Triangle change-makers: Meet some of the Black coaches making strides in college sports
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Black History Month
Celebrate Black History Month in the Triangle with this guide of stories on its roots in North Carolina, a list of events, Black-owned businesses and restaurants you should know about and much more.
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No matter the school you attend, celebrate or love, there is one thing that unites students and alums alike: sports.
From games and rivalries to school pride and colors, sports have a way of connecting people and communities.
At the Triangle’s HBCUs, private and public universities, there are several Black coaches and athletic leaders who have worked to break barriers and transform the school’s athletic programs.
As part of The News & Observer’s Change Makers for Black History Month, meet some the coaches and leaders making their marks.
NC State
Kevin Keatts, men’s basketball coach
For the past six seasons, Kevin Keatts has coached the Wolfpack basketball program, which is 21-7 so far this year. He came to NC State after serving as head coach at UNC Wilmington, where he led the team to three CAA regular season titles and was named CAA Coach of the Year in 2015 and 2016.
Keatts, who’s 50, is a native of Lynchburg, Virginia, and earned a degree and played guard at Ferrum College. He also served as an assistant coach at Southwestern Michigan, Marshall and Louisville.
At NC State, he is the second Black coach in the school’s program history and became the only one to lead the team in victories over Duke, UNC and Wake Forest in his first season in 2017-18.
In 2011, Keatts was inducted into the Hargrave Military Academy Hall of Fame. During two stints as head coach and one as an assistant at at Hargrave, he coached nine players who reached the NBA.
North Carolina
Hubert Davis, men’s basketball Coach
Hubert Davis became the first African American to lead UNC’s program in 2021 when he took the helm following the retirement of Hall of Fame coach Roy Williams.
In his first year as the Tar Heels head coach, Davis became a household name, thanks to some high-profile victories. He led UNC in a win over rival Duke in coach Mike Krzyzewski’s final home game. North Carolina went on to beat Duke again later in the season when the two teams met in the Final Four for the first time, before losing to Kansas in the NCAA title game.
A native of Winston-Salem, the 6-5 Davis, 52, graduated from UNC in 1992 with a degree in criminal justice. He played for the Tar Heels and Dean Smith from 1988 to 1992, averaging 21.4 points a game his senior year.
Davis was drafted by the Knicks in 1992 and played in the NBA for eight years. He then worked as a sports analyst for ESPN. Under Williams, he was an assistant from 2012-2021.
Duke
Nina King, Vice President and athletic director
Nina King was named Duke’s athletic director in 2021. She’s the first woman and first person of color to hold that position.
King, 44, has served as chair of the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Committee. She serves on several ACC and Duke committees and is on the Board of Directors for the Collegiate Women Sports Awards.
Before coming to Duke in 2008, she worked for Nike and as the director of rules education for Notre Dame athletics from 2005-08.
King also teaches a sports business course at the university’s Fuqua School of Business.
Kara Lawson, Women’s Basketball Coach
Three years ago, Duke named Kara Lawson its sixth head women’s basketball coach.
The 42-year-old former WNBA player is the first Black coach in Duke’s program history and one of five Black coaches in the ACC.
Her career has been marked by other firsts. She became the first woman analyst for a nationally televised NBA game in 2007. Lawson won gold at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing and has since assisted in the Tokyo Olympic Games and the FIBA World Cup.
In 13 years in the WNBA, Lawson scored more than 3,000 points and had more than 800 rebounds and 700 assists. Before coming to Duke, Lawson was an assistant coach for the Boston Celtics and helped found the Boston Celtics United for Social Justice.
Lawson, who played college basketball at Tennessee, led the Blue Devils to a 17-13 record during the 2021-22 season.
NC Central
LeVelle Moton, men’s basketball coach
In 2009, LeVelle Moton was named the 17th head basketball coach for North Carolina Central.
At NC Central, Moton has led the Eagles to four NCAA tournaments, has won four MEAC tournament titles and the league’s regular season four times. He’s also been named the MEAC coach of the year twice. Moton is the third Eagles coach to reach 200 wins.
A 1996 graduate of N.C. Central, Moton was nicknamed “Poetry ‘n Moton” as the third all-time leading scorer during his college career with 1,714 points. After graduating, he played four years of professional basketball in Indonesia and Israel, averaging 25 points per game.
Born in Boston, Moton, 48, moved with his family to Raleigh, where he attended Daniels Middle School and Enloe High School.
He was the head basketball coach at West Millbrook Middle School in Raleigh from 2001-04 before leading the Sanderson boys basketball program in 2004.
A Raleigh city park is named for Moton.
Shaw University
Adrian Jones, football coach
In 2016, Shaw hired Adrian Jones as its 17th head football coach to help turn around a struggling program coming off a 1-9 season. Jones has worked to do that, leading the Bears to a 6-4 overall and 5-2 finish in the CIAA in 2021 before going 4-6 and 4-4 in 2022.
A graduate and former coach at N.C. Central, Jones worked with defensive backs and outside linebackers and helped lead the Eagles to two CIAA championships in 2005 and 2006. He also played football at N.C. Central and earned first team all-conference and second team all-region honors twice. He remains among the school’s career leaders in passes defended and interceptions.
Jones coached at his alma mater, Southern High School in Durham, for seven seasons. He led the team to the 2013 NCHSAA 3-AA state championship title.
After college, Jones played arena football with the Carolina Cobras, the Augusta Stallions and the Greensboro Prowlers.
Saint Augustine’s University
Chucky Brown, men’s basketball coach
In April, St. Augustine’s announced Clarence “Chucky” Brown as its next men’s basketball coach.
Brown a, former NC State basketball player who helped the Wolfpack win the ACC tournament in 1987, was the ACC’s top rebounder and a first team all-conference selection in 1989.
He played in the NBA for 13 years, earning a title with the Houston Rockets in 1995. He also won a championship in the Chinese Basketball Association, becoming one of two players to win NBA and CBA titles in the same year.
Brown, who’s 54, previously coached basketball at West Johnston High School, is a volunteer AAU coach and mentors N.C. State basketball and football players and NBA G-League players.
This story was originally published February 22, 2023 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Triangle change-makers: Meet some of the Black coaches making strides in college sports."
