Georgia Tech fires women’s basketball coach over allegations of bullying, emotional abuse

Georgia Tech University this week fired head women’s basketball coach MaChelle Joseph after an investigation found team members said she bullied them and was emotionally abusive, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The school authorized an independent probe, and investigators interviewed every member of the 2018-19 team, its three assistant coaches, Joseph, school administrators and support staff.

{mosads}At least nine team members said they felt they could not trust any member of the coaching staff, and none said they trusted Joseph, according to the Journal-Constitution.

Several players said they felt pressured to play even if they were injured or ill. The report said players suspected any information they told a team psychologist was passed on to the coaching staff.

Joseph denied allegations of pressuring injured players to continue playing and said all information shared with the psychologist was kept in confidence.

“At the end of the day, the most important priority of our athletics department is student-athlete well-being, and it is clear from the findings of this report that we cannot ensure our women’s basketball student-athletes’ well-being with MaChelle as the head coach,” athletic director Todd Stansbury said Tuesday, according to the newspaper.

Joseph was placed on leave a month ago when the allegations first surfaced.

An attorney representing Joseph disputed the reports and said Joseph’s firing was retaliation for her history of advocacy for gender equality in athletics at the university, and pledged to “pursue all legal avenues available” in response to the firing.