Seattle University Men’s Basketball took on the University of San Francisco Dec. 28, 2025 at home in the Redhawk Center. This game, like all Seattle U Men’s and Women’s basketball games, was streamed on ESPN+ and commentated by play-by-play broadcaster and Seattle U employee, Russell Brown, accompanied by analyst John Impelman.
During the first half, Brown used an offensive, historically anti-Asian term when commentating on a play by USF’s David Fuchs, where he scored on Seattle U’s Houran Dan.
The statement went as follows:
“Fuchs on the rebound. Good seal there on Dan. Re-entry pass to him. Spins on the baseline. Rises up and finishes through the height of the (derogatory term),” Brown said while on broadcast.
Two days after the game, Dec. 30, Seattle U Athletics released a statement apologizing for the remark.
“The language is unacceptable and does not reflect our values or our commitment to an inclusive and respectful environment for our student athletes, coaches and fans,” Seattle U Athletics wrote in the statement. “We understand the harm this has caused and take the matter seriously. We have addressed the situation internally to prevent this from happening again.”
When students returned to campus after winter break, the Office of the President released a statement of its own addressing the situation.
“We write to address to the community to acknowledge not only that this incident occurred, but also to affirm all those in our community, including our Asian and Asian American students, staff, and faculty,” the Office of the President wrote in an email to the Seattle U community, Jan. 9.
Both statements contained many similarities, including a strong emphasis on the university being a Jesuit, Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institution (AANAPISI), reassuring the community that the university and Athletics will stay true to those traditions.
“As a professional learning community in the Jesuit, Catholic tradition, and particularly as an Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institution (AANAPISI), we take seriously the challenge of educating ourselves and continuously improving our efforts and skills to better engage productively across difference,” wrote the Office of the President.
Brown joined the Seattle U Athletics staff in 2021 and serves as the assistant director of communications and digital strategy. At this moment it is unknown if Brown will be continuing at Seattle U. During Seattle U’s game Dec. 30 versus Washington State University, Brown was not present during the broadcast and Adam Race took over for play-by-play. Brown has not returned to a Seattle U broadcast since the Dec. 28 incident.
When asked, Seattle U athletics declined to make any additional comments aside from the Dec. 30 statement. In the most recent Seattle U MBB game versus Loyola Marymount University Jan. 21, Scot Gladstone served as the play-by-play commentator.
