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by Marilyn McManus, SECWB.com

At approximately 12 noon today, University of South Carolina President Andrew Sorensen presented a Gamecocks hat to Dawn Staley and welcomed her to the University family as the head coach of the women’s basketball team. Sorensen’s remarks followed a few words by Eric Hyman, Athletics Director at the school, who presented a short summary of Staley’s accomplishments from her high school career to the present. And those accomplishments are many: 172-80 record at Temple University in 8 seasons, 6 20-win seasons and 6 trips to the NCAA Tournament–all in her first attempt at coaching. A record of her accomplishments beyond that could fill pages, but I want to keep the focus on Coach Staley and the future of the South Carolina Gamecocks program.

The first surprise was when Coach Staley introduced 2 members of her coaching staff: Lisa Boyer and Carla McGhee. Boyer has spent several years working with Staley at Temple, but McGhee had coached at Auburn and served as Director of Player Personnel for the WNBA since a 1-year coaching stint with Staley at Temple, several years ago. Staley has not yet announced what other assistants or staff will be joining her at USC.

Staley’s introductory remarks stressed the challenge of this job and how she plans to meet the challenge. “Hard work” was mentioned more than once. Staley said that she was told that turning the program around would take time and that she was patient, “but not THAT patient.” Her goals match those of the USC administration and are that USC women’s basketball become a nationally prominent program and compete for a national championship. She said that her passion is basketball and young people and doing things “the right way.”

In response to reporters’ questions, she said that she had already met 5 members of the current Gamecocks team and that they were ready to get started and hungry for success. She admitted that leaving her hometown of Philadelphia was tough, for a lot of reasons, but that there are some positives to making the move and making it now. One of those is her mother’s health (she would have been here for the announcement, Dawn said, but she doesn’t like to fly) so the fact that there is extended family in the state is a plus. (Staley’s mother is from Swansea, SC and moved to Philadelphia when she was about 13 years old.) Staley said that she will have more help here, when she has to travel, with family able to help out with her mother.

Staley, when asked why she wanted to coach at South Carolina, replied “Why not?” She is looking forward to the challenge of coaching against some of the best coaches and teams in the country, in the Southeastern Conference. She said that she appreciated University of Tennessee head coach Pat Summitt, for agreeing to play against her Temple team, when other teams would not schedule them. She also said that Summitt is someone she can measure herself against as a coach and that she would like to build the same kind of program that Summitt has–only a little quicker. She said that her style of basketball is to press, 94 feet, and get after the other team–but initially, the main goal is to play to the strengths of our team. She assured that above all, they will play hard. She said that “it’s going to be great to see the end result.”

Staley described herself as an “odds beater” as someone who grew up in Philadelphia’s housing projects and has become a successful basketball player, coach, Olympic medalist and general role model. She said that while the Dawn Staley Foundation will continue to function in Philadelphia, she also plans to bring the same kind of services to South Carolina.

Interestingly, Staley mentioned that she never wanted to become a coach. She said that her assistant, Lisa Boyer, told her often that “you would be a great coach.” Her reply was, “I don’t want to be one of you.” But when Temple’s athletic director talked to her and framed it as a challenge–a challenge to turn the program around and a challenge of her own leadership–she took the challenge.

South Carolina is glad that she did.

Posted under Coaching & Marilyn McManus & South Carolina | No Comments »

by Marilyn McManus, SECWB.com

I guess I am indebted to Ron Morris of The State newspaper (Columbia, SC) because before his article of 4/27/08, I had absolutely no idea that male head coaches of women’s college basketball teams were experiencing such tough times. Apparently, there is a severe crisis facing those embattled men and I was (previously) oblivious to their plight. Please excuse me, while I fetch some tissues and regain my composure.

Whew. That’s better.

Please note that this article is an expression of my opinion and, as such, does not necessarily represent the views of the owner, other writers or staff of secwb.com. (Or maybe it does!) This is only my opinion and on this website, you are both able and encouraged to comment and express your views, as well. I welcome all of your comments, whether in agreement or opposition. But let’s get on with it.

Mr. Morris is alarmed that, between 1977 and 1996, the percentage of males coaching women’s Division I basketball teams only increased from 20.6% to 34%–and during the season just recently completed, 35.4 % of DI women’s basketball coaches were men. That IS disturbing news. But it is disturbing to me for an entirely different set of reasons than it disturbs Morris. Try reversing the numbers, not to mention the logic. What those statistics show is that over the past 30 years, the number of women coaching Division I women’s college basketball teams has DROPPED nearly 15 percentage points: from 79.4% of the jobs available down to a current estimate of 64.6%. But the men, somehow, believe that they are getting the short end of the stick. This is based on the fact that they hold only 35% of the jobs available coaching women’s teams. Once again, let’s reverse that logic and compare the number of men coaching women’s teams to the number of women coaching men’s teams. Oh, that’s right. There aren’t any! So, it’s okay that there are 0% women coaching men on the Division I level, but it’s a problem that there are ONLY 35% men coaching women on the same level. That’s just basketball coaches, but a 2001 article in the Chronicle of Higher Education took the idea a little farther and looked at the total number of Division I coaches, both head coaches and assistants, who are coaching men’s teams and women’s teams and separated them by gender. It should also be noted that where there are women coaching men, these are nearly always “non-major” sports like swimming and diving, track or golf and at many schools, those teams are combined and composed of both male and female participants. I have reproduced the most interesting comparison chart here:

By my calculations, that means that when you stop singling out the basketball coaches (with their measly 35% domination rate) it turns out that it’s more like 46% of women’s teams that are being coached by men. And you can contrast that with women holding 4% of the jobs that include coaching men.

Admittedly, these figures are a few years old, but anywhere you look for these statistics, you will find that the number of women coaching women’s teams has been declining over the years. And the number of women coaching men’s teams has stayed just about the same for the past 25 years. So it seems that Ron Morris (as well as Tom Collen, Geno Auriemma and the like) has only half of the story right–or more likely, he just doesn’t care about the rest of the story. Since his focus is men–male coaches, to be exact–and not the game or the players, he is missing quite a lot.

Whether you want to believe it or not, male and female players approach the game a little differently. I’m not necessarily referring to the on-court game, though obvious physical differences mean that there is a lot more play below the rim in the women’s game. But off the court, female players are looking for something different as early as the recruiting process. We need look no further than the current situation at the University of South Carolina for an illustration. With the resignation of head coach Susan Walvius, some of her 2009 recruits feel that they are left in limbo. Why? They still have scholarship offers that are solid. One of the most highly regarded coaches in the game has been hired to take Walvius’ place, but Becky Burke, one of the prize recruits for 2009, still has her doubts, according to thetimestribune.com:

“Obviously, I know who she is and that she know the ins and outs basketball wise, with all that she’s accomplished as both a player and a coach,” Burke said. “But there’s more than that. You need an emotional connection. You need to get to know someone, and that’s the part that’s missing right now.”

I haven’t heard much of that kind of talk from the young men in Division I college basketball–have you? Providing young women with an appropriate role model is a concern, too–especially for those who might actually have an interest in coaching. They can learn the Xs and Os from anyone, sure–but they can’t learn what the specific challenges are for a woman trying to make it in that profession from a MAN. And the challenges are many. As noted above, the number of women coaches is in constant decline. As Nell Fortner, head coach at Auburn points out in a recent posting at The Birmingham News-al.com, “It’s a man’s world. In a lot of cases, men are doing the hiring at most colleges and high schools. There are more men athletic directors and presidents. They do the hiring, and their circle of friends is mostly men.” Male athletic directors and presidents also set the tone for family-friendly (and female-friendly) policies and programs at their schools. Women coaches with families face enormous obstacles, since they are a little less likely than a man to find a spouse who doesn’t mind taking a back-burner job, while they are out searching for recruits and championship opportunities.

And men are having a problem–so says Morris– with “stagnation… in claiming head coaching jobs.” Sorry, but I’m finding it hard to get too choked up over that.

Posted under Auburn & Coaching & Marilyn McManus & Non-Conference & South Carolina | No Comments »