A Viral Video from University of Oregon Player Sedona Prince Reveals Gender Disparity at NCAA Basketball Tournament

According to social media posts from players and personnel, the amenities provided to the women lag far behind those for the men.

Woodlawn Park (CJ Monserrat)
By Matthew Singer

It's officially March Madness. After getting canceled last year at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, both the NCAA men's and women's basketball tournaments are kicking off this week, in pseudo-bubble environments in Indianapolis and San Antonio, respectively.

But not all bubbles are created equal, apparently.

According to social media posts from players and personnel, the amenities provided to the women lag far behind those for the men. One video, from University of Oregon forward Sedona Prince, made the differences particularly stark.

In the video, Prince, a 20-year-old redshirt sophomore, compared the weight room in Indianapolis to that in Texas. While the men had a spacious gym full of equipment, the women were given a single stack of dumbbells and some yoga mats.

Prince was not the first to point out the disparity. Earlier, Stanford performance coach Ali Kershner posted side-by-side photos of the two setups on Instagram, prompting the NCAA to issue a statement claiming the issue wasn't a lopsided allocation of funds but a lack of space.

Prince's video, however, challenges that assertion, showing a large, empty facility.

"If you aren't upset about this problem," Prince says, "then you are part of it."

The video has been viewed 13 million times between TikTok and Twitter. It was retweeted by Steph Curry and The Ringer's Shea Serrano, while Dick's Sporting Goods and Orangetheory Fitness offered to supply the women's facility with equipment.

The NCAA said that it is "actively working to enhance existing resources at practice courts." But other players have pointed out further discrepancies in the amenities supplied to the men's and women's teams, including the food and the swag bags.

The men's tournament is currently underway (with 12th-seeded Oregon State continuing its Cinderella run by defeating 5th-seeded Tennessee). The women's tournament begins Saturday, with the No. 6 Ducks facing South Dakota in the first round.

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