There is always two sides to every story. Or, perhaps, three, four or five sides.

This is something to keep in mind as the investigation continues to unfold regarding the abuse allegations against women’s basketball head coach Jody Adams, some of her former coaching staff and Athletic Director Eric Sexton.

The investigation is still ongoing, and members of the media and the public must respect that. It is admirable that the Athletic Department is bringing in a third party individual — in the form of faculty athletic representative Julie Scherz — to look into the allegations. This eliminates the potential for a biased opinion of someone tied to Wichita State Athletics.

Until Scherz gives a report to University President John Bardo, and a decision is made “to help move the women’s basketball program forward,” as Eric Sexton stated in a news release, nobody should accuse, assume or judge the coaching staff.

However, if the allegations of racism, segregation and verbal abuse are true — as previously reported in the April 27 issue of the Sunflower — then something should be done to fix the problem, even if that means firing a winningest women’s head coach in shocker history.

And the same can be said regarding the players who have stepped into the public eye. Many people have blamed the accusations on disgruntled former players who are either out to defile the coaching staff or are “too sensitive” for Division I basketball.

It is the Sunflower’s Editorial Board’s opinion that there is a potential for a double standard because it is women basketball players in question, rather than men. It is unfortunate that some are willing to discount the allegations because of the alleged victims’ gender.

Also, using physical reinforcements to improve a player’s skill is one thing. But using threats and verbal abuse is another. Nothing good comes out of psychological intimidation — not even basketball titles.

Meanwhile, others have deemed the allegations as acceptable because of the team’s recent successes. True, the women have performed well since Adams arrived at WSU, but again, there are always two sides to a story. Behind every highlight reel is behind-the-scenes action that fans of the program do not witness as the players do.

No matter the gender, record, name or history, racism, segregation and verbal abuse are not OK. Readers should keep in mind that the investigation is still ongoing, so while assumptions shouldn’t be made about the WSU women’s basketball coaching staff, assumptions also shouldn’t be made about the players coming forward.

— The Sunflower Editorial Board