Duke basketball fans slammed for allegedly chanting ‘How’s your grandma?’ at N.C. State player whose grandmother died last week
A handful of Cameron Crazies allegedly heckled Wolfpack freshman Tyler Lewis with the heartless chant as he shot free throws in the second half. Duke denied the claims, saying the students were chanting 'Past your bedtime' at the boyish baller.
Duke basketball fans are coming under fire after a group of cold-hearted Cameron Crazies reportedly chanted "How's your grandma?" at a North Carolina State player whose grandmother died last week.
Tyler Lewis, a freshman guard for N.C. State, lost his 83-year-old grandmother, Margie Campbell Lewis, to complications from pneumonia on Feb. 1.
During Thursday night's game in Durham, the Cameron Crazies — Duke's junk-talking student section — relentlessly heckled Lewis with chants of "Bilbo Baggins" — the boyish guard is listed at 5-11, 157 pounds — and "Past your bedtime!"
Lewis was shooting free throws in the beginning of the second half when a group of students began shouting, "How's your grandma?" according to an N.C. State sports reporter, a Wolfpack player and Lewis' dad.
Nolan Evans, an editor for N.C. State's student newspaper who was at the game, tweeted that a "handful of dumb college kids" in the student section started the chant.
Evans later re-tweeted a message from N.C. state forward Richard Howell.
"He lost his grandma and y'all chant that? Cowards," Howell's tweet said.
Lewis' father, Rick Lewis, told the local News & Observer newspaper he heard the taunts about his mother.
"It was mostly 'Past your bedtime,' but there was an instant when a brief number of students chanted about Tyler's grandmother," Lewis, who was sitting behind N.C. State's bench, said.
"It wasn't the entire student section. I think a few tried to outdo themselves," he said.
The alleged chant was also picked up by TV cameras, though some local media, Duke fans and officials said the students were chanting "Past your bedtime," not "How's your grandma?"
"We have looked into the stories that are circulating on the internet, talked to dozens of people who were at the game, and no one we've talked to, including several of the 50+ journalists who were sitting in front of the student section, heard the alleged chant," Duke basketball spokesman Matt Plizga told the Daily News in an email.
"What has become clear is that there was no organized chant by the Cameron Crazies referencing Tyler Lewis' grandmother, nor was there any reference to his grandmother's recent passing on the standard cheer sheets that are distributed among the students prior to each game."
Accusations about the tasteless taunts come days after a Duke fraternity was suspended for hosting an Asian-themed kegger that students slammed as a "racist rager."
The frat, Kappa Sigma, promoted the "Asia Prime" bash with emails that used stereotypical Asian-accented English, while partygoers were photographed throwing down in kimonos and conical hats.
A handful of Cameron Crazies allegedly heckled Wolfpack freshman Tyler Lewis with the heartless chant as he shot free throws in the second half. Duke denied the claims, saying the students were chanting 'Past your bedtime' at the boyish baller.
Duke basketball fans are coming under fire after a group of cold-hearted Cameron Crazies reportedly chanted "How's your grandma?" at a North Carolina State player whose grandmother died last week.
Tyler Lewis, a freshman guard for N.C. State, lost his 83-year-old grandmother, Margie Campbell Lewis, to complications from pneumonia on Feb. 1.
During Thursday night's game in Durham, the Cameron Crazies — Duke's junk-talking student section — relentlessly heckled Lewis with chants of "Bilbo Baggins" — the boyish guard is listed at 5-11, 157 pounds — and "Past your bedtime!"
Lewis was shooting free throws in the beginning of the second half when a group of students began shouting, "How's your grandma?" according to an N.C. State sports reporter, a Wolfpack player and Lewis' dad.
Nolan Evans, an editor for N.C. State's student newspaper who was at the game, tweeted that a "handful of dumb college kids" in the student section started the chant.
Evans later re-tweeted a message from N.C. state forward Richard Howell.
"He lost his grandma and y'all chant that? Cowards," Howell's tweet said.
Lewis' father, Rick Lewis, told the local News & Observer newspaper he heard the taunts about his mother.
"It was mostly 'Past your bedtime,' but there was an instant when a brief number of students chanted about Tyler's grandmother," Lewis, who was sitting behind N.C. State's bench, said.
"It wasn't the entire student section. I think a few tried to outdo themselves," he said.
The alleged chant was also picked up by TV cameras, though some local media, Duke fans and officials said the students were chanting "Past your bedtime," not "How's your grandma?"
"We have looked into the stories that are circulating on the internet, talked to dozens of people who were at the game, and no one we've talked to, including several of the 50+ journalists who were sitting in front of the student section, heard the alleged chant," Duke basketball spokesman Matt Plizga told the Daily News in an email.
"What has become clear is that there was no organized chant by the Cameron Crazies referencing Tyler Lewis' grandmother, nor was there any reference to his grandmother's recent passing on the standard cheer sheets that are distributed among the students prior to each game."
Accusations about the tasteless taunts come days after a Duke fraternity was suspended for hosting an Asian-themed kegger that students slammed as a "racist rager."
The frat, Kappa Sigma, promoted the "Asia Prime" bash with emails that used stereotypical Asian-accented English, while partygoers were photographed throwing down in kimonos and conical hats.
