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Georgia Tech Women’s Basketball: MaChelle Joseph situation could be messy

By Dylan Callaghan-Croley

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - SEPTEMBER 10: A general view as the ball goes in the basket during the 2017 NBL Blitz pre-season match between the Cairns Taipans and Brisbane Bullets at Werribee Basketball Stadium on September 9, 2017 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images)
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - SEPTEMBER 10: A general view as the ball goes in the basket during the 2017 NBL Blitz pre-season match between the Cairns Taipans and Brisbane Bullets at Werribee Basketball Stadium on September 9, 2017 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images) /
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On Wednesday, it was announced that Georgia Tech women’s head basketball coach MaChelle Joseph was placed on leave for a personnel issue, on Thursday, Joseph released a statement showing this situation could become messy.

As most know, Georgia Tech women’s head basketball coach MaChelle Joseph was placed on leave on Wednesday afternoon for what the university’s athletic department was calling a “personnel issue”. On Thursday, Joseph released her first statement via her attorney since being placed on leave and if that statement is any indication, this situation could bet messy and fast.

According to Ken Sugiura of the AJC, Joseph’s attorney claims in their statement that Georgia Tech presented NO REASONING for the suspension outside of the personnel issue that they released via their press releases. However, Joseph along with her attorney believe that she was placed on leave as “retaliation” for when Joseph discussed the issue of gender inequality within the Georgia Tech athletic department. She also stated that she will be defending her reputation and that she will return to the team.

That being said, this situation can surely become a very messy situation for all parties especially with the allegation that Joseph is putting forth for her being placed on leave. The allegation she’s given is pretty heavy in terms of the idea that the athletic department would punish one of their coaches about discussing such an important current social issue such as gender inequality.

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Without taking sides in such a social issue, it’s easy to see why it would cause such a stir, even as a non-revenue generating sport. For the Georgia Tech athletic department, it would certainly be a black eye if true and would surely damage their reputation. That being said, those allegations at this point are just that, allegations. They’re not confirmed to be true and all anyone could do at this point is simply speculation.While it would understandable for the Tech athletic department did not appreciate the idea of Joseph talking about gender inequality within the Tech athletic department, such action against Joseph is surely one that would seem like an overreaction.

Now, on the opposite side, you have the idea that if Joseph is delivering such an allegation, it would certainly be a bad look on her part and would hurt her reputation as well. That being said, until any further news, it’s hard to say who’s in the wrong here, if anybody is.

However, the people who are truly hurt by this situation potentially is the Georgia Tech women’s basketball team. For those who don’t know, the women’s basketball team is closing in on a potential birth in the NCAA Tournament and senior day is this upcoming Sunday. It surely would be upsetting for Tech’s seniors to not be able to share such a special day with their head coach who they have grown with for the last four or five years.

Either way, this situation has taken quite the turn in a little over 24 hours and could be a situation that lasts a while before being resolved. Depending on how long it goes on and how it’s resolved, it’s also a situation that could get much messier going forward.