Duke Receives 'A' From The BCA

Even though Duke hired David Cutcliffe, who is white, last December, the athletic department received an 'A' from the Black Coaches and Administrators in the group's annual hiring report card, which was released Wednesday. Duke was one of nine Division-I schools to be awarded an 'A' for its search process. Two received 'B's, five received 'C's and two received 'F's.

In the BCA's five grading areas, Duke received an 'A' in all but one, in which it took a 'B' in makeup of the search committee. The rubric implies that athletics officials had at least two communications with the BCA; the search committee was composed of at least 20 percent minority members; at least 30 percent of its official interviews were with "coaches of color"; the committee took a "reasonable" time for the search; and it fully adhered to Duke's affirmative action hiring policies.

In 2004, the BCA gave Duke a 'B' when it promoted Ted Roof after a national search. The University's lowest marks came in communication and diversity of the search committee. Duke improved in both categories this time around.