served as the women’s weight training was located in an enormous and entirely empty part of the convention center.