Black coaches were ‘low-hanging fruit’ in FBI college hoops case that wrecked careers, then fizzled

By EDDIE PELLS
AP National Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Four assistant coaches arrested in a 2017 FBI probe designed to clean up college basketball are Black. All are out of the sport, banned by the NCAA. One coach, Book Richardson, tells The Associated Press he knows why: Because Black assistants were the low-hanging fruit — the ones on the front lines making connections with athletes who go on to play in college. The numbers back him up. An AP analysis of the six biggest conferences in college hoops reveals that Blacks hold nearly 60% of the riskier assistants’ jobs, but fewer than 30% of head-coaching jobs. And while Richardson and his Black counterparts remain on the outside, most of the white coaches whose teams were targeted in the probe are still working.