The NCAA men’s basketball championship team will not be accepting an invite from Trump to the White House.
But it sounds like it’s a scheduling thing, not really because of Trump.
"We have received inquiries about a visit to the White House. With several players either pursuing pro opportunities or moving on from UVA, it would be difficult, if not impossible to get everyone back together. We would have to respectfully decline an invitation.” - Tony Bennett
— Virginia Men's Basketball (@UVAMensHoops) April 26, 2019
From Yahoo News:
Tony Bennett and the Virginia men’s basketball team will not be making the customary trip to the White House to celebrate their national championship, the school announced on Friday.
It’s not clear if President Donald Trump extended an invitation to the Cavaliers after their overtime win against Texas Tech in the national championship game. Bennett, however, didn’t cite a political issue as their reason for not going — as several teams in the past have done.
Instead, he said it was simply a logistical issue to get everyone together to actually make the trip.
OR, he’s trying to avoid the whole political controversy altogether.
Of course, Al Jazeera is happy because of some petition that called for them to reject Trump’s invite:
UVA's basketball team declined an invite to the White House, claiming scheduling issues.
— AJ+ (@ajplus) April 26, 2019
15,000+ people signed a petition asking the national college champions to reject it over President Trump's "reprehensible" comments after the 2017 Charlottesville white supremacist rally. pic.twitter.com/6TNsBfWfdd
I guess the players will have to buy their own hamburders.