Daymond John: NCAA Tournament 'Is The Modern-Day Version Of Slavery’

Shark Tank star Daymond John spoke with TMZ Live on Friday and condemned the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) March Madness tournament calling it “modern-day slavery.” Watch his comments below.

Hubert Davis becomes first African American coach in North Carolina's men's basketball history

North Carolina has promoted longtime assistant Hubert Davis to replace Roy Williams as the Tar Heels' new head basketball coach, the school announced Monday. That makes Davis the first African American coach in North Carolina's men's basketball history.

Davis has been an assistant coach under Williams for the past nine seasons in Chapel Hill and was one of the favorites as soon as the job opened.

"I am honored and humbled to be given the opportunity to lead this program," Davis said in a statement released by the school. "I would not be here without Coach Dean Smith, Coach Bill Guthridge and Coach Roy Williams; they taught me so much -- and I'm eager to walk their path in my shoes and with my personality. I also would not be here without Chancellor [Kevin] Guskiewicz and Bubba Cunningham. I appreciate their faith in me and I look forward to working closely with them."

"I love this University. I played here, I earned my degree here, I fell in love with my wife here, I got married here, I moved here after I retired from the NBA and I have raised my family here," Davis said. "I am proud to lead this team, and I can't wait for all that comes next."

A Virginia native, Davis played for Smith at North Carolina from 1988 to 1992 before being a first-round NBA draft pick by the New York Knicks. He spent 12 seasons in the NBA with six organizations. Davis also spent time as a college basketball analyst for ESPN.

[SOURCE: ESPN]

Mike Woodson hired as the Indiana University Basketball Coach

Indiana has hired legendary former Hoosier and current New York Knicks assistant Mike Woodson as its next coach, the program announced on Sunday. Woodson will replace Archie Miller, who was fired this month after failing to reach the NCAA Tournament in four seasons on the job.

Woodson, 63, is an Indiana native who scored more than 2,000 points in his college career while playing for legendary coach Bob Knight. He then played for over a decade in the NBA and has spent the last 25 years as an NBA coach.

Woodson averaged 19.8 points per game during his four-year Indiana career even though there was no 3-point line. He was selected 12th overall in the 1980 NBA Draft.

Woodson will became just the latest storied former college player to accept the head coaching job at his alma mater despite lacking collegiate head coaching experience.

Michigan is thriving under second-year Juwan Howard, Georgetown just reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time under fourth-year coach Patrick Ewing and Memphis just won the NIT under third-year coach Penny Hardaway.

[SOURCE: CBS SPORTS]

Seton Hall and Prudential Center to host 2025 NCAA Regional in Newark NJ

Seton Hall University and Prudential Center in Newark NJ have been selected to host an NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament regional in 2025, the NCAA announced Wednesday as part of its unveiling of more than 450 selections of host sites for preliminary rounds and final sites of predetermined championships in Divisions I, II and III, with most to be held from 2022-23 through 2025-26. The regional will take place March 27 and 29 in 2025.

In response to the news, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka Tweeted:

Happy to have @NCAA #MarchMaddness return to Newark in 2025!!!

This will be the first NCAA men's basketball tournament site in the state of New Jersey since Prudential Center and Seton Hall hosted the East Regional in 2011. Seton Hall is one of six BIG EAST schools to receive a men's basketball tournament site in this cycle, joining Creighton, Georgetown, Marquette, Providence and St. John's.

The proud home arena for Seton Hall men's basketball, Prudential Center was ranked a top-10 venue in the U.S. earlier this year and annually hosts the biggest names in entertainment and sports.

The NCAA sports committees made the nearly 450 selections of host sites based on criteria that included the ability to create an outstanding experience for student-athletes, along with adherence to NCAA sport-specific bid specifications.

Specifications can include, but are not limited to, providing optimal facilities; ease of travel to the location and ample lodging; and adherence to NCAA principles, which include providing an atmosphere that is safe and respects the dignity of all attendees.

Keith Gill becomes first-ever African-American FBS conference commissioner

The Sun Belt Conference made history with the hiring of its new commissioner.

The league announced Tuesday that it has hired Keith Gill to replace the retiring Karl Benson. Gill, most recently the executive associate commissioner of the Atlantic 10, becomes the first-ever African American commissioner of an FBS conference. The FBS represents the highest level of Division I athletics.

Read the announcement below:


The Sun Belt Conference announced on Tuesday that Keith Gill has been named the league’s sixth commissioner.

“On behalf of the Sun Belt Conference’s presidents and chancellors, I am delighted to announce the appointment of Keith Gill as the next commissioner of the Sun Belt Conference,” said Georgia State and Sun Belt President Dr. Mark P. Becker.  “Keith is a proven leader with deep experience across the many dimensions of intercollegiate athletics.  Combining that with his passion, integrity and enthusiasm, Keith will be an outstanding leader as the Sun Belt continues on its rising trajectory.”

“I am honored and excited to have been selected as the Commissioner of the Sun Belt Conference and I am grateful to President Becker and all of the Sun Belt presidents and chancellors for allowing me this opportunity,” said Gill.  “I look forward to serving and working with them, their outstanding institutions, the administrators and coaches of the conference and the student-athletes that continue to push the Sun Belt to the pinnacle of intercollegiate athletics.”

With his appointment, Gill will become the first African-American commissioner of a NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision conference.

Gill replaces outgoing commissioner Karl Benson, who announced his decision to stepdown as commissioner this past August.  Benson, the only individual to be a commissioner of three I-A/FBS conferences, will begin to transition out of his role as it was mutually agreed that Gill’s start date will be May 1.

A veteran of intercollegiate athletics for nearly 25 years, Gill comes to the Sun Belt from the Atlantic 10 Conference where he currently serves as Executive Associate Commissioner.

At the A-10, Gill works directly with longtime commissioner Bernadette V. McGlade and serves as the primary liaison to the A-10 Men’s Basketball Advancement Committee which is responsible for identifying initiatives and strategies to ensure A-10 men’s basketball remains a top seven league and increases the number of A-10 at-large teams that annually advance to the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament. Gill supports the A-10’s digital and television broadcast strategy while also providing regular NCAA governance updates to the A-10 Council of Presidents.

Prior to his time at the A-10, Gill was a director of athletics for 10 years, serving at the University of Richmond for five years and American University for five years.

While at Richmond, he was appointed as the A-10's representative on the NCAA Council and served as the governing body's Vice Chair. He also was the Co-Chair of the NCAA Ad Hoc Transfer Issues Working Group in 2015. Gill was honored as an Under Armour Athletic Director of the Year by NACDA in 2015.

Under Gill's watch, Richmond's athletics programs won 14 conference championships and produced 19 All-Americans.  Additionally, the athletics department also made numerous improvements to its athletics facilities, including a complete renovation of the Spiders' basketball and multi-purpose arena, the Robins Center.

In five years at American, Gill led the athletics department to unprecedented heights, highlighted by 25 team conference championships, 16 individual conference champions and 25 All-Americans. In Gill’s first two seasons, the men’s basketball team won the Patriot League title, earning the school’s first-ever NCAA Tournament appearances in 2008 and 2009.

More than 250 American student-athletes flourished in the classroom under Gill’s guidance as 16 teams earned a combined grade point average over 3.0 for 23 consecutive semesters. In 2011-12, 121 student-athletes were named to the university’s Dean’s List as the department posted a combined 3.36 GPA.

Prior to his time at American, Gill spent three years at the University of Oklahoma from 2004-07.  In Norman, he oversaw major portions of Sooner athletics, including men’s basketball, women’s soccer and baseball, as well as the supervision of personnel, budgets, facilities, fundraising, student-athlete issues and the selection and evaluation of coaches for those sports. He worked with Director of Athletics Joe Castiglione and senior staff in overseeing the strategic and annual planning process for the department.

Prior to Oklahoma, Gill served two stints at the NCAA national office from 1995-99 and 2000-04. During his second tenure, he was in the role of director of membership services, developing and communicating policies related to Division I intercollegiate athletics, including governance, rules compliance, diversity, gender equity, academic integrity, student-athlete welfare, fiscal integrity, strategic planning, sportsmanship and legislation. Gill oversaw and ensured the effective operation of the athletics certification program and managed a staff of 35 that provided education and guidance to Division I institutions conducting their periodic self-studies. During his first stint at the NCAA office, Gill worked as a membership services representative.

Between his time at the NCAA office, Gill was an Assistant Director of Athletics at Vanderbilt University, working with the director of athletics to implement the annual planning process to help 16 athletics teams achieve their academic and competitive goals. He worked with the National Commodore Club and the major gifts, media relations and marketing staffs and the athletics committee as a part of the Vanderbilt Board of Trustees.

A 1994 graduate of Duke University with a bachelor’s degree in history and sociology, the Orlando, Fla., native was a four-year letterman in football. He received a Master's Degree from Oklahoma in 2006.

CAREER HISTORY:
NCAA, Membership Services Representative (1995-99)
Vanderbilt, Assistant Athletics Director (1999-2000)
NCAA, Director of Membership Services (2000-04)
Oklahoma, Senior Associate Athletics Director (2004-07)
American University, Director of Athletics and Recreation (2007-12)
Richmond, Director of Athletics (2013-17)
Atlantic 10 Conference, Executive Associate Commissioner (2017-19)

NATIONAL COMMITTEES AND SERVICE:
NCAA Division I Council (2015-18)
NCAA Division I Council; Vice Chair (2015-17)
NCAA Division I Competition Oversight Committee (2017-18)
NCAA Division I Board of Directors Sport Organizational Structure Working Group (2016)
NCAA Division I Council Ad Hoc Transfer Issues Working Group; Co-Chair (2015)
NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Committee (2009-12)
NCAA Division I Student-Athlete Reinstatement Committee (2005-08)
NCAA Football Rules Committee (2005-2007)
NACDA Executive Committee (2015-present)
NACDA Professional Development Committee (2015-present)
NACDA McClendon Foundation Steering Committee (2010-16)

WHAT THEY ARE SAYING:
Bernadette V. McGlade, Atlantic 10 Conference Commissioner
“Keith Gill has been an exceptional part of the A-10 team.  His leadership, experience and exceptional dedication are some of his finest qualities!  On behalf of the Atlantic 10 Conference I thank Keith for his service and have no doubt that he will be an asset to the Sun Belt Conference, continuing to build success for the conference in the future.”

Joe Castiglione, University of Oklahoma Director of Athletics
“Congratulations to the leadership of the Sun Belt Conference on selecting Keith Gill as their new Commissioner.  Simply put, they clearly and strategically positioned the league for continued success. Keith has always been very intentional about his preparation to lead from his days as a student-athlete at Duke through his professional journey at Vanderbilt, the NCAA, Oklahoma, American University, Richmond and the Atlantic-10 Conference.  Knowing his engaging communication style and big-picture thinking ability, his experiences have prepared him well to serve all the key stakeholders of the conference membership while building on the transformational vision and growth authored by his predecessor, the highly regarded Karl Benson.  I look forward to watching the great days ahead for the Sun Belt Conference.”

Mark Emmert, NCAA President
“In choosing Keith Gill as the new Sun Belt Commissioner the conference presidents have made an excellent decision.  Keith has established himself as a national leader in college athletics and will bring to the Sun Belt a wealth of knowledge, talent, and leadership. His work on campuses, conference offices, the NCAA national office, and leadership of the Division I Council all give him a remarkable background for this position.”

Bill Hancock, College Football Playoff Executive Director
"I have enjoyed knowing Keith since our days together in the NCAA national office.  He is a bright, energetic and savvy veteran of our business who will be yet another great leader for the Sun Belt, following in the footsteps of Vic Bubas, Jim Lessig, Craig Thompson, Wright Waters and Karl Benson.  And I look forward to working with Keith again, in his role as a member of the College Football Playoff management committee."

Greg Sankey, Southeastern Conference Commissioner
“Keith Gill is an outstanding leader and an even better person who will continue moving the Sun Belt Conference in to the future. His experience leading athletics departments, working on campuses in several conferences, and serving in the NCAA national office provide Keith with a depth of knowledge, experience and relationships that will benefit every Sun Belt member. I look forward to working with Keith and congratulate the Sun Belt Conference on selecting Keith Gill as its sixth commissioner.”

Congressional Black Caucus Urges the NCAA to Consider Reforming its Operating Model

On April 30, 2018 the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), led by CBC Chairman Cedric L. Richmond (D-LA-02), sent a letter to the National Collegiate Athletic Association, urging the organization to consider reforming its operating model since its current “state of play…may fail to properly serve a large component of the NCAA’s student-athletes.” 

The letter follows Chairman Richmond’s launch last month of the CBC NCAA Task Force and a staff-level meeting during the same month between the CBC and the NCAA. In the coming weeks, the CBC will bring experts to Capitol Hill to further explore a number of issues addressed in the letter, including whether student-athletes are truly given an opportunity to get an education, whether the NCAA is a monopoly, and whether student-athletes should benefit from a portion of the revenue they help generate. 

In the letter, Chairman Richmond wrote, “The NCAA’s operating model has become a liability for the organization, its student-athletes, coaches, member institutions, alumni, and other important stakeholders. The model has invited serious litigation, under-the-table payments, questionable recruiting practices, and now a criminal probe by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Our initial research has uncovered a number of items that we want to discuss with you. There are numerous issues that need further exploration by policymakers and by the public at large.” 

Secretary Condoleezza Rice, the Chair of the Commission on College Basketball, and Bill Hancock, the Executive Director of the College Football Playoff, were copied on the letter.

Full text of the letter is attached, online, and below. 

April 30, 2018

Mark Emmert
President

The National Collegiate Athletic Association
700 W. Washington Street
P.O. Box 6222
Indianapolis, Indiana 46206-6222

Dear Mr. Emmert:

On behalf of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) and its NCAA Task Force, I write you today to urge you and the member institutions that you represent to seriously consider whether reforms to the operating model of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) are needed. We are fans of college athletics and appreciate the competitive spirit and accomplishments of America’s student-athletes. That being said, the current state of play in the NCAA may fail to properly serve a large component of the NCAA’s student-athletes. We are encouraged that the Rice Commission has issued a series of important recommendations that, if adopted, could positively alter the current state of play. Given that the NCAA and its member institutions are now reviewing the report and its ideas for reform, the CBC views this as an opportune time to reflect on the fairness of the current approach. 

Now that you have crowned new national champions in college basketball, it is imperative that you and your members consider the talents and labors that made these occasions possible. College basketball players and their achievements provide significant revenues for the NCAA and its members. If you add the revenues driven by the efforts of NCAA college football players, these two cohorts of student-athletes produce the overwhelming majority of college athletics-related revenue. Under this arrangement, these athletes also drive the revenues that pay for massive coaching salaries and for high-value investments in athletic facilities and playing fields. It is not an embellishment to say that these athletes drive the economics of the NCAA itself. 

The NCAA’s operating model has become a liability for the organization, its student-athletes, coaches, member institutions, alumni, and other important stakeholders. The model has invited serious litigation, under-the-table payments, questionable recruiting practices, and now a criminal probe by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Our initial research has uncovered a number of items that we want to discuss with you. There are numerous issues that need further exploration by policymakers and by the public at large. 

Last month, the CBC formed an NCAA Task Force to study the NCAA’s operating model in order to determine whether policies are needed to ensure fairness in the relationship between student-athletes and the NCAA’s member institutions, including the economic well-being of the student-athletes. We will be performing extensive research, engaging in conversations, and bringing experts to Capitol Hill to explore these topics in further detail. We welcome your participation in a dialogue about the NCAA’s operating model, including your views on its benefits and shortcomings. We invite you and other important stakeholders to engage us in frank conversation in furtherance of our ultimate goal: thoughtful conclusions that we hope can bring about meaningful reforms if significant shortcomings are discovered.

We encourage you to engage us in a transparent exploration as we ask pertinent questions, including, but not limited to, the following: 

1. Does the NCAA’s emphasis on “amateurism” promote student-athletes’ best economic, mental, physical and educational well-being?

2. Is the NCAA’s current operating model promoting economic and racial inequality in the United States of America?

3. Does the NCAA apply similar penalties for similar infractions across all members, including incidents at Historically Black Colleges and Universities?

4. Does the NCAA’s current operating model promote anticompetitive effects in the college athletics marketplace?

5. Does the current length of scholarships for student-athletes maximize learning opportunities for student-athletes?

6. Is the NCAA exercising monopolistic market power or creating a monopsony effect in the market for college football and basketball players?

7. Should the NCAA allow its student-athletes to benefit from a portion of the significant revenue that they help generate?

8. Does the NCAA offer sufficient opportunities for its student-athletes to support themselves economically outside of their role as student-athletes?

9. Does the NCAA’s current distribution of revenue add value to the delivery of educational services for a high percentage of member institutions?

10. Does the NCAA audit or monitor revenue distributions to member institutions to ensure that they are being utilized for their intended purposes?

11. Do university athletic departments operate with sufficient oversight and accountability?

12. Does the NCAA have a responsibility to its student-athletes after their time as an athlete concludes?

13. How might changes to the NCAA’s operating model affect the ability of member institutions to finance NCAA sports programs that fail to generate sufficient revenue?

These are several of the many questions we will be asking relevant stakeholders in the weeks and months to come. We look forward to a dialogue with the NCAA and its leadership and invite you to come and meet with the CBC’s NCAA Task Force for an introductory conversation. We look forward to working with you to ensure that America’s student-athletes are well protected and provided for. 

Sincerely,

Cedric L. Richmond

CC: Secretary Condoleezza Rice, Chair, Commission on College Basketball Bill Hancock, Executive Director, College Football Playoff

Lafayette College names Sherryta Freeman athletic director

Sherryta Freeman, who has spent more than 15 years as a senior level administrator at Temple, Penn and Dartmouth, has been named the new Lafayette College director of athletics, it was announced on Friday afternoon. Freeman will be formally introduced at a press conference on Jan. 2.

Freeman is set to take over in February, replacing Bruce McCutcheon, who announced his retirement Sept. 21 after 16 years as AD.

Freeman is senior associate athletic director and senior woman administrator at the University of Pennsylvania, where she has served as chief of intercollegiate athletics since 2016.

“I am excited to begin my work with student-athletes, coaches, staff, alumni, campus leaders and the entire Lafayette community. Together we can achieve academic and athletic excellence while providing the best experience for our student-athletes,” Freeman said in a release from the school.

“Being part of a championship culture is part of Sherryta’s background and I am confident she has the skills and energy to create that culture at Lafayette,” said Lafayette Vice President for Campus Life Annette Diorio, who chaired the search committee.

“I am delighted with the appointment of Sherryta Freeman, who brings great experience from great institutions. As a former championship varsity athlete herself, she understands how academic success and athletic success go hand in hand at colleges like Lafayette,” said Lafayette President Alison Byerly. “I am confident that Sherryta has the vision, passion and leadership to take Lafayette’s athletics programs to a new level.”

Freeman worked in multiple roles at Temple University, which competes at the FBS level in football. She was the senior associate AD from 2011-15, associate AD for compliance and student services from 2007-11 and the assistant AD for compliance from 2005-07.

Prior to Temple, Freeman realized her first administrative opportunity at her alma mater, Dartmouth College, serving as the assistant AD for compliance from January 2004 to August 2005. Her appointment at Dartmouth came a month before she completed her master’s degree in sport management from the University of Massachusetts and followed a six-month stint at Dartmouth as a compliance and event management assistant.

Freeman’s first foray into the collegiate athletic administration came at the Ivy League office from 2001-02, when she worked as a public information assistant in Princeton, N.J.

The native of Hillside, N.J., earned her undergraduate degree in environmental studies with a minor in African and African American studies from Dartmouth in 2001. She was a four-year varsity letter-winner in basketball and a member of two Ivy League championship teams which secured NCAA Tournament appearances in 1999 and 2000.

NAACP: NCCA should move softball tourney from Mississippi because of rebel flag

A civil rights group is asking the NCAA to move a regional softball tournament out of Mississippi because the state flag contains the Confederate battle emblem.

Mississippi NAACP president Derrick Johnson calls the emblem a “racial hate symbol.”

The University of Mississippi in Oxford is hosting an NCAA regional tournament Friday through Sunday, based on the team’s performance.

Since 2001, the NCAA has not scheduled a “pre-selected championship,” such as a football bowl game, in a state where the rebel flag flies prominently. However, the NCAA allows schools in those states to host events in which the team earns a home field advantage.

The NCAA praised South Carolina in 2015 for removing a Confederate battle flag from the statehouse. The collegiate sports group called the flag a “symbol of racism.”

[SOURCE: WREG.COM]

Dawn Staley leads South Carolina women to NCAA women's basketball championship!

Dawn Staley didn't win an NCAA title as a player, although she went with Virginia to the Women's Final Four three times. She has finally won her college championship, as the coach of the South Carolina Gamecocks! She becomes the second black woman to coach a team to a women's championship. Carolyn Peck coached Purdue to a championship in 1999.

For the first time in four years, women’s college basketball has a new top team and it wears garnet and black. The South Carolina women’s basketball team is the new national champion, winning a national title for the first time in program history.

The Gamecocks beat Mississippi State 67-55 in Dallas on Sunday afternoon, completing the run through the postseason all the way to the crown in Dawn Staley’s ninth season.

USC made the whole run without senior center Alaina Coates, who missed the NCAA Tournament with an ankle injury. But what the Gamecocks had was more than enough — and all of it is expected back next season.

Junior forward A’ja Wilson led the Gamecocks with 23 points, while Allisha Gray — the star against Stanford on Friday in the Final Four — again came up huge for South Carolina with 18 points.

Read more: CHAMPS! South Carolina women’s basketball wins first national title

Willie Taggart named head football coach of Oregon Ducks

EUGENE, Ore. — Willie Taggart, one of college coaching's brightest offensive minds and a proven winner, will be introduced as Oregon's next head football coach at a press conference Thursday morning in the Hatfield-Dowlin Complex.

Taggart, 40, coached South Florida to a school-record 10-2 regular-season mark this fall, three years after the Bulls went 2-10. He will be the 33rd head coach in UO football history, and will have the distinction of being the football program's first African-American head coach.

"We are thrilled to welcome Willie, his wife, Taneshia, their sons, Willie Jr. and Jackson, and their daughter, Morgan," UO athletic director Rob Mullens said. "Willie places an emphasis on ensuring a positive student-athlete experience and on winning, and his previous stops have proven his success at both. We have a very bright future under his leadership."

Mullens will introduce Taggart at a press conference Thursday in the main theater of the HDC at 11 a.m. The event will be streamed live on Facebook and Twitter via the GoDucks accounts.

"I am grateful for the trust that President Schill and Rob Mullens have put in me to be the next head coach of the Oregon football program, and I thank them for the opportunity," Taggart said. "Oregon has a strong national presence and a proud recent history of playing among the nation's elite, and I look forward to the challenge of upholding the excellence.  I can't wait to get started."

"I want to congratulate Willie Taggart on becoming the University of Oregon's next head football coach, and welcome him and his family to the flock," UO president and professor of law Michael H. Schill said. "I am confident that Coach Taggart fits with the UO's values and culture of excellence as it relates to supporting our student-athletes' personal growth and success both on and off the playing field.

"I also want to recognize athletic director Rob Mullens for his hard work and dedication over the last few weeks. He did not have an easy task, but he's delivered a wonderful outcome and hired a great coach. Welcome Coach Taggart, and go Ducks!"

A 1998 graduate of Western Kentucky, Taggart began his coaching career as an assistant with his alma mater from 1999-2006. He then spent three seasons as an assistant to Jim Harbaugh at Stanford from 2007-09, coaching running backs and helping Toby Gerhart win the 2009 Doak Walker Award.

Taggart returned to Western Kentucky as head coach in 2010, taking over a program that had lost 20 straight games and leading the Hilltoppers to their first bowl bid in 2012. Taggart then took over at South Florida and has the Bulls in their second straight bowl game this fall.

With Taggart calling plays in the "Gulf Coast Offense," South Florida finished the regular season seventh nationally in scoring offense (43.6) and fifth in yards per play (7.29). The Bulls also boast the nation's fifth-best rushing offense at 291.75 yards per game, and they have 29 explosion plays of 40 yards or more, third-most in the FBS.

Southern wins SWAC championship: Advances to NCAA Tournament

The Southern Jaguars defeated the Jackson State Tigers 54-53 in a thrilling finish to win the SWAC championship and advance to the NCAA Tournament. The coach's son, Trelun Banks, scored a game-high 19 points for the Jaguars.

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon statement on Missouri players boycotting games

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon has released a statement on Missouri players boycotting games and practice. Read that statement below.

"Racism and intolerance have no place at the University of Missouri or anywhere in our state," he said. "Our colleges and universities must be havens of trust and understanding. These concerns must be addressed to ensure the University of Missouri is a place where all students can pursue their dreams in an environment of respect, tolerance and inclusion."

African American college coaches form group to address minority hires

A group of prominent black coaches headlined by Tubby Smith and Shaka Smart are forming an organization to address the dwindling numbers of minority head coaches in college basketball.

The National Association for Coaching Equity and Development is in response to the dissolution of the Black Coaches Association. Ten years after minority coaches held more than 25 percent of the jobs across the country, the percentage dropped to 22 percent last year. And another 12 minority coaches have been fired this season.

As the NCAA's crown jewel — the men's Final Four — descends on Indianapolis this weekend with all four teams coached by white men, Smith, Smart, John Thompson III and a growing list of some of the game's most accomplished coaches say they are answering the call from those who came before them to speak up with authority and address the issues that have bubbled back to the surface.

"There hasn't been a voice for people speaking out and saying, 'Look, what are you all doing administratively? What's this about? Why has this all happened?' And question it," Smith, who won a national title at Kentucky and now coaches at Texas Tech, told The Associated Press.

Smith was one of the charter members of the Black Coaches Association, a once-powerful group headed by trail blazers like John Thompson, George Raveling and John Chaney to kick down the doors that colleges and universities slammed in the faces of minority coaches.

So it pained him to watch the BCA lose its influence in recent years while struggling to come up with funding from the NCAA and other sources. As the BCA started to disappear, so have the opportunities for black coaches across the country.

The new group, the National Association for Coaching Equity and Development, has more than 40 minority coaches on board and aims to replace the now-defunct BCA as the most influential advocate to push schools to give candidates of color more consideration for head coaching jobs. It also wants to better prepare the younger generation of coaches to succeed in those jobs and help athletes gain admission to college and excel when they get there.

Read more: Top college coaches form group to address minority hires

The 4 African American coaches to win NCAA Basketball Tournament championship.

First let me say congratulations to Kevin Ollie and the UConn Huskies for winning their fourth national championship by beating Kentucky 60-54. Not much was made of Kevin Ollie's race ( that's a good thing ) but that's because of those African American coaches that paved the way for him. Do you know who the other three black coaches to win NCAA national titles are? Find out below:

John Thompson: Georgetown Hoyas.

Thompson and his Hoyas beat Houston 84-75 in 1984 to win Georgetown's first national championship. The Hoyas would return to the national championship game the next year and lose in a classic game against Villanova.

Nolan Richardson: Arkansas Razorbacks.

Nolan Richardson would would the NCAA title in 1994 when his Razorbacks defeated Louisville 82-70. Nolan Richardson would get his team back to the final game in 1995 and lose to UCLA.

Tubby Smith: Kentucky Wildcats.

Tubby Smith would lead the Wildcats to a national championship in 1998 by beating Utah 78-69. The team would make the Elite Eight the next year.

Marcus Smart was wrong but so was the fan.

Let me make one thing very clear. Oklahoma State basketball player Marcus Smart was dead wrong for putting his hand on a Texas Tech fan during a game on Feb. 8. Under no circumstances should a player touch a spectator during a sporting event. I think we all understand that and trust me Marcus Smart will face the consequences of his actions.

Watch that video below:

But what saddens me is the pass that the fan who instigated the incident seems to be getting. The fact that the fan, Jeff Orr has been accused of using racial slurs has been downplayed while Marcus Smart's character and basketball future have been questioned.

As a culture we have devolved to the point where it's just not enough to boo or cheer a team or player. Far too many think that the purchase of a ticker allows them to curse at players, talk about their family members, talk negatively about a players life, and yes call players racial slurs. Many of these same people called Richard Sherman a thug but exhibit behavior much worse than anything he said at a ball game.

No matter how much money players make they deserve at the very least to be treated as human beings. The price of a ticket should not allow one to act in such a manner that would get their ass kicked if that behavior were anywhere else but a sporting venue. Either we are all to have decorum and abide by some sense of common decency or not. It can't be a one way thing.

Marcus Smart was wrong but he is also 19 years old whereas the fan was much older. Who should we really be putting the onus on to act like an adult in this situation? Who should we really be expecting more of?

George Cook AAreports.com