I had second thoughts of post this since it could be taken as a he said he said type of article. Then a lot of stories in sports are like that.
Note that Chapman was a huge star at Kentucky.
Click on the link for the full story.
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Updated: May 16, 2005, 9:43 PM ET
Chapman: 'Most preferred that I keep it confidential'
Associated Press
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Former Kentucky star Rex Chapman told a newspaper that school officials tried to stop him from dating black women or at least "hide it" rather than inflame fans.
"There were certain aspects of my time there that were really ugly," Chapman, who is white, said in a story published by The Courier-Journal on Monday. "I don't know how it is today, but that's how it was 20 years ago."
Chapman said scrutiny of his private life by athletic department officials, boosters and others hastened his departure from Kentucky. He left after two seasons and entered the NBA draft in 1988.
Once, someone took a key and scrawled a racial epithet on his car door, he said. He said he was also the subject of obscene jokes.
"It's the climate of how things were," he was quoted as saying. "People were bothered by the fact that sometimes I dated black girls. Most preferred that I keep it confidential and hide it.
"I was being asked to lead a lifestyle that was absolutely wrong, simply for the fact that some people didn't like that I dated somebody of a different race," Chapman told the paper. "I mean, what is that? Is that America?"
The 37-year-old Chapman is now director of basketball operations for the Phoenix Suns and is working as a television analyst during the NBA playoffs.
.....
Note that Chapman was a huge star at Kentucky.
Click on the link for the full story.
-----
Updated: May 16, 2005, 9:43 PM ET
Chapman: 'Most preferred that I keep it confidential'
Associated Press
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Former Kentucky star Rex Chapman told a newspaper that school officials tried to stop him from dating black women or at least "hide it" rather than inflame fans.
"There were certain aspects of my time there that were really ugly," Chapman, who is white, said in a story published by The Courier-Journal on Monday. "I don't know how it is today, but that's how it was 20 years ago."
Chapman said scrutiny of his private life by athletic department officials, boosters and others hastened his departure from Kentucky. He left after two seasons and entered the NBA draft in 1988.
Once, someone took a key and scrawled a racial epithet on his car door, he said. He said he was also the subject of obscene jokes.
"It's the climate of how things were," he was quoted as saying. "People were bothered by the fact that sometimes I dated black girls. Most preferred that I keep it confidential and hide it.
"I was being asked to lead a lifestyle that was absolutely wrong, simply for the fact that some people didn't like that I dated somebody of a different race," Chapman told the paper. "I mean, what is that? Is that America?"
The 37-year-old Chapman is now director of basketball operations for the Phoenix Suns and is working as a television analyst during the NBA playoffs.
.....