The University of South Carolina women’s basketball team has canceled its home-and-home series against BYU scheduled for the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons, the program announced Friday. This decision Duke volleyball player Rachel Richardson said she heard racial slurs directed at her and other black players from the BYU student section at a recent game..
The Gamecocks were scheduled to open their season with BYU on November 7th. South Carolina is currently working to finalize another opponent for Colonial Life’s match at his arena.
“My job as head coach is to do what’s best for my players and staff,” Gamecox head coach Dawn Staley said. in a statement“The incident at BYU has caused me to re-evaluate home and home, but I feel that now is not the right time to join this series.
On August 26, while Duke’s volleyball team was playing at BYU, Duke and other teammates were “targeted and racistly taunted throughout the game,” according to Richardson. Her student-athlete said she felt uncomfortable, so she immediately informed authorities and the BYU coaching staff of what was happening.
“The slander and comments turned into threats and made us feel unsafe.” she wrote on twitter 2 days after the game.
BYU official statement In an incident that same day, he apologized and said racial slurs were unacceptable and would not be tolerated at their athletic event.BYU also identified Duke as the man who shouted racial slurs. The fan was banned. Police later identified the man in question as not a BYU student, but a Utah Valley University student.
However Salt Lake Tribune reported On Aug. 30, the man may not have been the one shouting the racial slur because no video evidence was found, and he was not in the student section when Richardson said the incident had started. Richardson also said someone approached her after the game and told her to “watch her back.”
The banned man reportedly said he approached Richardson, but he told police it was because he mixed her up with one of his friends. As it continues, the investigation is still ongoing.
Friday wasn’t the first time Staley has publicly commented on the Richardson incident.
Staley discussed the situation with South Carolina’s athletic director, Ray Tanner. Ray her Tanner trusted her judgment and gave her full support to her coach in her decision to change her home opener.
“Dawn and I have discussed her thoughts on the situation,” Tanner said in a statement. “
The first game on the South Carolina calendar is an exhibition game against Benedict College in Columbia, South Carolina on October 31st.
