The University of Southern Mississippi has revoked the scholarships of five members of its pep band who took part in the heckling of a Kansas State basketball player at last Thursday'sNCAA Men's Basketball Tournament game.
USM issued an apology last week to K-State point guard Angel Rodriguez after he was the target of chants of "Where's your green card?" during the Wildcats' 70-64 second-round victory. Rodriguez had 13 points and four assists in the game.
Kansas State guard Angel Rodriguez said earlier in the week that he has accepted Southern Mississippi's apology over remarks made by its band and has moved on.
The freshman says Friday he did hear the chants of "Where's your green card?" during the Wildcats' 70-64 second-round victory in the NCAA tournament Thursday and that the school's athletic director and "personnel from their school" came to the team hotel to apologize.
Rodriguez said he accepted the apology because "there's ignorant people and I know that's not how they want to represent their university."
Rodriguez added a civics lesson, saying he doesn't pay attention to that "nonsense, especially because Puerto Rico is a commonwealth, so we don't need no type of papers."
USM president Martha Saunders issued an apology Thursday in a statement.
