https://www.espn.com/womens-college-basketball/story/_/id/39811783/utah-women-basketball-coach-lynne-roberts-says-team-experienced-racial-hate-crimes-hotel-stay-ncaa-tournament
Utah coach Lynne Roberts said her team experienced a series of racial hate crimes last week after arriving at its first NCAA tournament hotel and was forced to change hotels for safety concerns.
Roberts didn't go into detail but said Monday there were several incidents that happened last Thursday night after the team arrived in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, which is located about 30 miles away from Spokane, Washington, where the Utes were scheduled to play in the tournament's opening weekend.
KSL.com reported early Tuesday that the N-word was yelled at members of the Utah basketball team, along with other members of the traveling party -- including cheerleaders and the school band -- on multiple occasions as they were walking to and from a restaurant near their hotel in Coeur d'Alene.
Utah deputy athletic director Charmelle Green, who is Black, told KSL.com that the first incident occurred while the team was walking from the hotel to the restaurant. An unidentified person in a white truck revved the vehicle's engine near the team before yelling the N-word in the team's direction and speeding off.
"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."
Tony Stewart, an official with the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations, confirmed Green's account of the incident Tuesday to The Associated Press and added that the truck had a Confederate flag. Stewart also told the AP that a team from another school was with the Utes at the time but did not identify the school.
South Dakota State and UC Irvine also were staying at hotels in Coeur d'Alene, even with Gonzaga as the host school, because of a lack of hotel space in the Spokane area. UC Irvine said it was not involved in the incident. Even so, the team requested to move "for the well-being and safety of our student-athletes and the entire travel party," Mike Uhlenkamp, assistant vice chancellor for communications and media relations, said in an email.
Green told KSL.com that a similar incident took place about two hours later as the team was leaving the restaurant. Green said two trucks parked near the team began revving their engines before people inside the vehicles again yelled the N-word in their direction.
Stewart later added that the same driver from the first incident had returned the second time "reinforced by others."
Coeur d'Alene police Chief Lee White said about 100 people were around the area that night, but investigators still need to interview those affected. He said there are two state charges that could be enforced -- malicious harassment and disorderly conduct -- if someone is arrested. White also said he was working with the FBI.
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