Ex-player details ’emotional abuse’ by Loyola’s Sheryl Swoopes

SHARE Ex-player details ’emotional abuse’ by Loyola’s Sheryl Swoopes
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Women’s basketball coach Sheryl Swoopes is being investigated by Loyola.

Saying she was the victim of “emotional abuse” while playing for Loyola coach Sheryl Swoopes, Cate Soane is speaking out while her coach is being investigated for player mistreatment.

“I was humiliated, belittled,” she told the Sun-Times late Wednesday. “I was subject to a lot of inappropriate conduct.”

Loyola has not contacted Soane as part of its investigation.

Swoopes, one of the greatest women’s players of all time and soon-to-be Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee, is being investigated by Loyola’s academic administration after 10 of 12 eligible players declared their intentions to transfer rather than return next year.

Last year, five players transferred; they’ve been told by their new coaches not to comment on the situation, sources said.

When Soane decided to transfer after the 2013-14 season, she sent a letter to the NCAA asking it to waive the mandatory redshirt season at her new school, UIC.

The reason: Swoopes created a hostile environment, she said, filled with threats of scholarship revocation and, she said, “moles within the organization” that funneled information back to the coach.

The NCAA declined her waiver request.

“She had created an environment for the team that was very hostile and negative,” Soane, a Glenbard West alum, said. “It was created out of fear. So there was a lot of mistrust.”

Soane said Swoopes mocked her during a team meeting — and encouraged her teammates to do the same — when she questioned why a player was cut. She was accused of being disloyal.

Soane said she was “too afraid” to take her concerns to Loyola administrators. Former teammates did about other incidences, she said.

“Loyola knew about this for years,” she said.

Swoopes was hired three years ago with little coaching experience beyond a 2010 stint as an assistant at Mercer Island (Wash.) High School.

Through a spokesperson, Steve Watson — who was named Loyola’s athletic director in 2014, 19 months after Swoopes was hired — declined comment Wednesday.

The Missouri Valley Conference similarly refused comment earlier this week, saying it was not involved in the investigation.

Pressed for details about the investigation’s process, a Loyola spokesman said merely that “a comprehensive investigation will take place” and “the wellbeing of all members in our community remains our top priority.”

Swoopes, who is allowed on campus during the investigation, has not spoken about the matter. When a Twitter account called @SupportSwoopes launched Wednesday, though, the coach was one of the first to follow it.

“What I can say is, she’s an amazing player,” said Soane, who left the UIC team this year. “If you look at her record, she’s an Olympic gold medalist. She was just put into the hall of fame.

“But just because you can play doesn’t mean you’re a great coach. She didn’t have any experience prior to Loyola. And I actually learned more in one hour with coaches when I transferred to UIC than I did in an entire season at Loyola.”

Soane said players are afraid to speak out, but she wanted others to know her story.

“I don’t think anyone should have to go through what I went through at Loyola,” she said.

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