University of Nebraska head volleyball coach John Cook caused a stir on Twitter on Wednesday when he Tweeted “Nebraska would love to go to the White House!” Cook wrote. “Huskers would be honored and proud to visit our leaders in DC and represent Nebraska and the Natty! #gbr”.
The Tweet has since been deleted, and on Thursday Cook’s Twitter account appeared to be gone as well. Both drew thousands of reactions on Twitter while it was up. The national debate over attending the White House, a tradition for national sporting champions of all kinds, has grown louder after President Donald Trump publicly uninvited the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles earlier this week.
Cook defended his statements to the Omaha World-Herald on Wednesday, saying that he didn’t think it would be as controversial as it was.
“I was shocked,” Cook told The World-Herald. “It just shows you where our country’s at. We’re divided now.”
He also says that his players have been asking when the team would be invited.
“It’s not just meeting the president,” Cook said. “That’s what people don’t get. It’s a whole cultural and historical experience. It’s not a political statement (on) how we feel about President Trump or not. It’s an honor to go to our nation’s capital when you win a national championship. It’s for the whole nation.” Cook says that he also takes his teams to visit museums, monuments, and historical sites in the nation’s capital.
Cook was at Hudl’s headquarters in Lincoln speaking at HudlWeek as part of a week of celebration and education for the company’s employees.
2017 marked Nebraska’s 5th NCAA title in women’s volleyball, which ranks 3rd behind 7 each from Penn State and Stanford. The team visited the White House after the 2015 NCAA championship.
Donald Trump won 60.3% of the popular vote in Nebraska in the 2016 presidential election, which amounted to a 210,000-vote edge over his primary rival, Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.
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