Detroit Mercy player blasts school on Twitter: My 'dream may no longer be achievable'
Jiera Shears entered the NCAA transfer portal last Monday.
On Sunday, she became the first Detroit Mercy women’s basketball player to speak publicly about why she is leaving the school after allegations of mistreatment by embattled coach AnnMarie Gilbert.
Shears, whose junior season ended Jan. 20 with a university decision to cancel the remaining games, tweeted a 1-minute, 44-second video that explained how she feels that affects her pursuit of a degree in mechanical engineering.
“I reluctantly have to tell the little girl inside me, who has such grand inspirations, that her dream may no longer be achievable, the dream to play college basketball and earn a mechanical engineering degree,” Shears said. “I'm sure there's a life lesson to be learned, and I pray that one day it will be revealed.”
THE ACCUSATIONS: Players accuse their head coach of abuse, NCAA violations
THE COACH RETURNS: Detroit Mercy keeping AnnMarie Gilbert despite accusations
THE EXODUS: Detroit Mercy women's basketball players flood transfer portal
The 5-foot-9 guard from Charlotte, North Carolina, saw her third season with the Titans cut short Jan. 20 by athletic director Robert Vowels after all 14 players and their parents sent a letter detailing multiple allegations against Gilbert. Detroit hired the former Michigan State assistant away from Division II Virginia Union on April 24, 2020.
A full 13 of the 14 Titans on last year’s roster entered the transfer portal following the cancellation. One, Maxine Moore, withdrew her name and plans to play for Gilbert for her senior season in 2021-22. Another, Nichole Johanson, plans to remain at UDM but not play basketball. At least four others have already transferred to other Division I programs.
UDM, in an April 15 statement, said it conducted an internal review and submitted the findings to the NCAA but plans to keep Gilbert.
Gilbert, whose five-year tenure as head coach at Eastern Michigan ended in 2012 with the school being placed on NCAA probation, is alleged by players and parents to have created an environment “so toxic and draining that players have made comments in the locker room about having suicidal thoughts as well as purposely injuring themselves” to avoid potentially having to deal with Gilbert’s alleged “belittling and emotional abuse,” as well as accusing the coach of demanding players to “disregard or not report” COVID-19 symptoms if they felt sick on game days.
“The health and well-being of our student-athletes is our athletic department's top priority,” Vowels said in a statement when he ended the season in January.
The letter to UDM also alleged Gilbert told players they were “not being committed to the success of the program” by prioritizing academics over basketball.
Players and parents accused her of violating NCAA rules that require athletes and teams not exceed 20 hours of countable athletically related activities per week, similar to those which landed Gilbert a two-year NCAA banishment from coaching for transgressions at EMU. Another accusation included forcing players to drop or bypass classes that interfered with the daily noon-3 p.m. practice time, including labs needed to graduate that are only offered by UDM between 2-5 p.m. one day a week.
Shears focused on her academics in the video, citing family members’ jobs in healthcare for fostering her vision of using a mechanical engineering to work in creating prosthetics for children. She also pointed to her sister, Jordan Strode — who played women’s basketball at St. Joseph's and Norfolk State from 2012-18 — for inspiring her to use her talents on the court to pursue her education.
“You can imagine how elated I was when the University of Detroit Mercy offered me a basketball scholarship. It was accumulation of my dreams of continuing to play the sport I've played since I was 6 while majoring in mechanical engineering,” said Shears, who was recruited by former Titans coach Bernard Scott. “The coaching staff, academic support and athletic department were all super supportive and showed me that despite the academic demands and athletic rigor, I could do both. For two years, I felt extremely supported and encouraged as a Black female athlete majoring in mechanical engineering. I was matriculating academically and enjoying the life of a college athlete.
“However, given the current situation of University of Detroit Mercy women's basketball, an entire team's cry for help, who took a united, principled stance, has resulted in my extreme disappointment.”
Vowels and the university on April 15 affirmed their commitment to Gilbert despite the allegations. Both Gilbert and Vowels declined comment to the Free Press late last week through an athletic department spokesman.
Another player who spoke to the Free Press last week under the condition of anonymity said she felt abandoned by Detroit’s administration, athletic department and president Antoine M. Garibaldi, with only her professors offering support since January.
“It felt like we got gaslit the entire season, pretty much,” the woman said. “We got manipulated and we got abused by coach Gilbert. And it felt like once it finally came out that maybe there'd be justice served, and there hasn't been. And it just feels like it's been a whole other experience of being gaslit and manipulated and neglected and mistreated.”
Meghan Durham, associate director of communications for the NCAA, told the Free Press late last week the organization “cannot comment on current, pending or potential investigations” due to confidentiality rules created by the member schools.
Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrissolari.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Mercy women's basketball player blasts school on Twitter
