Paul Hewitt, head basketball coach at Georgia Tech and Lorenzo Romar, head basketball coach at the University of Washington, were honored with the Fritz Pollard '19 Award in a symposium at Sayles Hall Wednesday night.
Hewitt and Romar, who were honored as the Black Coaches Association's Male Coach of the Year of 2004 and 2005, respectively, also discussed the obstacles they overcame on their way to their current positions, their love of coaching and important issues concerning college basketball and collegiate sports in general.
Among the topics discussed was the number of minority coaches in college and professional sports. Kevin McNamara, the Providence Journal college basketball reporter who moderated the forum, cited recent statistics showing only five of the 119 Division I-A football coaches were black and that about half of the 50 college basketball coaching positions vacated at the end of this season had been held by minorities. Both coaches found the statistics alarming.
"It's embarrassing to (college) administrators, it's embarrassing to athletic directors and it's embarrassing to everyone associated with D I-A to have only five black (football) coaches, and maybe only 10 ever," Hewitt said. "Something has to be done about that, and it starts with the interview process." He added that he hopes the recent firings or resignations of three black coaches that made national postseason tournaments was only a "coincidence."
Romar agreed with Hewitt, saying it is difficult enough for anyone to get a head coaching job because of intensity and pressure of college basketball programs.
"There should be an opportunity for (minorities) to get positions," Romar said.
The coaches also spoke about less contentious issues, like the recent parity of college basketball, which was illustrated last week when 11th-seeded George Mason University became the first double-digit seed since 1986 to reach the Final Four.
Romar said he believes the parity will continue because of the new NBA rule requiring players be 19-years-old or at least one year removed from graduating high school.
"Some of the lesser-known schools are going to get a chance to advance," he said.
But Hewitt disagreed, saying star high school players who would have jumped immediately to the NBA before would now choose to play only in elite basketball programs. However, he said, overall, the rule is beneficial to both high school players, who might discover that they love college, and to NBA teams, who will have a chance to further evaluate prospects.
The two coaches also discussed the myth of the academically slacking, poor-behaving student-athlete, saying it is overblown.
"When (student-athletes) make mistakes and it's publicized on television, it gets blown out of proportion," Romar said.
Hewitt said while there are some student-athletes "who will take the easy way out," he believes that "the vast majority do their best to get the most of their education."
In addition to honoring Hewitt, who led the Yellow Jackets to the NCAA championship game in 2004, and Romar, who has led the Huskies to two consecutive Sweet 16 appearances, Wednesday night's ceremonies also honored Pollard, who was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2005.
The Fritz Pollard Award was established in 2004 when Brown and the Black Coaches Association joined to co-sponsor an annual award for the male college coach of the year. The night's ceremonies included a presentation about Pollard, a star running back who led Brown to its first and only Rose Bowl in 1916. Pollard then played in the National Football League, where he became the league's first black quarterback and head coach.
After the symposium, Hewitt and Romar told The Herald in brief interviews that they felt honored to be associated with Pollard's name.
"It's an honor," Hewitt said, adding that he found it "extremely interesting" to come to Brown and to learn about the obstacles Pollard overcame to become football's first black coach.
"(I feel) honored, privileged, overwhelmed," Romar said. "Being associated with what Fritz Pollard has done is just overwhelming. When you're young, you just don't know if you'll ever be in the position to represent something like this."
