A lawsuit settlement involving former North Carolina Central women’s basketball coach Trisha Stafford-Odom is still hanging over the program as the school introduces a new head coach.
Stafford-Odom, who led the Eagles from 2017 until she was fired in September 2023, claimed in a lawsuit that NCCU dismissed her because she “was a zealous advocate on the NCCU campus for gender equity and because she fought to ensure that the NCCU’s women’s basketball team was properly resourced and treated on par with men’s athletics,” according to reporting by The Charlotte Observer.
The university denied the allegation and later settled the lawsuit for $100,000.
The coach said she was repeatedly raising concerns about unequal treatment, including “disparate salaries of coaches and recruiting and operating budgets of women’s teams versus men’s teams,” which her lawsuit described as “a clear violation” of federal law.
Stafford-Odom, who is a coach in the new UpShot League, also argued that the shortfalls affected her players directly.
“Because of a lack of continuity and support by a dedicated trainer and training staff, injuries that female players should have overcome in short periods of time persisted for much longer,” the lawsuit states.
According to the Observer, NC Central said it fired Stafford-Odom for reasons that included roster turnover, poor graduation rates, and concerns about “the safety and welfare” of student-athletes.
The school’s statement also said the settlement was not an admission of wrongdoing.
Reported housing dispute escalated tensions
The conflict intensified in August 2023 when two players arrived on campus without housing, according to the lawsuit.
Stafford-Odom said she provided the athletic department with a list of housing needs in April 2023, but “when players arrived on campus in August, two athletes still did not have housing.” The lawsuit says the players ended up staying with teammates before NCCU officials removed them from a dorm around 1 a.m. during the first week of classes.
“The players had no money for housing from the athletic department, had no vehicles, and they had nowhere to stay,” the lawsuit states.
The next morning, when Stafford-Odom took the players in, the staff allegedly questioned whether she had violated NCAA rules by giving them a place to stay. She was fired Sept. 13.
Stafford-Odom was 55-108 in six seasons at the helm in Durham.
