Sylvia Hatchell, UNC women's basketball coach, accused of racially abusive language and endangering gamblers

Sylvia Hatchell, Women's Basketball Coach at the University of North Carolina Hall of Fame, is under investigation after the player's parents accused her of making "racially offensive remarks" And put pressure on the seriously injured players to keep playing. Hatchell and all of his coaching staff were suspended by UNC on Monday, accompanied by a vague statement citing the university's commitment to "the well-being of our student-athletes".

The allegations come via a Washington Post report, which exposes several specific cases where parents say that Hatchell made "bizarre racial comments" to express his disappointment with his team. The worst thing is that Hatchell makes alarming remarks as hints of lynching after his victory at Howard University on December 28th. The parents would disagree on the exact wording, but all agree that the message conveyed is that the players gave the effort given to Howard, a historically black university, to have them hang in Louisville:

One mother stated that the comment was: "When you go to Louisville, if you behave like tonight, they will have the run out of the arena and they will hang you by the neck to trees ". Hatchell told a father, "We're going to Louisville. These people will wait with the noose to suspend you from the trees. The parents were unanimous that their daughters had heard the words "noose" and "tree".

In another case, after a loss in 2017-2018, Hatchell's players were troubled when they said she had disappointed them as "a bunch of old mules", which had hit at least some of the player as being racially offensive. In another extremely painful case, Hatchell would have encouraged his players to indulge in a "war song" to the Brave of Atlanta to "honor the partial descent of the Indians" by assistant coach Tracey Williams-Johnson . Hatchell referred the answers to these allegations to To post via his lawyer, Wade Smith; she says that she remembers neither the commentary of "old mules" nor the fiasco "of war song", and says that the "noose knot" affair was "misinterpreted".

"She said," They'll take a rope and pull us up and let us dry, "Smith said.

"There is no racist bone in his body. . . . A very high percentage of the people who have played for her and who love her are African-American women. She is a great coach and a world class human being. "

Hatchell and the women's basketball program are also accused of neglecting and minimizing serious injuries in order to put pressure on the players to keep competing despite the pain. Hatchell and the team's physician, Dr. Harry Stafford, are charged with delaying the MRI on the injured shoulder of guard Emily Sullivan and minimizing the severity of the injury for nearly two years, in order to maintain Sullivan on the field using cortisone shots. When Sullivan finally sought outside opinions, she learned not only that she had had a torn labrum, but that her shoulder, covered with crab, required a "complete rebuilding." In another case, Hatchell is accused of pressuring the sitter Stephanie Watts knee pain to impress the scouts of the WNBA; Watts also learned from a second outside opinion that his injury involved structural damage and necessitated a complete break from basketball activities.

All of this would have come to light when a large group of parents had met with UNC administrators late last week to discuss their concerns about the program. There is a lot more in the To postThe report states that four anonymous players have already filed documents to be transferred out of Hatchell's program, and two more are waiting to know the outcome of the UNC investigation – and more specifically if Hatchell will keep his position – before deciding to his future.