The 2023 championship rematch between Iowa and LSU in this year’s Elite Eight was a sensational production that drew praise from celebrities, athletes and fans while breaking the record for the most-watched women’s basketball game ever.
But Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry wasn’t impressed before he even bounced a basketball Monday after LSU didn’t stand for the national anthem, calling for a policy that jeopardizes a student-athlete’s scholarship if the player is absent by during “The Star.”
“My mother coached high school girls basketball during the height of segregation, no one has more respect for the sport and Coach Mulkey,” Gov. Landry wrote in the X on Tuesday. “However, above the respect for this game is a deeper respect for those who protect us and unite us under one flag! It is time for all college boards, including the Regent’s, to implement a policy that student athletes be present for the national anthem or risk their athletic scholarship! This is a matter of respect that all collegiate coaches must instill.”
My mother coached high school girls basketball during the height of segregation, no one has more respect for the sport and Coach Mulkey. However, above the respect for this game is a deeper respect for those who protect us and unite us under one 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 was played and that her team’s routine is to head from the field to the locker room at 12 minutes. Iowa was present for the anthem and lined up along the foul line with all players holding hands.
“Sorry, listen, this is not something that was done on purpose,” 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 won the title — for not being on the floor during the national anthem for their Final Four win over Louisville. Staley explained that their absence was unintentional, calling her players “creatures of habit.”
“I think (the national anthem) was played at 12 or 10 minutes, and that’s not the time we go on the floor because of our pregame ritual,” Staley said at the time. “If the national anthem is at 0:00, like it was today (for the national championship), we were out there for the national anthem.”
In college sports, the presence of the national anthem is not required or unusual for one or both teams to be in their respective locker rooms during it. College football teams aren’t usually in it during regular season games or even bowl games. For the Big Ten college football championship game between Iowa and Michigan in December, both the Hawkeyes and Wolverines were not seen on the sidelines during the playing of the national anthem at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. When Iowa football plays at home, however, it’s usually on the field for the anthem.
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(Photo of American Airlines Center prior to the 2023 NCAA Women’s Tournament Championship: Ron Jenkins/Getty Images)
