White College Tennis Player Indefinitely Suspended For Racially Abusing On-Court Opponent

A college tennis player was indefinitely suspended on Monday after the university found out he racially abused his on-court opponent.

The issue first came to light when the victim, John Wilson IV, from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (A&T) tweeted out saying a white student from Appalachian State University racially abused him during an NCAA Division I match on Sunday.

"Hey #NCAT this is Spencer Brown, a tennis player at Appalachian state. During our match today, along with other racist comments, Spencer told me, 'At least I know my dad.' Their coach responded by saying, '..we have a black guy on our team,'" Wilson, who is also A&T's senior class president, wrote. The tweet included a picture of Brown.

Appalachian (App) State University responded to Wilson’s tweet on Monday and issued a statement saying Brown was suspended indefinitely after Sunday's match with North Carolina A&T State University. The university, in its statement also issued an apology and called Brown’s remarks "derogatory and offensive."

After the university issued the apology, Wilson, on his Twitter account posted an update saying, though the university has not contacted him personally, he is really happy that App State University took serious action against its student and suspended him.

App State's athletics director, Doug Gillin, told Winston-Salem Journal that as soon as he heard about the incident, he called North Carolina A&T Director of Intercollegiate Athletics, Earl Hinton III, to apologize.

"There was a lot of people there that we’re still trying to figure out who was there and who saw or heard what. But it didn’t take us long to know that this student-athlete of ours made this statement and therefore, we acted immediately," Gillin said.

Gillin added that it was not clear whether or not App State tennis coach Bob Lake’s remarks about having a black guy on the team were directed towards Wilson and therefore the investigation with regards to him is still ongoing.

"I think that’s part of the investigation and full review. Before I say anything further on Coach Lake, I really want to do a full review of this whole situation and go from there."

When an App state spokeswoman was inquired further about the situation, she said that currently there are no additional comments to make regarding the issue.

As of now, Brown is still enrolled as a student at the state university, said App State's director of university communications, Megan Hayes. Hayes said App State's chancellor, Sheri Everts, has been made aware of the situation and that the school is "conducting a full review of the incident before any further action is taken."

Hinton issued a statement Monday afternoon and thanked App State for speedily reacting to the complaint. "We appreciate Appalachian State University's responsiveness in bringing this matter to closure," Hinton said.