Black female coaches show 'representation matters' in basketball
Dawn Staley and Joni Taylor embraced before and after the聽Southeastern Conference Tournament championship,聽savoring a historic moment in women鈥檚 basketball.
It took 41 years for two Black women to meet as head coaches in a tournament championship of a Power Five conference. For it to happen quicker was statistically聽improbable with the few Black women coaching at the highest level of the college game.
And it remains a long shot to happen again in a Power Five league, other than the Southeastern Conference.
In the past five years, there have been a total of 16 Black women as head coaches at Power Five schools, and this past season there were just 13 鈥� with four聽hired last year. Of those 13, seven resided in the SEC.
鈥淵ou can鈥檛 dream what you can鈥檛 see,鈥� said Ms. Taylor,聽whose Georgia squad came up short against Ms. Staley and South Carolina on March 7.聽鈥淪o [the SEC title game] was a chance for people to dream something that they haven鈥檛 seen before.鈥�
The Big 12 was the only Power Five league on the women鈥檚 side this season without a Black head coach 鈥� male or female. The Atlantic Coast Conference had聽three Black female head coaches, and two Black male head coaches; the Pac-12 had two Black women as head coaches, and Rutgers鈥� Hall of Famer C. Vivian Stringer聽was the only Black female head coach in the Big Ten.
It is clear there still is work to be done when it comes to diversity even as women held 45 of the 65 head coaching jobs at Power Five conferences this聽season.
Ms. Staley said her phone was swamped by text messages from other Black coaches around the country congratulating and thanking her and Ms. Taylor after the SEC聽game 鈥渇or giving them hope that one day they can be in this position, assistant coaches as well.鈥�
The pipeline of potential candidates appears full, and hiring managers don鈥檛 have to look far to find them. Of the 65 Power Five schools, 62 have at least聽one Black assistant on staff.
But there is disconnect somewhere in the hiring process.
鈥淭here are a lot of assistant coaches out there who have had as long a career as I have assistant coaching, Black, white, all of them. But Black women聽haven鈥檛 got a whole lot of opportunities to be head coaches in Division I basketball,鈥� said Ms. Staley, who noted her success has come because she has worked聽with people who believed in her.
Promoting assistants falls on athletic directors (ADs), where there鈥檚 an even greater lack of diversity. There are only five female ADs at Power Five schools,聽and two are in the ACC. And of the five female ADs, only Carla Williams at Virginia and Vanderbilt鈥檚 Candice Lee are Black.
Ms. Lee became the聽third straight Black AD at Vanderbilt聽and the first full-time female AD in the SEC last May. She also played basketball for the Commodores and loved watching Ms. Staley and Ms. Taylor coach in the聽title game because 鈥渞epresentation matters.鈥�
But the Vanderbilt AD also noted race and gender aren鈥檛 the only factors to look at when scrutinizing her peers around the country.
Ms. Lee, one of only two Black ADs in the SEC along with Auburn鈥檚 Allen Greene, said clearly white ADs have hired Black coaches in women鈥檚 basketball.
鈥淪ometimes we exclude people because we use words like pedigree and pipeline when the reality is that we鈥檙e not making it a priority,鈥� Ms. Lee said. 鈥淎nd if聽we believe that representation matters, and many of our women鈥檚 basketball student athletes are Black and brown, then I think it would come to bear that聽you would see more diversity in the coaching ranks. And I just think we鈥檝e got to be intentional about rewarding opportunities.鈥�
Ms. Taylor has a聽suggestion of how ADs聽can help improve diversity when hiring new coaches.
鈥淧eople who are making decisions need to make sure they鈥檙e talking to different people when they鈥檙e compiling their list to make sure that list is diversified,鈥澛爏aid Ms. Taylor, who led Georgia to the聽second round of the women鈥檚 NCAA Tournament.
Kentucky AD Mitch Barnhart looked to the Wildcats鈥� bench to replace Matthew Mitchell. He made associate head coach Kyra Elzy the聽interim coach,聽then sat down with Ms. Elzy twice to let her make her case for the job.
After a 6-0 start, Mr.聽Barnhart made聽Ms. Elzy the second Black women鈥檚 basketball coach in Kentucky history, joining Bernadette Mattox. Mr. Barnhart said Ms. Elzy is the right person for the job, and聽yes, race was an important factor that can鈥檛 be ignored with all that has happened in recent months.
鈥淚t was important for our players to know that they were being supported on every level of playing, of personal, [the] cultural world that we鈥檙e in,鈥� Mr. Barnhart聽said. 鈥淚t was important on every level, and Kyra does that at a high level. She鈥檚 an absolute professional.鈥�
A recent NCAA survey of athletes found that minority women鈥檚 basketball players reported having a far more challenging overall experience compared to athletes聽in other sports. One response was a push for the one-time transfer rule, which California coach Charmin Smith said Black female coaches questioned as an聽attempt to send unhappy players elsewhere.
Ms. Smith said the survey was a reminder of the need to acknowledge shortcomings of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
鈥淚t鈥檚 time that we understand that that representation does matter,鈥� Mr. Smith said. 鈥淎nd it鈥檚 extremely important in how it shapes the experience of our student-athletes.聽And that鈥檚 who we鈥檙e supposed to be catering to during this experience.鈥�
SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said they will keep raising the issue at the league鈥檚 headquarters, but noted the final decisions are made by schools. The聽commissioner does believe change is happening, and not just in the SEC.
鈥淭hat is our future,鈥� Mr. Sankey said, referring to two Black women coaching in the SEC title game.
鈥淎nd it鈥檚 not simply the demographics,鈥� he added. 鈥淚t鈥檚 important for us. And I think it鈥檚 important on a national stage as well.鈥�
This story was reported by The Associated Press. Contributing to this report were: AP Basketball Writer Doug Feinberg and AP Sports Writers Pete Iacobelli, Janie McCauley, Stephen Hawkins, Anne M. Peterson,聽Steve Megargee, Eric Olson, and Hank Kurz Jr.
