Yo, Rep. I'm surprised, given your proximity to Montana athletics, and the breadth of your background, that you're not with me on this point. So let me amplify.
The Lady Griz program has been here for 45 years. In that time, three African-American players.
Let's look at another 40-year period in Montana basketball history, but on the Men's side. A list of African-American players who have donned a Griz basketball uniform would include Nase Rhinehart, Ray Howard, Zip Rhodes, Ray Lucien, John Lands, Marv Suttles, Ed Samelton, Wade Hughes, Norm Clark.
Note: This 40 year period--equivalent in time to the entire Lady Griz program--ended in 1970! That was 50 years ago!
So this list does not include Micheal Ray, Derrick Pope, Travis DeCuire, Will Cherry, Kareem Jamaar, Ahmaad Rorie, Michael Oguine and Sayeed Pridgett, or any of the players on our current roster: Eddie Egun, Freddy Brown, Naseem Gaskin, Michael Steadman, Kyle Owens, Darius Henderson or Derrick Carter-Hollinger.
Over in Bozeman, Tyler Hall just smashed the all-time Bobcat scoring record, set by Larry Chanay, another African-American athlete who played for the Cats in the late 50's.
And yet, there remain many on this board who steadfastly maintain: You cannot recruit African-American athletes to Montana! That's just not in conformity with either objective or historical reality.
As to Shannon. She is not just another coach passing through Montana. She's a legend here. Her husband is the track coach. She has two of her kids on the team. Her Mom graduated Helena High School, so she has great lineage. Plus I believe a coach should have a full four-year recruiting cycle to prove the themselves, to turn things around. Exhibit A: Tricia Binford at Montana State. Many wanted her fired at one time. That would have been a huge mistake.
And note: Binford has an African-American assistant, and this year had three African-American players on her team. She is building--and may already have built--what is now the premier program in the Big Sky Conference.
Finally, I put this entirely on Kent Haslam. He's the head of the athletic program. He's the one who evaluates athletic programs at Montana. He's the one who has seen the Lady Griz slip from pre-eminence to mediocrity, not just under Shannon, but in the final years of the Selvig regime. He's the one who has to say, "If we don't create a culture here that is welcoming of African-American athletes, the Lady Griz program will continue to be middle-of-the-Big Sky, at best. He's the one who has to insist that this happens, that changes are made in the program.
Maybe he's already doing it. If not, it's time he stepped up. A once-proud program is in the balance.