BYU says it found no evidence of racial heckling toward Duke women's volleyball player

BYU says it found no evidence of racial heckling during a women's volleyball match against Duke last month after what the school called an «extensive review» of the incident.

Duke volleyball player Rachel Richardson, who is Black, alleged that she repeatedly heard a racial slur directed at her during the Aug. 26 match from someone sitting in BYU's student section. Richardson's godmother also said the player was called a racial slur «every time she served.»

BYU banned a fan from all its athletic events shortly after Richardson's allegations but has lifted the ban following its investigation, which the school says included reviewing all available video and audio recordings and contacting more than 50 people who attended the event, including some Duke athletes and staff members. The review included security camera footage and footage from BYUtv with broadcasting audio removed.

«From our extensive review, we have not found any evidence to corroborate the allegation that fans engaged in racial heckling or uttered racial slurs at the event,» BYU said in a statement. «As we stated earlier, we would not tolerate any conduct that would make a student-athlete feel unsafe. That is the reason for our immediate response and our thorough investigation.

»As a result of our investigation, we have lifted the ban on the fan who was identified as having uttered racial slurs during the match. We have not found any evidence that that individual engaged in such an activity. BYU sincerely apologizes to that fan for any hardship the ban has caused."

BYU communicated the results of the investigation to Duke before releasing its statement, the school told ESPN. The schools' athletic directors, BYU's Tom Holmoe and Duke's Nina King, have been in