The University of North Carolina announced that hall of fame basketball coach Sylvia Hatchell and three of her assistants have been put on paid administrative leave while the school conducts an internal review of the women's basketball program. The school has hired lawyers from the Charlotte office of Parker, Poe, Adams & Bernstein to "assess the culture of the women's basketball program and the experience of our student-athletes."
School spokesman Steve Kirschner issued a statement saying that the review is "due to issues raised by student-athletes and others." He did not elaborate on what those issues were, or who reported them.
Hatchell issued a statement saying that she will cooperate with the investigation.
"I've had the privilege of coaching more than 200 young women during my 44 years in basketball," Hatchell said. "My goal has always been to help them become the very best people they can be, on the basketball court and in life.
Hatchell has a career record of 1,023-405 and has gone 751-325 during her 33 years coaching at UNC. She led the Tar Heels to a National Championship in 1994.
North Carolina went 18-15 this season but lost to California in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
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