NCAA president Mark Emmert wrote a letter acknowledging the stark contrast between the women's and men's basketball tournaments, stating the organization will assess and review both.
According to a letter obtained by ESPN Monday, Emmert said "much has been resolved" and the NCAA will continue to work to "provide an exceptional experience to these student-athletes."
The inequities between the two tournament sites led to public outcry and prominent sports figures scolding the organization for each disparity. Photos and videos from athletes inside of the women's tournament "bubble" in and around San Antonio showed inferior food choices, COVID-19 testing, gifts received and gym equipment, among other inequities, including improper game signage.
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"I have directed our leadership team and appropriate staff to assess all the services, resources, and facilities provided to both the men's and women's teams so that we have a completely clear comparison," Emmert wrote. "Further, I will be determining exactly how we found ourselves in this situation. This will be discussed with our applicable boards, committees and membership when the tournament is over and the review is complete."
NCAA president Mark Emmert has come under scrutiny over disparities between the women's and men's basketball tournaments. (Photo: Robert Deutsch, USA TODAY Sports)
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Emmert acknowledged over the weekend, that the discrepancies shouldn't have happened and NCAA vice president for basketball Dan Gavitt, apologized. Now Emmert is promising that this will never happens again.
"For now, please know that I am deeply disappointed that the past few days have been focused on NCAA blunders rather than the remarkable athletes in San Antonio," Emmert wrote. "Putting on these tournaments is always an enormous feat, and this year has been much more difficult to say the least. I know how hard our staff has worked and thank you for your continued perseverance. I hope that we can now turn our attention to the women's games with confidence that they are receiving all that they need and deserve. You have my assurances that all will be done to make sure this never happens again."
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