Former SU women’s basketball player alleges culture of lying, manipulation under Hillsman
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Former Syracuse women’s basketball player Lauren Fitzmaurice released a 27-minute YouTube video on Tuesday levying allegations against former head coach Quentin Hillsman. The video also explained her reasons for leaving the program along with why she thinks 11 other players left following the end of last season.
In the video, Fitzmaurice alleged that Hillsman had a negative coaching style that created a toxic team environment, and she accused him of gaslighting, lying and manipulation. Fitzmaurice said Hillsman “had problems with anger management” and would frequently flip tables, throw markers and swear at players during practices.
Hillsman resigned in August following an article from The Athletic levying allegations of threatening, bullying and inappropriate behavior against the head coach. Fitzmaurice, who has since moved to Los Angeles and become a social media influencer, posted two videos in the past two weeks explaining her reasoning for leaving the program.
One portion of the video posted on her TikTok account explains a story where Hillsman allegedly pulled the team close, held up his fist and said, “What if I just knock one of you all the f*ck out right now.”
“There wasn’t a safe space to speak up or stand up for yourself or talk about what was going on,” Fitzmaurice said in the video.
She also alleged that Hillsman broke NCAA protocol by practicing longer than the allotted time for college teams. Fitzmaurice said SU’s compliance didn’t address those concerns when players approached them about it. Many of the allegations align with The Athletic’s report published last June detailing the culture Hillsman created at SU.
Fitzmaurice said COVID-19 protocols exacerbated the negative environment, and that, combined with losing her job on campus and mental health issues, ultimately led to her decision to opt out of last season and leave the team. She alleged that Syracuse coaches not only created a “horribly negative environment,” but also empowered one player from the 2020-21 team whom she called a “racist bully.” Hillsman, Fitzmaurice alleged, told the team, “I don’t give a f*ck about you,” and told them he didn’t care if they transferred.
“(The first video) was an important piece in telling that story. And in telling my own story of why I opted out, there were some unanswered questions about the team and some of my teammates who don’t have a platform, and who never had a voice,” Fitzmaurice told syracuse.com Wednesday. “I felt like I could speak for all of them and I did speak to a bunch of them before, and they were comfortable with the (second) video coming out.”
An SU Athletics spokesperson has not responded for comment on the video.
