Utah Women Basketball Faced Racial Hate Crimes Against Them At The Hotel During NCAA Tournament

During the NCAA Tournament, Utah women’s basketball coach Lynne Roberts reported her team had to switch hotels because of safety concerns and that they had been the victim of many “racial hate crimes.”

Utah Women Basketball Faced Racial Hate Crimes Against Them At The Hotel During NCAA Tournament

Because there weren’t enough hotels in the host city, Utah was billeted in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, some 30 miles away from Spokane, where they played their games.

Roberts stated that many instances occurred last Thursday night after the team arrived in the Coeur d’Alene region for the competition, however he did not provide specifics. On Tuesday, however, Black deputy athletics director Charmelle Green of Utah met with Utah broadcaster KSL and provided further information.

Members of the basketball team, cheer squad, and band were initially lodging at a hotel in Coeur d’Alene, about 35 minutes away from the Spokane, Washington, site of the games. On Thursday night, they were walking to a restaurant when someone in a white truck revved the engine, yelled the N-word at them, and drove off.

“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’s deputy athletics director Charmelle Green, who is Black, told KSL.com. “We kept walking, just shaking our heads, like I can’t believe that.”

“I was just numb the entire night,” she said.

Utah moved to a hotel in Spokane on Friday.

“I will never forget the sound that I heard, the intimidation of the noise that came from that engine, and the word (N-word),” Green said. “I go to bed and I hear it every night since I’ve been here. … I couldn’t imagine us having to stay there and relive those moments.”

Extremists of the far right have established themselves in the area. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, at least nine hate organizations, including Identity Evropa, Proud Boys, ACT for America, and America’s Promise Ministries, were active in the Spokane and northern Idaho regions in 2018.

Due to a shortage of rooms in Spokane, Gonzaga was the host school, although Utah, South Dakota State, and UC Irvine were all lodging in motels in Idaho. Roberts added that following the event, Gonzaga and the NCAA tried to relocate the squad.

Gonzaga issued a statement saying that the first priority is the safety and welfare of everyone participating in the event.

“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,” the statement said.

That left limited hotel space and Gonzaga received a waiver from the NCAA to allow teams to be housed in Coeur d’Alene.

“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,” Roberts said. “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,” Roberts said.

 

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