Former Marquette women's basketball coach Carolyn Kieger accused of misconduct by ex-players

Former Marquette women’s basketball coach Carolyn Kieger accused of misconduct by ex-players

Posted by Admin November 12, 2024 Basketball

Former Marquette women’s basketball coach Carolyn Kieger, now at Penn State, has been accused of misconduct toward her players, including by several stars from her teams with the Golden Eagles.

Onward State, an independent news organization that covers Penn State athletics, published a story this week after talking with many former players, including eight from when Kieger was at MU from 2014-19.

One of the players who spoke on the record was Allazia Blockton, a former Whitefish Bay Dominican standout who is the all-time leading scorer for the Golden Eagles’ women’s program.

Like several other players, Blockton accused Kieger of not being concerned for their mental and physical well-being.

“She was our biggest enemy, our biggest hater, and she tried her hardest to tear us down,” Blockton told Onward Sports. “Every single day we walked into that Al McGuire Center, every single day, you just had a negative feeling.

“And a lot of people didn’t want to play basketball, and that messed up a lot of people’s mental and careers because of how she treated a lot of people. But a lot of people just pushed through it, and decided to just prevail, because they didn’t want her to control their stories. But in each and every way, she affected somebody’s career in a negative way at Marquette.”

Penn State addressed the allegations in a statement.

“Penn State and Penn State Athletics takes seriously any allegations of misconduct, and any reports are thoroughly reviewed,” it said. “In addition, Intercollegiate Athletics conducts annual student-athlete surveys of its programs, as well as exit interviews with student-athletes and staff members departing their respective sport programs. Based on direct feedback from student-athletes, Coach Kieger and the women’s basketball staff provide a positive and inclusive environment with a focus on their development on and off the basketball court.”

Kieger is 66-86 at Penn State, including 3-3 to start this season.

Former MU starter Danielle King also made on-the-record comments about her time at MU.

“In my senior year, I was dealing with depressive thoughts and suicidal thoughts,” King said. “I was talking to [Kieger] about it, and she dismissed it. And she basically talked me down to go into seeing the student counselor, or the counselor on campus, or whatever. And she was like, ‘I just think you need to go to the gym more,’ and basically shamed me in saying my work ethic was the reason why I was depressed.”

King also said Kieger was dismissive of her injuries.

“My leg was broken, and she called my dad and tried to tell my dad that I was lying about my injury. She wouldn’t allow me to use crutches,” King said. “She called the trainer because the doctor had ordered me to use crutches because on the X-ray, you could see the crack in my shin from her running us all summer and not giving us a break. And she called my dad and told him I was faking the injury and all of this stuff.”

Former MU player Amanda Maqueia also talked on the record about her tense relationship with Kieger.

“I understand that basketball and things like that affected the way that she felt about me,” Maqueia said. “But I would say that 80% of the way that she treated me was not because of basketball. It was personally. It was personal. She really just did not like me. It got to a point that she just hated my guts. She could not look at me.”

Kieger was also a standout player at MU from 2002-06. She is the school’s all-time assists leader.

Kieger was very successful as head coach with the Golden Eagles, going 99-64 in her five seasons. She was the 2018 Big East co-coach of the year. MU won the conference tournament title in the 2016-17 season, shared the league crown in 2017-18 and then won the Big East championship outright in 2018-19.

One unnamed MU player who transferred away from the program told Onward State she met with the athletic department about Kieger’s coaching style.

“The well-being of our student-athletes is our top priority in Marquette Athletics, and we take any allegation of misconduct seriously,” MU said in a statement. “We work closely with our coaches and staff to cultivate environments where student-athletes can develop and mature while performing at the highest level.

“We recognize that the pressures of being a student-athlete are perhaps higher than ever, and Marquette Athletics has added mental health and student success resources for all student-athletes.”

Some former players and assistant coaches defended Kieger’s character, including Scott Merritt, a former MU men’s basketball player and women’s basketball assistant who is now the head coach at Gardner-Webb.

“She’ll give you the shirt off her back,” Merritt told Onward State. “She’s a great person to the core. She’ll do anything for anyone on her staff.”

Merritt was told about the accusations of Blockton, King and others.

“I’m not surprised because kids nowadays when it doesn’t go their way, they’re going to look for someone to blame,” Merritt said.

Kieger is expected to coach Penn State when the Nittany Lions face Niagara on Thursday.