South Carolina Lawmakers Call on Gamecocks to Explain Canceling Games with BYU

On Wednesday, a group of South Carolina lawmakers sent a letter to University of South Carolina Athletics Director Ray Tanner and women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley demanding an explanation after the two canceled games with Brigham Young University.

Tanner and Staley canceled future games with BYU after a Duke University volleyball player claimed that a fan repeatedly yelled racial epithets at her during a game in Utah on August 26.

But members of the South Carolina Freedom Caucus want to know why the university canceled the games with BYU in light of the fact that a police investigation turned up no evidence at all that the n-word incident ever occurred.

Fourteen members of the legislature co-signed the letter demanding answers, Fox News reported.

The letter urged Tanner and Staley to answer several key questions about the alleged n-word incident at BYU.

“Given the totality of the circumstances, it seems the University of South Carolina rushed to appease the loudest voices of the far-Left by ‘canceling’ BYU, both literally and figuratively, without respect for the truth. If our citizens are to have faith in our public institutions, then they must not kowtow to counterfeit outrage. Doing so only hurts and weakens those who have been truly harmed by bigotry and discrimination,” the letter asked.

The legislators went on to blast USC for making major moves without facts on their side.

“It is our opinion the University acted arbitrarily and capriciously without consideration or regard for the facts and circumstances. This begs many questions, chief among them, why did the University of South Carolina cancel the series against BYU when no supporting evidence existed to warrant such action? Will the University of South Carolina reschedule with BYU and issue a public apology if the allegations continue to be shown as false?” they wrote.

“Is it now the policy of the University to forgo, or more concerning, ignore any fact-finding missions into allegations of wrongdoing?” the lawmakers exclaimed, “Will the University be canceling all sporting events whenever any fan of any university against which the Gamecocks have an upcoming game is accused of acting inappropriately? Is the University of South Carolina now taking responsibility for all of its fans, regardless of any relationship with the University? What is the policy of the University of South Carolina for canceling games in which allegations of wrongdoing by a future opposing school’s fans are made? And finally, will the University of South Carolina decline any games with Duke University given the verifiable racially insensitive tweets by a member of Duke’s fan base, Mrs. Pamplin?”

Staley explained that she felt obligated to cancel games with BYU.

“As a head coach, my job is to do what’s best for my players and staff,” Staley said last week. “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 is still investigating, but thus far, no evidence has been uncovered after police reviewed audio and video of the game and conducted numerous interviews with fans who were at the game, where Duke player Rachel Richardson claimed she was accosted with racial epithets.

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