#Rasir Bolton transferred from Penn State over Pat Chambers’ ‘noose’ comment

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Rasir Bolton at Penn State in 2018.
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A former Penn State player is alleging coach Pat Chambers made a racially insensitive remark that led him to transfer.

On Monday morning, Rasir Bolton tweeted that Chambers made a reference to a noose around his neck and that is why he departed the school following his freshman year in the spring of 2019. Bolton told The Undefeated that in trying to say he wanted to alleviate pressure on him, Chambers told Bolton: “I want to loosen the noose that’s around your neck.”

“A noose; symbolic of lynching, defined as one of the most powerful symbols directed at Africa Americans invoking the history of lynching, slavery and racial terrorism,” Bolton wrote in the statement on Twitter. “Due to other interactions with Coach, I knew this was no slip of the tongue.”

Bolton told his academic advisor, confronted Chambers and reported it to the athletic director’s office. He was given one meeting and a number for a psychologist. He was also told he had to find ways to “deal with Coach Chambers’ personality type.” Chambers never apologized to him for the remark, saying he was from the north and wasn’t aware of the connotations of the word “noose” for black men.

“I’ve realized the pain my words and ignorance caused Rasir Bolton and his family,” Chambers said in a statement on Monday. “And I apologize to Rasir and the Bolton family for what I said. I failed to comprehend the experiences of other and the reference I made was hurtful, insensitive and unacceptable. I cannot apologize enough for what I said and I will carry that forever.”

In his statement, Bolton said teammates were told not to trust him, that he wasn’t all-in and/or loyal because he stood up for himself. At his exit meeting with Chambers, the coach told him he was impressed by his parents with how “well spoken and organized” they were, which Bolton took as an insult, since Chambers may have expecting something else. Chambers didn’t recall the comment about Bolton’s parents.

The guard transferred to Iowa State, starting 30 games as a sophomore in the 2019-20 season.

“Rasir was taught how to deal with Coach Chambers,” Chalonda Bolton told The Undefeated. “What was Coach Chambers taught?”

One teammate, Josh Reeves, knew about the incident and it didn’t sit well with him, either.

“I don’t know if I’m allowed to curse. It was just f–ked up, to say the least,” Reeves told PennLive.com. “Saying that, in any type of context, is wrong. Regardless of how you try to make it seem like you’re speaking, what type of tone you’re trying to take. Regardless, it’s wrong.

“And to say it to a young Black kid, in thinking about a thing you want him to do, that’s kind of messed up.”

Lamar Stevens, another former Penn State star, seemed to have a different experience with Chambers. When asked if what Bolton described was similar to his encounters with the coach, he tweeted: “not even a little bit.”