The racial disparity in head coaching hires is a well-known trend across the sports industry. A new study shows how that pattern extends to women’s basketball.

Between 1984-2020 — the period after women’s basketball took off in the wake of Title IX — white coaches have dominated new hires in the Power 5, the study found.

“Outside the HBCUs, African American head coaches are not afforded as many opportunities at high resourced universities,” the study said.

• Of the 172 women hired between 1984-2020 in the Power 5, 78.5% were white, about 20.9% of women hired were Black, and one coach identified as Latina.
• 63 of the 68 men hired were white.
• Zero coaches identified as Asian American, Pacific Islander, or Native/Indigenous.

Since 2006, hiring for white female coaches has declined — but white women still hold more positions than any other demographic.

Conversely, there’s been a “dramatic increase” in white male head coaches in women’s hoops since Title IX was enacted and the jobs became more enticing. 

“The increased number of head coaching opportunities afforded by Title IX has been beneficial to white men head coaches relative to all others,” the study said.

It’s a common assumption that coaches must have played at a high level in order to be qualified. But whether it’s a prerequisite in women’s college basketball depends on gender and race.

Data from the study — which combined HBCU and Power 5 programs — shows that women were essentially required to have played post-high school in order to lead a team, unlike their male counterparts.

The male coaches who needed the least amount of competitive playing time on their resumes were white men.

• 92.4% of women’s basketball coaches played basketball after high school. 
• Conversely, only 59.5% of male coaches played after high school. 
• Almost 90% of Black female coaches played Division I hoops, and 80% of Black male coaches played D-I basketball. But only ​23% of white male coaches did.

The study cited UConn coach Geno Auriemma as an example of this pattern, though he’s not currently a Power 5 or HBCU coach.

Auriemma didn’t play college basketball — but that didn’t keep him from rising through the ranks to become one of the winningest coaches of all time.

There is a sign of progress, however. The hiring numbers for both Black female and male coaches are on the rise, the study said. Even so, the barriers they’re facing are clear.