Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant says he hasn’t given much thought about the University of Mississippi basketball players who kneeled during the National Anthem to protest a pro-Confederate gathering on campus.

Bryant tells The Associated Press on Tuesday that he’s been away in Washington and dealing with the aftermath Mississippi storms.

He says he hasn’t had “much of a chance to look at” video of the players kneeling.

Republican Bryant was at a national governors’ meeting during the weekend. He issued an emergency declaration Monday after tornadoes and flooding.

Eight Ole Miss players knelt Saturday before a home game in Oxford.

The team’s scoring leader, Breein Tyree, later said players were tired of “hate groups coming to our school.”

Bryant in the past has declared April as Confederate Heritage Month.