GoHeels Exclusive: Francis Marion Paved Hatchell's Road To UNC

By Pat James, GoHeels.com

As her plane back to Chapel Hill took off from Florence Regional Airport in Florence, S.C., on Tuesday, Sylvia Hatchell stared out a window, overlooking the town she once called home.

In 1975, Hatchell, then 23, secured her first college head-coaching job at Francis Marion College. Now Francis Marion University, the tiny school in Florence was founded five years before Hatchell's arrival and had fielded a women's basketball team for only two seasons.

Yet Hatchell blossomed there. And 11 years and 272 wins later, she became the head coach at North Carolina in 1986.

That position, which she's held for the last 31 years, brought her back to Florence on Tuesday for a recruiting trip. She spent only a few hours there. But in that span, she reflected on the town, the school and, most importantly, the people that built the foundation for her Hall of Fame career.

Some local fans who Hatchell has maintained relationships with met her for dinner. She then saw more at South Florence High. Aboard the plane, she pointed out where she used to live and recalled old memories, such as wearing down four personal cars for recruiting and washing the uniforms herself, before the flight landed.

"As I got in the car (in Chapel Hill), I was like, 'Wow, I just went from one world to another,'" Hatchell said. "But what a great journey … I've been through a lot. But what I've been through has made me tougher, better and even more hungry to accomplish and do greater things."

Thus, here she is, on the verge of 1,000 career victories.

Only Duke's Mike Krzyzewski on the men's side and former Tennessee legend Pat Summitt and Stanford's Tara VanDerveer on the women's have reached the milestone. But with wins over Washington on Sunday and Grambling State on Tuesday at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center, Hatchell could become the fourth member of the 1,000-win club. UConn's Geno Auriemma might also join with a win against Oklahoma on Tuesday.

A majority of Hatchell's victories (726) have come at UNC. But she hasn't forgotten her time at Francis Marion – and neither have those who experienced it with her.

"She's still North Carolina's coach," said Kim Slawson Hawkins, who played for Hatchell at Francis Marion from 1982-86. "But she's Francis Marion's coach, too."

'Dedication to improve'

In 1974, two years after the passage of Title IX and seven years before women's basketball became an official NCAA sport, Hatchell and Summitt enrolled in graduate school at Tennessee. They quickly became friends, bonding over basketball and coaching.

Shortly after they arrived, the head-coaching position opened, and Summitt, then a 22-year-old graduate assistant, was promoted. She named Hatchell the junior varsity coach.

Then in the summer of 1975, Hatchell applied for the head-coaching job at nearby Roane State Community College. She and Summitt agreed to share an apartment, if Hatchell took the position at Roane. But their plan fell through.

Hatchell earned the job at Roane, she said, but lost it toward the end of July because of budget cuts. She was informed the new hire needed to be a man who could coach the women's basketball team and also serve as the assistant baseball coach. So, with about a month left on her apartment lease, Hatchell renewed her job search.

About three weeks later, she learned about the opening at Francis Marion and applied. An interview in Florence shortly followed.

"I remember the first time I went there, I did not know a soul in that town," Hatchell said. "And 11 years later, when I left, there was hardly anybody in that town I didn't know."

She accepted the job and moved to an apartment in Quinby, S.C., about eight miles from Francis Marion's campus. Yet she spent little time there.

When she wasn't coaching, Hatchell swept the floor at the Smith University Center and drove the team bus and created the team media guide. She even served as cheerleader adviser and director of intramural sports.

Hatchell also made fundraising a priority. And among her most notable ventures was the printing and selling of T-shirts, which she also equipped her players with. She bought a book on how to screen-print T-shirts and began making them in her kitchen.

"You had all of the other sports on campus going, 'How do you girls get all of this stuff? How do you girls get the gear you have, all of the stuff you have?'" said Annette Alston, who played at Francis Marion from 1982-86. "And I said, 'We've got Coach Hatchell.'"

"If that's not dedication to improve or have the best that you can have for your players, I don't know what else you could do," said Pearl Moore, who scored 3,884 points with the Patriots from 1975-79.

Waiting for the right situation

Before the 1975-76 season, her first at Francis Marion, Hatchell applied to Georgia, with the intention of pursing a doctoral degree. And she was ultimately accepted.

But after helping the Patriots to a 23-9 record and sixth-place finish in the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) small college division championship, she called Georgia and delayed her enrollment.

She'd stay another year at Francis Marion and then attend Georgia, she thought. Yet the 1976-77 campaign ended with a 21-11 mark and Hatchell postponing her plans again, this time for good.

"After that second year, I thought, 'Eh, why do I need a doctorate?'" she said. "So, I didn't go back to Georgia and get my doctorate. I stayed at Francis Marion … I was like a pig in a mud hole; I couldn't have been any more happy."

Hatchell met her husband, Sammy, at a summer league basketball game in 1977. They attended a basketball clinic on their first date and married two years later.

Then in 1982, Francis Marion captured the AIAW small college division crown, marking the first of Hatchell's three national championships. Her first task for the Amateur Basketball Association of the United States of America also came during that year, as she coached the South team to the gold medal at the National Sports Festival.

Hatchell's involvement with the U.S. women's basketball team grew from there. And by about 1984, multiple Division I programs were attempting to lure Hatchell away from Francis Marion.

She received a few offers. But she said she turned those down and even withdrew her name from two coaching searches before an offer could even be made.

"People thought I was crazy," she said. "But I thought, 'You know what? I'm happy here. I want to wait for the right situation. I want to wait, and I'll know when the right one is there.'"

In 1986, a few weeks after the Patriots concluded a 36-2 season with a win in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) national championship game, that opportunity presented itself.

Hatchell, a Gastonia, N.C., native, grew up watching the Tar Heels and Dean Smith. So when a Florence reporter called and said Jennifer Alley, UNC's first full-time head women's basketball coach, was leaving, Hatchell's dream job seemed attainable.

Later that summer, it officially became hers.

"We were all happy for her because it was such a big accomplishment," said Tracey Tillman Young, who played at Francis Marion from 1984-88. "(I remember her) just not knowing exactly what to do in her decision, but her definitely letting us know she was not turning her back on us."

And she never has.

Same Sylvia

Earlier this year, Hawkins' father-in-law passed away. And at work the next day, her phone started ringing.

She picked it up to see who was calling, only to learn it was Hatchell, hoping to check in on her former player and her family.

"She has not changed a bit," Hawkins said. "Some people get the big head. That's just not her. It doesn't matter if she's at an NAIA school, AIAW or NCAA Division I, she's still like she was when she was here."

Although 31 years have passed since Hatchell left Francis Marion, Hawkins, who lives in Florence, said people who watched her play still attend games and ask about how Hatchell is doing.

Some travel to Chapel Hill for a game each year. And as will be the case Sunday, a large contingent makes the annual 60-mile drive from Florence to Myrtle Beach, where the Tar Heels are playing for the 24th consecutive year.

They're not the sole reason behind UNC's yearly trips to Myrtle Beach. But Hatchell always notices them and appreciates their support.

"I love those people and the opportunities they gave me," she said, "and I always want to help them anyway that I can because of what they did for me."

Each summer, Alston, currently a teacher and coach at Northwestern High in Rock Hill, S.C., comes to Chapel Hill and assists Hatchell with the Carolina Girls' Basketball Camps. And she makes the same remark during introductions each year.

"I joke with her and say, 'Yeah, we're the ones who made her successful. She started with us,'" Alston said. "And she just sits there and goes, 'Yeah, you guys did.' That's one thing I love about her is she appreciates everybody who has been in her life and done everything for her to help her get where she is."

And they all paved the way to 1,000 wins.

University of North Carolina Athletics

GoHeels Exclusive: Francis Marion Paved Hatchell's Road To UNC

Related Videos