Tough times for Morgan's sister at Illinois..

[ThisJustIn]

Illinois women’s basketball assistant coach leaves program under storm of accusations

The Daily Illini obtained letters addressed to Chancellor Wise that were sent by the families of Jacqui Grant, Taylor Tuck and Taylor Gleason, which detailed verbal and emotional abuse on the part of Bollant and Divilbiss.
**
One of the claims made by the letters, which was echoed by Lydia Tuck and LaKeisha Coleman — Amarah Coleman's mother — was that Bollant and Divilbiss enforced what was called the “Dog Pound.” The “Dog Pound” was the team’s group of nonstarters, and was required to go to extra practices.

“I told him the dog pound is where strays go,” Lydia Tuck said. “It would be different if Illinois’ mascot was Huskies or Wolves.”

Lydia Tuck’s other daughter, Morgan, was a starter for the University of Connecticut women’s basketball team, which won the 2015 National Championship. Lydia said Morgan’s time at UConn has been “night and day different” from what Taylor has experienced at Illinois.

 

[DEK1234]

That's a shame that Taylor won't be able to fondly look back on what should have been a great experience in her life.

 

[Wbbfan1]

If Morgan's sister was interested, would Geno give her a 5th year, since she's graduated? While not needed she would provide added depth at Guard.

 

[UConnCat]

If Morgan's sister was interested, would Geno give her a 5th year, since she's graduated? While not needed she would provide added depth at Guard.

Taylor has used up her 4 years of eligibility.

 

[ed4ourgirls]

Jacqui Grant, who left the program after the season ended, was a starter, and
one of their best players.

Whatever her issues were, being in the "dog pound" wasn't one of them.

 

[HuskyFan1125]

Interesting.

Bollant didn't have any reported issues at Green Bay. I will be interested to see what comes of this and yes. Grant was a starter and quite good.

She is headed to DePaul I believe.

 

[Raoul]

Interesting.

Bollant didn't have any reported issues at Green Bay. I will be interested to see what comes of this and yes. Grant was a starter and quite good.

She is headed to DePaul I believe.

There may not have been any publicly reported issues at Green Bay, but I have heard similar allegations, particularly regarding Mike Divilbiss's behavior, relating to their time there.

Both Jacqui Grant and Amarah Coleman are transferring to DePaul.

 

[TFintheMix]

Wow. 4 players leaving. The issues and complaints are pretty serious including forcing an athlete to play with a broken toe and benefits to some players but not all.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Morgan is so grounded that I trust her family to be honest and accurate. That is a shame. I know that Morgan wears #3 to honor Taylor (not Diana).

Certainly, Morgan's practices have not been easy, but they have been instructive and not abusive. I also rarely, if ever, have heard Geno say anything bad about her. He talks about how smart, versatile, and valuable she is.

 

[RadyLady]

Illinois women’s basketball assistant coach leaves program under storm of accusations

The Daily Illini obtained letters addressed to Chancellor Wise that were sent by the families of Jacqui Grant, Taylor Tuck and Taylor Gleason, which detailed verbal and emotional abuse on the part of Bollant and Divilbiss.
**
One of the claims made by the letters, which was echoed by Lydia Tuck and LaKeisha Coleman — Amarah Coleman's mother — was that Bollant and Divilbiss enforced what was called the “Dog Pound.” The “Dog Pound” was the team’s group of nonstarters, and was required to go to extra practices.

“I told him the dog pound is where strays go,” Lydia Tuck said. “It would be different if Illinois’ mascot was Huskies or Wolves.”

Lydia Tuck’s other daughter, Morgan, was a starter for the University of Connecticut women’s basketball team, which won the 2015 National Championship. Lydia said Morgan’s time at UConn has been “night and day different” from what Taylor has experienced at Illinois.

Link no longer works. Try this one: LINK

 

[BroadwayVa]

That's a shame that Taylor won't be able to fondly look back on what should have been a great experience in her life.

Was Taylor Tuck recruited by Geno???

 

[MilfordHusky]

Was Taylor Tuck recruited by Geno???

I don't think so. Taylor is a decent college player. Morgan, in contrast, was the best 9th grader in the country.

 

[CocoHusky]

Just a quick update on this story about the allegations against Illinois WBB:
" The University of Illinois hired a Chicago law firm Tuesday and asked it to launch a second investigation into accusations of mistreatment made by the parents of former women's basketball players"
"Divilbiss (Assistant coach& subject of some of the allegations) left the university earlier this month in what it described as a mutual agreement"

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sport...ed-into-illinois-player-allegations/27972937/

Chatrice White former McDonalds HS All-American (rising sophmore) and on cureent USA Basketball U19 teammember is a player to keep an eye on- that Girl can play!

 

[Raoul]

The allegations have now escalated into a lawsuit filed by seven former players:

"Seven former Illini women’s basketball players have sued the University of Illinois, alleging coach Matt Bollant and former assistant Mike Divilbiss created a racially hostile environment in violation of the Federal Civil Rights Act.

The suit, filed in federal court in Urbana on Wednesday morning, names Bollant, Divilbiss, athletic director Mike Thomas and the university board of trustees as defendants and seeks $10 million in damages."

It's hard to see Bollant surviving this, given the allegations. Holding segregated practices would seem to be sufficient grounds for dismissal. Strangely enough, though, a player committed to Illinois—an African American, no less—just a few weeks ago, in the midst of all this.

http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2015-07-01/ui-womens-basketball-hit-lawsuit.html

 

[rbny1]

The allegations in the lawsuit are so over-the-top it's hard to know exactly what to make of them. Segregated practices? The coach should be dismissed immediately if that's true. White players prohibited from rooming with black players on road trips? Again, cause for immediate dismissal if true. But I'd like to hear the coach's side of this before rushing to judgment. Could the coach be so totally insensitive and completely stupid as to do these things? I guess we'll find out in time.

 

[Raoul]

The allegations in the lawsuit are so over-the-top it's hard to know exactly what to make of them. Segregated practices? The coach should be dismissed immediately if that's true. White players prohibited from rooming with black players on road trips? Again, cause for immediate dismissal if true. But I'd like to hear the coach's side of this before rushing to judgment. Could the coach be so totally insensitive and completely stupid as to do these things? I guess we'll find out in time.

It's hardly a rush to judgment when these allegations have circulated now for months and when you have seven players willing to file suit backing those allegations. If it were just one player, I'd be much more skeptical. Of course, innocent until proven guilty, but still...

EDIT: I should note too that there are still internal investigations going on, so this lawsuit can't be looked at in isolation.

 

[CocoHusky]

The allegations have now escalated into a lawsuit filed by seven former players:

"Seven former Illini women’s basketball players have sued the University of Illinois, alleging coach Matt Bollant and former assistant Mike Divilbiss created a racially hostile environment in violation of the Federal Civil Rights Act.

The suit, filed in federal court in Urbana on Wednesday morning, names Bollant, Divilbiss, athletic director Mike Thomas and the university board of trustees as defendants and seeks $10 million in damages."

It's hard to see Bollant surviving this, given the allegations. Holding segregated practices would seem to be sufficient grounds for dismissal. Strangely enough, though, a player committed to Illinois—an African American, no less—just a few weeks ago, in the midst of all this.

http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2015-07-01/ui-womens-basketball-hit-lawsuit.html

Seeking $10. million in damages strikes me as a money grab. Bollant has been a coach at the DI level since 2007, if any single allegation proves to be true he should be terminated.

 

[Raoul]

Seeking $10. million in damages strikes me as a money grab. Bollant has been a coach at the DI level since 2007, if any single allegation proves to be true he should be terminated.

He's been a D-I coach for a while, and I've seen some allegations of abuse from his days at Green Bay. But former Illini Karisma Penn is quoted in another article from today saying things got much worse over the last two years, after the single year she played under Bollant (he's been at Illinois for 3 years).

She said she’s stayed in touch with Alexis Smith, Nia Oden and Taylor Tuck, and that they’ve said the coaching staff has progressively gotten worse.

“They said as soon as I left, the coaching staff pretty much went insane,” Penn said.

http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2015-07-01/former-star-weighs-allegations.html

 

[Kmoney]

http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/0http://.../us/illinois-athletics-allegations/index.html

 

[Raoul]

http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/0http://.../us/illinois-athletics-allegations/index.html

I think you have a bad link there. Try this:

http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/07/us/illinois-athletics-allegations/index.html

There's nothing new in the report concerning the women's basketball allegations. But not a great development for Bollant (or the Illinois AD) for the story to get this kind of national coverage.

 

[CocoHusky]

I think you have a bad link there. Try this:

http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/07/us/illinois-athletics-allegations/index.html

There's nothing new in the report concerning the women's basketball allegations. But not a great development for Bollant (or the Illinois AD) for the story to get this kind of national coverage.

Also not looking good for the AD and football coach. Allegations of racism, bullying, and forcing injured players to play hurt with three Sport teams at the university.