2018-19 College Basketball

[ice grillin you]

really great piece on syracuse's maniac womens coach....

On March 23, the Syracuse women's basketball team lost to top-seeded Connecticut in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. By April 20, 11 players, eight with more than one year of eligibility remaining, had announced their decision to transfer from the program. Among the defections: Kamilla Cardoso, the ACC rookie of the year; Kiara Lewis, the team's leading scorer; and Emily Engstler, the one-time No. 9-rated player in her class.

Asked to address the exodus in a Zoom call with reporters, head coach Quentin Hillsman, 50, known for his fancy haberdashery and success as a recruiter, seemed unfazed. "We have some seniors that have opportunities to pursue other options," Hillsman said, highlighting just three of the 11 transfer players. "They're going to schools in our conference. That's a compliment to us. I'm good. If I had a problem, I would tell you. We're fine."

The number of transfers from Syracuse's women's program this year is the most among any Division I program, men or women. Since 2018, 20 have left, the highest rate among any Power 5 women's team during that span that has not endured a coaching change. Of the 14 top-100 recruits Hillsman has signed since 2015 – which is more than both UConn and South Carolina have signed over the same period – nine have left after two or fewer seasons. The question isn't just why 11 women left Syracuse this year. It's why players have been ditching the Orange for years.

The answer – gleaned from interviews with nine former players as well as 19 others, including team managers and staff members – is that Hillsman' often-inappropriate behavior, including unwanted physical contact, threats and bullying, and the program's generally pernicious culture, pushed many players and staff members to leave. After a 2016 run to the national championship game, Hillsman's ego also ballooned – "I'm a star,'' he told them frequently – and players felt his attention to their well-being shrunk. In an era when player support, mental health, trust and relationships are paramount, many players felt Hillsman treated them like replaceable cogs in his wheel.

Among the nine players who spoke to The Athletic, three said they experienced suicidal thoughts due to their experiences in the program, and a fourth said she experienced thoughts of self-harm. Five said they received therapy; two of those women were prescribed antidepressants.

The most troubling allegations leveled against Hillsman, who is Syracuse's women's basketball's all-time winningest coach, included:

He often threatened the players, sometimes using vulgar language. "The way he threatened us, like we all knew he would never physically harm us, but he'd always be talking about beating our asses. Like, 'I'll f— you guys up. I'll f— you up. It's gonna be your ass if you f— this up,'" said one former player. More than 10 people described Hillsman acting in that manner.
At halftime of one game during the 2019-20 season, Hillsman went around the locker room, standing before every player and saying to each: "I don't give a f— about you." Then he flipped a table. Seven people present recalled this incident.
One player said she felt violated after Hillsman came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her, placing his hands near her pelvic region before brushing it off as a joke. Two others witnessed the incident.
Three women said they felt uncomfortable when, after a discussion about playing time, Hillsman kissed each of them on the forehead.

Hillsman allegedly created a staff position in 2019 and filled it with a longtime friend, Ronnie Enoch, who was dismissed from a previous coaching job after being accused of sexually harassing a player. Enoch subsequently made multiple Syracuse players and managers uncomfortable with his actions, including asking one woman if she was menstruating.
Two players described instances in which Hillsman refused their requests for water after running "Big Fives," a series of punishing sprints. One manager went to offer one of the women water but Hillsman pushed away the bottle. "(The player) was literally gasping,'' the manager recalls.

The Athletic also found that Hillsman's biography in the team's media guide and on its website includes embellishments and falsities about Hillsman's playing career.

In a lengthy email to school officials, The Athletic detailed the allegations against Hillsman and the program and asked for comment from Hillsman, athletic director John Wildhack and others. The school responded with a statement from Wildhack that read, in part: "Syracuse athletics remains committed to providing a healthy, academically rigorous, competitive and rewarding environment to all our student-athletes. Any behavior – from our student-athletes, coaches and staff – that contradicts our commitment to these ideals is investigated thoroughly, and if necessary, appropriate action is taken."

Players said they tried to alert school officials to the problems within the program. One player said she filled out and submitted an online questionnaire about her experience that was supplied to her by a school employee. In response to a question about the weaknesses of the coaching staff, she wrote: "Ego, manipulation, controlling, disrespectful to women/girls, anger issues, mood swings, gas-lighting (sic), lying, emotionally abusive, not caring, doesn't communicate, doesn't follow through, empty threats (fear tactics), anytime any girl is talked to we are disrespected in some way." No one from the school followed up with her to learn more. Another player signed up for a Zoom meeting to explain her departure to administrators, but she said that when she logged on no one else joined the call.

"I was a great player. I was excited to play for a top program. We were top 10 when I committed, and all I wanted was to thrive," one former player said. "It's not just a bad culture or program. It's so toxic. It doesn't matter who you are, what your light is, if you're a positive person, it's going to break you.''

Hillsman arrived at Syracuse in 2005 as an assistant, the latest step in a peripatetic career. After graduating from St. Mary's College of Maryland, he jumped from job to job at prep schools and in the college ranks, never lasting or choosing to stay in one place more than two years. Following just one season on the Orange bench as an assistant, Hillsman was hastily promoted to interim head coach after Keith Cieplicki resigned amidst his own roster exodus. Five players and two assistant coaches left the program, accusing Cieplicki of threatening scholarships, using racially insensitive language and behaving disrespectfully toward staff members. (Cieplicki denied the allegations.)

Hillsman was plugged into the interim role on June 6, 2006. On Oct. 1, former athletic director Daryl Gross made the job official, signing Hillsman to a five-year contract. Gross, who initially pursued Rutgers head coach C. Vivian Stringer, said he promoted Hillsman because he was impressed with his work with the players in the offseason as well as his efforts in recruiting. Gross called Hillsman "extraordinary.''

Hillsman's bio on the school's website from his first two seasons as the Orange's head coach included this passage detailing his accomplishments from his playing career (1990-93) at St. Mary's: He led the squad to two Capital Athletic Conference championships and one tournament championship. He earned all-conference accolades and set the school's single-game and single-season assist records. Hillsman finished his senior season ranked in the top 20 in the nation in assists.

An examination of the Capital Athletic Conference (now known as the Coast-to-Coast Conference) online record books reveals that, while St. Mary's did win its conference tournament in 1991 as Hillsman's bio claims, the Seahawks did not win the regular-season crown in any of the seasons he played. They finished no better than second. And Hillsman's name does not appear on any of the All-CAC first or second teams, also listed in the online record books. Via email, conference commissioner Chris Roekle said he also did not find Hillsman's name on any all-conference lists.

An NCAA official, responding to an email request from The Athletic, provided a list of the nation's top 24 assist leaders in Division III for the 1992-93 season. Hillsman was not among them. In later bios, the reference to being among the nation's top assist leaders is dropped, but Hillsman still is referred to as an all-conference player who led the Seahawks to two league championships.

Syracuse did not respond to a question about who wrote Hillsman's bios over the years. However, a school spokesperson attempted to defend the inaccuracies in the bios, claiming that Hillsman was an "honorable mention all-conference selection." However, Roekle, the current league commissioner, said via email that he is not aware of the conference having an honorable mention all-conference team. That Syracuse official also said that Hillsman's bio should have stipulated that Hillsman won one regular-season crown and one conference tourney, the first in 1989-90 and the second following the 1991 season. However, Roekle said that the 1990-91 season was the first year of competition for the conference.

There is no arguing that Hillsman made Syracuse better on the court. Before he took over, the Orange had one winning season in the previous 16; by his second year as head coach, he had his team in the NCAA Tournament and ranked in the top 25 for the first time in school history. Hillsman always operated more as a delegator, assigning his staff not just coaching duties – in charge of guards versus bigs, for example – but distinctive roles. One assistant was in charge of X's and O's, another player development and another dubbed the "relationship coach." Hillsman acted as an overseer.

In the early years, that approach worked. Hillsman attracted hard-nosed players eager to build a program. They could not only handle what he dished out but also served it right back. "Spit nails'' is how one person described his early teams. 

As Syracuse moved into the ACC for the 2013-14 season, it became a draw for top recruits, and in 2016 Syracuse played for a national championship against UConn.

Several people point to that national title game appearance as a line of demarcation. From that 2015-16 roster, six women transferred before their eligibility ended, and since then 19 more, including the 11 this season, have left. The departures were not limited to role players; stars and former high school All-Americans, many of whom went on to have success elsewhere, also left. Among them:

Pachis Roberts, a Parade All-American, played sparingly in one season at Syracuse then became Georgia's leading scorer and rebounder, as well as an All-SEC second-team selection. Jade Phillips, a top-100 recruit who struggled for playing time under Hillsman, led Charlotte in scoring and rebounding. Kadi Sissoko quadrupled her production after moving on to Minnesota, and Alisha Lewis, who played only seven games at Syracuse, was named league Newcomer and Sixth Player of the Year after her first season at Central Florida. Finally, Desiree Elmore barely played for Hillsman and yet at Seton Hall became a 1,000-point scorer and first-team All-Big East.

Meanwhile, since 2016, Syracuse has not made it out of the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament and has not finished better than tied for fourth in the ACC.

What changed within the program?

Thanks to the team's success, Hillsman began to attract better recruits, but around the same time, student-athlete welfare became a more pronounced issue. It was in 2014, just two years earlier, that UConn's Shabazz Napier's comments about going to bed hungry spearheaded the cost-of-attendance policy in college sports. Hillsman, however, remained distant and demanding of his players without backing it up with emotional support. 

"The thing is, this isn't old-school America anymore,'' one person associated with the team said. "Times change. You have to adjust your coaching style, or you lose players and you may lose your job. A simple word might be misconstrued, but you have to be aware of that. You say someone is out of shape, they interpret it as you calling them fat. You never said that, never used that word. You're talking about fitness level. But that doesn't matter anymore.''

Players and others in the program said that following the success in 2016, they felt as if Hillsman began treating some of them as mere role players in his one-man show. "There was this time in the film room where he mentioned something along the lines about how he doesn't really care about us, and that he doesn't care if we like him, because he's a star," one former player said. "He beat his chest and said, 'I'm a star.'"

Some players said it felt as if Hillsman had little interest in their well-being, keeping off-court conversations and interactions to a minimum. Taleah Washington contracted COVID-19 last winter, and then she was diagnosed with heart inflammation as a result of the disease. Hillsman, she said, only called after her father berated Hillsman for his inattention. "My dad hung up with me, Quentin calls me 30 seconds later,'' Washington said. "The call lasted 26 seconds. 'You good?' ... I'm like, 'Don't call me now because my father is in your ass.'''

Another player, one who suffered a head injury that caused her to miss an entire season, said Hillsman only checked on her once, and it was to relay that he'd try to get her an extra year of eligibility. Even before the injury, the player was seeing a therapist, which she had to book through the coaching staff. "I thought I was going to be on top of the world at Syracuse,'' said the player, a former five-star recruit. "I felt six feet under."

Wrote one player in her exit questionnaire: "(Hillsman) would barely look me in the eyes or talk to me all year. He avoided (me) anytime I tried to meet with him to understand him. I think we had two meetings all year, after months of trying to get him to meet with me and I begged him to coach me. He would cut the meeting as short as possible."

Tough love is far from uncommon in college sports. The late Pat Summitt made a career out of demanding the most out of her players; South Carolina's Dawn Staley is known to be brutally honest in her assessment of players. Yet the people who played for those women have long explained that the public doesn't always see the other side – the coach who cares about them and earns the right to demand so much.

Players said Hillsman rarely showed that other side, and sometimes they believed he was trying to sew discord within the team. In one instance, he told a star player to text the team to inform them she was quitting, even though she had no intention of doing so. "And then he had a team meeting the next day and told her not to come to make it seem real," one player said. "I don't understand how that's supposed to fix team drama. But that was his plan." In another case, two players approached Hillsman to ask what they could do to help lead the team. During that meeting, the players said Hillsman thanked them for their concern. Later, during a team meeting, "He starts going into the speech about how some of your teammates came up into my office and were talking about you guys and asking me what they could do to fix your attitudes," the player said. "He just really twisted the narrative."

One player said that on the rare instances when Hillsman would meet with her: "He always manipulated me into thinking I wasn't doing enough or I wasn't good enough."

One mother said that on a road trip during her daughter's freshman season, the parent of a senior player approached her at the team hotel and warned her of the impact Hillsman's behavior would have on her daughter.

"Watch over her. You will see what we're talking about soon enough," the mother of the freshman said she was told. "This mom is talking to me with tears in her eyes. Like, what in the world? ... We were just excited to be along for the ride, but the older parents, they knew exactly what was going on within the team and they were trying to give me little hints."

Her daughter later transferred.

As the players waited aboard the bus, the managers stood sentry outside in the frigid winter weather. Eventually, Hillsman pulled up, popped his trunk and walked, empty-handed, toward the bus. A manager hustled to fetch Hillsman's Louis Vuitton luggage from the trunk, loading the head coach's gear into the bus' belly. Meanwhile, a staffer placed a towel in front of Hillsman's seat on the bus, so he could remove his designer shoes and not have his feet touch the floor. Later, at the team hotel, a manager took the luggage up to Hillsman's room, whereupon the coach wordlessly took his bags and shut the door. At checkout, a manager would similarly collect and load Hillsman's bags.

Hillsman's affinity for fine clothes was well-known. In a 2009 story by Syracuse.com, he boasted about his custom suits and necktie collection, nearly 100 strong, many of them silk and made by either Versace or Gucci. It was also well-known within the program that he treated some student managers as his personal valets. Multiple managers told of being called over by Hillsman at practice and being ordered to throw away his trash, whether it be that day's practice notes or a granola bar wrapper.

Menial tasks are part of a manager's job. The students get asked to pick up dirty locker rooms, grab rebounds, wash laundry, all in exchange for a catbird seat of the action. Despite their menial duties, most managers are highly regarded, their contributions not lost on head coaches who understand how they keep their programs running. In February, the Syracuse men's basketball Twitter page shared a 5-minute video of their managers, dressed in Syracuse gear, loading bags in the snow, delivering snacks, but also joking around with the players, shooting halfcourt shots and enjoying a game of backgammon. The men's team account shared a reply to the thread, adding: "they are the unsung heroes and make it all happen!"

On the women's side, "(Hillsman) didn't even know our names,'' one manager said.

Managers for the women's team tell stories of showing up for 6 a.m. practices, only to learn that the schedule had changed, or being scolded for eating before the players, even after the players and assistant coaches encouraged them to grab food so as not to be late for class. At practices, they stood around the court – a ball tucked under one arm, a towel over their shoulder –  not allowed to speak to one another. During road trips, they were not permitted to leave the hotel – for meals, to meet with family members – without permission, which they said typically wasn't granted by assistant coach Cedric Solice, who oversees the managers.

"I knew something wasn't right, but I didn't know really. I'd never worked anywhere else,'' another manager said. "I thought maybe this is how it was. We'd go on the road and talk to other managers and you'd put the puzzle together, that this wasn't normal."

During Hillsman's 15 years as head coach, nine women have served on his staff in basketball roles. Many of them were accomplished former players (two were WNBA champions) and several would later become Division I head coaches. But his program hasn't reflected the shift in women's college basketball to employ more females. Since Hillsman took over in 2006, only eight women have held basketball positions, including two Hillsman inherited from his predecessor. Since the 2015-2016 season when the team played for the national championship, he has never had more than one woman on the basketball staff in a given year. On average, they lasted less than three seasons before departing.

Hillsman treated some of his female coaches condescendingly, players and staff members said, silencing them with a hand in their face if they yelled instructions during a practice or game or talked during drills. On occasion, he told them to stop speaking altogether. He could be hard on his male coaches, but managers and players said it happened more frequently and with more fervor with female staffers. Several players recalled one instance when a female assistant tried to encourage players during a rough practice, clapping and reminding them to "keep their heads up." Hillsman turned to her and screamed an expletive before telling her to be silent.

"And she didn't say a word the rest of practice," said a manager. "When you speak to your female assistant coach that way, but you don't speak to any of your male assistant coaches that way – that says something."

Said a staffer: "You can't have other women thinking that women's voices aren't being heard or are being dismissed."

In the middle of a July 2020 faith testimonial entitled "Servant Leadership" posted to Facebook, Ronnie Enoch pauses mid-Zoom call to read from the Bible. Wearing an orange Syracuse polo, headphones nestled in his ears, Enoch reads, "Jesus let them know one of them will betray Him, which made them feel more uneasy."

Enoch, 50, then revisits his experiences, explaining, "someone done betrayed me, that I didn't do nothing to.'' According to Enoch, North Carolina Central head coach Vanessa Taylor approached him during the MEAC Tournament in 2015 with a "worried look on her face,'' telling him they had to go to the athletic director's hotel room immediately. Enoch goes on to explain that AD Ingrid Wicker McCree informed Taylor and Enoch that allegations have been made. "What did you do?" Enoch said he asked Taylor. The head coach explained that the allegations were against Enoch and he was being placed on administrative leave. In May, Taylor informed Enoch that his contract would not be renewed. "It's not her fault. It's the devil,'' Enoch says in the Facebook video.

What Enoch fails to include are the details: The mother of a North Carolina Central player complained to school officials, alleging that Enoch behaved inappropriately with her daughter. Ultimately, two players, Tia Clement and Imani Atkinson, claimed that the university terminated their scholarships in retaliation for their allegations against Enoch. Among their claims: Enoch made inappropriate comments about their bodies (including asking about menstruation) and relationships with their boyfriends and sent text messages that made them uncomfortable. Tamara Clement, Tia's mother, told the Durham Herald Sun that her daughter was especially upset during a road trip bed check. "He raised the cover off her during room checks once, and she had on a bra and panties,'' Tamara Clement told the newspaper in May 2015. (North Carolina Central officials didn't respond to interview requests.)

After leaving North Carolina Central, Enoch spent a year as a coach at Hillside High School in North Carolina. He describes his interview for the job in the video: "First meeting, the coach says, 'I have two questions to ask. Did you take any money? And did you touch any of them girls?' I said no. He said, 'Let's go.' We call each other jive slayers. I had to slay what they did to my reputation."

Hillside High School principal William Logan confirmed Enoch was an unpaid volunteer assistant coach during that season, but he said he was unaware of the sexual harassment complaint and the lawsuit. Regarding Enoch's recollection of the interview process at Hillside, Logan said, "That's not a standard procedure. I wasn't at the interview because normally when we have volunteers come on board, the coaches will facilitate the process themselves."

From Hillside, Enoch moved on to Mississippi Valley State for one year and then followed head coach Jessica Kern to Tennessee State. After two seasons, Enoch says in his continuing testimonial, "things didn't go right. I gotta look for a job." Enoch does not explain what happened, but a letter from athletic director Teresa Phillips, dated April 24, 2019, to Enoch reads, "I have been authorized to notify you that the University is terminating your employment, effective May 24, 2019, under the terms of your contract." In an interview, Phillips called Enoch's removal a "staff decision," and said there were no complaints about Enoch's behavior during his time at Tennessee State.

After Tennessee State, Enoch says, his old pal Hillsman stepped in. "I've known him 30 years,'' Enoch says on the Facebook video. "We always said we'd never work together. We're good friends. I figured he'd make some phone calls for me. He does. Nobody interviewed me. He called me and said, 'I'm tired. Tired of making these phone calls. You're going to come work for me.' He makes a position for me that he didn't have."

Enoch joined the Orange in July 2019 as director of recruiting and athletic performance, but players and staff members said his actual duties are nebulous. Other than Enoch working the clock at practices or watching players work out in the weight room, they weren't certain what he did. One manager describes Enoch giving her a once-over after being introduced and then licking his lips, and two managers said they watched him scroll through dating apps while on team bus rides and flights. One player recalled an instance in which Enoch questioned whether another player, riding a stationary bike at the time, was menstruating. "I'm not sure if she gave him the attitude or something. But he had said, 'Oh, you must be on your period or something like that,''' the player said.

The Athletic detailed the allegations against Enoch in an email to school officials and requested comment but got no response.

Enoch says in the Facebook video: "It's all about God, nothing about what I did. The strength of God is more powerful than what I went through at North Carolina Central. (Cedric) said, 'You gotta get that stuff off of Google.' He's right. I do gotta get it off. But gotta trust God and what He's doing."

Athletic director John Wildhack said of Hillsman in a recent interview: 'I totally support him.' (Rich Barnes/Getty Images)
In early 2011, the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights investigated a Title IX claim of sexual harassment against Hillsman. Gary Lampkins filed the complaint on behalf of his daughter, Lynnae, whom he said Hillsman text messaged: "I love you. I miss you. I can't wait to see you." The complaint also detailed unspecified instances of "mental, physical and emotional abuse." Gary Lampkins filed a grievance with the Department of Education because he believed the university failed to conduct a fair investigation.

Hillsman denied the charges and Syracuse said its investigation found no wrongdoing. Lynnae Lampkins left the team. The outcome of the Title IX claim is unclear. Syracuse did not respond to a question about the resolution of the claim nor did a spokesperson at the Department of Education.

Ten years later, with a staggering amount of players and staff leaving the program, the university remains unmoved by the issues swirling around the program.

During a recent interview with Syracuse.com, Wildhack, the athletic director, chalked up the departures to "a sign of the times, a sign of reality,'' insisting that Syracuse was like many programs that have lost players to the new transfer rules. Wildhack then backed Hillsman. "I totally support him. I support the values that he has for this program. I support the standards that he holds everyone to, regardless of what your high school ranking was, or how good a player you are or how good a player you aren't.''

While in the program, some players worried that if they raised an alarm, word would get back to Hillsman and he would make life more miserable for them. When they left, some players and others associated with the program said they felt that school officials simply weren't really interested in learning why they chose to do so. It was easier to cite individual circumstances or a one-time transfer rule than confront what Hillsman and the program have become.

Wildhack said in his statement to The Athletic: "Learning after-the-fact through the media that a student-athlete has had a concerning experience limits our ability to investigate an issue in real-time. We urge any student-athlete – from across all sports, past and present, to bring to our attention any incidences of inappropriate behavior so we may initiate an investigation. We also implore student-athletes to be candid in their exit interviews. The only way our leadership can address issues is if we know about them."

Meanwhile, Hillsman keeps restocking his roster and deflecting blame for the exodus. "We just want to get to a place where it's our standard,'' he said in his postseason news conference, "and for us, it's about being athletic, it's about wanting to come in every day and work. And more importantly, just wanting to be here. That's all we've been talking about since Day One – just having people here who want to be here.''

[phattymatty]

wow Penny Hardaway quickly building Memphis back.  what a get.  mich. st rarely loses local kids.

[ice grillin you]

this is pretty dope


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMahowkiFfw&t=123s

[phattymatty]

There's a book called "The Hot Hand" that I recently read - pretty self explanatory about whether it's a real phenomenon or not.  Talks about economics, statistics and obviously sports a lot, and it goes back to Steph pretty often.  They specifically call out this game, as well as his one against the Knicks which basically changed his career. 

Good read.

[ice grillin you]

some of the dumbest scheduling you'll see is putting nova tenny a top 20 matchup at 1pm on a CFB Saturday

[phattymatty]

finally some good stuff to watch on Saturdays.

[ice grillin you]

Dumb schedule alert

Duke Gonzaga is Friday at 1030

[phattymatty]

how dare they schedule a game convenient to their own lives and not east coasters.

[ice grillin you]

how dare they schedule a game convenient to their own lives and not east coasters.

tv is kinda dependent on viewers so to cancel out the most populous part of the country from the game is kinda not smart

[MDS]

Dumb schedule alert

Duke Gonzaga is Friday at 1030

theres this thing called pre existing contracts

[ice grillin you]

there's also a thing called negotiation before a contract exists

[MDS]

the unc/nc st has been scheduled for friday primetime for months...they arent giving up that spot nor is espn breaching their acc deal to move that game for a stupid regular season college basketball game that nobody cares about anyway

[ice grillin you]

it was one of the bigger regular season cbb games in at least a few years....it was absolutely inexcusable to have it on when they did

[MDS]

i dont know how else to explain this but there isnt a single soul who cares about cbb before march

its quite literally time filler for espn

[ice grillin you]

simply a lie

it got incredible ratings for when it was on led off sports center etc

Imagine if it wasn't when it was