In the last month we have learned of at least three separate incidents of women’s basketball players filing complaints or lawsuits against their former coach because of harassment or being treated unfairly.
Are these incidents the exception when it comes to coaching, especially with women’s basketball, or are they the norm? Is it only a coincidence three similar situations came out in public so close together? Surely this can’t be a fluke with so many of the same alleged problems at different institutions.
It is a problem that must be addressed by each institution – not only those in question – but throughout the NCAA. These issues are adversely affecting the progress women’s basketball has made over the years with it becoming more popular for young aspiring players and fans.
It doesn’t help that the allegations of mistreatment come in the wake of Pat Summitt’s son Tyler Summit, only 25, resigning as head coach at Louisiana Tech after news spread of his alleged affair with a player. The unfavorable, embarrassing news off the court is becoming more of a focus than what is happening on it. You would almost have to be forgiven if you hadn’t noticed Connecticut’s dynasty and young star Dawn Staley becoming one of the game’s most respected coaches at South Carolina.
Sheryl Swoopes, one of the greats of women’s basketball like Staley, had 10 of her 12 players at Loyola-Chicago request for a release from the program because they felt “belittled” and “humiliated” by her. Swoopes, who has coached for three seasons at Loyola, allegedly threatened to cut players or have their scholarships taken away.
A former Iowa State player named Nikki Moody, a four-year starter in the program, filed a lawsuit against longtime coach Bill Fennelly, the school and the state for racial discrimination and retaliation. Moody, who is black, claims that Fennelly repeatedly called her a “thug” and that the alleged discrimination led to a “hostile education environment through racial harassment.”
Stephen F. Austin officials are investigating a complaint made by a member of the basketball team who claims coach Mark Kellogg treated her unfairly. Former player Charisma Alexander said she had her scholarship revoked after the 2015-2016 season. She alleges that Kellogg told her “f— you” during a practice in October. She said it happened in practice when a teammate joked and Alexander said “Y’all know we can’t laugh or else we get in trouble.” She said Kellogg then said, “What is your f—— problem? F— you!”
This accusation by Alexander prompted Kellogg’s wife, Trisha Kellogg, to write an opinion piece for TheSportDigest.com titled, “Basketball is Life: Coach’s Wife Annoyed with Women’s Basketball Culture.”
Trisha Kellogg, a former college basketball player herself, wrote about having to work hard to establish herself worthy of an athletic scholarship, including timed heats in a 400-yard dash against teammates as part of a preseason conditioning program. “We didn’t skirt by, we didn’t just make our times, we shattered them to get better and to push each other,” she writes.
“A dark cloud of change is starting to cover the basketball world and it’s scary,” she writes later in the piece. “We see this cloud moving in daily. … the culture of women’s basketball is starting to become one of entitlement and blame. I’m seeing girls who not only won’t go the extra mile, but they will do whatever it takes to make the bare minimum.
“They were the best player on their club team so they don’t understand why they have to work just as hard as the girl next to them for their position. They think it’s ok to skip study hall and use the excuse that other people are doing it, too. Their teammate will get recognition for a great play or a great game and they will get jealous that it wasn’t them or blame the coach that he/she favors the player. They will lose playing time because of their attitude and will claim discrimination or mental abuse.”
Trisha Kellogg touches on the recent upheaval of players and their families against coaches and institutions who claim mistreatment and harassment.
“What the heck is happening with women’s basketball?” Kellogg writes. “I’ve had some tough coaches, demanding coaches, people who have pushed me to the breaking point and I used that as fuel to better myself. I didn’t ever make an excuse, in fact, I worked harder.
“Where is the kid that sees adversity and steps up to the plate and works to be the best that she can be? She’s hiding behind a culture of weakness that is allowing kids to run to a law suit or a release form because she doesn’t want to challenge herself. It’s a lot easier to blame someone than it is to put in the work.”
No question what has happened in recent weeks at Loyola-Chicago, Stephen F. Austin and Iowa State is very serious with its scope including the sense of entitlement players have now because of their glorified upbringing through the AAU circuit. This goes beyond women’s basketball to all sports that have youth sports organizations.
Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr, who once coached his son with an AAU team, recently mentioned that “winning is devalued in the AAU structure” and along with that team goals are forsaken for personal agendas.
“Teams play game after game after game, sometimes winning or losing in four times a day,” Kerr said. “Very rarely do teams ever hold a practice. … If mom and dad aren’t happy with their son’s playing time, they switch club teams and stick him on a different one the following week. The process of growing as a team basketball player – learning how to become part of the whole, how to fit into something bigger than oneself – becomes completely lost within the AAU fabric.”
It should come as no surprise that more than 700 players transferred in men’s basketball last year and the list is at 500 this year. The 500 transfers amounts to about 38 rosters (with each program allotted 13 scholarship spots).
UPDATED Transfer List — has now reached 500 student-athletes (that’s for you, NCAA): https://t.co/YJ8VIiS7yV
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) April 26, 2016
The NCAA cannot change the AAU fabric just like it can’t alter how the NBA, NFL and MLB accept early entrants into their drafts. What the governing body and institutions can do is come to a better understanding of how player-coach relationships are more of a sensitive issue now than they were a generation ago. The NCAA must approach the entitlement issue without delay.
Here is a recommendation: If not already done so, each institution should set up player-coach liaisons for each team. This unbiased individual, not necessarily within the athletic department, communicates with athletes and coaches about daily developments with the conversations recorded in case issues surfacing later as we have seen with Swoopes, Mark Kellogg and Bill Fennelly.
This can help two-fold: It makes the student-athletes aware that the institution cares about their concerns and it provides a defense for a coach or administrator in case alleged wrongdoings surface. If an unforeseen claim of mistreatment is brought forward by an athlete, the institution can provide evidence through the ongoing conversations with the liaison that an issue was not discussed.
Rather than have despair over the “dark cloud of change” Trisha Stafford writes about, attack it by devising a plan that is best for the student-athletes and the coaches to work more harmoniously together. The NCAA cannot tear down the change that is occurring with growing player entitlement but it can build around that to move forward with positive change and keep embarrassing harassment claims out of the headlines.
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