Hundreds of men’s and women’s college basketball coaches are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to preserve affirmative action in university admissions.
The coaches from across the NCAA spectrum have joined their professional associations in filing a friend of the court brief with the nation’s highest court. They say their personal experience has convinced them that there is value in considering race when picking a college class.
Among those signing onto the amicus brief were Geno Auriemma, the 10-time NCAA champion with the Connecticut women’s team; five-time NCAA champion Mike Krzyzewski of Duke; Penn State women’s coach Coquese Washington; broadcaster and former coach Dick Vitale; and former Georgetown coach John Thompson.
In the case, a white woman named Abigail Fisher who was denied admission to the University of Texas’s flagship Austin campus. Fisher was passed over for a spot among the 25 percent of the class reserved for special scholarships and people who meet a formula for personal achievement that includes race as a factor.
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Jimmy Golen covers sports and the law for The Associated Press.
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