Isaiah Poor Bear-Chandler, WSU respond to announcers’ comments on Native American name

Comments from a CBS Sports Network broadcast on the name of Native American player Isaiah Poor Bear-Chandler in Monday’s Wichita State basketball game against Grand Canyon have spread across social media this week.

After Poor Bear-Chandler scored a basket in the game, the broadcast team of Chick Hernandez and Chris Walker repeatedly referred to him as “Pooh Bear” while laughing through the conversation.

“He’s got Pooh Bear on the back of his jersey,” Walker said. “I love that.”

“It is one of the better names in college basketball,” Hernandez said.

“No, that is the best name in college basketball,” Walker followed. “Pooh Bear? You’ve got to be kidding. I was like, ‘OK, let me look in my notes. Maybe I said something wrong here.’”

Later in the broadcast, the duo mentioned Poor Bear-Chandler’s Oglala Lakota heritage but followed with another “Pooh Bear” joke.

“I love that and shoutout to coach Isaac Brown for allowing him to have that on his jersey,” Walker said. “I love it.”

“You know opponents opponents are calling him ‘Winnie’ at some point,” Hernandez said.

Both announcers began properly referring to him as Poor Bear in the second half of the game, but the clip of them mispronouncing his name from the first half went viral. Poor Bear-Chandler responded on Twitter on Monday evening.

“This (is) not cool (for real),” wrote Poor Bear-Chandler on social media.

“So it’s okay to make fun of my last name? Just shows your ability to be serious in a professional setting. Just because my people was almost colonized doesn’t mean I don’t know where I come from!” continued Poor Bear-Chandler on social media.

Hernandez and Walker met with Poor Bear-Chandler on Tuesday morning to apologize in person before the Shockers played in the Hall of Fame Classic championship game against San Francisco, an effort the WSU senior appreciated while taking the opportunity to educate them on why his Native American name means so much to him.

The broadcasters publicly apologized on air when Poor Bear-Chandler checked into Tuesday’s game for the first time.

“Chris and I would like to take this time to publicly apologize to Isaiah Poor Bear-Chandler, his family, the Native American community, NABC, the Hall of Fame Classic for our comments and lack of sensitivity surrounding Isaiah’s name during yesterday’s game,” Hernandez said. “We ... met with Isaiah this morning to apologize in person and express our deep regret. We appreciate Isaiah taking the time to educate us on the significance of his name and his heritage. We will continue to learn from this and be better moving forward.”

After spending the first three years of his career at WSU, Poor Bear-Chandler transferred last season to Omaha before ultimately returning to the Shockers to finish out his career. Since receiving his waiver from the NCAA last week, Poor Bear-Chandler has immediately become a part of the rotation as a backup center for the Shockers.

An hour following the Shockers’ 67-63 loss to San Francisco to conclude the Hall of Fame Classic, Wichita State issued a statement about the incident.

“Unfortunately, during the Nov. 21 broadcast of the Shockers’ victory over Grand Canyon University, CBS Sports Network’s on-air talent made inappropriate and insensitive comments directed at Isaiah Poor Bear-Chandler, insulting both Isaiah and his Oglala Lakota heritage,” the statement read. “We are appreciative of CBS Sports Network’s apologetic efforts, both in-person at (the) pre-game meal this morning and on-air during today’s NABC Hall of Fame Classic Championship contest.

“To his credit, Isaiah facilitated an educational and enlightening discussion engaging numerous individuals, including CBS Sports Network’s on-air talent. Isaiah strongly desires for this unfortunate circumstance to serve as a positive learning opportunity in support of the Indigenous community.

“Wichita State University and Shocker Athletics remains committed to diversity, equity and inclusion as essential to the mission of the institution, ensuring that each member of the Wichita State community has full opportunity to thrive.”