Syracuse, N.Y. -- Syracuse athletic director John Wildhack offered those who had a negative experience in the women’s basketball program an apology on Wednesday.
He offered little else.
There was little explanation, little substance and little public self-reflection on the Chase Scanlan and Quentin Hillsman episodes that have created a cloud - not to mention a lawsuit - around Syracuse athletics for the past four months.
“To the student-athletes and staff that had a poor experience in our program, I apologize,” Wildhack said in his opening statement about the women’s basketball program. “We are taking actions to address those experiences.”
Speaking to reporters for the first time in nearly three months, ever since offering Hillsman his full support, Wildhack delivered an opening statement on the women’s basketball program, then spent less than six minutes answering questions on the subject, mostly by referring to that opening statement, before he and other university officials shut down questions.
The athletic director offered few details that weren’t included in a press release put out by the school last Friday, although he did detail his decision to hire Vonn Read, Hillsman’s assistant since 2011-12, as the acting head coach.
Wildhack said that the decision to hire Read was based on interviews with current members of the team and their families, as well as an understanding that he designed the up-tempo system that players on the team had signed up to play in.
Wildhack said he believed maintaining that continuity under Read would provide players on the team the best experience during the upcoming season.
“This decision was based on a number of factors,” Wildhack said in his opening statement. “Coach Read has a good track record in this program both from a coaching and team-building perspective. That became very evident in speaking with members of this team, along with some parents and family members of current team members. ... In evaluating what is best for our student-athletes, it became clear that Coach Read could provide the stability and continuity the program needs. We are totally focused on providing maximum support for our 11 women’s basketball student-athletes who comprise this year’s team.”
Read had been an assistant coach under Hillsman since 2011-12. Wildhack said that Read did not contact him with any concerns about Hillsman’s behavior during that timeframe.
When asked if he was concerned about hiring a coach who hadn’t spoken up to him, Wildhack referred to his initial explanation.
“I think what I said speaks for itself,” Wildhack said.
He declined to discuss whether an assistant coach should be tasked with reporting concerns.
“I’ve addressed what I will go into in regards to women’s basketball,” Wildhack said.
After an opening statement and four questions, Wildhack and Syracuse University media relations staff were eager to turn the page from Hillsman, instructing reporters to ask about other subjects.
After three minutes and two more questions about women’s basketball, a Syracuse spokesperson said any more questions should be focused on the Carrier Dome and the game experience. She said all other questions should go to her.
Only five minutes remained in the press conference, she said.
Only women’s basketball questions remained.
Three minutes later, Wildhack was walking away from the podium, along with all of the questions that have remained unanswered for months.
When asked if Syracuse would release the full investigation, rather than a summary, Wildhack directed questions to a school spokesperson.
When asked to assess where he needs to improve, Wildhack chose to discuss leadership.
“I think we all learn from this process,” Wildhack said. “The most important thing, leadership is hard. If you’re going to lead an organization, it’s hard. When I was at ESPN I led an organization. Leadership is challenging. When you encounter those challenges you need to act. I think what we’ve done here is we’ve proactively addressed the issue we’ve uncovered.”
The issues, or at least most of them, were uncovered by The Athletic four months ago when the publication detailed accusations of bullying, harassment and other inappropriate behavior. Since then Hillsman has resigned, and three other individuals are no longer employed by the school.
Despite red flags, Wildhack had offered a full endorsement of Hillsman just over a week before the accusations became public, saying he totally supported the values and standards of the program.
Wildhack said that when he made the comments he had never personally received any complaints about Hillsman’s behavior.
The Athletic detailed multiple school employees who had received complaints about Hillsman or observed what the publication considered troubling behavior, including a member of the athletic department and a faculty member charged with oversight.
It did not report that Wildhack was aware of any concerns.
“We didn’t know anything at that time,” Wildhack said.” As I said in my opening statement, there was a breakdown in systems and processes and there was a breakdown in people that did not come forward and voice concerns to the appropriate personnel in the athletic department. ... We will do everything that we can to make sure we have a (good) process and a system (moving forward).”
Wildhack did not describe which procedures and processes broke down before he stopped answering questions. He said Syracuse had fixed those procedures and processes, including contracting with Real Response, a company that allows athletes to bring complaints to officials anonymously and for those complaints to be viewed in real-time.
Just before he left the podium, Wildhack was asked to assess the job he’s done as athletic director.
“That’s not my job,” Wildhack said. “It’s other people’s job to grade my performance.”
Below is the full text of Wildhack’s opening statement:
I would like to start with an opening statement. Last Friday I released a statement which summarized the key findings of the review O’Melveny & Myers conducted of our women’s basketball program. I thank O’Melveny & Myers, for the thoroughness of their work. I also want to thank the more than 55 former student-athletes, student managers, coaches and administrators that participated in those interviews.
The investigation uncovered serious flaws in our processes and a failure of certain personnel to address, or come forward and escalate to the appropriate people, complaints about behavior among certain members of the coaching staff and their impact on the overall culture of the program.
We have taken several immediate steps, starting with changes in the coaching and administrative staffs. We will also improve accountability for student-athletes for all sports and provide them a real-time platform to voice concerns they have via Real Response, who is working with other schools around the country as well.
I, along with our leadership team in athletics, are committed to provide all of our student-athletes with the best possible experience in their careers at Syracuse University. We will also engage an external expert who will work with our teams and department to help us build an environment that is supportive, empowering and positions our students for holistic success. To the student-athletes and staff that had a poor experience in our program, I apologize. We are taking actions to address those experiences.
Finally, I’ve had questions about my decision to name Vonn Read acting head coach. This decision was based on a number of factors. Coach Read has a good track record in this program, both from a coaching and team-building perspective. That became very evident in speaking with members of this team, along with some parents and family members of current team members. Coach Read is the architect of our system, both on offense and defense. Our team members were recruited to play in this system.
In evaluating what is best for our student-athletes it became clear that Coach Read could provide the stability and continuity the program needs. We are totally focused on providing maximum support for our 11 women’s basketball student-athletes who comprise this year’s team.
That concludes my words in terms of addressing the women’s basketball program.
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