For decades the Southeastern Conference was a bastion of segregation athletically. But this season the SEC achieved a landmark that puts all the other Power 5 conferences to shame. There are only 13 Black women coaches in all these leagues. SEVEN of them are in the SEC. Earlier this year Kentucky
made Kyra Elzy the seventh Black woman leading an SEC program. They joined Auburn, Georgia, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, South Carolina and LSU.
Sunday South Carolina and Georgia battled each other for the SEC title, with South Carolina emerging victorious 67-62. It was the first time in SEC history two Black head coaches of either gender faced each other for the title, and that it happened during Women’s History Month couldn’t have been more noteworthy.
“What you see gives Black women hope,” South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley told the Associated Press. “You can’t dream what you can’t see,” added Georgia head coach Joni Taylor. It was Georgia’s first SEC final in 17 years and another high water mark for Taylor, now in her sixth season. Staley has already won one NCAA title and is seeking a second. The Gamecocks recently have dominated the SEC the way Tennessee once did under Pat Summit, winning six SEC Women’s Tournament titles in seven seasons.
Taylor also remembered that when she was playing high school basketball in Mississippi she never saw two Black head coaches at any Power Five conference games. She views her role as coach in much the same manner as Elzy.
“I got into coaching originally because I wanted to inspire, impact and influence young women, and God has given me the platform to do so,” Elzy said when she was hired. “There have been so many Black coaches to lead the way in order for me to be given this opportunity.”
The presence of Black women head coaches has certainly helped SEC schools in recruiting, and made the league arguably the most competitive top to bottom in women’s college basketball. The performance in this category also makes the league’s hiring record in other areas less easy to defend, particularly in terms of head coaches in football. Vanderbilt’s Candace Lee also remains the only Black woman (or woman period) in charge of a major college’s programs as Athletic Director.
But still, the SEC deserves praise for its progress in this area, and for giving Black women in particular chances that thus far other conferences seem reluctant to offer. One thing that hasn’t been seen are enough columns and articles about the lack of both women coaches and Black women head coaches in the other leagues.
Six in four other conferences is a dismal figure. Since women aren’t being offered head coaching slots for men’s teams, it would seem there would at least be greater opportunities in women’s sports, but that hasn’t proven the case, at least in terms of basketball. Fortunately the SEC is making inroads, and also showing that good things can result from it as well. Hopefully the rest of the college basketball world, and for that matter the entire athletic establishment, will take notice.
