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"We, the Rutgers University Scarlet Knights basketball team, accept – accept – Mr. Imus's apology, and we are in the process of forgiving," Stringer read from a team statement Friday.
That morning, Imus's wife, Deirdre Imus, who was also at the meeting with the team members, called the young women "courageous and beautiful."
She made the comments when she co-hosted a radio fundraiser for children's charities in place of her husband the day after he was fired by CBS Radio for calling the basketball players "nappy-headed hos."
Describing the brief meeting, she said: "They gave us the opportunity to listen to what they had to say and why they're hurting and how awful this is," the Associated Press reports.
In her statement on Friday, Stringer added: "We still find his statements to be unacceptable, and this is an experience that we will never forget. These comments are indicative of greater ills in our culture. It is not just Mr. Imus, and we hope that this will be and serve as a catalyst for change. Let us continue to work hard together to make this world a better place."
Deirdre Imus said that her husband "feels awful," about his comments. "He asked [the team], 'I want to know the pain I caused, and I want to know how to fix this and change this.' I have to say that these women are unbelievably courageous and beautiful women."
The two-day radio fundraiser, which Deirdre Imus hosted, had been scheduled long before her husband's comments set off a national controversy.
Appearing live on Oprah Thursday afternoon, Stringer said she and her players were eager to meet Imus. "He really doesn't know the Rutgers women's basketball team, and he certainly made a characterization that is defaming," she said. "We wanted him to get a chance to know who we are, and we certainly wanted to know who this man was."
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Deirdre Imus's work was also affected by her husband's troubles: Her promotional tour for her new book, Green This!, was cancelled "because of the enormous pressure that Deirdre and her family are under," Simon & Schuster publicist Victoria Meyer said.
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