Many No. 4 Ranked Virginia Basketball Players Kneel During National Anthem, Then Lose to Unranked Foe

In a trend that seems to be happening more often again lately, at least two-thirds of the No. 4 Virginia Men’s Basketball team kneeled today during the national anthem.

Baskeball analyst Jeff Goodman captured a picture of the kneeling and said, “The Virginia men’s basketball team during the national anthem moments ago prior to the Cavs game against USF.”

The Virginia men’s basketball team during the national anthem moments ago prior to the Cavs game against USF. pic.twitter.com/s05SBIaLRW

— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) November 27, 2020

Unranked San Francisco University can be seen in the background however, locking arms and standing for the anthem.

On the court, the Dons also celebrated when the buzzer sounded and they had defeated the Cavaliers 61-60.

Adam Zagoria of the New York Times reported that San Francisco hadn’t beaten a top five team in nearly 40 years before today’s upset.

#4 UVA goes down! pic.twitter.com/mN4Tf5gUJc

— Big Man On Basketball (@BigManOnBB) November 27, 2020

At the end of May, as cities were burning because of BLM riots, UVA’s Head Coach Tony Bennett had a racially charged message that was released.

“Words cannot adequately capture the pain and sadness we are witnessing due to all of the social injustice that so many people of color have faced for so long. My mind and heart are telling me that as a white man, talk is cheap,” Bennett said.

A message from our leader. #GoHoos pic.twitter.com/0U4YLxzqDH

— Virginia Men's Basketball (@UVAMensHoops) May 31, 2020

After the game, Bennett attempted to pin the loss on COVID-19. “This is college basketball this year,” he said.