We all know that the New York Yankees have some peculiar rules around grooming, but apparently Valdosta State baseball manager Greg Guilliams is taking rules about hair length to an entirely different level.
Revealed in a secret recording by former player Asher Akridge, we hear why Guilliams kicked him off the team, citing his his hair length as the reason for his dismissal.
The player posted a 2:47 video to TikTok, where we can hear the exchange. The video has a caption that says, "Massa please let me play baseball" and "Valdosta State University 2023 or 1945."
Guilliams is a white manager, and Akridge is a black player.
@asherthegreat24 Massa please. I?s will be a good boy! #valdostastateuniversity
"If you complied with what I said, you'd got your hair cut and I wouldn't had to keep telling you about it," Guilliams said.
In the video, we also hear Guilliams, 61, taking partial blame for not being clear enough. Still, he stuck to kicking him off the team.
"In all fairness to you, here's where I failed, what I should've done from the very beginning and I didn't do it, this is my fault and I could see how I gave you the wrong impression, so I'm not gonna totally blame you because it takes two with everything," Guilliams says, according to the clip.
"What I should've said at the very beginning was, 'This is what you've got to do with your hair and then once you do that, I will let you come out there' and I didn't do that."
Akridge was recruited by FIU and played for Jacksonville State University his freshman year. He transferred to Valdosta State in 2022. During the exchange, we hear Akridge bring up other players and their hair length. Below is more of the exchange.
"We are not talking about other guys, I told you before on the phone, we are not going down that route, why would I go down this route again?" Guilliams asks.
"I don't care what anybody else says, this is between you and me, I'm the head coach, it doesn't matter what any other player says.
"So again, why would I want you back on the team when we are right back having the same conversation again?"
"My hair is cut, I don't know why we are having this conversation," Akridge says before the coach tells him it's not short enough for the team.
"How is that possible?" Akridge asks, with Guilliams saying it's his rules and he can make them however he wants.
"I'm the one that sets the rules, I can set whatever rule I want," Guilliams says.
Then the exchange gets a bit more heated.
"I want to be treated just like everybody else, what do you mean?" Akridge says with a crack in his voice.
"If you wanted to be treated like everybody else, then follow the rules I give you," Guilliams says. "Conversation over, wild boars could not allow me to put you back on this baseball team. There is no way, it ain't gonna happen. This conversation is over. I said it on the phone."
Finally, at the end of the video, Akridge shows himself in the car with his hair length and compares it to a teammate, a white pitcher—this certainly raises some questions.
To this point, the video has been viewed more than 468k times. It was uploaded three days ago.
Valdosta State released a statement on the matter.
"In keeping with the Valdosta State University Non-Discrimination Policy, the university is committed to maintaining a fair, respectful, and non-discriminatory environment for all," the school said.
"The VSU Office of Human Resources is conducting a comprehensive inquiry into the current matter and will address any personnel actions that are deemed to violate university policy if the inquiry reveals anything. We are progressing through the required due process procedures," the school said, according to WALB.
