Ole Miss basketball players take a knee during national anthem as pro-Confederate protesters march on Mississippi campus

'We had to take a stand to the negative things that went on today on our campus'

Eight players on the University of Mississippi basketball team took a knee during the US national anthem to protest a nearby pro-Confederacy rally this weekend, joining an ongoing protest against racism that has sparked fierce debate and presidential tweets.

The Ole Miss players knelt one by one during the national anthem ahead of the team’s home game against Georgia on Saturday, which took place as two pro-Confederacy groups groups came together to march on the school’s campus.

The team’s lead scorer, Breein Tyree, said that he and his teammates meant no disrespect to members of the US military.

“The majority of it was we saw one of our teammates doing it, and we just didn’t want him to be alone,” he said after the game.

He clarified the issue further on Twitter, saying: “To the people that fight for this country, my teammates and I meant no disrespect to everything that you do for us, but we had to take a stand to the negative things that went on today on our campus.”

The pro-confederate rally was organised by the groups Confederate 901 and the Hiwaymen, and drew a significant counter-protest on Saturday.

Before the game, Ole Miss athletic director Ross Bjork said he had discussed the protests taking place on the campus.

“These people that come here and they spill hate and bigotry and racism, we don’t want them on our campus. Our players stood up for that,” Mr Bjork said. “It had nothing to do with the anthem. It had nothing to do with anything beyond, ‘We don’t want those people here. They’re protesting during our game, and that’s not right because that’s not the Ole Miss that I know.’”

He continued to praise the action of his players.

“We talked to them about that in the locker room,” he said. “We support them because we don’t want those people here, either. The university doesn’t want them. Our town doesn’t want them. They’re out of state. They’re not from here. So good for the players to stand up and make a statement.”

Prior kneeling protests against what campaigners see as institutionalised racism, notably by the former NFL player Colin Kaepernick, have prompted angry tweets from Donald Trump. The president called for NFL players participating in the protests to be banned.