UNC coach Sylvia Hatchell accused of making racially insensitive comments, report says

Sylvia Hatchell, the women’s basketball coach at North Carolina for more than three decades, was placed on leave earlier this week while being investigated for allegedly making racially insensitive comments and pressuring athletes to play while seriously injured, the Washington Post reported Thursday night.

Hatchell has been accused of telling her players they’d get “hanged from trees with nooses” by their opponents in an upcoming game and encouraging them to take part in a “war chant” to “honor” an assistant coach with Native American heritage, according to the Post.

On Monday, in announcing that the coaches had been placed on leave, the school cited “issues raised by student-athletes and others” and said it had hired a law firm to review and “assess the culture” of the program.

The Post interviewed seven people with knowledge of the investigation, including six parents of current players, and also viewed the agenda of a March 28 meeting that players’ parents had with university administrators on the matter.

Four days after that meeting, the university placed Hatchell and her three assistant coaches on paid administrative leave.

Hatchell’s attorney, Wade Smith, denied the allegations against his client.

“There is not a racist bone in her body,” he told the Post of Hatchell on Thursday. “A very high percentage of the people who have played for her and who love her are African American women. She is a terrific coach, and a truly world-class human being.”

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Of the alleged noose remark, Smith said Hatchell’s words had been misconstrued. “She said, ‘They’re going to take a rope and string us up, and hang us out to dry,’” Smith said.

Hatchell and a team doctor also are being blamed by players who have felt pressured to play through injuries, such as a hurt shoulder that ended up needing corrective surgery, a hurt knee that ended up having a torn tendon, and a possible concussion, the Post reported. Smith said Hatchell didn’t remember any such scenarios and said she’d never try to talk someone into playing if the medical staff had not cleared her.

Hatchell has been the Tar Heels’ head coach since 1986 and has compiled a record of 751-325, including a national championship in 1994 and Final Four appearances in 2006 and 2007. Including her 11 seasons as head coach at Francis Marion, Hatchell has won more than 1,000 NCAA games.

charles.schilken@latimes.com

Twitter: @chewkiii