UNC has announced that it has placed Sylvia Hatchell and the women’s basketball coaching staff on paid administrative leave while a review of program takes place.

In a statement, the university said that the Charlotte-based firm Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein will conduct a “review and assess the culture of the women’s basketball program and the experience of our student-athletes.”

This review comes after UNC received issues raised by student-athletes and others regarding the women’s basketball program.

During the 2018-19 season, UNC women’s basketball finished 18-15 (8-8 ACC) and lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to California. The high point of the season was an upset over then-No. 1 Notre Dame in Chapel Hill. Senior guard Paris Kea, who scored 30 points in the Tar Heels’ victory over Notre Dame, averaged 17.3 points per game in her final season.

Hatchell has coached at UNC since 1986 and has amassed a 751-325 record with the Tar Heels along with a national championship in 1994. She was inducted to the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame in 2013.

In September 2016, the university renewed Hatchell’s contract through the 2019-20 season despite the women’s basketball program being a major focus of the NCAA’s investigation into academic fraud.

Hatchell issued a statement through her attorney, saying she will cooperate with the review.

“I’ve had the privilege of coaching more than 200 young women during my 44 years in basketball,” Hatchell said in the statement. “My goal has always been to help them become the very best people they can be, on the basketball court and in life. I love each and every one of the players I’ve coached and would do anything to encourage and support them. They are like family to me. I love them all.

“Of course, I will cooperate fully in this review. I look forward to a prompt conclusion of this matter and the continuation of our very successful women’s basketball program.”

UNC said it does not have an exact timetable, but expects that the review will be  “thorough and prompt.”

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