Varsity - The Official Digital Magazine of Wisconsin Athletics

Varsity - February 20, 2014

Varsity is the free Official Digital Magazine of Wisconsin Athletics, covering Badgers football, basketball, hockey and more each week.

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44 // VARSITY February 20, 2014 INSIDE MEN'S BASKETBALL Black History Month: Pair of pioneers led UW hoops Badgers hired first black coaches in Big Ten BY PATRICK HERB @BADGERMBB A s we celebrate Black History Month all across the country, Wisconsin needs look no fur- ther than its men's and wom- en's basketball programs to find pioneers. At a time when hardly any African-Americans were head coaches, the University of Wis- consin had two atop its men's and women's basketball teams In 1976, Bill Cofield became the first African-American to coach basketball in the Big Ten Conference. That same sum- mer, Edwina Qualls was hired as the Big Ten's first black head women's basketball coach. "There were some people who weren't ready for that breakthrough," Bo Ryan would write about Cofield's hiring in his book, Another Hill to Climb. "All coaches have a burden of expectations. From my per- spective, there was an additional burden for Bill Cofield. It had nothing to do with winning or losing." A native of Carrier Mills, Ill., Cofield was a 1963 graduate of McKendree Col- lege in Lebanon, Ill. He went on to receive his master's degree from the University of Kentucky. Coaching wasn't the only arena in which Cofield would break down barrier. He also became the nation's first black athletic director and head coach at a pre- dominantly white institution at the Col- lege of Racine in 1973. It was there that he first hired Ryan as his assistant. The College of Racine closed its doors in 1974, and Cofield and Ryan separated for a year only to return to UW when Co- field accepted the head job and Ryan be- came his assistant. While compiling a six-year record of 61-103, Cofield did bring several dy- namic players to Madison, including the former all-time leading scorer Claude Gregory and Wes Mathews, who hit a half-court shot be beat Michigan State and Magic Johnson in 1979. Cofield resigned in 1982 and was later diagnosed with pancreatic cancer that same year. He died after a short illness in the summer of 1983 at the age of 43. SCHEDULE (21-5, 8-5) LAST TIME OUT Feb. 13 Minnesota W, 78-70 Feb. 16 at #15 Michigan W, 75-62 COMING UP Saturday at #15 Iowa 11 a.m. Feb. 25 Indiana 8 p.m.

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