Sports

Attorney for Georgia Tech women's basketball coach on leave: 'Hypocrisy is stunning'

Feb. 6, 2012 - DULUTH - Georgia Tech head coach MaChelle Joseph signals a play against Maryland during 2nd half action at the Arena at Gwinnett in Duluth on Monday, Feb. 6, 2012. Curtis Compton ccompton@ajc.com

The legal counsel for Georgia Tech’s women’s basketball coach MaChelle Joseph reiterated that her client has still not been given an explanation by the school as to why she was suspended as the men’s program is under investigation by the NCAA for recruiting violations.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution first reported Thursday night that Tech has received notice of three violations by the NCAA concerning the men’s program.

In a statement to the AJC, Lisa J. Banks wrote: “The NCAA has investigated and found multiple high-level recruiting violations by the men’s basketball coaching staff, yet it is the women’s basketball head coach, MaChelle Joseph, who remains suspended for reasons that have yet to be disclosed to her or to the Georgia Tech community. The hypocrisy is stunning. Georgia Tech’s actions with respect to Coach Joseph are emblematic of the persistent double standard for men and women across collegiate athletics.”

Georgia Tech announced last month that Joseph had been placed on leave before the end of the season and termed in a “pending personnel matter.”

A Tech spokesman has previously said that the school does not comment on pending personnel matters.

Joseph was in her 16th season as Tech’s head coach. She has had the longest and most successful tenure of any coach in team history.

This article was written by Ken Sugiura, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.