CHAPEL HILL – Senior Associate Athletic Director for Communications Steve Kirschner says the roles were reversed when he spoke to UNC women’s basketball coach about her diagnosis just after he found out.

“It was amazing; I actually felt so good after speaking to her, because I think she was trying to cheer me up,” Kirschner says. “She was excited that her team had come to the hospital last night. She told her team yesterday afternoon; they were hanging out with her a little bit and taking some photographs with her. She was excited that one of the players who’s got a little bit of an injury is coming back from that injury today, so she was excited about that.”

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Kirschner is the sports information director for men’s basketball but has pitched in from time to time with the women’s program. He says Coach Hatchell’s already ahead of the game with the attitude she lives with every day.

“What you hear from families that go through this is it’s a battle, and your attitude says a lot,” Kirschner says. “She has a great attitude and she has great passion for what she does. She’s worked with the Lineberger Center for years and has really spent a lot of time in this area supporting the research and the work that goes on at the North Carolina Cancer Hospital, at the Lineberger Center.”