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USA Today Probes: 'Too Many White Guys' on Wisconsin Basketball Team?
NewsBusters.org ^ | 04/06/2015 | Tim Graham

Posted on 04/08/2015 4:15:13 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum

Racially obsessed USA Today on Friday wrote this headline: “Wisconsin doesn't hide from 'white guys' reputation.”

Josh Peter assembled current and former Badger players,  former assistant coaches, and “authorities on the African-American experience” to answer: “Why is the Badgers' roster predominantly white?”

When the Final Four is played Saturday in Indianapolis, all five starters for Kentucky, Duke and Michigan State will be African American. Wisconsin's starting lineup, by contrast, includes one African American, forward Nigel Hayes.

The average Division I men's basketball team this season includes nine African-American players and four white players, according to data provided by the NCAA. At Wisconsin, the roster includes five African Americans, 10 whites and one Native American.

This year's starting lineup is no aberration. When Wisconsin played Kentucky in the Final Four last year, it had one African American in the starting lineup. When the Badgers reached the Final Four under previous coach Dick Bennett in 2000 — in the school's only other appearance since 1941 — it had one African-American starter.

Former Badgers point guard Jordan Taylor told of being was needled by a teammate about Wisconsin's chances against undefeated Kentucky.  

"He was just saying we've got too many white guys," Taylor says with a chuckle. "I still get kind of poked at, teased about it, because it always seems like there are about four white guys and a black point guard all the time (in Wisconsin's starting lineup)."

“Too many white guys?” Is that funny? It’s proof that you can’t be racist for joking that whites are inferior at basketball.

Peter eventually, near the very end, relayed the obvious: coach Bo Ryan recruits heavily inside the state, and “African Americans represent 6.5% of Wisconsin's population, about half the national percentage.” Add to that Ryan’s low-scoring, slow-tempo style arouses complaints from basketball stars who want to score a lot and audition for the NBA.


TOPICS: News/Current Events; US: Wisconsin
KEYWORDS: athletes
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

I think there were too many officials on the court who were pissed off at Wisconsin for knocking off Kentucky.


41 posted on 04/08/2015 7:14:09 PM PDT by VerySadAmerican (Obama voters are my enemy. And so are RINO voters.)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

If anything, Wisconsin is evidence of discrimination against white players.

Sam Dekker and JP Tokoto were in the same graduating class in schools about 50 miles apart. Dekker led his team to the state championship, Tokoto did not. Tokoto was courted by big-name programs while Dekker’s only real option was Wisconsin.

Bo Ryan got the best players he could get, not being one of the big name programs.

Why does he have a lot of white players? Because he took the guys the primo schools wouldn’t look at.


42 posted on 04/08/2015 7:29:41 PM PDT by MediaMole
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To: Impala64ssa

Earl Monroe played his first few seasons with the Baltimore Bullets.


43 posted on 04/08/2015 11:34:11 PM PDT by Charles Henrickson
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

One out of five players equals 20% of the starting team being black, while Blacks make up 16% percent of the population

This means that blacks are demographically OVER Represented on the Wisconsin team


44 posted on 04/08/2015 11:37:41 PM PDT by rdcbn
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To: E. Pluribus Unum
Former Badgers point guard Jordan Taylor told of being was needled by a teammate about Wisconsin's chances against undefeated Kentucky.

Sigh. Just once, can someone post an article that doesn't have a major fail in it?
45 posted on 04/09/2015 4:30:26 AM PDT by Svartalfiar
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Most likely the players are part of the Wisc. student body, and thus they are whatever ethnic group they are. Can’t put black players on the team if they don’t go to school there! And maybe black kids are TOO SMART to go to college in the frozen north Tundra! Too cold up there! brrrrrr


46 posted on 04/09/2015 4:46:17 AM PDT by buffyt (Socialism Is Legal Plunder - Bastiat... $18 trillion = enslavement of our children to DEBT.)
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To: rey

I have told my husband for many years that if they really want to make it fair, they will let old ladies like me try out for pro sports teams! IFthey REALLY want it fair! he he he of course they don’t LOL


47 posted on 04/09/2015 4:48:03 AM PDT by buffyt (Socialism Is Legal Plunder - Bastiat... $18 trillion = enslavement of our children to DEBT.)
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To: SkyPilot

I have noticed that most American Blacks are very pale skinned, lighter than Obama Compare US Blacks to people who are moving here from Africa. They are really black. Most American blacks are about as dark as most Asians. Often you cannot tell who is “black” unless they inform you, like Obama, Eric Holder, Adam Clayton Powell 2, 3, 4, 5. Valerie Jarrett, Beyonce, etc, they don’t look black, they are so pale.


48 posted on 04/09/2015 4:51:52 AM PDT by buffyt (Socialism Is Legal Plunder - Bastiat... $18 trillion = enslavement of our children to DEBT.)
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To: lee martell

Par for the course with USAToday. Racially-obsessed doesn’t even begin to describe them.

They used to have (may still have, I first learned about it 20 years ago or so) a formal policy, one the “paper” was proud of, that a picture of a woman or minority would always be featured on their front pages, above the fold. Regardless of whether that person, on that particular day, merited it.


49 posted on 04/09/2015 4:54:14 AM PDT by tanknetter
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To: buffyt

I have noticed that most American Blacks are very pale skinned, lighter than Obama Compare US Blacks to people who are moving here from Africa.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Believe it was before ‘famous’ people started joining the ‘Muslim’ movement (Cassius Clay, Lou Alcindor to name a couple) —for the most part the US recruits to Muslim were prison inmates with the reason being they were finding safety in #s from the other ‘gangs’ in Prison....The show “OZ” covered it fairly well. - Even then ‘they’ botched it as the majority of P’s in USofA were of the Black persuasion, guess the Skinheads, Nazis and the fast rising ‘Mexicans’ were more organized????

At the outset, the US Muslims were called ‘Black Muslims’. Guess when one of a groups ‘specialties’ is Suicide Bombings, it is imperative one gets all the recruits you can and openly invite NEW members, no matter where they may come from...


50 posted on 04/09/2015 5:11:49 AM PDT by xrmusn ((6/98)A pessimist damns the wind, an optimist thinks it will change and a realist adjusts the sails.)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Add to that Ryan’s low-scoring, slow-tempo style arouses complaints from basketball stars who want to score a lot and audition for the NBA.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Being a self proclaimed ‘smart ass’, I was kind of hoping to see the College Basketball teams be pressured into boycotting INDIANA for the finals.

Would have been ‘tickled’ to see the hoopdedo and over reaction from the PLAYERS and fans (while ‘supposedly’ in favor of boycotts etc) who would have deemed themselves ‘shut out’ of the process because they weren’t ‘allowed a chance to ‘play’.

Kind of like the NFL players ‘supposedly’ getting their panties in an uproar over WHITE players using the N word...When NFL ‘accommodated’ the dissenters, they changed tack and said the WHITES really WEREN’T using the word and since you banned the use of “OUR” word, you are going to be sued for discrimination.......

Be careful for what thou wish for....


51 posted on 04/09/2015 5:22:24 AM PDT by xrmusn ((6/98)A pessimist damns the wind, an optimist thinks it will change and a realist adjusts the sails.)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

all five starters for Kentucky, Duke and Michigan State will be African American. Wisconsin’s starting lineup, by contrast, includes one African American, forward Nigel Hayes.
= = = = = = = = =
Remember from ‘another life’ when there used to be (may still be??) a comic strip called Tank McNamara
(think I am correct here)
....one of the characters was a BLACK basketball player who turned himself WHITE by using ‘Whitewash’.

The reasoning being that he virtually stunk (as a player) as a ‘Black player’ but was outstanding when he was thought to be white....

I think it was in the Larry Bird era.....I always had a ‘nagging thought’ that if Black, Bird would have been considered mediocre along with Danny Ainge.....
Sort of like with D Jr were named ‘Smith’ he would probably be pumping gas somewhere...at least not be give virtually years to ‘star’ while being mediocre....


52 posted on 04/09/2015 5:31:33 AM PDT by xrmusn ((6/98)A pessimist damns the wind, an optimist thinks it will change and a realist adjusts the sails.)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

they are ALL BLACK... they just look white on TV.... adjust yor contrast.... there .. see... feelin better...anyhow they LOST... cuase they couldn’t jump high enough and were slow and mostly didn’t rebound and score enough points...


53 posted on 04/09/2015 7:03:38 AM PDT by zzwhale
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

So since ability doesn’t matter anymore, only racial content, every sports team(professional, college, high school, grade school, clubs, etc.) by their definition can only be 14% colored people.

This author is very sexist also, as he deliberately excludes females.


54 posted on 04/09/2015 7:58:08 AM PDT by jughandle (Big words anger me, keep talking.)
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