Sports: Winters denies she is a racist

Winters denies she is a racist

USF coach talks on a local radio show and says she never mistreated players.

By DARRELL FRY

TAMPA -- University of South Florida women's basketball coach Jerry Ann Winters defended herself Wednesday on the radio, emphatically denying allegations she is a racist and that she mistreated the team's black players.

"I am not a racist. And I want everyone out there to know that I am not a racist and that I have never mistreated athletes whether they be African-American or white or Hispanic or foreign players or any other players that I have ever coached," Winters said during a one-hour appearance on the T.J. Rives Show on WQYK-AM 1010. "And I want to make that message loud and clear.

" ... There could be instances where racial insensitivity could be a word that could characterize some of the things that were said, and were going on. But no racism. No racial discrimination."

Winters' radio appearance was one of the rare times she has talked publicly about the controversy that has surrounded the women's basketball program since late August. Six former players are suing Winters and the university for racial discrimination, and a former assistant coach has filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Facing few probing questions from Rives, who is a sports announcer for USF, Winters again dismissed the allegations by saying the players' complaints are more about dissatisfaction over playing time than discrimination. She similarly dismissed allegations by two of her former players at Arkansas State who also said Winters mistreated black players.

"I don't care if you coach for one year or 50 years, there is no way on this Earth that you're going to make every player that you coach, especially in the course of a 25-year career, you're going to make these players happy," said Winters, noting USF has a stellar recruiting class, including several black players, for next season. "So if they have an opportunity to vent or talk about what they didn't like about Coach Winters, what she did that you didn't like, of course they are going to bring in all kinds of problems."

Winters said she tried to tackle the USF players' concerns as early as March 1999 through one-on-one talks, but "no one could really tell me the things that were bothering them," she said. "The only thing mentioned was, the rooming list came up and the way we warmed up (before practice)."

The players had complained about blacks and whites not generally being assigned to share hotel rooms on the road, and that blacks and whites warmed up before practice at opposite ends of the court.

Winters said Wednesday she didn't use race in determining hotel room assignments, but rather she tried to "put the girls in the most comfortable, relaxed, home-like situation that we possibly can." She also said she played no role in how players warmed up before practice.

Winters has been suspended with pay since an USF Equal Opportunity Affairs report issued Oct. 25 found reasonable cause to believe she dismissed former player Dione Smith in retaliation for Smith's racial discrimination complaints. Winters, who has called the report inaccurate and biased, is expected to officially appeal the report's findings today, according to her Tampa attorney, John Goldsmith.

The university has 20 business days to issue a final ruling, which could lead to Winters being reinstated, suspended or fired, university officials said.

"There was no retaliation going on," Winters said during the show. "I'm really, really optimistic that (the appeal) is going to go in my favor."

- Staff writer Antonya English contributed to this report.