CHARLOTTE, NC — In the years following the retirement of the legendary Tara VanDerveer, Stanford’s women’s basketball team hasn’t lived up to the standard it set across the Hall of Fame coach’s tenure.
Last season, under the direction of Kate Paye — who played for and coached under VanDerveer — Stanford missed the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive season. It marked the first time in nearly 40 years the Cardinal didn’t participate in March Madness in back-to-back years.
Stanford’s recent woes on the basketball court came under additional scrutiny in May when the San Francisco Standard published a report that accused Paye of fostering “a dysfunctional and toxic environment, in which coaches intimidate and threaten players.”
On Tuesday, Oct.
6 at ACC Tip-Off at the Hilton in Uptown Charlotte, Paye responded to the report during an interview with USA TODAY Sports and dismissed it.
“This is the world we live in — it’s click-bait junk journalism,” Paye said. “We don’t peddle negativity. When others go low, we go high, and we’re looking forward.”
The Standard spoke with two former Stanford players and four parents. The two unnamed players told the Standard that Paye held “distressing team meetings” throughout the season where she threatened to pull scholarships or withhold recommendations for graduate school.
The Standard said it had obtained screenshots of email messages that parents of players sent to director and chair of athletics John Donahoe, alleging that Paye created an “unwelcoming and toxic environment.” Parents and players also told the Standard Paye was allegedly working to implement a system that would prevent players from taking classes in the summer and larger-than-normal course loads so they can’t graduate early.
Stanford never announced an investigation into Paye’s program or any disciplinary action towards the coach. Stanford and Paye also declined to answer the Standard's questions and didn’t directly acknowledge the report in a statement.
Paye is moving on with her eyes locked on the upcoming season.
With eight additional bids now for the NCAA Tournament with an expansion to 76 teams, the expectation will be for Stanford to get a bid in March.
“We're excited about more opportunity,” Paye said. “That certainly is our goal, to make the tournament and have a deep run in the tournament. I'm very excited about our roster that we put together. We're young, we're hungry.”
After a 21-14 season — in which they were one of the first eight teams excluded from the NCAA Tournament field — the Cardinal saw seven players transfer out, including four who started at least 20 games. Nunu Agara went to Maryland, Courtney Ogden to Michigan, Chloe Clardy to North Carolina and Lara Somfai to TCU. Additionally, Mary Ashley Stevenson signed with Columbia, Harper Peterson with Tennessee and Carly Amborn with rival Cal.
Hailee Swain, an All-ACC freshman team selection last season, is the lone returning starter. A former ESPN-ranked top-10 recruit, Swain averaged 10.2 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game as a rookie. Paye believes the 5-foot-11 guard is due for a standout season.
“You’re going to see a bust-out year from Hailee,” Paye said. “Hailee, first and foremost, is a worker. She is in the gym all the time. I think you're going to see a totally new player, just in terms of her scoring ability, her shooting ability, her playmaking ability and her defensive ability.”
Paye also restocked the roster with a few transfers and top recruits, including a pair of ESPN top 100 prospects and Gracyn Gilliard, the Gatorade High School Player of the Year in Indiana.
Among the transfers, sophomore forward Charlotte Tuhy is expected to make an impact right away. Last season as a freshman at American, Tuhy was one of three players in the nation to average at least 12 points, 11 rebounds and a block per game while shooting north of 32% from 3-point land.
“Charlotte is tough. You know, she's from New Jersey, she's East Coast, she’s no nonsense,” Paye said. “She's got a very nice 3-point shot. She'll help us spread the floor, she gets on the glass, she dives on the floor for loose balls, and she's fit in really well and brought a lot to our team already.”
Two other Stanford players, Shay Ijiwoye and Nora Ezike, participated in training camp with the Nigerian national team this summer ahead of the FIBA World Cup.
Fans will find out soon how the Cardinal stack up in Paye’s third season as she has pieced together one of the most challenging non-conference schedules in the nation. Stanford is the only Power 4 team that will play five Power 4 schools and five true road games during non-conference.
“Our team is up for it. We're going to learn quickly,” said Paye, who is 16-20 in ACC play in two seasons. “The ACC is a fabulous conference, so we want to make sure we're prepared going into conference play.”
The season begins for the Cardinal on Nov. 2 in Las Vegas with a game against former Pac-12 foe Arizona.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Stanford women’s basketball coach Kate Paye dismisses report of ‘toxic environment’
