LOOK: Sports legend Billie Jean King spotlights Miami Hurricanes for tournament gesture

On3 imageby:Chandler Vessels03/29/22

ChandlerVessels

Women’s tennis legend Billie Jean King gave props to Miami basketball for its classy NCAA Tournament gesture Sunday. The Hurricanes came out for warm ups in an Elite Eight game against Kansas donning shirts with a quote the Title IX law on the back.

“No person in the United State shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance,” the shirts read.

The Jayhawks were also wearing the clothes in warm ups, but King specifically highlighted the Hurricanes in her tweet.

“Cheers to the Miami Hurricanes basketball team, who wore these Title IX warmup shirts before a game this weekend,” she wrote. “Thank you for using your platform to remind fans about the importance of Title IX legislation, @CanesHoops.”

Passed in 1972, Title IX prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school that receives federal government funding. That paved the way for several women’s sports programs to begin emerging on college campuses, though some women’s teams existed prior to that as early as the 1890s.

King is widely regarded as one of the greatest women’s tennis players of all-time. Her career accomplishments include winning the Wimbledon six times, the US Open four times, and the Australian and French Opens each once in singles. She also helped the United State to victories in the Federation Cup in 1976, 1996, 1999 and 2000. In September 2020, the name of the international women’s tennis competition was changed to the Billie Jean King Cup to honor her legacy.

King has long been an advocate for gender equality and social justice in sports, founding both the Women’s Tennis Association and Women’s Sports Foundation. In 1973 coming off of her fifth Wimbledon singles win, she competed in a matchup dubbed the “Battle of the Sexes” against former No. 1 men’s tennis player Bobby Riggs. Although there was a big age difference — King was 29 at the time while Riggs was 55 — she won the contest in front of 30,492 spectators and an estimated television audience of 90 million.

The Hurricanes went on to lose to Kansas on Sunday in a 76-50 blowout, ending the run in the Elite Eight. It was still a terrific March Madness campaign for Jim Larranaga’s squad, which as a 10 seed pulled off a big upset of No. 2 seed Auburn in the second round. Furthermore, Miami went out with class, sending a message to the sports world that Billie Jean King highly endorses.