The SEC’s six African American women’s basketball coaches engage in a riveting dialogue about how they go about making a difference.
In conjunction with SEC Network, the Southeastern Conference continues its pursuit of dialogue about racial and social equality in sports with “Beyond the Whiteboard: SEC Coaches Conversation.” Debuting on Monday, Feb. 22 at 8:30 p.m. ET, Maria Taylor sits with seven Black women who are head women’s basketball coaches in the SEC: Nikki Fargas (LSU), Nikki McCray-Penson (Mississippi State), Yolett McPhee-McCuin (Ole Miss), Dawn Staley (South Carolina), Joni Taylor (Georgia) and Terri Williams-Flournoy (Auburn). Featured discussion topics include racial injustice, Black women in leadership on and off the court, the importance of trailblazers in the sport and more. Kyra Elzy, who was announced as the Kentucky head coach after the interviews took place, also provides her perspective.
In the summer of 2020, the SEC was among many around the world witnessing the unrest and demonstrations in countless cities and communities after the deaths of African American men and women in Minneapolis, Louisville and Brunswick, Georgia. Those events ignited a movement around the equitable treatment of all historically underrepresented individuals, and African Americans in particular.
At that time, the SEC took steps to gather and understand perspectives from a range of stakeholders, including student-athletes, presidents and chancellors, directors of athletics, senior woman administrators, faculty athletics representatives, various sport head coaches, mental health professionals and the SEC staff – ultimately establishing the SEC Council on Racial Equity and Social Justice in response. For more information, go to www.secsports.com/equality.
