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Stanford women's basketball coach Kate Paye is accused of creating a toxic culture that intimidates players, according to a report. The team has missed NCAA Tournaments for the first time in nearly 40 years.
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Stanford has long been one of the most iconic brands in womenâs college basketball. Under the sportâs all-time winningest coach, Tara VanDerveer, the Cardinal won three national championships and went to 14 Final Fours.
But under her successor, Kate Paye, Stanford has struggled to maintain that standard. The Cardinal have missed back-to-back NCAA Tournaments for the first time in nearly 40 years.
And now, according to a report from The San Francisco Standard, Paye is being accused of fostering âa dysfunctional and toxic environment, in which coaches intimidate and threaten players.â The Standard spoke with two former Stanford players and four parents.
Stanford did not immediately respond to a request for comment from USA TODAY Sports.
The two unnamed players told the Standard Paye held âdistressing team meetingsâ throughout the season where the second-year head coach threatened to pull scholarships or withhold recommendations for grad school. One parent and a player told the Standard Paye told some players they were âtoo weakâ to play at Stanford.
Three people also told the Standard that Paye is allegedly working to implement a system that would prevent players from taking classes in the summer and larger-than-normal course loads so they canât graduate early. Three Stanford starters this season â Nunu Agara, Courtney Ogden and Chloe Clardy â graduated early this year and transferred elsewhere to finish their final year of college eligibility. Agara landed at Maryland, Ogden joined Michigan and Clardy signed with North Carolina. Kiki Iriafen also graduated from Stanford early and played her final season of college ball at USC before being drafted by the Washington Mystics.
Other players who have left Stanfordâs womenâs basketball team this season include Talana Lepolo, Lauren Green, Mary Ashley Stevenson, Harper Peterson and Lara Somfai. Stevenson joined Columbia, Peterson landed at Tennessee and Somfai signed with TCU.
Kate Paye is accused of fostering a dysfunctional and toxic environment, where coaches intimidate and threaten players.
Under Kate Paye, Stanford has missed back-to-back NCAA Tournaments for the first time in nearly 40 years.
Stanford women's basketball, under Tara VanDerveer, won three national championships and reached 14 Final Fours.

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âThe girls did not want to leave Stanford,â one parent told the Standard. âIt will be spun that way, but it was not about NIL.â
VanDerveer retired after the 2023-24 season, Stanfordâs last in the Pac-12 before finding refuge in the ACC. Paye, who played for VanDerveer and had been an assistant under her since 2007, was tapped by former athletic director Bernard Muir to replace her. She is 16-20 in ACC play in two seasons.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Kate Paye fostered 'toxic environment' at Stanford, parents say in report