The latest race and gender report card released in 2010 by The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport showed that 21 percent of coaches in Division I men’s basketball were African-American, down from a high of 25.2 percent during the 2005-6 season.

In contrast, nearly 61 percent of Division I players were black.

George Mason Coach Paul Hewitt, who also coached at Georgia Tech for 11 seasons, leading the Yellow Jackets to a Final Four in 2004, said “the marketplace for coaches is generally fair,” but worries that a few recent trends are hurting minority candidates.

“It seems we’re sometimes dealing with the law of unintended consequences,” Hewitt said. “I don’t think any one thing is causing the problem, but some of the recent trends in the sport could make things more difficult.”