Utah Women Forced To Change NCAA Tournament Hotel Over Alleged Racism And Hate Crimes

A series of alleged “racial hate crimes” forced the Utah Utes women’s basketball team to change hotels for the opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament according to coach Lynne Roberts.

Roberts revealed what happened after the fifth-seeded Utes lost to fourth-seeded Gonzaga on Monday night in the second round of the tournament.

That game took place on Gonzaga’s campus in Spokane, Washington. But the Utes stayed about 30 miles away in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho along with South Dakota State and UC Irvine due to a lack of hotels in Spokane. They relocated on Friday following the alleged incidents.

“We had several instances of some kind of racial hate crimes toward our program and [it was] incredibly upsetting for all of us,” Roberts said. “In our world, in athletics and in university settings, it’s shocking. There’s so much diversity on a college campus and so you’re just not exposed to that very often.”

Roberts said that her players did not feel safe in the initial hotel.

“Racism is real and it happens and it’s awful,” Roberts said. “So 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.”

Both Gonzaga and the NCAA worked to find the program a new hotel following the first night.

“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.”

NCAA Tournament Host City Has Significant Past History Of Racism

Couer D’Alene largely serves as a resort town these days. But a report from NPR in June of 2022 revealed the town and surrounding area have a sordid past with white nationalism.

“In 1974, an engineer named Richard Butler bought 20 acres of farmland in Hayden, Idaho, a few miles outside of Coeur d’Alene. There, he established a compound and organization for neo-Nazis called Aryan Nations. The property held a neo-Nazi church, a modest home where Butler and his wife lived, a watchtower and barracks for young white men,” the report states.

The organization went bankrupt in 2001. And Butler died in 2004. But it’s clear his influence still has roots in the area.