Malloy may not watch men’s Final Four

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy basks in the afterglow of UConn’s victory over Kentucky in the Men’s NCAA Championship Game on Monday, April 7, 2014, the fourth title for hoops program in the last 15 years. Contributed photo.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy basks in the afterglow of UConn’s victory over Kentucky in the Men’s NCAA Championship Game on Monday, April 7, 2014, the fourth title for hoops program in the last 15 years. Contributed photo.

There’s always NetFlix, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy.

The face of a public crusade against Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which he contends discriminates against gays, Malloy said Wednesday that he hasn’t decided whether he will watch the men’s Final Four on television this weekend.

The culmination of the college basketball season gets underway Saturday with both national semifinal games in Indianapolis, where the coach of the defending champion UConn Huskies, Kevin Ollie, had been planning to make an appearance even though his team failed to qualify for this year’s tournament.

Ollie and his assistant coaches cancelled their trip late Tuesday, complying with an executive order from Malloy banning state employees from traveling to the Hoosier State on the taxpayer’s dime because of the controversial law.

Malloy said he had not spoken directly to Ollie leading up to the decision, but that he had reached out to the third-year coach twice since UConn’s announcement to commend him for supporting his position. The governor had yet to connect Wednesday afternoon with Ollie, who last year signed a five-year, $16 million contract that makes him the highest-paid state employee.

Next year’s women’s Final Four — where UConn seems to have permanent reservations — is incidentally in Indianapolis.

“I know the UConn women are going to be in the Final Four next year,” Malloy told Hearst Connecticut Media. “I don’t want them to have to go to state that as a matter of public policy is allowing people to discriminate against folks.”

Neil Vigdor