On Thursday, March 11th, during the first-round game of the OSSAA 6A Girls State Basketball tournament between Norman High and Midwest City, racial slurs and hateful comments were made by the announcers aimed towards the Norman High girls as they were kneeling for the National Anthem.

A video from the live-stream was posted to social media by a Norman High basketball coach where major attention was brought to the situation. 

The National Federation of High School (NFHS) Network issued a press release relegating the responsibility to “the third-party production crew that was involved.”

The OSSAA also notified the public in a statement that apologizes for the racial slurs being made at their event. 

NPS Nick Migliorino notified parents and released the following statement: 

“Last night during the Norman High School girl’s basketball game versus Midwest City in the Oklahoma 6A State Basketball Tournament, National Federation of High School (NFHS) Network announcers on a live stream broadcast made racist and hateful comments targeted at our Norman High student athletes. The announcers were contracted by OSSAA for the state tournament.

We condemn and will not tolerate the disgusting words and attitudes of these announcers. This type of hate speech has no place in our society and we are outraged that it would be directed at any human being, and particularly at our students.

We fully support our students’ right to freedom of expression and our immediate focus is to support these girls and their coaches and families, particularly our Black students and coaching staff. It is tragic that the hard work and skill of this team is being overshadowed by the vile, malignant words of these individuals. We will do everything in our power to support and uplift our team and everyone affected by this incident.

Moving forward NPS will rely only on our long-standing, community partner SportsTalk Media to live stream the remainder of the tournament, as we have full confidence in their proven ability to respectfully support our student athletes.”

Norman High beat Union that afternoon to advance to the State Championship Final where they were victorious and crowned champions.