COLUMBIA, S.C. — Ten players for the No. 1 South Carolina women's basketball team remained seated during the national anthem before their season opener, and are asking fans to respect their right to make that choice.
The team was hosting a home game against the College of Charleston. They won 119-38.
The team posted a statement on Twitter saying many of them didn't stand “to shine a light on the need for racial equality, social justice and ending systemic racism" in the United States. Only junior forward Elysa Wesolek stood during the anthem.
Coach Dawn Staley and her staff also stood.
The team statement said the players understood that not everyone would agree with what they did but asked people to respect their right to make those choices.
Here is the full statement:
"As a team, we have taken our season theme of "What Matters" to heart. We are a team of individuals who each have opinions about what matters most to us."
"During today's national anthem, each of us made an individual decision about how to use our platform to call attention to what matters to most of us. Many of us stayed seated to shine a light on the need for racial equality, social justice and ending systemic racism in our country. One of us chose to stand in honor of her family's military service."
"The two positions are not mutually exclusive. Each action does not reflect one belief OR the other; we are capable of having multiple passions, multiple values. We do not believe that one action demonizes the other."
"At the end of the anthem, just as before it, we are a team; and the best part of being on a team is learning from, accepting and supporting each other's decisions. While we differed in the way we expressed ourselves today, we are united by that unconditional support of each other."
"We know that not everyone will agree with the decisions we made today, but we ask that everyone respect our right to make them. Having that respect for each other is the starting point to understanding 'What Matters.'"