Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry urged state officers to enact a coverage that requires student-athletes to be current for the nationwide anthem after the LSU ladies’s basketball crew acquired harsh backlash for lacking the nationwide anthem earlier than its regional closing recreation towards Iowa Monday evening.
The Republican governor turned the newest determine to name out the Tigers for being noticeably absent through the nationwide anthem.
LSU ahead Angel Reese, heart, and LSU guard Flau’jae Johnson, proper, speak as Reese leaves the court docket through the fourth quarter of an Elite Eight spherical recreation through the NCAA Tournament Monday, April 1, 2024, in Albany, N.Y. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
“My mother coached women’s high school basketball during the height of desegregation, no one has a greater respect for the sport and for Coach [Kim] Mulkey,” Landry wrote in a submit on X.
“However, above respect for that game is a deeper respect for those that serve to protect us and unite us under one flag!
“It is time that every one school boards, together with Regent, put a coverage in place that scholar athletes be current for the nationwide anthem or threat their athletic scholarship! This is a matter of respect that every one collegiate coaches ought to instill.”
Jeff Landry, the former attorney general of Louisiana, during a Weaponization of the Federal Government Subcommittee hearing in Washington, D.C., March 30, 2023. (Valerie Plesch/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
A video from OutKick’s Dan Zaksheske showed Iowa players on the court holding hands during “The Star-Spangled Banner.” LSU had left the court right before the anthem was played.
LSU WOMEN’S BASKETBALL COMES UNDER SCRUTINY FOR MISSING NATIONAL ANTHEM BEFORE GAME VS. IOWA
Mulkey said after the loss to Iowa her team’s absence was “routine.”
“Honestly, I do not even know when the anthem was performed,” Mulkey said, via OutKick. “We sort of have a routine when (our gamers are) on the ground, and so they come off on the 12-minute mark (previous to the sport).”
Head coach Kim Mulkey of the LSU Tigers during the first half against the Iowa Hawkeyes in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament at MVP Arena April 1, 2024, in Albany, N.Y. (Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
According to nola.com, neither USC nor UConn were present for the national anthem before their Elite Eight game Monday night.
The Tigers haven’t been present for the national anthem all season, and they were not present for it during last year’s national championship.
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