Progressive Diversity in the Ohio Valley Conference

(St. Louis, MO) – African-Americans are still having trouble climbing the corporate ladder of becoming head coaches in Division 1 basketball programs. Thankfully that is not the case in the Ohio Valley Conference.

Two members of that fraternity were working Wednesday night in Edwardsville as Tennessee State visited Southern Illinois Edwardsville in OVC action. While nationally 22% of Division 1 head coaches are African American, in the OVC that number is 33%. We spoke with TSU head coach Dana Ford and his counterpart, SIUE’s Jon Harris about this sensitive subject.

According to ‘The 2015 Racial and Gender Report Card’, the number of African-Americans who were head men’s and women’s basketball coaches increased slightly in 2015.

“In men’s Division I basketball, 22.3 percent of all head coaches were African-American, which was up 0.3 percentage points from the 22 percent reported in the 2013-2014 season. However, it is still down 2.9 percentage points from the all-time high of 25.2 percent reported in the 2005-2006 season.”

The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport (TIDES) director Dr. Richard Lapchick says college sports still provides a better prospects for potential coaches than professional sports.

Lapchick noted that, “There are far more career prospects in college sport than professional sport. There are more jobs. Thus it is even more important for us to create expanded opportunities in college sport for women and people of color. We need new ways to open the hiring process for women and people of color.”

TSU’s Ford says, the biggest thing he and other African-American head coaches can do, is to be successful once they receive an opportunity. The third year head coach says it’s important to win, and win ‘the right way’.

 

 

Lapchick recently joined forces with the National Association for Coaching Equity and Development to promote the idea of an ‘Eddie Robinson Rule’, that would mimic the NFL’s ‘Rooney Rule’ requiring universities to interview minority candidates for head coaching positions.

SIUE’s Harris says getting a head coaching job in a Division 1 basketball program is difficult for anyone, regardless of their race or skin color. He like Ford, feels the need to succeed on behalf of other African-Americans who are on a similar career path. The second year head coach believes that mentoring by other coaches is vital. Both Harris and Ford noted that the Ohio Valley Conference has become a welcoming league to coaches of color.

 

 

Ford and Harris are joined by Rick Ray (Southeast Missouri) and Anthony Stewart (UT Martin) as African-Americans coaching in the OVC. Stewart and Ray replaced caucasion coaches. Stewart worked under former head coach Heath Schroyer. Another African-American, Sean Woods, submitted a mid-season resignation at Morehead State.

According to the latest TIDES report, 55.6 % of D1 college basketball players are African-American.

If this snap shot of the OVC is accurate, then the OVC, which has a female commissioner (Beth Debauche), is progressive and ahead of the game in minority hiring.

Do Good