Jean Bain is in his third season as the Brandeis University men’s basketball head coach. In his first two seasons, he led the Judges to 35 wins (more than the previous four years combined), an ECAC title, and a third-place finish in the UAA, the team’s best finish in a decade. The America East Rookie of the Year in 1999, Bain captained Northeastern University in his junior and senior seasons, earning All-America honors in 2002. He began his assistant coaching career at Worcester Polytechnic Institute before associate head coaching positions at Ivy League programs Dartmouth College and Columbia College.
The UAA “Conversations About Race and Racism” series seeks to lift the voices of people of color and recognize the challenges faced in both athletics and academics at the collegiate level. By sharing personal stories, we hope to elevate the conversation about race to raise awareness and bring about change.
More Than an Athlete
“When I was at Northeastern, some people viewed me as just an athlete. My teammates and I didn’t want to be known that way. We were there for academics,” Bain described. “I took that personally and it drove me to take care of my education first. That dominated my mindset.”
He knows that this is a consistent theme for Black people. “People tend to judge so if they see a tall Black kid, they assume he or she is an athlete. They may be just as bright as, or brighter than, everyone else in the room,” he stated. “If a Black person is competing in athletics, people assume they are good at basketball or football and not there for the right reason.”
That focus on the combination of athletics and academics led him to his stints at WPI, two Ivy League institutions, and now to Brandeis. “After college, I knew I wanted to help people and coach as soon as possible. I wanted to coach in an environment where athletes were interested in a good education,” he remarked. “I have been doing this for 18 years and working with people in the same academic environment. I can relate to the student-athletes I want in our program.”
“Previously, as an African-American assistant coach, I was viewed by a lot of people as just a recruiter. I’m focusing on the x’s and o’s, trying to make our team better in our daily practices. Some people don’t see the waters we navigate through on a regular basis,” Bain explained. “In 15 years coaching at the Division I level, I was on the road constantly. There are so many smart Black coaches in the country. Not everyone gets a chance to see that.”
Everyday Challenges
“One thing African-Americans face every day is not being afforded the same benefit of the doubt as a white person,” he commented. “We can’t walk into a store freely without being watched. Whether it is a supermarket or retail store, a Black person becomes the focus as opposed to just being another human being.”
With the police murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor among others, Bain believes it is a critical time to talk about race. “Having those tough conversations is an important part of educating people. It is hard to have them in any place where few people look like me,” he expressed. “Now a lot of people have opened their eyes. These things have always been happening, but people weren’t seeing it on video. This time allows us a chance to sit down with people of all races and talk about it.”
He believes the education process is necessary for everyone. “It is important to be able to understand what has been going on and why. Black people understand what has happened to bring us to this point,” he vocalized. “Everyone educating themselves allows us to have these important dialogues. By communicating, we can learn from one another and get better as a group and hopefully make a change.”
Advice for Black Coaches
“You have to love what you do. It has to be something more than just x’s and o’s, but because you want to change young men’s lives. I was lucky enough to have great high school coaches who became great mentors and changed my life,” Bain described. “You have to have a plan and a way to go about that plan. You have to make sure that the students are the most important, not just basketball.”
For anyone interested in becoming a coach, particularly Black people, Bain recommends learning the game inside out. “Learn the game totally and don’t let people pigeon-hole you into what they assume you can do. Watch film, go to clinics and other coaches’ practices to talk basketball with them,” he suggested. “Broaden your horizons. Building relationships with people is what it is about at the end of the day. Know that you can hold your own. I have seen good coaches not get an opportunity because they did not put themselves out there.”
He acknowledges that to be successful in coaching, you need some fearlessness. “You can’t be afraid to fail. That is how you learn. It is easy to shy away from challenges, but that gives you the experience to get better. When I started out, those are the things other people would talk to me about,” Bain recounted. “As a coach, you need to talk in front of people and groups. The one thing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar said he regretted about his collegiate career was not talking to the press more and doing more interviews because he was so shy. We learn from doing things that make us uncomfortable.”
Bain has benefitted greatly from the relationships he has built in his career. “A lot of former players reached out to me and congratulated me when I got the Brandeis job,” he said. “That meant more than anything that I had enough of an impact on their lives that they celebrated with me. My hope as a coach is that my players and I become best of friends, even though we won’t agree on everything. You have to know you can always come to me. My goal is to come to your wedding one day.”
“Build relationships with everybody, not just the people who can help you,” he continued. “Whether it is other people in the athletic department, the janitor, or the cleaning lady. Extend yourself a little more.”
Allies and Teams
“The biggest thing we can all do is to be comfortable enough with ourselves to talk about racial issues and how we can improve the situations we are in,” Bain expressed. “We have to come up with a game plan. (Brandeis Athletic Director) Lauren (Haynie) has been great about educating our staff and our department, putting things in place to help make necessary changes. We can’t just have these conversations in the moment, but consistently. Part of the problem in society is we address the immediate issue and then move on. We have to address it regularly and figure it out as one. It won’t change today, tomorrow, or the next day, but we can bring gradual changes in the departments where we work.”
Bain would like to see a greater connection between student-athletes and the neighborhoods in which they play. “Athletes need to get involved in communities. The communities need to know who they are,” he recommended. “One thing we want to is to have public safety and the local police come talk to our players so they know who each other are.”
He believes it would be beneficial to have all student-athletes from the institution socialize as a group. “We want to make sure we bring all our student-athletes, not just basketball, together. Bring them in a room at the same time, not separately,” he said. “We want out student-athletes to understand the issues on campus and in the community, to get more involved with the general student body.”
Of course, COVID-19 has limited personal interaction, but Bain has continued to have important conversations. “The dialogue that coaches and administrators from different schools and coaches in the UAA are having are important. We need to continue having these discussions,” he communicated. “Ask yourself, ‘How can I help my school and community? How can I help educate student-athletes?’ Reach out and help one another so we can attack racism as one. We are all in this together.”