UConn basketball’s head coach will not be allowed to travel to the Final Four in Indiana this weekend due to the anti-LGBT law.
In support of Connecticut Governor Dan Malloy’s state-funded travel ban to Indiana in response to the law, UConn president Susan Herbst won’t allow head basketball coach Kevin Ollie travel to the Final Four, where many coaches whose teams aren’t playing go to watch the games.
“In support of Governor Malloy’s travel ban to the state of Indiana, Kevin Ollie and other members of the UConn men’s basketball staff will not travel to Indianapolis for the NCAA Final Four and events surrounding it,” Herbst said.
“UConn is a community that values all of our members and treats each person with the same degree of respect, regardless of their background and beliefs and we will not tolerate any other behavior.”
The Indiana law has sparked a firestorm of controversy across media and sports, with the latter being impacted since college basketball’s biggest weekend is being hosted in the state the law was passed.
On Tuesday, Indiana Governor Mike Pence announced he’d alter the law to specifically outlaw discrimination against LGBT people. He criticized the media for “ridiculous reporting.”
“Some of the national reporting on this has been ridiculous,” he said, claiming the media has misrepresented the law since it was passed and have been irresponsible.
Many have called for the NCAA to pull the games from Indiana, including basketball legend and NBA/NCAA analyst Charles Barkley.