Volleyball players reinstated after racism accusations

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Two University of Houston volleyball players accused of racism after a video surfaced online in March have been reinstated to the program, two people with knowledge of the situation said Monday.

Graduate student Isabel Theut and senior Abbie Jackson are in good standing with the program, the source said. A third player, Ryleigh Whitekettle, has since left the program.

The video posted on the social media website Snapchat showed Jackson and Theut smiling and recording themselves driving by a tree in Columbus, where two teenage Black men were lynched in 1935.

This is the hanging tree where we used to hang people, the videos caption reads.

The players were suspended from the team pending an internal investigation. It is unclear what conditions the players had to meet to join the team.

Jackson is a two-time American Athletic Conference selection at outside hitter. Theut, a middle blocker from Columbus, has played in all 84 matches the last three seasons.

UH officials were not immediately available for comment.

Joseph Duarte has been a sports reporter for the Houston Chronicle since August 1996. He currently covers college athletics, focusing on the University of Houston. Previously, he wrote about the Houston Astros from 1998-2002, Houston Texans from 2002-05 and the Texas Longhorns from 2005-09. He came to the Houston Chronicle as part of an internship through the Sports Journalism Institute in 1995.

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