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The Detroit Mercy women’s basketball team canceled the remainder of their season Thursday after the players and their parents accused coach AnnMarie Gilbert of abuse and mistreatment, according to The Detroit Free Press.
Fourteen players and their parents all signed a letter on Sunday and sent it to athletic director Robert Vowels Jr., detailing numerous abuse allegations involving Gilbert – who was hired in April.
“It’s been a nightmare,” a relative told the Detroit Free Press on condition of anonymity. “Our daughters are just not the same.”
Parents and players accuse Detroit Mercy coach of abuse
According to the report, the parents first held a video meeting together and started sharing stories, which is when they realized how bad the situation had become. They were “blown away by the horrific stories of utter disregard for the care and well-being of our student-athletes.
“It has become painfully obvious that our young women are experiencing emotional, mental and physical abuse under the guidance of [Gilbert]They wrote in the letter, via The Detroit Free Press. “Many of us have encouraged our daughters to seek help from the administration, but the girls are terrified of retaliation from Coach Gilbert, which has created a hostile environment of fear and isolation. … Some players report that they have never had a battle with sanity until this season.
Among the allegations, the players accused Gilbert of telling them not to tell coaches if they thought they were injured. She reportedly told the team that “if your bone is not sticking out, you have to give something.” They were also reportedly told to ‘ignore or report’ symptoms of COVID-19, were told they had to do extra practice to show their commitment to the team and had to drop out courses that interfered with their practice time – even if those courses were required to graduate.
The players were also reportedly told they were not “committed to the success of the program” if they put academics first, and assistant coaches were “humiliated and harassed in front of the players and on the sidelines”. Some claimed that Gilbert was trying to force them all into the transfer portal and were told not to speak to vowels.
“You have a lot of complaints about the teams. It’s not unheard of, ”a parent told the Detroit Free Press. “But you have a 100% stake. I don’t care if you’re the girl at the end of the bench who doesn’t get minutes or a starter who goes over 30 minutes, everyone has the exact same complaints.
Detroit Mercy cancels the season
The vowels met with the players individually on Tuesday to discuss the letter and the allegations, but reportedly demanded a team meeting with him on Wednesday after Gilbert showed up for practice ready to go.
The players met Voyelles on Wednesday afternoon and said they would decline to play in their next game on Saturday if Gilbert was still their coach. It was then that the decision to cancel the season completely was made.
“The health and well-being of our student-athletes is the top priority of our athletic department,” a spokesperson for the athletic department told the Detroit Free Press in a statement. “We have discussed their concerns with all players and members of our women’s basketball program. – We take them very seriously and will continue to review them closely.
“As we have prioritized the needs of our student-athletes during this difficult academic year, we have decided to suspend the 2020-21 women’s basketball season.”
The Titans finished the year just 1-13 and had lost six in a row.
Gilbert was hired in April to replace Bernard Scott. She had previously coached east Michigan, but resigned in 2012 after receiving a two-year show case due to multiple NCAA violations. The 52-year-old spent five seasons at Virginia Union at the Division II level.
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