Fansided

UNC women’s basketball coach investigated for racist remarks

By Allison Cary

30 December 2014: UNC head coach Sylvia Hatchell. The University of North Carolina Tar Heels hosted the University at Albany Great Danes at Carmichael Arena in Chapel Hill, North Carolina in a 2014-15 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball game. UNC won the game 71-56. (Photo by Andy Mead/YCJ/Icon Sportswire/Corbis via Getty Images)
30 December 2014: UNC head coach Sylvia Hatchell. The University of North Carolina Tar Heels hosted the University at Albany Great Danes at Carmichael Arena in Chapel Hill, North Carolina in a 2014-15 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball game. UNC won the game 71-56. (Photo by Andy Mead/YCJ/Icon Sportswire/Corbis via Getty Images) /
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A Washington Post report revealed on Thursday that the University of North Carolina is investigating Hall of Fame women’s basketball coach Sylvia Hatchell.

A few weeks after UNC lost in the first round of the women’s NCAA tournament to Cal, the school has announced that they are investigating head coach Sylvia Hatchell. Hatchell, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2013, is accused of telling players they would be “hanged from trees with nooses” if their performance didn’t improve and asking players to do a Native American “war chant” to “honor” the ancestry of an assistant coach.

The report by the Washington Post cites seven different sources, including six parents of UNC players. In addition to the racist remarks, Hatchell is also being accused of making several players play through injury. According to the Post, one parent reported that after being pressed to play through injuries, their daughter learned she might need corrective surgery on her shoulder. Another said she had torn a tendon in her knee. The third parent reported that their daughter may have not been given proper attention for a concussion.

On Monday afternoon, UNC announced it had put Hatchell and three assistant coaches on paid leave while they conducted an investigation using an outside law firm. UNC did not acknowledge at the time what the investigation was about, and following the reveal by the Post, the school said it had no further comments until the investigation was completed.

Hatchell declined an interview with the Post, but her attorney said that comments from the players and their parents have been misconstrued. Her attorney claims that she told the students, “They’re going to take a rope and string us up, and hang us out to dry.” The lawyer also said that Hatchell did not recall the specific injury incidents, but said she would never pressure players to play before they had been cleared by the medical staff.

Hours after UNC announced the investigation, Hatchell released a statement saying that she loved the players she coaches and she looks forward to a “prompt conclusion” of the investigation.

The results of the investigation could have major consequences for the UNC team. According to parents, four players on the 14 player team have already put in transfer requests, and another two players say they will file for a transfer if Hatchell keeps her job.

Hatchell is the winningest coach in women’s basketball history, with over 1,000 wins in her career and over 700 wins in her 33 years at UNC. Assistant coach Andrew Calder has also been at UNC for 33 years. Her other assistants are Sylvia Crawley, who was a player at UNC and a former head coach at Boston College, and recruiting coordinator Bett Shelby.