OT $10 Million Federal Lawsuit filed by former Illinois Women's Basketball Players

[FDNY99]

http://www.sportingnews.com/ncaa-ba...race-matt-bollant-illini?eadid=SOC/Twi/SNMain

 

[ctfjr]

Its hard to believe that these allegations, if true, could still happen in 2015.

 

[j66kicker]

One of the complainants is Morgan's older sister Taylor Tuck

 

[kat0189]

Wow.

"...segregated practices and travel accomodations [sic]." ?????????? (as an aside, spelling error not mine)

That is shocking! I would really like to know the specific details regarding those (likely tacit) procedures.

The verbal insults are terrible, with "West Side Ghetto" being in a league of its own, but unfortunately verbal abuse is not something we haven't heard of before from coaches. And aside from "West Side Ghetto," it's more subjective as to whether it was racial...

...but again, SEGREGATION?!?!

I have to admit, I was impressed by Matt Bollant's success at Wisconsin – Green Bay, but (whether right or wrong) I did actually wonder how his coaching would translate in switching from Wisconsin – Green Bay (which, IIRC, had a literally all-white team) to the University of Illinois, a more diverse location, and especially since you would think Chicago (an even more diverse major city just a 2-hour drive away) would be their main recruiting territory.

I guess I have my answer now!

In terms of basketball recruiting, I know Matt Bollant was heavily pursuing Tori McCoy and Illinois was actually considered a legitimate contender (maybe even top 5), b/c she is very close to her family. We'll see how this situation unfolds and if McCoy subsequently crosses Illinois off her list.

 

[VAUConnFan]

Wow.

"...segregated practices and travel accomodations [sic]." ?????????? (as an aside, spelling error not mine)

The verbal insults are terrible, with "West Side Ghetto" being in a league of its own, but unfortunately verbal abuse is not something we haven't heard of before from coaches. And aside from "West Side Ghetto," it's more subjective as to whether it was racial...

...but again, SEGREGATION?!?!

Unintelligent...Undisciplined. That's not racially subjective. Not in the least.

 

[kat0189]

Unintelligent...Undisciplined. That's not racially subjective. Not in the least.

I'll have to "redact" my original comment and agree with you on this one. My original rationale was that perhaps those are insults he tosses around indiscriminately at all players. But given the lawsuit and everything it implies (and given those particular insults in the context of the history of negative stereotypes about black people), I should have assumed those insults were tailored specifically toward his black players and not fielded at his white (or other) ones.

And if they can afford it, I imagine Illinois would ideally get rid of him. I mean, how do you repair the image of the program (especially with recruiting) with him still at the helm while embroiled in this scandal? I don't think the Hollywood protocol of sending him to "racism rehab" would suffice.

 

[Raoul]

The Chicago Tribune has a much more detailed article outlining the allegations in the lawsuit. And it includes a link to the full lawsuit.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/college/ct-illinois-basketball-lawsuit-20150701-story.html

Regarding Bollant's recruiting, he hasn't signed or gotten a commitment from a single player from Chicago itself. He's landed a handful of players from the Chicago suburbs, but some of them are among those who transferred out and are now suing him. A few of his recruits have been African American, but most are not. The team is without question "whiter" than when he took over, which is mentioned in the lawsuit:

The suit alleges that since their hiring in 2012, coaches purposely "reconstituted the roster" through recruiting to increase the number of white players and decrease the number of black players.

 

[alexrgct]

I'm pretty shocked about this. Matt Bollant accomplished great things at Green Bay, and my expectation was that he'd get a bigger-time job, possibly even at Texas when Aston got it. Illinois certainly counts as "bigger-time", but he wasn't inheriting much. Could he infuse his "system" into the program and lead the Illini to new heights? Well, we hadn't seen it yet, and we may just now know why not. This is something that will need to play out through the judicial process before everything is known better, but it certainly is an appalling story that's already positioned to be a huge detriment to recruiting. In other words, if Bollant wanted to accomplish great things at Illinois, he may well not have done himself any favors. And if what the players are saying is true, he caused them a psychologically traumatic college experience.

Certainly, no one is going to ask her, but indeed, I wonder what Morgan thinks about all of this.

 

[ChicagoGG]

Believe me, starting with "west Side Ghetto" and going from there, there is nothing subjective about it. Those are terrible racial slurs. And you can take it from me, the "west side ghetto" is the worst one.

 

[meyers7]

"...segregated practices and travel accomodations [sic]." ?????????? (as an aside, spelling error not mine)

That's what the "sic" is for.

 

[kat0189]

That's what the "sic" is for.

lol yes, I inserted the [sic], too. But I just wanted to be 110% clear, lol

 

[meyers7]

lol yes, I inserted the [sic], too. But I just wanted to be 110% clear, lol

Oh tricky.