THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, December 28, 1994 TAG: 9412280555
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PAUL WHITE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 91 lines
When Boys and Girls High School principal Frank Mickens asked Ruth Lovelace to sift through some resumes for the school's vacant boys basketball head coaching job, Lovelace thought he wanted her to help find the right man.
Little did she know that Mickens had already settled on a good woman.
``Never in my wildest dreams did I think this (being a head coach) would happen, especially so soon,'' said the 25-year-old Lovelace, the first woman at the helm of one of the most successful boys basketball programs in New York. ``I figured maybe in a couple of years I'd start out coaching a girls team.
``But, you know, those jobs are hard to get, too.''
While Lovelace's appointment would be ground-breaking in South Hampton Roads and many other parts of the country, she's hardly a trailblazer in the Big Apple. Lovelace, 25, is currently one of six women coaching boys varsity teams in the roughly 100-team Public Schools Athletic League. Consequently, Lovelace says her gender hasn't produced any added pressure to succeed.
``I know the game and I know what I'm doing,'' said Lovelace, a former all-city player at Boys and Girls and a scholarship player at Seton Hall University. ``Besides, when you boil it all down, it's still basketball,'' Lovelace said. ``Whether you're a man or woman, young or old, basketball is basketball.''
But only winning basketball will keep the fans happy. And thanks in large part to Lovelace and her lone assistant, Wayne Cox, the Kangaroos are winning more frequently than they have in years.
Boys and Girls beat Potomac, 79-75, on Tuesday in the Catholic Holiday Invitational to reach tonight's 7:30 final. After finishing just two games over .500 last season, the school is now 6-1. The Kangaroos' lone defeat came to Paul Robeson, a team currently ranked 24th in the country by USA Today.
Suddenly, the school that produced Connie Hawkins, Lenny Wilkins and Pearl Washington is being talked about as a serious threat for a PSAL city title. And the snickers that greeted Lovelace's hiring have been replaced by words of admiration and, in some cases, envy.
``I've talked to some players on other teams, and they wish they had her,'' said Boys and Girls senior forward Neil St. John.
At first, however, the Kangaroos weren't sure they wanted her. The announcement of a woman - any woman - taking over the team had many of them scratching their heads.
``I was shocked,'' said Justin Watson, a 6-0 senior swingman. ``All my life I'd been used to having male coaches.''
Making the situation even more unusual was the fact that Lovelace, two years removed from receiving her health and physical education degree from Seton Hall, would be a head coach for the first time.
``That's really why I didn't think I'd get the job,'' Lovelace said. ``Some of the resumes I looked at had guys from colleges, guys who said they'd never leave here if they got the job, guys promising everything.''
But Mickens, winner of two city titles during his days as a Boys and Girls basketball coach and something of a maverick among New York City principals, looked past experience. The principal and Lovelace had talked basketball often since she returned to the school as a teacher in 1993. When the boys basketball job came open, Mickens remembered those conversations.
``I guess he just believed in me,'' Lovelace said.
The players, meanwhile, started out believing Lovelace's status as coach was a license to cut up. But Lovelace didn't waste time straightening out any misconceptions.
``On the first day of practice, people tried to test her,'' Watson said. ``She just said, OK, if you want to play around and giggle, we're just going to start running. We ran a lot that day. Everybody started taking her seriously after that.''
Lovelace said organization and discipline are among her strongest coaching assets. She's introduced mandatory study halls, and she schedules 5:45 a.m. practices and insists on execution, not excuses.
The players say it's just what they needed.
``The old coach (Jasper Cain) was weak in the head and everybody ran all over him,'' St. John said. ``Now, you hustle and play hard or sit on the bench. Nobody wants to sit on the bench.''
Lovelace said she's pleased that everything has worked out well, but she also knows that the questions surrounding her hiring will probably resurface whenever the team stops winning. The trick, she said, is to never start questioning herself.
``When I first got the job, I'd say to myself, `What if I lose?' '' Lovelace said. ``But the (male coaches) behind me didn't win any city championships. Now winning is important, don't get me wrong. But I've decided I've just got to be Ruth Lovelace and give it everything I've got every day I'm here. If winning comes along with that, that's fine too.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
BILL TIERNAN/Staff
Head coach Ruth Lovelace of Boys and Girls High of New York has led
her team to the finals of the Catholic Holiday Invitational.
by CNB