Arica Nassar joins the Minnesota Gophers volleyball staff as assistant coach and recruiting coordinator, bringing overseas championship experience and a mission to increase representation in coaching.
Black women coaches
Posted inCoaching while Black
Black women coaches lead on and off the court at Final Four Summit
Black women coaches are honored at the BCA Final Four Summit as Ole Miss head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin continues to elevate women’s basketball on and off the court.
Posted inAnother View
Northwestern associate coach ready to step up
Tangela Smith’s basketball career spans the WNBA, international play, and now a leadership role as associate head coach at Northwestern.
Posted inBlack College Sports Report, Sports
Prairie View’s first-year women’ BB coach aims to create team’s identity
Tai Dillard begins her first season as Prairie View A&M’s head women’s basketball coach, bringing WNBA, Big 12, and SWAC experience to the program.
Posted inCoaching while Black
Representing Black excellence
Laura Dinkins is beginning her first head coaching role at Northern Arizona, returning to her alma mater after 15 years of Division I coaching experience in women’s basketball.
Posted inOdds and Ends
This ‘Diva’ can coach
Alabama A and M is the only HBCU on the Gopher women’s basketball schedule this season, and they are bringing a proven winner to The Barn. Head Coach Dawn E. Thornton, a Jackson State alum and accomplished recruiter, led the Bulldogs to a 21 and 11 record and a WNIT berth in her first season. Picked second in the SWAC, Alabama A and M features preseason SWAC Player of the Year Kalia Walker and a core of double digit scorers, giving local fans a rare chance to see a strong HBCU program and a Black woman head coach on the Williams Arena sidelines.
Posted inNews
Mankato volleyball standout now a winning Ph.D. coach
It’s been nearly a decade since Jennifer Jacobs left her native St. Paul for her first collegiate head volleyball coaching opportunity. “Can you believe I’m in my ninth season?” asked the Augustana (S.D.) University coach after her Vikings played at Concordia-St. Paul on the first Friday evening of October. “I moved there in ’17; ’18 […]
Posted inOdds and Ends
Courtney Paris’ player-to-coach transition came unexpected
Courtney Paris transitions into coaching with the Chicago Sky as Jade Hill earns a 2025 NCAA Woman of the Year nomination.
Posted inAnother View
Black women losing ground as WNBA head coaches
Seattle’s Noelle Quinn is the only Black woman head coach in the WNBA this season. Just two years ago, there were six Black head coaches in the league.
Posted inSports
Wrestling champ surprised to find herself coaching — and loving it
Kenya Sloan has been named the first women’s wrestling head coach at Delaware State. The national champ and undefeated high school athlete now leads the first HBCU program of its kind.
Posted inOdds and Ends
Women of color still “dramatically under-represented” in coaching
The 2024–25 Women in College Coaching Report Card shows women of color remain vastly underrepresented in NCAA head coaching roles—just 7.5% nationwide. Also: Garcia’s NBA Draft status and Diamond Johnson’s 3XBA debut.
Posted inSports
Sistahood offers support in a competitive business
Because of the growing but still low number of Black female college basketball head coaches, a sistahood—a support lifeline whether formal or informal—does exist.
Posted inSports
Black women pass the coaching baton at Ohio State
For only the second time this year, a Big Ten school hired a Black female coach to succeed a retiring Black coach.
Posted inGophers/College, Sports
New Rutgers coach will build on Stringer’s legacy
‘Her life speaks volumes about the great woman that she is.’
Posted inSports
Stringer coaching tree bears fruit
Chelsea Newton is a proud branch on the Stringer coaching tree.
Posted inGophers/College, Sports
Black women making strides in coaching
Over a span of 10 days, we’ve witnessed three Black women coaches in action.
Posted inFeatured, Sports
Lack of women coaches due to ‘leaks’ in coaching pipeline
‘There’s something at the assistant coach level where women are dropping out. We need to understand why.’
Posted inSports
New documentary addresses sexism, racism in coaching
Game On: Women Can Coach, a University of Minnesota Tucker Center-TPT co-production that premiered in November, explores research, dispels false narratives, and celebrates female coaching pioneers.
Posted inSports
Black women coaches in college hoops rare as unicorns
Head Coach Lindsay Whalen and assistants Danielle O’Banion and Kelly Roysland, both former head coaches, answered questions posed by Tucker Center Co-Director Mary Jo Kane October 16 at the school’s Humphrey Center.