Illinois women's basketball hit with allegations of player abuse

At a time when the Illinois football program is already under investigation for alleged mistreatment of players, the school's women's basketball coaches also face similar accusations.

Parents of three of the four Illinois players who have left the program since the end of the 2014-15 season sent letters to university officials alleging misconduct by head coach Matt Bollant and associate coach Mike Divilbiss. The Champaign News-Gazette published copies of the letters, which accuse Bollant and Divilbiss of creating racial tension on the team, emotionally and verbally abusing players and jeopardizing their health by forcing them to play through major injuries.

Many of the issues appear to stem from alleged favoritism shown by Bollant and his staff toward players he recruited as opposed to holdovers as he tried to establish a new culture within a program that hasn't made the NCAA tournament since 2003. Bollant attempted to instill toughness in his players after replacing Jolette Law in 2012, but the families of former players Jacqui Grant, Taylor Tuck and Taylor Gleason believe that he went too far.

Gleason's father alleged that the coaches referred to Law's former players as "crabs" and would threaten to leave them on the sidelines throughout practice so they wouldn't "infect" the rest of the team. Many of the black players on the team were recruited by Law.

"The code word for racial issues and tensions on the team was the word "culture" and the need to separate Jolette Law's players from the current recruits," Grant's father wrote. "Jolette Law's players were referred to as "the dog pound". At one point, there was an idea to hold separate practices for the African American players in an effort to get them to quit."

The families also described an atmosphere in which coaches belittled players about personal issues and threatened to pull scholarships without sufficient cause. They allege that Tuck was forced to play with a high ankle sprain, Gleason was forced to play with TurfToe that was later diagnosed with a broken foot and Grant was forced to play with an enlarged spleen while suffering from mononucleosis.

“As a lifelong resident of the State of Illinois, this is nothing less than shameful,” Grant's father wrote. “Matt Bollant is the orchestrator. Mike Divilbiss is the muscle. The balance of the coaching staff are spectators. The results are both embarrassing and intolerable to anyone with an ounce of common sense and morals.”

In the wake of the allegations first published in the Daily Illini, Divilbiss has resigned as associate head coach and LaKale Malone has been promoted as his replacement. An Illinois spokesman told the Chicago Tribune that Bollant is not facing disciplinary action at this time after an internal investigation that began in late April found that no violation of NCAA rules or university policy had occurred.

Bollant took Illinois to the WNIT in his debut season in Champaign before enduring losing seasons both of the past two years. Before coaching the Illini, he enjoyed a tremendous five-year run as Green Bay head coach, taking the Phoenix to four straight NCAA tournaments including a pair of Sweet 16 appearances in 2011 and 2012.

Grant, a two-year starter for Illinois, intends to transfer to DePaul, as will guard Amarah Coleman. Gleason is transferring to Oakland and Tuck will graduate this spring.