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Message: [QUOTE="TheFarmFan, post: 3114148, member: 9403"] So the most successful women's basketball coach in history (at the time) is offered a head coaching job of a (then-inferior) men's program, and that's evidence that for 99% of women, they stand an equal chance as a man of landing a job coaching men's basketball? The problem is that what constitutes "best qualified person" is based on inherently subjective factors. Will male players respond to a woman coach the same way? If not, and if she can't command the respect of her players, [I]doesn't that make a female applicant less qualified?[/I] Will male players be taunted by opponents for having "mom" coach them, and will it create distractions that affect performance? If so, and her presence as head coach creates distractions, [I]doesn't that make a female applicant less qualified?[/I] Will coaches of other programs use that as a neg in recruiting ("Do you really want to go be sassed by grandma?")? If even one recruit is scared off because of that, [I]doesn't that make a female applicant less qualified?[/I] Will fans be quicker to call for the firing of a head coach who's a woman? Will parents be more inclined to second-guess her coaching and push their kids to transfer? If she can't garner community good will from fans and parents, [I]doesn't that make a female applicant less qualified?[/I] The fact that the second best WBB coach of all time was once offered to lead the men's program at her school doesn't disprove the very real fact that the vast majority of women have no chance of working their way up the coaching ranks in men's basketball, and that even if they did, there's no guarantee they would garner equal respect from their players, the players' parents, other coaches, and the fans. MM's point is also that if you don't create a pipeline, there will never be women who are the "best qualified" candidates. How are women supposed to become "best qualified" when they can't even land jobs as assistants? Becky Hammon is making news because one woman is an assistant coach for an NBA team. [B]One. [/B]And it's for Pop, who is pretty progressive and outside-the-box. I would venture to guess most NBA coaches wouldn't hire a female assistant no matter her credentials. And Hammon's are way better than 90% of assistant coaches in the NBA, and yet she's a news story, while dozens of random men who never started in an NBA game, let alone win gold medals and championships, get to work their way up as assistant coaches. I'm not even sure I agree with MM that the best solution is to only hire women in WBB. But I think MM can't control all of the things I mentioned above, but she can control who she helps enter the pipeline. She's choosing to help women where and how she can. Just my two cents. [/QUOTE]

Verification: First name of men's bb coach

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