Bryant assistant becomes Division I’s first openly gay basketball coach
The lone openly gay coach in Division I college basketball is relieved his secret is finally out.
In an article published Thursday by USA Today, Bryant University assistant coach Chris Burns described the gradual process that led to him nervously standing in front of the entire team a few weeks ago and revealing his sexuality. Many players responded by hugging him and telling him they loved him, imbuing him with the confidence to share his story with the media.
“I can’t say enough about believing in the good in people, the good in human beings,” Burns said. “They can surprise you, energize you, give you a reason to believe in the good in the world.”
The announcement from Burns will likely make him one of college basketball’s most recognizable assistant coaches even though he works at a little-known Rhode Island school that until seven years ago wasn’t even part of Division I.
Just like former NBA center Jason Collins and Seton Hall guard Derrick Gordon have forged a path for gay players tired of leading a double life, Burns now becomes a pioneer for closeted coaches. Of the roughly 1,500 head coaches and assistants currently working in Division I men’s basketball, the 31-year-old New Hampshire native is the only one who is openly gay.
While it’s encouraging that Bryant’s players and staff have been supportive of Burns thus far, his job duties dictate that winning over the locker room is only part of the challenge. He also needs to be able to go to high school gyms or living rooms across the Northeast, connect with prospects and their families and recruit at the same level he was prior to Thursday’s announcement.
That surely won’t be easy, yet it’s a challenge Burns embraces. After all, it’s far better than the isolation he experienced previously when he worried that he could never fully be himself in basketball circles.
“Since I started telling people in college basketball over the last few months, I’ve realized my fears were far worse than reality,” Burns wrote in a first-person essay published Thursday by OutSports.com. “I’ve realized that people, for the most part, are human beings first. For a guy who’s relatively cynical and can be negative, the reactions of people in my sport and in my life have shut me right up and reenergized my hope in the human spirit.”
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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
