KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) has joined the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) in supporting the West Coast Conference’s “Russell Rule.” The NABC’s Committee on Racial Reconciliation and the WBCA’s Social Justice Task Force recommended the associations support the initiative as a means of promoting diversity in the candidate pools when colleges fill coaching vacancies.
“The NABC commends the WCC on this forward-thinking initiative, and encourages other college athletics conferences to adopt similar policies,” said NABC Executive Director Craig Robinson. “Improving diversity among coaches and administrators in college athletics has long been a shared goal of the NABC and WBCA, and we believe the Russell Rule is a positive step in that direction.”
“The WBCA commends the West Coast Conference presidents and Commissioner Gloria Nevarez on their adoption of the ‘Russell Rule,’ “said WBCA Executive Director Danielle Donehew. “It is a groundbreaking initiative that member coaches of both the WBCA and NABC believe is a significant step in efforts to promote diversity in the hiring practices within intercollegiate athletics. We hope that all other collegiate conferences follow the WCC’s lead.”
Named for Boston Celtics great Bill Russell, who played collegiately for the University of San Francisco, a current West Coast Conference member, the “Russell Rule” is a conference-wide diversity hiring commitment that requires each WCC member institution 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. Announced on Aug. 3, the rule was unanimously adopted by the presidents of the league’s 10 member institutions.
