[olldflame]

Is it just me, or is anyone else concerned about the shrinking diversity of our WBB roster?

Please don't get me wrong, this is not meant to be critical either of the young women currently on campus, the new recruits, or our coaches. But....... IMHO, one of the strengths of this program which led to 10 straight NCAA teams was the presence of a mixture of international and African-American student-athletes along with the suburban/small town white ladies. It has been mentioned before that Jamie Hall has pronounced so many Eastern European names, he could probably teach a course in it. Egle is the last holdover from the Lithiuanian connection and the last international on the roster. We have no returning African American players, and none among the freshmen which have been announced for this year, although I believe Avery Warley, who is now on the roster may be. (haven't seen a pic) Neither of the new verbal committments are going to change this pattern.

Any thoughts??

[TIMSCAR20]

Of course Race is a sensitive issue to discuss in any forum but you are correct in your assessment that there are 0 returning black players on this year's team. Avery Warley and I spoke during her recruiting process and I can assure you she is black. I really hope they recruit a more diverse group in the future because it is important socially if nothing else. I can't tell you why there is such a dearth of minorities but I don't think it is intentional. Maybe Alexis Sherrard can recruit some more minorities in the future. We shall see.

[bigsmooth]

wow! someone else sees it too.

[olldflame]

I can't emphasize enough that my concern is NOT merely over a ratio of black to white, but rather what appears to be on the surface an extremely homogenous group in general. Of course I do not know these ladies personally, and I'm sure there are dramatic differences in personality, family background and upbringing, etc. which is also part of diversity.

From a strictly basketball perspective, I think we benefited in the past from the strengths the different athletes brought from the different styles of basketball they grew up playing, ranging from European to suburban to inner-city. In addition, a diverse group is beneficial to the athletes socially and presents an image to the public which is more consistent IMHO of what LU represents.

Of course there are other programs at LU which have little or no minority representation, but that can be explained by a general lack of minority participation in those sports at every level. It is a sad fact that many historically black universities have either dropped baseball, or have rosters dominated by white or latino players because they simply cannot find enough African American players who are legit college ballers to be competetive without going this route. This is clearly NOT the case with women's basketball.

I trust our staff, and believe they are placing the emphasis on recruiting athletes who can make us a better team and will fit in at Liberty. I'm just sayin...........

[bigsmooth]

great points olld.

[Sly Fox]

I think it is safe to assume the staff is doing its best to bring the best possible athletes to the program regardless of race. I think we walk a fine line of generalizations when we begin this discussion.

Al that said, I admit the same thoughts have crossed my mind lately.

[shukcb04]

i dont care what race my favorite teams have as long as they are good and run a respectable program. they could be freakin velociraptors for all I care

[TallyW]

I'm with you guys. While I don't want any of our coaches to be required to fall within an affirmative-action mindset, I think it's something that is likely on their minds. At this time I don't have any reservations about it simply because there is a recent track record that shows LU to be open and proactive with diversity over the last 10 years.

Rosters change each year and the positions for which we need players changes each year as well. The coaches will try to get the best player they can land at each position regardless of race and I'm very comfortable to believe that we're just in a weird cycle. The team is made of 4-5 year cycles of players (if any redshirt). So who knows, the following season we may bring in 3 or 4 foreign-born or players who are not Caucasian. I really just chalk it up to how the cycle hit us this past year or two, not to anything deeper.

As I posted about Samford's situation, that would seriously bother me. So while I don't want our coaches locked to some type of Affirmative Action... I do want coaches who are mindful of the issue. The players we field represent our school in more ways than how they play the game. Every poster we put out, every web advertisement, etc. sends a message about "Who is Liberty?" As long as we have coaches we trust to keep that in mind and who demonstrate their desire for a diverse program, I'm fine if the numbers have a flow based on seasons of recruitment. It will happen. There are plenty of schools who have nearly all African-American's in their basketball 7-8 man rotation. I'm okay with that so long as they are the best players that school was able to bring in.

[bigsmooth]

shuk why do you come into a discussion you know zero about?? over the history of the LU womens hoops program their have been very few black players. i am in no way saying this coaching staff or others does not look for black athletes but im sure it enters their mind as tally said. i know there are black female christian athletes out there and it will probably take having 2-3 black players to possibly turn that tide. as you said shuk i do agree that i do not really care what color you are, it is something that as LU continues to grow they should be aware of as they strive for more diversity

[LUconn]

I'm 100% against of recruiting velociraptors. While extremely athletic, their arms are too short. I doubt one could even hold the ball.

[Cider Jim]

This discussion reminds me of the contrast of the last year's men's basketball coaches vs. this year's men's basketball coaches: last year, we had a white head coach and all black assistant coaches; this year, we have a black head coach and all white assistant coaches. Just an observation, that's all.

[thesportscritic]

my opinion is that coach green is from the acc before he took the job at liberty and in the acc there is a lot of diversity for the most part in women's college basketball. i would have thought he could bring in some black players consistently during his tenure but he hasn't brought in that many. it is very irritating to me in my opinion.

[RagingTireFire]

Honestly, to this point, I hadn't noticed. Maybe it's b/c I don't care what basketball players LOOK like.

[shukcb04]

shuk why do you come into a discussion you know zero about?? over the history of the LU womens hoops program their have been very few black players. i am in no way saying this coaching staff or others does not look for black athletes but im sure it enters their mind as tally said. i know there are black female christian athletes out there and it will probably take having 2-3 black players to possibly turn that tide. as you said shuk i do agree that i do not really care what color you are, it is something that as LU continues to grow they should be aware of as they strive for more diversity

it doenst matter if you know or dont know the history of the program. the program is good, pretty darn good. i cant even begin to imagine why you'd want to fool around with a equation that already works. coach green brings in good players every year, and they win every year. why change that just to make the team be more colorful? give me good players and good people regardless of race.

[thesportscritic]

not all of the players were good shuk.

[shukcb04]

I'm 100% against of recruiting velociraptors. While extremely athletic, their arms are too short. I doubt one could even hold the ball.

imagine the tremendous upside potential they could have though! if you could teach them how to hold a ball, they could easily dunk it without a problem, and you know just about everyone will be scared to death if they had to play against one. they could make you do if they developed well!

[shukcb04]

not all of the players were good shuk.

i never said they were all good

[bigsmooth]

some of you people miss the whole point of the thread.

[pbow]

me and my roomate were talking about this the other day...i'm not saying it's a bad thing but it's hard to believe that a DI basketball team only has one black player on the team, i know coach green isn't racist at all, i just think it's strange

[Sly Fox]

Count me among those who get the point, smoothie.

[thesportscritic]

me and my roomate were talking about this the other day...i'm not saying it's a bad thing but it's hard to believe that a DI basketball team only has one black player on the team, i know coach green isn't racist at all, i just think it's strange

definitely agree with you pbow.

[RagingTireFire]

Count me among those who get the point, smoothie.

Count me among those who think the point is an anachronism.

[olldflame]

Count me among those who get the point, smoothie.

Count me among those who think the point is an anachronism.

Count me among those who think the 2 posts you have made on this thread are self-aggrandizing

[RagingTireFire]

Count me among those who get the point, smoothie.

Count me among those who think the point is an anachronism.

Count me among those who think the 2 posts you have made on this thread are self-aggrandizing

Oooh, well you sure told me. Count me among those who couldn't give a mushroom (shitaki, that is) what you think about me, my posts or my relative aggrandizements.

one of the strengths of this program which led to 10 straight NCAA teams was the presence of a mixture of international and African-American student-athletes along with the suburban/small town white ladies

And here I thought it was the presence of good players.

Honestly, the fact that you guys (I assume you're all guys) are so concerned about "racial diversity" runs directly contrary to the point of what the concept of racial diversity is supposed to address in the first place. It's frankly Sharpton-esque.
I honestly never noticed until you pointed it out and I'm honestly disappointed in some of my fellow alumni and I've honestly lost whatever middling respect could be mustered on a message board for at least two of you. A third I never had respect for in the first place so there's nothing lost there, I suppose.

So, to sum up, my good sir, please accept this polite invitation to bite me.

[shukcb04]

oh man, we might need some peer mediators on the board!

ragingthefire, i back your opinion full-heartedly!