The mother of Duke’s Wendell Carter had to switch seats due to heckling from Rhode Island fans
The incident happened during a blowout win for the Blue Devils.
During Duke basketball’s blowout win over Rhode Island in the NCAA tournament round of 32, the mother of Blue Devils big Wendell Carter Jr. alleges that she was taunted by a Rams fan. According to Kylia Carter, the fan called her a “bitch,” after she was upset with a foul call on one of her son’s teammates, Marvin Bagley III.
Security escorted the Rhode Island fans out, according to Carter, and she’s unsure if the fans knew who she was. She moved seats after the incident.
Carter detailed the incident in an interview, which is partially transcribed below.
I spoke with Wendell Carter Jr.’s mom at halftime to get her perception of what happened with the #URI fans. #MarchMadness #NCAATournament #URIvsDuke #ABC11 *warning some explicit language* pic.twitter.com/oTE8aIhb3i
— Bridget Condon (@BridgetABC11) March 17, 2018
Reporter: So you were sitting in a different seat. What happened?
Wendell’s mother: There were two guys. They were drinking, but that’s cool. We’re OK with crazy. What happened on the play was that Marvin got called for a charge. And I said, ‘Come on ref, that wasn’t a charge.’ And he looked at me and said ‘Yes it was, bitch.’
Two Rhode Island guys, they were older. One guy had on a wedding band. The guys in front of him tapped him and said ‘Man you shouldn’t have done that.’ They heard them too. That’s when security... That’s when I got a little irate because I thought it was ugly. So I told them it was ugly. I said ‘You shouldn’t talk to me like that I’m talking to you at all.’
He said ‘Shut up. Shut up. Shut up. Get over there Duke fan.’ That’s when security came and escorted them out. There had been a problem already earlier in the game.
Reporter: Do you think they knew who you were?
Wendell’s mother: I don’t know. They just knew I was rooting for Duke.
Reporter: Were you emotional?
Wendell’s mother: Just a little. It hurts your feelings. Nobody wants to be called out like that no matter what you do. Especially when it’s a white guy and I’m black. It felt bad. it just feels bad.
Reporter: How does it make you feel that the Duke fans brought you down here?
Wendell’s mother: You know I love them. I love Duke