West Coast Conference Implements “The Russell Rule”

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  • ZagDad84
    Zag for Life
    • Dec 2014
    • 5934

    West Coast Conference Implements “The Russell Rule”

    From the Slipper Still Fits:

    West Coast Conference Implements “The Russell Rule”
    It is the first conference-wide diversity hiring commitment in Division I sports.
    By Peter Woodburn @wernies
    Aug 3, 2020, 8:54am PDT

    The West Coast Conference announced today the adoption of the “Russell Rule,” a commitment to diversity hiring practices named after WCC and NBA star Bill Russell. It is the first conference-wide diversity hiring commitment in Division I sports.

    The Russell Rule is similar to the Rooney Rule in the NFL. Each member of the WCC is required to include a person from a traditionally underrepresented community in the pool of final candidates for athletic director, senior administrator, head coach, and full-time assistant coach positions.

    The WCC, which is currently led by Gloria Nevarez, the first latinx D-1 commissioner, is better off than most conferences in the first place. Of the 10 schools in the conference, four of the 10 men’s basketball coaches are Black. However, even that number is not enough representation, nor does it include athletic directors, administrators, of assistant coaches.

    As Rob Dauster wrote earlier this year, during the 2017-18 season, 53.6 percent of D-1 men’s basketball players were Black, but only 29.2 percent of head coaches were Black. If you took out historically black colleges/universities, that number dropped to 24.1 percent.

    The Pac-12, for example, has zero Black basketball head coaches for the first time since 1970.
    Article Link: https://www.slipperstillfits.com/202...ssell-rule-dei

    To read more about the program, Myron Medcalf with ESPN has a great round-up that you can read here: https://www.espn.com/college-sports/...ity-candidates

    ZagDad
  • ZagDad84
    Zag for Life
    • Dec 2014
    • 5934

    #2
    The WCC is getting some national attention for adopting the Russell Rule. While most of the major sports publications and websites have simply re-quoted the WCC press release, here is an editorial from a contributing writer at ESPN who congratulates the WCC and encourages other conferences to follow suit.

    West Coast Conference to be applauded for new "Russell Rule," race and gender report card
    Richard Lapchick
    Contributing Writer, ESPN.com

    As the world of sports tries to deal with the aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis and the racial reckoning at the same time, the West Coast Conference stepped forward with an unprecedented move Monday by requesting a racial and gender report card for its league.

    I applaud the West Coast Conference and its commissioner, Gloria Nevarez, the first and only Latinx commissioner in Division I, for their boldness and leadership. It has made me even more determined to get other conferences to adopt their own racial and gender report cards and take other measures to lead to a more inclusive world of college sport.
    Lots of interesting background data in the article. Read the entire article here: https://www.espn.com/college-sports/...er-report-card

    ZagDad

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