The WNBA needs more Black women at the helm. These Black women have shown what leadership looks like

C. Vivian Stringer

Carolyn Peck

Dawn Staley

Niele Ivey

Sydney Carter

From C. Vivian Stringer to Dawn Staley, meet the Black women whose influence continues to shape basketball, even as the WNBA lacks Black women coaches.

Over the last few years, women’s basketball has been getting its flowers. With rising viewership, game attendance, and engagement, the WNBA has played a notable role in bringing women’s basketball to the forefront. And while the association has made notable strides in bringing female athletes’ salaries into line with those of NBA players, the WNBA still has ways to go in terms of diversity among its head coaches.

Currently in its 30th season, the WNBA has no Black women head coaches for any of its teams. A void that is becoming increasingly notable as the association plans to expand to 18 teams by 2030 and whose players consist predominantly of Black women. Most recently, Kyrie Irving called out the disparity in a press conference.

“There’s definitely a, you know, a big desire for more Black female head coaches to be involved in the W,” he said. “I’m really proud of our women, really proud of my sisters over there, but we definitely do need to see a lot more Black head coaches over there.”

Throughout its 30-year history, the WNBA has seen a number of Black women head coaches. And while that number has fluctuated, in 2022, over half of its head coaches were Black, three of whom were Black women. Among them was Noelle Quinn, who served as the Seattle Storm’s former head coach for five seasons and was the only Black woman to hold that title during the 2025 WNBA season. Conversely, other leagues like professional Unrivaled and the collegiate NCAA have seen, and continue to see, a number of Black women hold head coaching roles. For instance, ahead of its 2027 season, Unrivaled announced that five out of its eight head coaches were Black women.

“There’s a number of statistics and analytics that lead towards the fact that there is a gap, and it doesn’t have to do with capability or being able to do the job,” Parker told USA Today. “We’ve seen the impact that the NBA has had with African-American head coaches and the parameters that are put in place. Maybe that’s something that needs to be put in place in the WNBA.”

Similarly, WNBA and Unrivaled star Paige Bueckers added: “[The WNBA] was built on a lot of black women. … It’s definitely right for them to get the same equal opportunity as everybody else.”

Now, while the WNBA may not have any Black women head coaches this season, there are a number of Black women leaders who have made an impact on women’s basketball from the sidelines.

In 1982, Cheyney State, one of the country’s oldest HBCUs, made history as the only HBCU program to appear in either a Final Four or a national championship game when it appeared in the inaugural NCAA championship game under the leadership of coach C. Vivian Stringer. Since then, Stringer continued to make notable strides in collegiate basketball, leading teams to 28 of 40 NCAA tournaments. And was the first coach in men’s or women’s basketball history to take three different schools to the Final Four. This year, Stringer received the 2026 Betty F. Jaynes Lifetime Achievement Award from the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association

In 1999, Carolyn Peck led Purdue to the national championship in only her second season as head coach. That title made her the first Black head coach to win a women’s basketball national championship. She was 33 at the time and remains the youngest coach in NCAA history to win a women’s Division I title. Her leadership has and continues to inspire generations of Black women coaches

“When you think about the battles that Marian Washington, Marianna Freeman and coach C. Vivian Stringer have been through … but they did it for the love of the game and the opportunities that they provided for us,” Peck told Andscape, reflecting on USC’s NCAA win in 2017. “Now that there’s a one and a two, there’ll be a three. And the excitement that that gives me is thrilling. … I’m a true believer in the power of the mirror. … You have a motivation to become what you see.”

In 2017, Dawn Staley became the second Black woman head coach to win a national title in women’s basketball. Since that historic win, she led the University of South Carolina to championship wins again in 2022 and 2024, making her the first Black woman head coach with multiple national championships. A three-time Olympic gold medalist, Staley has dedicated her coaching career to uplifting Black women on and off the court. Inspired by Coach Peck, who gave her a piece of her own championship net to keep, in 2021, Staley gifted all the Black female Division I basketball coaches a piece of the 2017 championship net.

Niele Ivey became the first Black female head coach in the history of the University of Notre Dame. A former WNBA player and assistant coach for the NBA’s Memphis Grizzlies, Ivey was one of four Black women coaches to lead their teams to the “Sweet Sixteen” stage of the NCAA Women’s tournament.

“My job is to, you know, hopefully bring championships to this university, and for me to provide the great experiences that I had as a student-athlete, and to hopefully inspire with my journey, with my leadership, and open more doors for women that look like me and women in general,” she shared on Beyond the Curve with Sanya Richards-Ross. “I know it’s bigger than just being a coach.”

Former WNBA star and current assistant coach for Auburn University’s women’s basketball team, Sydney Carter has gone viral for her unapologetic style on and off the court. Having gained virality for her fashionable game day looks, Carter told Andscape her goal as a coach is for her players to see her model confidence, emphasizing that dressing up for games allows her to be the best version of herself

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