Iowa State junior guard Rasir Bolton recently spoke to ESPN’s The Undefeated to share his experience at Penn State and what led him to transfer from their basketball program. In the story, he revealed that Penn State coach Pat Chambers told him he wanted to “loosen the noose around his neck” as a metaphor for relieving pressure in January 2019. Chambers said he was unaware of the connotations that imagery carries toward Black men. Bolton relayed the remark to his academic advisor, and was then referred to Penn State’s sports psychologist.
Bolton claims he was instructed on how to deal with Chambers’ personality type, and Chambers was not forced to complete any further sensitivity training by the university.