South Carolina men’s basketball is set to meet Florida State on Sunday afternoon as part of the “No Room for Racism” Classic at the Rock Hill Sports and Event Center. The eight-team event begins on Friday and also features Winthrop, SC State, High Point, Carver College, Clinton, and Edward Waters.
On Tuesday, USC head coach Frank Martin and Florida State head coach Leonard Hamilton met with the media to not just preview their game, but to also discuss a much deeper issue. The two coaches expressed their thoughts on how to address racism in the United States as they hope to utilize their platform in affecting change. Hamilton noted that he’s not much for “symbolic gestures”, while Martin stressed that we must keep working to make progress.
The living members of the “Friendship 9”, a group of African-American men who were jailed after staging a sit-in at a segregated McCrory’s lunch counter in Rock Hill in 1961, will be recognized at halftime. On Saturday, Hamilton and Martin will participate in the ribbon cutting for a new exhibit at the site of that lunch counter sit-in. The Gamecocks and Seminoles will tipoff at 12 noon on Sunday on ESPN2.
OMG….sports and politics DO NOT MIX! When will they learn? Just play the game and leave political and social issues where they belong…AWAY FROM SPORTS.