President Trump will host several 2016-2017 NCAA championship teams at the White House on Friday, the White House announced.
Trump is scheduled to host championship teams “from around the country,” according to the president’s public schedule. It did not list which teams will be attending the ceremony.
At least one NCAA team has already said it would not be attending a ceremony at the White House. The University of North Carolina Tar Heels men’s basketball team said earlier this year that it was unable to agree with the White House upon a date for a visit.
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“We couldn’t find a date that worked for both parties,” a spokesman for the team told the Raleigh News & Observer in September. “We tried about eight or nine dates and between them couldn’t work out that date, we couldn’t work out that date, so — we would have liked to have gone, but not going.”
Trump sparked a national feud with many professional athletes earlier this year when he said at a campaign rally in September that NFL players who protest during the national anthem should be fired by team owners.
“Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, ‘Get that son of a b—- off the field right now,'” Trump said, first stirring the controversy. “‘He is fired.'”
Trump’s comments were widely condemned at the time, including by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.
“Divisive comments like these demonstrate an unfortunate lack of respect for the NFL, our great game and all of our players, and a failure to understand the overwhelming force for good our clubs and players represent in our communities,” Goodell said in a statement at the time.