A different March Madness: Online hate for the athletes

HOUSTON (AP) — It wasn’t so much that socialmedia was criticizing his son. That happens sometimes — especiallyafter a loss like THAT.

But when a post came up suggesting Terrance Williams II, ajunior forward for Michigan, be left for dead in a ditch, his daddecided enough was enough. Terrance Williams Sr.’s profanity-lacedresponse to all the haters was, in many ways, an expected byproductof social media vitriol that bubbled up after the Wolverines blewan eight-point lead in a one-point loss to Vanderbilt earlier thismonth — not in the NCAA Tournament but in the NIT.

“You actually root for them when they’re good,” Williams Sr.said of the Michigan fans in an interview with The Associated Presstwo days after the season-ending loss. “But then they make amistake, and a game doesn’t go your way and you turn to hate.That’s unacceptable.”

The episode was just one of countless examples of the toxicminefield that athletes, coaches, friends and family face all toooften on social media, all of it amplified for college basketballplayers when the calendar flips to March and the madnessbegins.

College administrators and coaches alike have warned for severalyears that students and athletes are facing increasingmental-health challenges exacerbated by the pandemic. And neverhave there been more outside voices that not only scrutinize everymove players make on the court, but impact their emotionalwell-being away from it.

“The feedback right now, it can be so harsh and it’s soimmediate, and I think that’s the hardest part,” said MelissaStreno, a Denver-based mental health consultant for high-levelathletes. “It’s the immediacy of the feedback from people theydon’t even know. And it can be so impactful on their identity andhow they see themselves as a player on the court.”

Turning off social media is one option, but it’s not reallypractical, not with the way society interacts in the 21st century.And many athletes use social media to open the door to cash. Itcomes with a toll.

A survey conducted by the NCAA in the fall of 2021 found spikesamong athletes who experienced mental exhaustion, anxiety anddepression compared with a similar survey two years earlier —before the pandemic, and also before name-image-likeness dealsbecame an everyday reality of college sports. The survey also foundthat despite a growing recognition of mental health as something tobe addressed, fewer than half the respondents felt comfortableseeking support from a counselor on campus.

Even so, those counselors have been busy; a growing number ofquestions they field from the players involve how to manage socialmedia.

“For some of them, social media brings pressure to put outinformation, to create content, build their brand and that cancause anxiety,” said Charron Sumler, a former college basketballplayer who is now an athletic counselor at Ohio State. “On the flipside, there’s the input where they’re receiving messages. And withphones in the locker room, sometimes they’re receiving thatnegative feedback and content before they’ve even had a chance todebrief with their coaches or with themselves.”

Just this month, Virginia’s Kihei Clark started trending for thewrong reasons when his ill-advised pass at the end of a first-roundMarch Madness game against Furman allowed the Paladins to make thegame-winning 3-pointer that sent the Cavaliers home.

After the game, Clark sat in the locker room and patientlyanswered every question. Predictably, social media was destroyinghim before the final buzzer even sounded.

Among those who knew the feeling was Matthew Fisher-Davis. Hewas the Vanderbilt guard who, thinking the Commodores weretrailing, fouled a Northwestern player in the waning seconds of afirst-round game in 2017. In fact, Vanderbilt was ahead by one;Northwestern made both free throws after the foul and won by apoint.

Before the next season, Fisher-Davis released a slickly producedvideo showing him working out, the main theme of which was:“Everybody’s got something to say.”

“It gets to the point where, the stuff coming from outside thelocker room doesn’t make anything easier,” Fisher-Davis told the APin an interview this month.

Stanford’s Haley Jones was named most outstanding player at thewomen’s Final Four after helping the Cardinal win the nationaltitle in 2021. Two weeks ago, when Stanford made an early exit fromthis year’s March Madness, Jones’ performance — and her prospectsfor the upcoming WNBA draft — were being dissected, sometimescruelly, on social media.

“Right after every game. I know what I did well, and I know whatI didn’t do well,” said Jones, who is part of a program called Game4 Good that focuses on mental wellness for athletes. “I don’t needto go and listen to thousands of people who don’t know me tell methese same things, and probably say it in a lot meaner way.”

On rare occasions, players get ripped for doing somethinggood.

In an episode that illustrates the parallel explosive growth ofboth social media and online sports wagering, TCU’s Damion Baughwas the object of scorn in the second round this month when helaunched a shot at the buzzer from near the halfcourt logo in agame that had already been sealed by Gonzaga.

Baugh’s 3 went in. It trimmed TCU’s final deficit to three,which allowed the Horned Frogs to cover the 4.5-point spread. Thatshot did nothing to change the brackets, but it did flip millionsof dollars across the country and Baugh was roundly ripped onTwitter.

Baugh barked back: “I don’t get how y’all mad because I playeduntil the last buzzer.”

Former Ohio State guard E.J. Liddell also felt compelled todefend himself after he missed a late free throw that was key to anupset loss to Oral Roberts two years ago.

“Honestly, what did I do to deserve this? I’m human,” he said ina post in which he posted screenshots of some of the insultsdirected at him, including a death threat.

Even one of social media’s biggest stars, Oregon’s SedonaPrince, who became famous after her video outlining the disparitybetween men’s and women’s weight rooms at the 2021 NCAA Tournamentswent viral, had to take a brief break last year from TikTok.

“I’m not any different because I’m on TikTok. I’m still aperson,” Prince said in a tearful video since taken down, whileacknowledging her mental health had been declining.

Streno, the mental health consultant, said social media canexacerbate depression and anxiety.

During a three-month stretch last spring, at least five collegeathletes died by suicide. Among the reasons given by friends andfamily were the constant pressure of performing at a high level,the pressure to maintain a certain weight or physique, the fear ofbeing perceived as weak because of injuries and the limited socialopportunities because of the demands of a sports schedule.

Given the amount of daily interaction athletes have with friendsand family on social media apps, Streno said it’s more realistic tocoach players on how to deal with feedback than simply advisingthem to shut down everything.

“If it were as simple as ‘don’t look at your phone,’ then thiswouldn’t be an issue,” she said. “But there’s such a quick,immediate, ‘Oh, this must mean this about me. I’m not good enough,or I’m not living up to this level.’ And then your mind can kind ofstart going down into this spiral.”

Williams, the father of the Michigan forward, said his son doesa good job of shutting out social media during the season. Afterthe events of this month, the dad planned on going dark for awhile, too.

“People said he didn’t play well, and I get that,” Williamssaid. “But when you say my son, who I’ve raised and who I lovetremendously, that you wish him to be dead in a ditch, that’s whenI’ve got to turn the switch.”