The incident occurred during Wednesday’s game between the College of Southern Idaho (CSI) and Salt Lake Community College (SLCC). During the broadcast, a clip of which was posted on Twitter, the announcer, who works for CSI, can be heard reacting to a foul from a Black SLCC player, Jordan Brinson.
“He’s going to go to the bucket again, and get hammered again!” the announcer says. “This time by Jordan Brinson. Who are these thugs?”
The Twitter user who posted the footage questioned as to why announcers could “get away with saying whatever!”
“Referring to a player as a thug because he fouled is not how the game is suppose to be called! It’s crazy that @CSIAthletics1 can get away with this wit [sic] no problems,” the user said. “The disconnect to humanity is felt.”
Following the incident, CSI issued a formal apology to SLCC and Brinson and said that the contract of the announcer had been terminated. CSI did not reveal the name of the announcer, but a Twin Falls, Idaho, newspaper, the Times-News, has identified him as Jonathan Drew.
“The College of Southern Idaho and the CSI Athletic Department want to apologize to the Salt Lake Community College players, coaches, and fans for the comments made during the broadcast,” said Joel Bate, CSI’s athletic director. “CSI does not condone and will not tolerate these types of remarks. They do not reflect our values as an institution of higher education or as a member of the National Junior College Athletic Association [NJCAA].”
“We have the utmost respect for the SLCC Athletic Department and for their student-athletes,” Bate added.
SLCC released a statement responding to CSI in which they accepted the apology.
“The Salt Lake Community College Athletic Department would like to thank the College of Southern Idaho, Athletic Director Joel Bate, President Dean Fisher and the rest of the CSI family for their quick and appropriate response to last night’s incident and accept CSI’s apology regarding a comment made by a CSI contracted play-by-play announcer during a game between the two teams on Wednesday, February 16,” said SLCC Director of Intercollegiate Athletics and Recreation Kevin Dustin. “We do not believe the comment reflects the values of CSI as we’ve come to know them over the years.”
“This is really an opportunity for all of us to become more aware and mindful of the words we use to describe others, which can potentially be inappropriate and insensitive,” Dustin said. “SLCC and CSI have a long history of competing together as members of the Scenic West Athletic Conference in the [NJCAA], and the institutions have long shared a mutual respect.”
Dustin added, “Both SLCC and CSI view this incident as a learning opportunity and view the matter as closed.”
Both SLCC and CSI compete in the NJCAA, the governing body of community college athletics. Wednesday’s game saw CSI beat SLCC, the No. 1 team in the polls, by a score of 74-70, marking SLCC’s first loss of the season.
Newsweek has reached out to the Idaho chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People for comment.