Report: Sylvia Hatchell made racially insensitive remarks, forced players to compete while hurt
Posted April 4, 2019 7:27 p.m. EDT
Updated April 5, 2019 3:59 p.m. EDT
Chapel Hill, N.C. — The Washington Post is reporting that University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill women’s basketball coach Sylvia Hatchell is under investigation following allegations that she made a series of racially offensive remarks.
Hatchell and her three assistants were placed on paid administrative leave earlier this week amid player concerns, and the program was placed under review.
Parents who spoke anonymously to The Washington Post said that remarks made by Hatchell included a comment that her players would be “hanged from trees with nooses” at an upcoming game if their performance did not improve.
According to The Washington Post, Hatchell was also accused of encouraging her players to engage in a “war chant” to “honor” an assistant coach’s Native American ancestry.
"Sylvia Hatchell does not have a racist bone in her body. She dearly loves all the young women she has coached and so many of them have reached out to support her this week. A life as evidence," Hatchell's attorney, Wade Smith, said in a statement.
WRAL News learned from secondary sources this week that some alleged Hatchell made racially insensitive comments.
The Washington Post also reported that a large group of parents met with university administrators last Thursday, where concerns were raised about situations in which three players reported that they felt pressured by Hatchell to play despite injuries.
In one instance, a player later learned she needed corrective shoulder surgery. In another instance, a player said Hatchell doubted whether she had suffered a concussion, according to The Washington Post.
On Monday, school spokesman Steve Kirschner said in a statement that the review of the UNC women’s basketball program is "due to issues raised by student-athletes and others,” but he did not specify what those issues were.
“As we announced on Monday, we have a review underway to assess the culture of our women’s basketball program and the experience of our student-athletes. We will have no further comment until the review is complete and we have all the facts. Carolina is committed to the well-being of our student-athletes and to ensuring that they have the best experience possible and in and outside of competition," Kirschner said in a statement Thursday night.
In a statement, Hatchell said she will cooperate fully with the review.
"I've had the privilege of coaching more than 200 young women during my 44 years in basketball," Hatchell said. "My goal has always been to help them become the very best people they can be, on the basketball court and in life.
Hatchell, a 2013 Hall of Fame inductee, is the winningest women's basketball coach in Atlantic Coast Conference history. She has a career record of 1,023-405 and is 751-325 mark in 33 years at UNC-Chapel Hill with a national title in 1994.
Hatchell became the third women's coach in Division I with 1,000 career victories in 2017, made her 23rd career NCAA Tournament appearance last month and is the only coach with national championships at three levels — AIAW, NAIA and NCAA.
