The 2023 championship rematch between Iowa and LSU in this year’s Elite Eight was a brilliant production that garnered praise from celebrities, athletes and fans alike, while breaking the record for the most-watched women’s college basketball game in history.
But the governor of Louisiana. Jeff Landry was unimpressed even before a basketball bounced Monday after LSU was not present for the national anthem, and called for a policy to be implemented that puts a student-athlete’s scholarship at risk if the player is absent during “The Star-Spangled Banner”.
“My mother coached high school girls’ basketball during the height of desegregation, no one has greater respect for the sport and for Coach Mulkey,” the governor said. Landry wrote in X on Tuesday. “However, above respect for that game is a deeper respect for those who serve to protect us and unite us under one flag! It is time for all university boards, including Regent, to establish a policy for student athletes to be present during the national anthem or risk their athletic scholarship! “This is a matter of respect that all college coaches should instill.”
My mother coached high school girls basketball during the height of desegregation, no one has greater respect for the sport and Coach Mulkey. However, above respect for that game is a deeper respect for those who serve to protect us and unite us under a single flag.
Is…
—Jeff Landry (@JeffLandry) April 2, 2024
LSU coach Kim Mulkey said after the game that she didn’t know what time the anthem played and that her team’s routine is to exit the court to the locker room at the 12-minute mark. Iowa was present during the anthem and lined up along their foul line with all players holding hands.
“I’m sorry, listen, that’s nothing done intentionally,” Mulkey said after the game.
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South Carolina coach Dawn Staley and her team faced similar criticism in 2022, when the Gamecocks took home the title, for not being on the court during the national anthem in their Final Four victory over Louisville. Staley explained that her absence was involuntary and she called her players “creatures of habit.”
“I think (the national anthem) came on at the 12 or 10 minute mark, and that’s not the time we’re on the court because of our pregame ritual,” Staley said at the time. “If the national anthem plays at 0:00, like it did today (for the national championship), we were out there waiting for the national anthem.”
In college sports, it is not necessary to be present for the national anthem nor is it unusual for one or both teams to be in their respective locker rooms during it. College football teams are not typically present during regular season matchups or even bowl games. For the Big Ten college football championship between Iowa and Michigan in December, both the Hawkeyes and Wolverines He didn’t seem to be on the sidelines. during the performance of the national anthem at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. However, when Iowa football is played at home, it is usually on the field for the anthem.
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(American Airlines Center photo before the 2023 NCAA Women’s Tournament championship: Ron Jenkins/Getty Images)
