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Two minorities coaching in Final Four for first time

ATLANTA (AP) -- Maybe this is a sign of progress.

Indiana's Mike Davis was asked about his role in the first Final Four game matching two minority coaches. He paused for a second, then replied, "Well, I really haven't even thought about it."

Less than a week after Halle Berry and Denzel Washington made history at the Academy Awards, college basketball will break through its own glass ceiling Saturday night.

Davis, who is black, will be coaching against Oklahoma's Kelvin Sampson, a Lumbee Indian, in the opening semifinal game. Kansas and Maryland, both coached by white men named Williams, are paired in the other semifinal.

Until this season, only four minority coaches had reached the Final Four: Georgetown's John Thompson, Arkansas' Nolan Richardson, Minnesota's Clem Haskins and Kentucky's Tubby Smith.

Davis downplayed the significance of the moment. He wants to create more opportunities for assistants -- no matter the color of their skin -- to move up to the head coaching jobs.

"At one point, I would have taken the Alcorn State job if it was offered, just because I wanted to prove myself," said Davis, who spent 11 years as an assistant before succeeding Bob Knight. "What I've done proves you can do it."

Others have taken note of his accomplishment. After clinching a spot in the Final Four, Davis returned home to find 55 messages of his answering machine.

One of them was from the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who called after the Hoosiers upset defending national champion Duke in the South Regional semifinal.

Sampson is more outspoken when discussing the social relevance of two minorities matching strategy from opposite ends of the court on college basketball's biggest stage.

"The greatest word in a minority's vocabulary should be hope," Sampson told The Daily Oklahoman. "There's got to be hope. And I would hope that minority coaches would look at Mike and myself and say, 'I can do that.'"

Sampson started his coaching career at lowly Montana Tech, but he quickly moved through the ranks. At 31, he became the youngest coach in the Pac-10 Conference, taking over at Washington State.

All along, he was inspired by black coaches such as Thompson, Richardson and George Raveling.

"They gave me hope. I thought, 'I can do this one day,'" said Sampson, who led Oklahoma to its first Final Four berth since 1988. "You can work hard and do things the right way, have some integrity and character about you and one day you'll be rewarded. So I do think that it's significant."

Sampson was one of the few coaches who contacted Davis two years ago to congratulate him on becoming Indiana's first black coach. That gave Davis his own role model.

"I like him a lot. I do," Davis said of Sampson. "I always followed him because of the letter he wrote."

That letter helped comfort Davis during some trying times. The Hoosier Nation was up in arms over Knight's ouster, and his successor admits that he thought of quitting when the criticism got especially nasty.

"At the same time, I just felt like I was meant to be here and whatever happened, happened," said Davis, who led Indiana to its first Final Four since 1992. "Everything has worked out."

Minorities occupy 26 percent of the head coaching jobs in NCAA Division I basketball -- not enough to satisfy many people, but better than most team sports.

Last weekend, that progress was apparent as five teams with minority coaches reached the round of 16. Four of those -- Sampson, Davis, Kent State's Stan Heath and Oregon's Ernie Kent -- made it to the regional final. Indiana knocked out Heath's team, while Kansas beat Oregon to prevent minorities from taking three spots in the Final Four.

Heath was rewarded for Kent's run in the NCAA tournament Thursday when Arkansas picked him to replace Richardson. He made a point to acknowledge his predecessor.

"I'd like to thank coach Richardson," Heath said. "He's opened up barriers. He's a leader."

Sampson is doing his part to ensure that more coaches of color are given a chance to lead their own programs.

Two of his assistants -- Ray Lopes and Bennie Seltzer -- are black, as is director of basketball operations Terry Evans.

"It's amazing how many people want a black assistant coach on their staff because they think it will help them recruit," Sampson said. "My goal is for all three of these young men to become head coaches one day."

Now that would be a sign of progress.

 

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