South Carolina basketball team cancels BYU games over racist harassment at volleyball match

By Wayne Sterling, CNN

Updated 1702 GMT (0102 HKT) September 3, 2022

South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley watches the action in the first half of the NCAA women's college basketball Southeastern Conference tournament championship game against Kentucky in Nashville, Tennessee, on Sunday, March 6, 2022.

(CNN)The South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball team has canceled its home-and-home series with the Brigham Young University (BYU) Cougars following the racial incident involving Duke volleyball player Rachel Richardson at a BYU game last week, Dawn Staley, head coach for the defending national champions said on Friday.

«As a head coach, my job is to do what's best for my players and staff,» Staley said in a statement. «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.» Richardson said BYU officials did not act quick enough to stop the racist harassment she and other Black players were subject to during a match last week. Richardson tweeted that she and some of her teammates «were targeted and racially heckled throughout the entirety of the match. The slurs and comments grew into threats which caused us to feel unsafe.»Duke volleyball player says BYU officials failed to stop racist heckling during game in newly released statementBYU issued an apology the day after the game and said it banned a fan.South Carolina was scheduled to open its season at home against BYU on November 7. The Gamecocks said they are looking for another opponent for the season opener at Colonial Life Arena. Read MoreBYU said it is «extremely disappointed» with the decision. «We are extremely disappointed in South Carolina's decision to cancel our series