Syracuse, N.Y. — Fifty days ago, Syracuse University Athletic Director John Wildhack stood at a podium and gave a firm endorsement of Quentin Hillsman.
“I totally support him. I support the values that he has for this program,” Wildhack said on June 15 at a press conference. “I support the standards that he holds everyone to, regardless of what your high school ranking was, or how good a player you are or how good a player you aren’t.’’
Today Hillsman is no longer the women’s basketball head coach at Syracuse University, resigning from his post on Monday.
“Coach Hillsman and I agreed that parting ways is in the best interest of the University, the program and our student-athletes,” Wildhack said in a statement. “We wish him and his family all the best.”
When Wildhack championed Hillsman in June, he was not aware that a damning report from The Athletic was just days away, alleging a toxic culture in the women’s basketball program from nine former players and 19 other sources associated with the program.
If Wildhack knew the seriousness of the allegations at the podium that June day and gambled that Syracuse could ride them out, that’s a problem.
If Wildhack wasn’t aware of the seriousness of the allegations at the time, that’s a bigger problem.
The whispers of something amiss in Hillsman’s program weren’t hard to hear back then, though no one associated with the program was talking to media on the record before The Athletic’s report on Hillsman published in late-June.
The lack of public support for Hillsman, short of a few tweets from former players, in light of serious allegations was telling. As of this writing, Hillsman has not publicly addressed the allegations that put his career and reputation in peril.
Wildhack simply became too nose-blind to smell a big problem in his athletic department.
Success is a key ingredient in the fragrance of ignorance.
Hillsman was the winningest head coach in women’s program’s history, leading the Orange to its only national title game appearance in 2016, and compiled an overall record of 319-169.
Before Hillsman took over, Syracuse had just one winning season in the previous 16 years, a stretch that included three head coaches.
The mass exodus of players from the women’s basketball roster was brushed off as a “sign of the times” by Wildhack in the transfer portal era.
It was clearly something more than that.
No school had more players transfer out (12) this offseason than Syracuse. Since 2018, a total of 20 players have left, the highest rate among any Power 5 women’s team during that span that has not endured a coaching change.
Wildhack’s statement to The Athletic indicated that his office wasn’t aware of the issues alleged within the women’s basketball program.
“Learning after-the-fact through the media that a student-athlete has had a concerning experience limits our ability to investigate an issue in real-time,” Wildhack said in a statement responding to The Athletic’s reporting. “We urge any student-athlete – from across all sports, past and present, to bring to our attention any incidences of inappropriate behavior so we may initiate an investigation. We also implore student-athletes to be candid in their exit interviews. The only way our leadership can address issues is if we know about them.”
The alleged issues of verbal abuse and bullying by Hillsman stretch back over the past few years to the point where several players reported having suicidal thoughts as a result of their experience under Hillsman.
It’s reasonable that Wildhack can’t know and see everything that occurs under his watch, but you’re telling me none of that filtered its way up to the AD’s office?
How did Wildhack sign off on allowing Hillsman to hire Ronnie Enoch, an assistant coach with sexual harassment allegations in his recent past? Enoch is no longer employed by Syracuse.
Clearly, the system broke down.
While some praised the tough love from Hillsman, notably former stars Tiana Mangakahia and Brittney Sykes, Hillsman exhibited a troubling and outdated process in his coaching style.
Success can be attained without intimidation. Discipline can come without fear.
Hillsman’s ego got the best of him, and it was enabled by Wildhack.
Hillsman’s resignation comes off the heels of the Chase Scanlan situation at Syracuse this past spring.
While one can’t draw a straight line from that to Hillsman, there is a distinct similarity in the two scenarios that raise an eyebrow at Wildhack’s leadership.
Scanlan had a pattern of misbehavior that should have removed him from campus long before the tragic domestic violence incident that will forever be associated with his name and the 2021 Syracuse lacrosse season.
Former Syracuse men’s lacrosse head coach John Desko has to live with the biggest dent in his reputation as a result of that and is now retired.
- John Wildhack, Syracuse University's athletic director, shakes hands with longtime men's lacrosse coach John Desko after a press conference on Tuesday, June 8, 2021.Katrina Tulloch | ktulloch@syrac
But what about Wildhack? Where was his leadership to step in and remove a problem before it became a tragedy and federal law precluded him from action?
While the full results of the ongoing investigation into Hillsman’s conduct are to come, it’s apparent that Wildhack simply put too much trust into Hillsman.
He needed to be Hillsman’s boss, not his friend, and to be a bigger advocate for the student-athletes he is tasked to guardian at Syracuse.
Wildhack’s five-year tenure at Syracuse has been navigated mostly with a steady hand.
He has made some good decisions as of late in an insanely busy offseason of significant issues at SU, namely hiring Gary Gait to take over men’s lacrosse and Kayla Treanor to command women’s lax.
Frankly, those decisions were meatballs delivered right over the plate. When the ball started to curve with Scanlan and Hillsman, Wildhack had two big whiffs.
With NIL, conference realignment madness reignited and a football program that could demand a reset following a 1-10 season in 2020 among issues on the docket, Wildhack’s leadership will attract more scrutiny.
“We remain focused on providing the best experience possible – one that prioritizes the well-being of all student-athletes and positions them for success in competition, in the classroom, in their communities and in life beyond Syracuse University,” Wildhack’s statement said on Monday.
Time will tell if the lessons learned from the crash landing of the Quentin Hillsman era at Syracuse can give those words from Wildhack some weight again.
Contact Brent Axe: Email | Twitter
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