Parents say Stanford women’s basketball coach Kate Paye created toxic culture, per report

Stanford has long been one of the most iconic brands in women’s college basketball. Under the sport’s 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 “a dysfunctional and toxic environment, in which coaches intimidate and threaten players.” 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 “distressing team meetings” 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 “too weak” 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 can’t graduate early. Three Stanford starters this season — Nunu Agara, Courtney Ogden and Chloe Clardy — 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 Stanford’s women’s 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.