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Kanye West closes Donda Academy, basketball team won't appear in Fort Myers, Florida, tournament

dan deluca, fort myers news-press
·2 min read
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Kanye West's Donda Academy has closed effective immediately, another casualty of the fallout from the rapper's recent antisemitic rants.

It appears the school's basketball team, which was scheduled to compete in December's Culligan City of Palms Classic, will not play in the event.

The London Times obtained an email from Donda principal Jason Angell to parents which announced the Christian private school founded in Simi Valley, Calif., has closed at the "discretion of our founder." The message added the school will look to reopen and "begin afresh in September of 2023."

Donnie Wilkie, the Vice President of the City of Palms, said Thursday morning he hadn't heard anything about the status of Donda's basketball team. However, as of noon Thursday, Donda Academy had been removed from the City of Palms Classic's list of participating teams on its website, replaced by The Patrick School from Hillside, N.J.

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On Wednesday, City of Palms executive director John Naylor said the tournament would be honoring its contract with Donda, which is scheduled to play two games in the event's Signature Series bracket, despite the controversy surrounding West.

The Doves feature a pair of nationally ranked seniors in 6-foot-2 point guard Robert Dillingham (No. 5 ESPN), a Kentucky commit, and 6-foot-8 forward JJ Taylor (No. 12 ESPN). The team did play a full season last year even though Donda Academy did not open for students until this September. The Doves had four players move on to play in college this coming season — Bryce Baker (Old Dominion), Zion Cruz (Depaul), Braeden Moore (BYU) and Omarion Brodrick (Northwest Florida).

On Tuesday, Kentucky's Play-By-Play Classic announced it was rescinding Donda Academy's invitation to play in its basketball tournament, scheduled for Dec. 11, five days before the City of Palms begins.

Also this week, both the Gap and Adidas announced they were cutting ties with West because of his antisemitic comments. Two pro athletes, Los Angeles Rams defensive end Aaron Donald and Boston Celtics forward Jaylen Brown, also said they were parting ways with Donda Sports, West's marketing agency.

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Kanye West's Donda Academy won't appear in Florida basketball event