A Duke Volleyball Player Said BYU Fans Shouted Racial Slurs. An Investigation Found No Evidence.

The allegation was shocking, and the outrage that followed understandable. Rachel Richardson, a Black player on Duke University’s women’s volleyball team, said she was “racially heckled” during a match against Brigham Young University in late August. Those “slurs and comments grew into threats” directed at her and fellow Black players, she wrote in a statement posted on Twitter. She blamed BYU coaches and officials for failing to intervene. In the more than two weeks since the match, though, doubts about her account began to emerge.