Georgia Tech coach MaChelle Joseph placed on leave

Georgia Tech women’s basketball coach MaChelle Joseph has been placed on leave, the school said Wednesday.

A statement from the athletic department characterized the leave as “a pending personnel matter” and also said that the school would have no further comment. Joseph did not respond to a message seeking comment.

Joseph is in her 16th season at Tech and has had the longest and most successful tenure of any coach in team history. She has led the Yellow Jackets to seven NCAA tournament berths, although Tech has not made the NCAA field in the past four seasons.

In Joseph’s place, assistant coach Mark Simons will serve as acting head coach. The team will play next at Miami on Thursday. The Jackets are 17-10 overall and 7-7 in the ACC and trying to earn an NCAA tournament berth.

Starting in Joseph’s fourth season, 2006-07, the Jackets made the NCAA tournament field for six consecutive seasons. The run culminated in their first Sweet 16 appearance, at the end of the 2011-12 season.

However, Tech has made one NCAA tournament in the six seasons after that. Tech’s 2018 signing class, though, was rated as high as seventh nationally, and freshmen Elizabeth Dixon and Elizabeth Balogun have been integral to the team’s performance this season.

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