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Banned BYU fan was not seen yelling racial slurs at Duke volleyball player, police say

Sep 1, 2022

Upon further review, the man who was banned from all BYU athletic venues does not appear to be the person who repeatedly yelled racial slurs at Duke volleyball player Rachel Richardson, a BYU police spokesperson told the Salt Lake Tribune on Tuesday.

In an incident that has grabbed headlines nationwide, Richardson and her family complained of a fan yelling the N-word at her and her Black teammates from the BYU student section during a match in Provo on Friday. After the match, they said the fan approached her and told her to watch her back as the Duke players returned to the team bus.

BYU soon announced the fan identified by Duke had been banned and noted he was not a BYU student. Per the Tribune, the fan was a Utah Valley University student. Apparently, he acknowledged to police that he approached Richardson after the match, but only because he thought she was a friend of his who played for BYU (the two programs share colors). He also claimed he only yelled that the players “shouldn’t hit the ball into the net.”

Source: Yahoo Sports

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