The coaches of University of Connecticut’s basketball team will not attend the Final Four games in Indianapolis this week due to Indiana’s controversial religious freedom law that may allow discrimination against gay people.
Although University of Connecticut did not make the Final Four, head coach Kevin Ollie and his assistant coaches were set to attend the National Association of Basketball Coaches convention in Indianapolis. Since the university receives state funding, the school’s president had to abide by Gov. Dan Malloy’s (D) ban on state funded travel to Indiana, according to the Hartford Courant.
“In support of Governor Malloy’s travel ban to the state of Indiana, Kevin Ollie and other members of the UConn men’s basketball staff will not travel to Indianapolis for the NCAA Final Four and events surrounding it,” University of Connecticut President Susan Herbst said in a statement. “UConn is a community that values all of our members and treats each person with the same degree of respect, regardless of their background and beliefs and we will not tolerate any other behavior.”
Despite calls for the NCAA to pull the Final Four out of Indianapolis over the state’s new law, the tournament will go on as planned on April 4. The NCAA has also not indicated that the league will move its headquarters from Indianapolis.
In statements this week, the four schools with basketball teams playing in the Final Four called on the state of Indiana to issue a clarification for the law.
Now, if other colleges would follow suit.
Good. Time for more solidarity.
Good for Connecticut! Lines are being drawn in the sand and the only question is which side are you on?
I wonder how many T-shirts have been printed, how many signs have been made all for the TV cameras at the NCAA Final Four. I wonder how many newsrooms across the land just gave more assignments outside the Sports departments to cover the Final Four, not for the game but because they all know this is an opportunity for shit to go down. This weekend is going to be about a lot more than basketball.
Time for everyone to teleconference. No need to travel especially to Indiana.