NCCU players cry foul after coach cuts 10 from women's basketball team

DURHAM, North Carolina -- Everyone may be playing by the rules, but that doesn't always mean it's a fair game.

That's the message from several players recently cut from North Carolina Central University's women's basketball team, many of whom are scheduled to graduate next year.

"It's not like a football team where there's 80 people and you cut 10," Dominique Adams, a junior guard, told ABC11. "There's 14 of us, and 10 won't be back next year. That doesn't add up."

Adams, a winner of NCCU's Coach's Award and Sportsmanship Award, was among nine players cut by Head Coach Trish Stafford-Odom (the 10th player not returning graduates this spring). Among those cut: F Sami Oliver-Alexander, F Alyssa Thompson, G Jada Blow, Adams, G Jayla Calhoun, C Deja McCain, F Darria Hewitt, C Ezinne Mbamalu and F Kayla Hall.

"We didn't do anything wrong," Adams said, pointing out the strong academic record for each player.

"Yes you're there for basketball but you're also there to graduate," Oliver-Alexander, a junior from California, adds. "So to cut people that are about to graduate literally on the cusp of graduating is ... why? At that point you're messing with people's futures."

CONTINUE READING