A white baseball manager at Valdosta State University in Georgia is under fire for allegedly telling a black player that he couldn’t play because of his long hair, which violated the coach’s rules.
The event was secretly videotaped during a meeting between coach Greg Guilliams and former player Asher Akridge, during which Akridge questioned the coach’s decision to remove him from the squad due to his hair length.
Akridge from Valdosta State University released a TikTok video in which he expressed his respect and compliance with the rigorous hair rules to the coach. The coach answered by saying that if the player had followed his directions and trimmed his hair, he would not have had to discuss the matter on many occasions, meaning that he had previously instructed the player to clip his long hair.
Coach Guilliams, 61, took partial responsibility for failing to clearly advise Akridge, 21, on how to adhere to the baseball team’s hair standards. He is adamant, though, that he was correct in removing the college student from the team.
Guilliams stated that he made a mistake by failing to provide clear advice from the start and that he may have given Akridge the wrong idea. He admitted that both parties had some responsibility and that they should have communicated more effectively. He specifically confessed that he should have laid out the hair standards first and only allowed Akridge to join after he complied, which he did not do.
Akridge, who attended FIU in 2019 and played as a freshman for Jacksonville State University before transferring to Valdosta State, attempted to identify anomalies in Coach Guilliams’ hair policy.
According to the video, other players with long hair were not pulled from the team. Coach Guilliams, on the other hand, dismissed his argument, noting that they should not discuss other players and reminding Akridge that they had agreed not to pursue this topic.
Coach Guilliams stated that he doesn’t care what other players think, underlining that the situation is exclusively between him and Akridge. He questioned why he should reconsider reintroducing Akridge to the team when they were contemplating the same topic. Although Akridge stated that his hair had been chopped, the coach disagreed, indicating that it was still too long to match the team’s requirements.
Akridge expresses confusion about the coach’s assertion that his hair isn’t short enough. In response, Guilliams explains that he is the one who establishes the team’s rules and can create them according to his own discretion. He reaffirms his authority by stating, “I’m the one that sets the rules; I can set whatever rule I want,” he said, according to the video seen by the New York Post.