Pat reaches Summitt as Dawn rises

by Rob King

Society is wrought with gender bias so indelible and often so subtle that women are sometimes complicit in their own unfair treatment. Many women habitually select male professionals and politicians over comparable female options. Frequently women are relegated to minority group status though they are the majority of the population. Unfortunately there are others instances where women unconsciously relegate themselves to second class status. Although women didn't make the rules they are often forced to play the game of life under male rules. Men commonly exacerbate the climate of gender inequality unconsciously but there are many of my brethren who make calculated efforts to perpetuate it, especially in the world of sports where a woman must often show her body to show her body of work.

University of Tennessee women’s basketball coach Pat Summitt recently vaulted pass coaching great Dean Smith to the head of college basketball’s victory list. Summitt’s 880th win moved her ahead of the former University of North Carolina men’s basketball coach. Coach Smith amassed 879 victories and two national championships over the course of his thirty-six year career at the University of North Carolina.

Summit’s 880th victory marked another milestone in her illustrious thirty one year career that includes an Olympic gold medal as head coach of the U.S.A women’s team in 1984, a silver medal in 1976 as a player, six national championships, fifteen Final Four appearances and a .837 winning percentage. The six championships rank second to the legendary “Wizard of Westwood” John Wooden. Wooden led the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) to a record ten national championships during his twenty-seven year tenure as the Bruins head coach.

If Summitt’s career ended right now her accomplishments on the court have earned her a place in the pantheon of college coaching greats, regardless of gender. However, at the relatively young age of fifty-two and showing no signs of losing her zeal for coaching, Summitt will surely accrue well over one thousand victories before she hangs up her whistle. The only category Summitt appears to be mortal in is the graduation rate of her Lady Vols. Her team’s 71% is just average compared with the other schools participating in the women’s version of March Madness.

Summitt’s recent accomplishments combined with the recent firing of University of Tennessee men’s basketball coach Buzz Petersen led some in the media (mostly male) to debate whether university officials should offer the position to her, and whether Summitt could successfully coach male student athletes. When Dean Smith passed renowned Kentucky coach the late Adolph Rupp to become the winningest coach in Division I college basketball he was allowed to relish the significance of the accomplishment without sports talk shows speculating on how he would fare coaching a different gender. Coach Summitt wasn’t afforded the opportunity to enjoy the moment the same way. Why?

Men are often given the chance to coach females from pre-school to the professional ranks. Pat Summitt’s abilities to coach transcend gender. Competence and character should always transcend gender or race in coaching, and Summitt has character and competence in abundance. Coach Summitt would make an outstanding Division I men’s basketball coach and men’s hoops could definitely use a coach of her caliber. Fortunately, Summitt’s preference is to continue coaching female student athletes. Coach Summitt is one of the wheels driving women sports from the fringes to the mainstream and her presence is essential for the continued growth of the ladies’ game. Summitt may be the best woman to slay the dragon of gender inequality in coaching but she’s not the right woman.

March is the time when the head coaches of Cinderella squads look to parlay their tournament success into lucrative paydays at big schools. One bright young coach overlooked thus far boasts a resume that consists of a collegiate career in the Atlantic Ten Conference highlighted by three All American team selections, three Final Four appearances and one Olympic gold medal. The professional credentials include four All-Star appearances, one Finals appearance and two more Olympic gold medals. The coaching vita includes three NCAA tournament appearances, two conference crowns; over one hundred victories in five seasons on the bench including a 27 and 4 record this year and a 90% graduation rate.

This coach has even started a charitable foundation to empower under resourced students residing in Philadelphia. This city of “Brotherly Love” born and bred point guard was an outstanding leader on the court and has made a seamless transition to coaching ranks. Those stats would draw the attention of high school recruits looking to play in the pros or work professionally.

Dawn Staley is fast becoming a force to be reckoned with in the coaching world. If Temple University women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley were male she would be in high demand. What up-and-coming coach has a pedigree to rival Staley’s? Fellow Atlantic Ten Conference member the University of Massachusetts recently filled its men’s basketball head coaching vacancy with Eastern Kentucky’s Travis Ford. I never heard Staley’s named mentioned once.

The University of Tennessee has witnessed a great woman coach lead your ladies for the last three decades with record setting results and yet you hired Bruce Pearl of the University of Milwaukee-Wisconsin to lead your men’s team without even gauging Staley’s interest. Let’s see if Eastern Kentucky and the University of Milwaukee-Wisconsin consider Staley for their coaching vacancies.

Maybe the thirty-four year old Staley can succeed embattled Temple’s men’s basketball coach John Chaney when he wraps up his remarkable yet sometimes controversial career.

When are athletic directors and college presidents going to end the real madness and provide women with the same opportunities as men in college basketball? Male coaches cross over all the time. Why can’t females?

Tennessee State University athletic director, Teresa Phillips coached the men’s basketball team for one game in February 2003 while the head coach served a suspension. Several men’s Division I programs have hired female assistants but no one has made the commitment to seriously consider a women for the head spot.

Ironically hiring women to lead Division I men’s basketball programs make sense financially since women make on average only .72 cents for every dollar a man does. Hiring a woman to lead a male basketball team would generate media attention for that institution as well. Phillips' one game cameo drew national media coverage.

Seriously - I look forward to the dawning of a new era in men’s Division 1 coaching, when men and women will have opportunities to be hired and fired from positions the same way that both genders are in women’s Division I programs.