Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 3, 1990 TAG: 9006030052
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
There is some doubt as to whether a black head coach has ever received a commitment from a white top 40 player, but it also is difficult to recall the white head coaches at such prominent schools as Oklahoma, Louisville and Nevada-Las Vegas landing such a player in the past 10 years.
"Of your top kids, I'd say eight out of every 10 is black," said Frankie Allen, Virginia Tech's head coach. "If you look at the kids you realistically have a shot at, how many are white?"
Allen's estimate was pretty close. In the past 10 years, of the 400 players ranked in the top 40 by recruiting analyst Bob Gibbons, just over 60 have been white. That's less than 20 percent.
Of that group, more than half signed with one of seven schools - Duke, Indiana, North Carolina, Villanova, Kansas, Kentucky and St. John's. Only 27 schools, out of nearly 300 in Division I, signed a white player from Gibbons' top 40.
"It isn't glaring until you think about it, and then you have to say, `By golly, that's right,' " Gibbons said. "I would identify it more with programs and the way their recruiting is structured than the black-and-white issue.
"If Phil Ford were the head coach at North Carolina, I think he would have a great shot at getting top 40 players of either race."
Yet, according to some, there is still much progress to be made.
"I just lost a 6-foot-10 kid who mentioned at some point to every member of our staff that the other school had nine white players and we only had three," said Southern California coach George Raveling, who is black. "He was concerned about whether he would be comfortable or not.
"I respected him for being honest like that, but my only response to something like that is, `Obviously, you don't have ambition to play in the NBA.' "
Minnesota coach Clem Haskins, who played with Chicago, Phoenix and Washington in a 10-year NBA career, said college basketball could learn a lot from the pros.
"When I started playing, the [unwritten] rule in the NBA was that you had five or six black players, max," Haskins said. "That was 25 years ago. Now, it's 80 percent-plus and they're still filling the arenas."
By most standards, Haskins has been successful in his recruitment of white players, one of whom, Kevin Lynch, recently was invited to try out for the U.S. National Team.
"A pretty good percentage of the players who have played for me have been white," said Haskins, who is black. "I started three white players last year and I don't know if there was a team in the SEC, for example, that started as many.
"I think it's a myth that just because a coach is black that he can't coach white players or recruit white players. People use that as a cop-out for not hiring a black coach; there's no doubt about that."
Haskins says he has been treated fairly and, unlike Raveling, cannot recall a time when he lost a player because of race.
"I would like to say I haven't," he said, "but over the years I probably have."
Oliver Purnell, who has completed three years at Radford University, had similar thoughts.
"I would suspect I have lost players over that, but I don't have any proof," said Purnell, who is black. "No one has come up and said anything, but in most cases no one would.
"In a way, I feel like kids who that knocks you out of the picture with are not the kind of young men you want in your program, but that's such a gray area. A lot of times, you don't have to sell the kids, [but] you have to sell the parents and in many cases they grew up in a different era and society."
Added Haskins: "Where I think you still have problems is with the white parents in the 50-and-over age category who feel they have to justify their kid's decision to their friends."
\ When the Black Coaches Association met at the Final Four in Denver, one of the chief topics of conversation was negative recruiting, at least some of it racial in nature.
"I think negative recruiting is [rampant]," Raveling said. "I don't think it's the head coaches so much as the assistant coaches. A lot of the young guys are overzealous. They try to take shortcuts. Most of them are terrible recruiters."
So, what exactly is negative recruiting?
"To say, `We were in the top 10 and they weren't,' is not negative recruiting in my mind," Raveling said. "An example of negative recruiting is to ask a recruit, `Do you think so-and-so is going to be fired?' or to say, `On this team's roster of 15 scholarship players, 11 are black.' "
Most of the time, said Augusta College coach Clint Bryant, it's a matter of innuendo.
"John Thompson [at Georgetown] has a reputation for not recruiting white kids," said Bryant, who is black. "I think a lot of that is based on style of play. Recruiters are so slick, so sophisticated. They say things like, `Are you sure you want to play that style?'
"My experience is, I haven't had any problem. My point guard, Brian Schmalls, is a heck of a player. He's white.
"We had a freshman this past year, Rob Harris, who we call `The Marine.' He's white, too. But this year we did not sign any white players.
"In my 15 years, I've noticed some people recruiting white players because they're good for the team picture or to make the alumni happy. But as long as my players are graduating and presenting a good image for the university, I don't see how anybody could have a problem. I don't want a white player just to have a white player.
"Before you can comment on a program, I think you have to know what players they went after and didn't get. Also, there are a number of white coaches with a majority of blacks or all-black teams. I think you have to look at those programs, too."
Said Raveling: "People are always on John Thompson [who is black], but nobody ever says anything about Brigham Young. If somebody can accept BYU's composition and not accept Georgetown's, then I would say that person is a racist. The fact is, John Thompson has probably had more white players than BYU has had black players."
\ Brigham Young coach Roger Reid has not had a black player since All-Western Athletic Conference selection Jeff Chatman wrapped up his career in 1987-88, but the Cougars will bring in two black scholarship players in the fall.
"I've been here 12 years," said Reid, who has completed his first season as head coach, "and I'd hate to count the money that has been spent on the unsuccessful recruiting of black athletes. It's come down to the nitty-gritty; we've stated our accomplishments and still I've seen kids pick Division II schools over us.
"I remember calling home from the road and my wife saying Jeff Chatman had called. I didn't have to ask what it was about. He wasn't coming. It had happened too many times. When I got in touch with him, I said, `Jeff, some people have been talking to you, haven't they?' Even his minister told him not to come here, but we got him anyway."
Reid said he is honest with recruits. He freely admits that Provo, Utah, and the Salt Lake City area do not have a large black population, but there are some misconceptions about the school and its connection with the Mormon Church.
"I'd say our home visits are practically even between black and white recruits, but [the perception] kills us," said Reid, who is white. "It's amazing, really, that Brigham Young has been able to sustain the kind of success it has. The obligations here are just like any other school. You don't have to be a member of the church. You don't have to go on a mission.
"I think I can empathize with some of the black coaches who feel they have been the victim of negative recruiting. But in a way, I think the situation is even harder for us because such a small percentage of the top players are white."
As might have been expected, some coaches could not be reached for comment before and after the Memorial Day holiday. Jerry Tarkanian, who guided Nevada-Las Vegas to the 1990 NCAA championship, did not return a phone call. Denny Crum of Louisville was out of town, as was Georgetown's Thompson.
Billy Tubbs, whose Oklahoma program has been built largely with black players, said race has not been a factor in his recruiting.
"You have to keep in mind we have not had much success with top 40 players, period," Tubbs said. "We got a questionnaire back from [North Carolina signee Eric] Montross [who is white]; we're going to go after the best players and color is not a factor. We have no quotas."
One of the most interesting responses came from Louisville assistant coach Jerry Jones, who has been with the Cardinals for 18 of Crum's 19 seasons. Louisville's most prominent white player during that time has been Jeff Hall, a double-figure scorer on the 1986 NCAA championship team.
"I can only speak of our situation," said Jones, who is white. "In the past, we have not had the facilities to attract the top white players. All of those schools you mention [North Carolina, Indiana, Kentucky] are in college-town environments. We are an urban university. We don't have an elaborate practice facility, or offices or dormitories.
"You put Bobby Knight or Dean Smith in Louisville, and I think the team's makeup would be a lot like Coach Crum's. There are certain kids we don't even recruit because we think [the environment] is going to cost us in the end.
"It's a matter of where you are instead of who you are."
\ When he was at Iowa from 1984-86, Raveling signed big man Al Lorenzen, who was rated one of the top 40 players in the country by almost every scouting service. As a high school junior, Lorenzen, who is white, made an oral commitment to Raveling's predecessor, Lute Olsen. But it was up to Raveling to close the deal.
"I would say that maybe one half - and probably no worse than one third - of my home visits have been to white players," Raveling said. "I don't think the situation is unique to black coaches. I remember, years ago, Tark [Tarkanian] telling me that you had to be careful because, once you had an all-black team, it was hard to get white players."
The situation, Raveling could have added, is not unique to basketball.
"The problem is broader than recruiting," Purnell said. "It's a societal problem. There's no need to have your head buried in the mud about it."
Nevertheless, some coaches shied away from discussing the issue.
"Whenever you start talking about issues of race, you're getting into affirmative action and people get queasy about it," said Tech's Allen. "As far as my situation, if a player's black or white and fits my need, I'm going to recruit him. I'd better get some guys who can win me some ballgames. If I'm recruiting for the team picture, I'm in trouble."
As a longtime assistant to Charlie Moir, Allen had a hand in the recruitment of several prominent prospects, white and black. As a head coach, he did not land a white recruit until Johnny Tooley, a transfer from Arkansas-Little Rock, committed to the Hokies on Friday.
"Over three years, I guess I haven't signed a white player, but I hadn't really thought about it," said Allen. "I really hadn't. I'll be honest with you, being on [NCAA] probation, our pool hasn't been very big to begin with. Lots of kids, not just white kids, did not have Virginia Tech on their lists.
"I've gone into homes every year, [visiting] white kids as well as black, and the reception from some of the white kids has been excellent. We've extended scholarship offers and even when they weren't accepted, I didn't leave there thinking they didn't go to Virginia Tech because Tech has a black head coach or black players.
"There's been a lot of discussion in the media about the rollover clause in my contract and, if you're talking about negative recruiting, I'm more concerned about those perceptions than I am about whether I'm black or white."
\ Is there any purpose to be served by white players playing for black coaches, black players playing for white coaches, even men playing for women, which is another issue that has been raised recently?
Some coaches, perhaps most coaches, believe there is.
"At a university like Virginia Tech, which is predominantly white, you should not be looking for quotas, but you should, in your composition, have whites involved," Allen said. "Basically, you should have balance."
Bryant, at Augusta, said he surprised one of his players when he identified country singer Hank Williams Jr. when a tune came on the tape deck the team brings on road trips.
"It was a black player," Bryant said. "He asked, `How can anybody like country music?' I asked him, `What's your major?' He said, `Business,' and I told him, `Well, you might be in Dallas trying to swing a $1 million deal and some country music might come on the radio. If you know it's Hank Williams Jr., who knows who you might impress?'
"I'm not trying to do things proportionately. I'm not looking for 10 [black players] and two [white players], or eight and four, or whatever. But I think it can be healthy. As we talk about how to integrate black players on predominantly white campuses, we in athletics have a lot to offer."
Some would consider it a breakthrough if a top white player signed with a black coach, "but I wouldn't want a white player to play for a coach because he is black any more than I would want a kid not to play for a coach because he's black," Haskins said.
Change may not be coming soon enough to suit some, but it appears to be coming.
"The more commonplace black head coaches become, the harder it will become to place a stigma on going to play for a black head coach," Purnell said. "I think we have seen more and more coaches like John Thompson, Nolan Richardson and Clem Haskins on TV, and that's where impressions are molded."
As Bryant put it: "With the increase in black head coaches in the past five years, I think we'll see soon enough where the train is headed."
by CNB