South Carolina scraps women’s basketball series with BYU over volleyball controversy

The aftermath of last week’s volleyball incident at BYU is now affecting other teams on campus, with women’s basketball the latest victim.

Defending national champion South Carolina has announced its cancellation of an upcoming home-and-home series with the Cougars following the allegations of racial harassment at the BYU/Duke volleyball match on Aug. 26.

“As a head coach, my job is to do what’s best for my players and staff,” South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley said in a statement Friday. “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.”

BYU was scheduled to visit the Gamecocks on Nov. 7, with South Carolina making the return trip to Provo in the 2023-24 season.

“We are extremely disappointed in South Carolina’s decision to cancel our series and ask for patience with the on-going investigation,” BYU women’s basketball Tweeted Friday. “We believe the solution is to work together to root out racism and not to separate from one another.”

South Carolina is no stranger to such headlines, with Missouri claiming Gamecock fans had used racial slurs and spit toward its women’s basketball players in 2018. Staley defended South Carolina’s fans in the matter.

Following Duke player Rachel Richardson’s claim that a fan had yelled racial slurs at her, BYU has released several statements regarding the situation, along with banning a fan identified by Duke, removing courtside ROC seating at the Smith Fieldhouse and continuing its investigation into the allegations.

BYU officials have been unable to find evidence thus far of the banned fan or anyone else in attendance on Aug. 26 using racial slurs.