Utah women's basketball coach Lynne Roberts revealed that her team dealt with several racial hate crimes last week while they were staying in a hotel for their 2024 NCAA Tournament matchup. As a result of the incidents, the Utes were forced to change hotels in order to remain safe.
Roberts stated Monday that the incidents occurred on March 21 following the team's arrival in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, 30 miles from Spokane, Washington, which was where Utah was scheduled to face No. 12 seed South Dakota State.
Members of the Utes, including cheerleaders and the band, heard racial slurs yelled at them, according to KSL.com. This happened on multiple occasions while the team was walking to and from a nearby restaurant in Coeur D'Alene, according to Utah deputy athletic director Charmelle Green.
An unidentified person in a white truck allegedly raced by the players and screamed a slur before speeding away from the scene.
"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.com. "We kept walking, just shaking our heads, like, 'I can't believe that.'"
Green said a similar situation unfolded about two hours later when the team was leaving the restaurant. She recalled there being two parked trucks that began revving their engine before screaming slurs at the team.
The Utes filed a police report following the multiple instances.
"Racism is real, and it happens, and it's awful," Roberts said following Monday's loss to Gonzaga. "For our players, whether they are white, black, green, whatever -- no one knew how to handle it and it was really upsetting. For our players and staff to not feel safe in an NCAA tournament environment, it's messed up."
Roberts said the NCAA made an effort to move the Utes to a different hotel following their experience in Coeur d'Alene. However, along with South Dakota State and UC Irvine, Utah was forced to stay in Idaho since there weren't any available hotels closer to Spokane.
Roberts also revealed that the Idaho incident was a distraction to the team.
"It was a distraction and upsetting and unfortunate," Roberts said. "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."
Utah defeated South Dakota State 68-54 on Saturday in the NCAA Tournament's opening round. However, No. 4 Gonzaga got the best of Utes in a 77-66 win on Monday.
