North Carolina women’s basketball associate head coach Andrew Calder said that coach Sylvia Hatchell — who announced recently that she will be taking a temporary leave from coaching due to a leukemia diagnosis — is in high spirits and is very excited for her team this year in a press conference Tuesday afternoon.
“We will continue to uphold the high standards that coach Hatchell has set for this program,” Calder said.
Calder will be directing the team during Hatchell’s absence, but said that Hatchell will remain very involved with the team. She reviews a copy of practice every day and evaluates it with Calder.
Calder said that each preseason, Hatchell develops a game plan for the season and his job now is to implement that plan.
Not only does Calder have faith in the team’s performance in the coming weeks, he was also optimistic about Hatchell.
“Coach Hatchell’s a fighter,” he said. “And she will conquer this disease and hopefully she’ll be back very soon.”
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