SPOKANE, Washington — Utah coach Lynne Roberts said her team experienced a series of “racial hate crimes” after arriving at its first NCAA Tournament hotel and was forced to change hotels during the event for safety concerns.
Utah was staying about 30 miles away in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, and was relocated to a different hotel on Friday. Utah, South Dakota State and UC Irvine were all staying at hotels in Idaho even with Gonzaga as the host school because of a lack of hotel space in the Spokane area. Several years ago, the city was announced as a host for the first and second rounds of the men’s NCAA Tournament and there was also a large regional youth volleyball tournament in the area during the weekend.
“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.
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