PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — The NCAA has upgraded the weight room provided to the women’s basketball programs following a scathing tweet that showed a flagrant disparity between the amenities provided to the tournament’s men’s teams.
Social media is powerful. Thank you for all of y’all’s support pic.twitter.com/YR5ZNwywv6
— Sedona Prince (@sedonaprince_) March 20, 2021
On Friday, Oregon’s Sedona Prince showed the men’s facility in Indiana having a fully-equipped weight room, while the women’s in San Antonio had one dumbbell set that topped out at 30 pounds and just a handful of yoga mats.
Following the upgrade, Prince thanked the NCAA for listening.
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An Oregon Ducks player’s social media post is going viral for showing the difference in resources available for women’s and men’s basketball players at the NCAA tournament.
Sedona Prince’s tweet included a video of the difference, which showed the men’s tournament in Indiana having a fully-equipped weight room, while the women’s weight room in San Antonio had one dumbbell set that topped out at 30 pounds and a handful of yoga mats.
“If you don’t see the problem, then you’re part of it,” she said in the video.
In a press conference Friday morning, the VP of NCAA women’s basketball said “they fell short” in preparing for the tournament.
Ducks head coach Kelly Graves joined AJ McCord on her radio show “AJ and Dusty” on 1080 The Fan Friday afternoon to emphasize his support of Prince’s comments and push for change.
“I’m proud of her, and I support them and their actions and thoughts,” Graves said. “They have a platform and she has used it to her credit. It is unfortunate in this day and age there is that discrepancy in the men’s tournament and the women’s tournament in terms of facilities.”
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, who is also an avid basketball fan, also weighed in on the controversy.
Prince “is exactly right,” Wyden tweeted. “This #MarchMadness inequality is shameful. Do better, @NCAA.”