The NCAA apologized after getting caught in a lie about the wildly different equipment provided to men's and women's basketball players

• Images depicting vastly different resources at the men's and women's NCAA tournament went viral.
• The NCAA has since apologized, promising to fix it "as soon as possible."
• Originally, the NCCA blamed a lackluster women's weight room on "limited space," an excuse debunked by Oregon's Sedona Prince.

The NCAA on Friday apologized after viral images and videos revealing shocking disparities between the men's and women's basketball facilities circulated on social media.

Stanford sports performance coach Ali Kershner shared the images in a post that contrasted the full weight room offered at the men's March Madness tournament in Indianapolis with the single rack of the weights provided to the women in San Antonio.

"I apologize to the women's student-athletes, coaches and committee for dropping the ball on the weight room issue in San Antonio, we'll get it fixed as soon as possible," NCAA Senior Vice President of Basketball Dan Gavitt said on a Zoom call Friday addressing the discrepancies.

The apology comes just as the NCAA attempts to walk back its earlier remarks on the obvious weight room disparities.

Originally, the NCAA had cited "limited space" as an excuse for the disparities, a claim that was debunked by one of the basketball players in a video that has since gone viral.

The only problem? That excuse was, apparently, a blatant lie.

Oregon Ducks star Sedona Prince called BS on the NCAA's "limited space" excuse. She filmed the room where women's players from all 64 teams are expected to train using just a small set of dumbbells and some thin yoga mats.

In the video Prince shared on Twitter, she filmed the weight pyramid and then zoomed out to reveal a giant conference room filled with nothing but empty space and folding chairs - directly contradicting the NCAA's claim.

Professional athletes and big names in college athletics lambasted the NCAA for its gender-based disparate treatment of players. Former college basketball and current WNBA stars Sue Bird, A'ja Wilson, Sabrina Ionescu, Natasha Cloud, and more demanded answers for the apparent sexism.

On the men's side, reigning NBA rookie of the year Ja Morant called the move "disrespectful" on Twitter. Portland Trail Blazers star CJ McCollum said the NCAA has "gotta do better." "Come on now," said two-time NBA MVP Steph Curry. With sports media personalities like ESPN's Jay Bilas and Sarah Spain using their own platforms to chime in, the NCAA clearly felt the pressure to address the issue.

Beyond the obvious differences in quality and quantity in the men's and women's weight rooms, the NCAA also appears to have slighted its women's players in other areas of the NCAA tournament. Images appear to show that the "swag bags" offered to the men's players feature far more merchandise than the ones received by the women's athletes.

During Friday's Zoom call, women players asked about the value of the gift bags they received. NCAA officials, however, told the Associated Press that they believe the gift bag values were equal.

Players also pointed out on the call that there are 68 men's teams compared to 64 women's teams, the Associated Press reported. Additionally, the NCAA addressed the fact that it pays for the men's National Invitation Tournament but not the women's.

"We fell short this year in what we have been doing to prepare in the last 60 days for 64 teams to be in San Antonio. We acknowledge that," said NCAA Senior Vice President of women's basketball Lynn Holzman. "Last night we did have a call with our coaches and team administrators in a way to solicit feedback and their experience thus far."

The NCAA's latest predicament comes mere days after players on the men's side publicly spoke out against the organization on Twitter in protest of ongoing policies that prevent them from being paid.

The #NotNCAAproperty campaign threatens to delay March Madness games in the later rounds of the NCAA tournament over athletes' lack of compensation and continued denial of ownership over their names, images, and likenesses.

Growing calls against the organization regarding both its sexism and its labor practices may force further action during this year's tournaments.