Syracuse Women’s Basketball assistant Vonn Read named acting head coach for 2021-22

With resignation of Quintin Hillsman following after multiple reports of alleged abuse while at the helm of the Syracuse Orange Women’s Basketball program, it was expected that Athletic Director John Wildhack would make a move to replace Hillsman in some temporary capacity. Today, the Athletic Department released a statement that Associate Head Coach Vonn Read will be taking over as Acting Head Coach for the 2021-2022 season.

Read has been on staff since 2011-12, and was promoted from assistant coach to Associate Head Coach in 2013. “I am grateful to Vonn for stepping up to lead,” says Wildhack. “With Vonn’s vast experience developing student-athletes, I am confident in his ability to guide the women’s basketball program.”

Additionally, the release states that Syracuse will now be bringing in Real Response, a real time anonymous reporting platform for student-athletes that compiles all documentation in one place. This is most likely an effort to combat the secondary aspect of the Athletic’s reporting, which was that players went through provided channels to report Hillsman’s behavior, only to have University officials not follow up with them or anyone else at the University. Real Response advertises that they currently work with Texas A&M, UConn, Wake Forest, Utah State, and more.

While the move to punt on a full head coach search seems odd, it seems that Wildhack is looking for stability while the University continues to investigate the allegations with it’s hired outside counsel. Read will have a chance to regain confidence to both those inside and outside the program this season, and SU will wait to decide if they move in a different direction next summer.