University of Utah women's basketball coach Lynne Roberts says her team was forced to change hotels last week due to "racial hate crimes" directed at the players while staying in Idaho for the NCAA Tournament.
According to Roberts, the team experienced several incidents while staying at a hotel in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, roughly 30 miles east of Spokane, Wash.
The team was set to play against Gonzaga University but had to stay in Idaho due to a lack of hotel vacancies in Spokane during the tournament.
"Racism is real and, it happens and, it's awful," Roberts told reporters on Monday.
"For our players, whether they are white, Black, green, whatever - no one knew how to handle it."
That's because "in our world, in athletics and the 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.
"And it was really upsetting," Roberts continued.
"And for our players and staff to not feel safe in an NCAA tournament environment, it's messed up."
Both the NCAA and Gonzaga assisted in moving the team to another hotel closer to Spokane.
While Roberts did not go into detail on the incidents that caused the hotel move, Utah deputy athletics director Charmelle Green, who is Black, elaborated on numerous instances of racial harassment to Salt Lake City's KSL News.
As the team, along with the cheerleaders and band members, walked to a nearby restaurant for dinner, a white truck stopped to rev its engine before one of the occupants yelled the N-word at the group and then quickly sped away.
"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," Green told KSL.
"We kept walking, just shaking our heads like I can't believe that."
Following dinner, two trucks drove near them and did the same thing again, revving their engines and shouting the N-word."I got emotional and started to cry," Green told the outlet.
"I was just numb the entire night."
Gonzaga University released a statement regarding the situation on Tuesday.
"Gonzaga University has been made aware of the racially disparaging comments made to visiting student-athletes and travel party members in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, in advance of the NCAA Women's First and Second Round Basketball Tournament games these past several days," the statement read.
"Hate speech in any form is repugnant, shameful, and must never be tolerated. We worked hard to secure the opportunity to serve as the host institution, and our first priority is and must be the safety and welfare of all student-athletes, coaches, families, and supporting staff. To this end, we have worked closely with the NCAA and program participants to support the security and safety of everyone involved. We are frustrated and deeply saddened to know that 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."
With reporting by TMX
