COLOMBIA – Frank Martin explained it better. People are vulnerable now. People are listening.
He is embracing this opportunity and hopes that college basketball will do the same with his proposals.
The National Association of Basketball Coaches created a racial reconciliation committee last month and named the South Carolina basketball coach as its co-chair. With the country still struggling with unrest over George Floyd’s death and the coronavirus pandemic, Martin, who handled COVID-19 and knee replacement surgery this summer, launched two initiatives.
Martin and his co-chair, Harvard coach Tommy Amaker, asked the NCAA to remove the SAT and ACT scores from the initial eligibility criteria. They also proposed that all four-year high school and college students complete at least one African-American history course to obtain a diploma.
“I believe that there is systemic racism. I think our country is organized in a way that is the rich and the poor, ”said Martin during a NABC webinar. “The rich find a way to get to a college campus. The dispossessed never have that opportunity. “
The argument against using standardized tests to determine college admission, said Martin, is flawed. He cited a story from a recent story at The Atlantic that delved into the creation of SAT as a means of maintaining racial purity, with the creator later admitting that the test results were a reflection of the socioeconomic background more than any type of genetic predisposition .
Martin recalled how coaches John Thompson, John Chaney and George Raveling struggled with admission standards in the 1980s and realized that college basketball is still struggling with the same problem 40 years later. Of Cuban descent, Martin could count.
“Guys like me, we keep quiet because we don’t want to irritate the system and lose our jobs,” he said. “We owe that (to the ex-coaches) because they faced systemic racism.”
Martin is also enthusiastic about the McLendon Minority Leadership Initiative, a move launched by Kentucky coach John Calipari. The name comes from John McLendon Jr., who integrated college basketball with “The Secret Game” when his team at North Carolina College (now NC Central) played against the team at Duke’s medical school in 1944.
The program will provide minorities with the opportunity to start their coaching and / or administrative careers.
“Now we are just moving forward and trying to do what we can to try to make it better for minorities, for people of color, for women, for everyone,” said Martin.
NABC Executive Director Craig Robinson, whose brother-in-law is former President Barack Obama, also contributed to the initial efforts.
“We feel that it is prudent for university athletics to address a standardized test framework that has long had disproportionately negative impacts on low-income students and minorities,” said Robinson in a statement.
Martin said earlier that he and his team had Zoom meetings about the Floyd situation and the consequences of protests across the country. Martin constantly thinks about reaching out to the young people on his team, not just being his coach.
He will continue his efforts to place his team in the community so that they can see what it is like for others who do not have the opportunity. They will befriend students in downtown schools and participate in camps at recreational centers.
Martin’s goal is to help people understand and empathize with what others are going through. Martin has been on both sides, from growing up with nothing and having a racial profile as a pilot, to being a rich and successful college basketball coach.
In his new role, Martin hopes to pass on these experiences to many others.
Follow David Cloninger on Twitter @DCPandC.