ATLANTA (Oct. 27, 2020) — The Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) and the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) today jointly endorsed the Athletic Director U Collegiate Coaching Diversity Pledge. The endorsement comes as a recommendation from the WBCA’s Social Justice Task Force and the NABC’s Committee on Racial Reconciliation in their continued efforts to advocate for diversity in coaching positions.
The Collegiate Coaching Diversity Pledge (CCDP) is an opt-in pledge by Division I athletic directors to include a diverse group of candidates in the finalist pool for head coach vacancies in men’s basketball, women’s basketball and football. To maintain compliance with the CCDP, athletic directors must have a finalist pool that includes at least one candidate from a traditionally underrepresented background and one non-diverse candidate.
“The WBCA and our Social Justice Task Force encourage athletics directors to commit themselves and their institutions to the Collegiate Coaching Diversity Pledge,” said WBCA Executive Director Danielle Donehew. “We look forward to the day that athletics administrators and coaches nationwide are as wondrously diverse as the athletics programs they oversee and the student-athletes they coach.”
“Improving diversity in college athletics continues to be a priority for the NABC and our Committee on Racial Reconciliation, and we are proud to support those who share this goal,” said NABC Executive Director Craig Robinson. “The Collegiate Coaching Diversity Pledge has the potential to make a lasting impact on our industry. We encourage all athletic directors to take the pledge on behalf of their institutions.”
In August, the WBCA and NABC jointly endorsed the West Coast Conference “Russell Rule,” a diversity hiring commitment that requires each WCC member to include a member of a traditionally underrepresented community in the pool of final candidates for every athletic director, senior administrator, head coach and full-time assistant coaching position in its athletic department.
About the WBCA
Founded in 1981, the Women's Basketball Coaches Association is the professional association for coaches of women's and girls' basketball at all levels of competition. The WBCA offers educational resources that coaches need to help make themselves better leaders, teachers and mentors to their players; provides opportunities for coaches to connect with peers in the profession; serves as the unifying voice of a diverse community of coaches to those organizations that control the game; and celebrates those coaches, players and other individuals who excel each year and contribute to the advancement of the sport. Visit WBCA.org for more details about the Association.
About the NABC
Located in Kansas City, MO, the NABC was founded in 1927 by Phog Allen, the legendary basketball coach at the University of Kansas. Allen, a student of James Naismith, the inventor of basketball, organized coaches into this collective group to serve as Guardians of the Game. The NABC currently has nearly 5,000 members consisting primarily of university and college men’s basketball coaches. All members of the NABC are expected to uphold the core values of being a Guardian of the Game by bringing attention to the positive aspects of the sport of basketball and the role coaches play in the academic and athletic lives of today’s student-athletes. The four core values of being a Guardian of the Game are advocacy, leadership service and education. Additional information about the NABC, its programs and membership, can be found at www.nabc.com.