(ThyBlackMan.com) The prominence of the NCAA Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournaments during the month of March is clear. The ratings for the men’s tournament have been nice and there should be renewed interest in the women’s tournament because longtime dynasty UConn was not the number one seed it usually is so the NCAA women’s championship should possibly more open than most years. The NCAA basketball tournament gives opportunities for small conferences and schools with less name recognition, resources, and media exposure an opportunity to knock off bigger conferences, schools, and universities on the biggest stage. The Sun Belt Conference is one of the smaller conferences in the Football Bowl Subdivision, or the formerly named Division I. It has made history by hiring Keith Gill as the first black commissioner of a FBS conference. This is yet another important step for major college sports that lacks diversity in leadership at the highest levels.
Keith Gill is the sixth Sun Belt Conference commissioner in its history. His most recent position prior to being hired as Sun Belt commissioner was as the Executive Associate Commissioner of the Atlantic 10 Conference. He worked “directly with (Atlantic 10 commissioner Bernadette V.) McGlade on the league’s strategic goals and initiatives, as well as community relations and partnerships in 
Washington, D.C., the host site of the 2018 A-10 Men’s Basketball Championship in the Verizon Center”. Gill has worked his way up to this new position as he has also been the athletic director at the University of Richmond and American University. His professional career began following his collegiate football career at Duke, one of the more highly acclaimed universities in the country, during the 1990s. Clearly, Keith Gill is an example of how a former black college athlete can succeed in professional leadership roles.
Black leadership on the major collegiate sports level has been a significant problem in terms of hiring. Prior to Gill’s hiring, nine of the ten FBS conference commissioners, were white men. The other FBS conference commissioner is Conference USA commissioner Judy MacLeod, a white woman. There is a reason why The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida gave leadership hiring in Division I a “C” grade in The 2018 DI FBS Leadership College Racial and Gender Report Card. Leadership positions like conference commissioners, university presidents, and athletic directors need more minority hirings and to be a greater reflection of the athletes on the courts and playing fields.
Most black people know the pressure that comes with being hired in a leadership position in a white dominated career field. It doesn’t seem that Keith Gill is nervous about his new Sun Belt commissioner position as he said, “I look forward to serving and working with them, their outstanding institutions, the administrators and coaches of the conference and the student-athletes that continue to push the Sun Belt to the pinnacle of intercollegiate athletics.”
He will have the opportunity to build off of the success of universities like Georgia State and Little Rock, who won the men’s basketball and women’s basketball tournaments respectively to play in the NCAA tournament. College football is always important for any conference commissioner and he has some football teams with good football histories to promote. It will be interesting to monitor his tenure.
Staff Writer; Mark Hines
