Sylvia Hatchell Is Out at U.N.C. After Inquiry Supports Team’s Complaints
Sylvia Hatchell coached the University of North Carolina women’s basketball team for 33 years.
By Marc Tracy and Alan Blinder
April 19, 2019
Sylvia Hatchell, the longtime women’s basketball coach at the University of North Carolina, stepped down after an investigation found she had made “racially insensitive” comments and pressured injured players to compete, the university announced late Thursday night.
Hatchell, who is fifth in career coaching victories in women’s basketball, was placed on leave this month, days after parents of several players met with the university’s athletic director, Bubba Cunningham, to complain about comments she had made that players interpreted as racist, including a warning that a bad loss could lead to “nooses.”
The report “found issues that led us to conclude that the program needed to be taken in a new direction,” Cunningham said in a statement.
Hatchell, 67, did not address the accusations in the statement, which described her departure as a resignation. Instead, it said she had been contemplating this move since she was given a diagnosis of leukemia several years ago.
FILED BY ROBERT FRANKLIN/ASSOCIATED PRESS
