Louisiana gov says student athletes should not keep scholarships if they refuse to be present for National Anthem at games

Before their game against Iowa on Monday in the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament, Louisiana State University's team was a no-show on the court during the singing of the national anthem. The team's absence prompted Governor Jeff Landry to take action to ensure players would be present in the future, suggesting that perhaps student athletes' scholarships should be taken away if they fail to do so.

 

"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 Mulkey," Landry wrote in a post 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 all college boards, including Regent, put a policy in place that student athletes be present for the national anthem or risk their athletic scholarship! This is a matter of respect that all collegiate coaches should instill."

After the game, LSU women's basketball Coach Kim Mulkey addressed the controversey surrounding the team. 
 

"Honestly I don't even know when the anthem was played," she said. "We kind of have a routine where we're on the floor and then they come off at the 12 minute mark; we come in and we do our pregame stuff. Listen, that's nothing intentionally done."

LSU Athletics echoed her sentiments, adding that, "our basketball programs have not been on the court for the anthem for the last several seasons."

In an interview with Fox News, Landry revealed that he had sent out letters to each one of the state's college boards urging them to create policies that would mandate players' presence during the singing of the Star-spangled Banner.

"The national anthem is as much a place of American sports as the actual game that's being played," he claimed, "and the fact that there is not a policy that says these players are gonna be out there and respect the flag and respect those that go out there and protect us is very disrespectful in and of itself."

In response to Coach Mukley and LSU athletics' explanations as to why the team wasn't on the court at the time, Landry said more needed to be done to ensure "consistency" when it came to being present for the anthem.