Xavier uniforms honor Newtown shooting victims

Wofford center Lee Skinner scores over Xavier guard Brad Redford (12) in the second half Saturday in Cincinnati.

CINCINNATI — Xavier honored victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings during its 56-55 loss to Wofford on Saturday.

Instead of their traditional white home uniforms with blue trim, the Musketeers wore green and white jerseys to honor the school in Newtown, Conn.

The uniforms, produced by Nike, had "Sandy Hook" stitched across the jersey front and the school's eagle mascot was visible on the lower left front of the shorts.

"We decided to do this a couple days ago," coach Chris Mack said. "My good friend Pat Kelsey at Winthrop was very eloquent about what happened. I'm a young daddy with first- and second-grade girls. I have been deeply impacted by the senseless killings just over a week ago. I cannot possibly imagine how the families are coping with their loss during this Christmas season."

The university will auction the uniforms at GoXavier.com through Jan. 4, 2013. Proceeds from the auction will benefit the Sandy Hook School Support Fund.

"The first time I saw the jersey in the locker room, I thought it was great," senior Travis Taylor said. "It shows we care about what's going on in the world."

Kelsey, a former Xavier assistant, is in his first season as head coach at Winthrop. Following a loss to Ohio State last week, Kelsey gave an impassioned plea for government and private leaders to act soon to prevent further massacres such as the one at Sandy Hook that left 20 children and six adults dead at the school.