In response to a racist incident that likely never happened, the geniuses at the University of South Carolina decided to stage a virtue signalling protest and cancel its scheduled games against BYU.
The recent alleged Duke-BYU women’s volleyball incident is now affecting basketball season, which doesn’t start for practically another three months.The South Carolina University women’s basketball team canceled two games – one this year and one next – against BYU in response to the alleged incident.Duke’s Rachel Robinson claimed that a fan subjected her and her Black teammates to racial slurs “throughout the entirety of the match” against BYU.However, the claim has received pushback from witnesses who say they “heard absolutely nothing.” Despite the conflicting reports, Gamecocks head coach Dawn Staley is comfortable with her decision.”As a head coach, my job is to do what’s best for my players and staff,” Staley said in a statement released by South Carolina on Friday. “The incident at BYU has led me to reevaluate our home-and-home, and I don’t feel that this is the right time for us to engage in this series.”. . . . BYU officials and BYU police both [sic] have not confirmed slurs were used, nor were they able to tell if the person was shouting in Richardson’s direction while she was serving as she claimed.”Various BYU Athletics employees have been reviewing video from BYUtv and other cameras in the facility that the volleyball team has access to for film review. This has been ongoing since right after the match on Friday night,” BYU associate athletic director Jon McBride said in a statement. “The person who was banned was the person identified by Duke as using racial slurs. However, we have been unable to find any evidence of that person using slurs in the match.”A BYU athletics official also told the BYU student-led newspaper the fan was mentally challenged.
So one person heard supposed racial slurs directed at her, and a mentally challenged fan was banned from games . . . for something else entirely. There is no video. No witness. No nothing to support the player’s claims, yet South Carolina decided it didn’t matter. The allegations were enough, apparently, even if they are false.
Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley and South Carolina athletics director Ray Tanner issued statements Friday confirming the decision to cancel an upcoming home-and-home series scheduled to take place in the 2022–23 and ’23–24 seasons. The Gamecocks were set to host the Cougars in their season opener on Nov. 7 before traveling to Utah for a contest next year.“As a head coach, my job is to do what’s best for my players and staff,” Staley said. “The incident at BYU has led me to reevaluate our home-and-home, and I don’t feel that this is the right time for us to engage in this series.”Tanner added, “Dawn and I have discussed her thoughts on the situation. I support Dawn and all of our coaches in their right to schedule games and opponents that are best for their teams.”
This is beyond ridiculous. There is no evidence whatsoever that the alleged incident even happened, and if it did, it was related to women’s volleyball, not women’s basketball, and did I mention this is ridiculous?
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