Coaches move to eliminate standardized testing

Men's and women's college basketball coaches are proposing the NCAA eliminate standardized testing requirements from initial-eligibility standards, calling exams such as the SAT and ACT “longstanding forces of institutional racism.”

The proposal Thursday came out of the new committee on racial reconciliation formed by the National Association of Basketball Coaches in response to the Black Lives Matter movement and other social justice initiatives. The committee is chaired by South Carolina coach Frank Martin and Harvard coach Tommy Amaker.

Martin and Amaker said in a joint statement that standardized tests “no longer have a place in intercollegiate athletics or education at large,” and that eliminating them would be “an important step towards combating educational inequality.”

“I am proud of the continued efforts of the Committee on Racial Reconciliation, and look forward to engaging further with the NCAA on this crucial topic,” said former Oregon State coach Craig Robinson, who was hired earlier this week to replace the retiring Jim Haney as the NABC executive director. “We feel it is prudent for college athletics to address a standardized test structure that has long had disproportionately negative impacts on low-income and minority students.”

The committee posted 18 pages of supporting documents, including input from high school counselors, that underscore a long-held belief among some critics that standardized testing is influenced by such things as family income and parental education, and that in turn skews the results based on racial and ethnic backgrounds.

UCLA: Russell Westbrook highlights the latest class for UCLA's Athletic Hall of Fame. The ninemember class was announced by the university Wednesday. Westbrook was part of two Final Four squads (2007, 08) while leading the Bruins in assists (167) and steals (63) in `08 before being drafted fourth overall by the Seattle SuperSonics, which relocated to Oklahoma City a week later.

WEST VIRGINIA: Seny Ndiaye signed a national letter of intent to play for the Mountaineers, coach Bob Huggins announced. The 6-foot-10 forward is from Dakar, Senegal and attended Huntington Prep in Huntington, West Virginia. He averaged five points, six rebounds and three blocked shots per game last season. He is expected to enroll at WVU this fall.