Ole Miss announced this week that Quentin Hillsman will be an assistant coach for its women’s basketball team. This hire was immediately met with pushback.
Chantel Jennings of The Athletic received the following text from a player who once suited up for Hillsman: “So sickening.”
In case basketball fans forgot, Hillsman resigned from his position as Syracuse’s head coach after he was accused of threatening his players and using vulgar language.
And yet, Ole Miss is willingly adding a coach with such an alarming past to help coach a team of young women.
“The hiring by Ole Miss isn’t just damaging and dismissive to those women and others who experienced this treatment under Hillsman at Syracuse,” Jennings wrote. “It’s damaging to all the players at other institutions who haven’t yet come forward, or the ones who’ve considered coming forward and thought instead, ‘What’s the point?’
“It’s damaging to the players who will think they shouldn’t speak up because a university and coach will prioritize wins over mental and physical health no matter how much they preach about core values. Those players hear the consistent drumbeat that when women and athletes, no matter how often and how many, step forward to share their stories, they’ll be silenced. They hear: Your story doesn’t matter.”
Hillsman coached at Syracuse from 2006-2021. He owned a 319-169 record during that stretch.
It’ll be interesting to see if Ole Miss addresses any of the concerns regarding Hillman’s coaching methods.