Gopher Coach Ozzie Cowles refused to recruit Black players to Minnesota

[Halsey Hall]

All this talk about hiring a Black coach rminded me of the Ozzie Cowles era of Gopher basketball from 1948 to 1959. Because of a snowstorm we misssed on on Johnny Wooden and instead got Cowles. In 1951 he said, "No African American would ever step on his court of competition." And he was true to his word. Iowa, Illinois, Michigan and Michigan State had great success with Black players while Cowles played a plodding offense w/ plodding players (except for guards Garmaker, Skoog and Mencel).

 

[coolhandgopher]

The "U" has certainly come a long way since the days and attitude of Cowles. If I did my calculations correctly, with the hiring of Ben Johnson the University of Minnesota is now tied with five other Power 5 programs for the most African-Americans as head coaches of basketball in their histories (3). The other programs are Michigan, Arkansas, California, Miami and Missouri.

(I believe-I did some rough calculations and could have overlooked a school)

 

[Spottedmuskie]

And this left a curse that in 2021 the local newspaper, now known as the the Star Tribune, had the right to name the next Gophers basketball coach.

 

[UpAndUnder43]

My great uncle was removed from a B1G coaching job due to recruiting African American players. He was coaching 3 varsity sports, head coach of two of them. He ended up taking a now D3 job in Minnesota where he had a nice career. They named a field after him. Similar era to Cowles.

 

[Ope3]

The "U" has certainly come a long way since the days and attitude of Cowles. If I did my calculations correctly, with the hiring of Ben Johnson the University of Minnesota is now tied with five other Power 5 programs for the most African-Americans as head coaches of basketball in their histories (3). The other programs are Michigan, Arkansas, California, Miami and Missouri.

(I believe-I did some rough calculations and could have overlooked a school)

If interim coach counts, it's actually 4 for the Gophers.

 

[jovs]

All this talk about hiring a Black coach rminded me of the Ozzie Cowles era of Gopher basketball from 1948 to 1959. Because of a snowstorm we misssed on on Johnny Wooden and instead got Cowles. In 1951 he said, "No African American would ever step on his court of competition." And he was true to his word. Iowa, Illinois, Michigan and Michigan State had great success with Black players while Cowles played a plodding offense w/ plodding players (except for guards Garmaker, Skoog and Mencel).

The next basketball coach received hate mail when he recruited black players.

 

[HitMeAgainIAmStillMoving]

Cowles coached Bud Grant. Sid should ask him about it.

 

[coolhandgopher]

Woke up this morning with this on my mind, in relation to the rest of the Big 10. Only four universities have not had an African-American head coach: Michigan State, Purdue, Illinois, and Nebraska.

Only one university hasn’t had an African-American head coach in either revenue sport: Nebraska.

 

[Rickman55]

And this left a curse that in 2021 the local newspaper, now known as the the Star Tribune, had the right to name the next Gophers basketball coach.

Stupid and ignorant.

 

[Spaulding!No!]

Some Big Ten teams have only had white coaches. It’s odd how the U has to act as the poster child for racism when many know it is theeeeee diverse Big Ten school.

 

[Ogee Ogilthorpe]

The "U" has certainly come a long way since the days and attitude of Cowles. If I did my calculations correctly, with the hiring of Ben Johnson the University of Minnesota is now tied with five other Power 5 programs for the most African-Americans as head coaches of basketball in their histories (3). The other programs are Michigan, Arkansas, California, Miami and Missouri.

(I believe-I did some rough calculations and could have overlooked a school)

That's crazy talk. We're told by geniuses like Souhan that they fall woefully short in this area.

 

[cjbfbp]

That's crazy talk. We're told by geniuses like Souhan that they fall woefully short in this area.

This topic of discussion isn't limited to coaches or the U. Initially, when possible coaching replacements were being discussed and the potential for hiring an African American coach was mentioned, I saw familiar language posted here from an outside source: the diversity gap. This formerly was sometimes called the achievement gap but that phrase was abandoned as being perhaps a bit too loaded.

The diversity gap topic is something that is circulating across higher educational administrations in the state and probably even some public service administrations and administrations of bigger corporations. Although Minnesota has a higher standard of living than most states, reportedly it also has one of the highest diversity gaps in the country in that there is a wider gap between whites and minorities in standard of living and general achievement than in most states. I can tell you that addressing that gap has been given some priority in higher education across the state.

So, for a program trying to address the diversity gap, elevating a minority coach who has been an assistant coach for a long time without getting a head coaching shot would be at least a symbolic step in that direction.