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Minium: ODU Men’s Basketball Team Talked Honestly About Race and Grew Closer as a Result

By Harry Minium

Jeff Jones is a 60-year-old college basketball coach with a degree from the University of Virginia who thought he knew a lot about Black history and systemic racism.

He keeps current on national issues. His wife, Danielle, is a journalist who works for an online publication that focuses on national politics.

But in the wake of the death of George Floyd, who died with a Minneapolis police officer kneeling on his neck, Jones realized he was terribly uninformed.

Jones participated in a three-part Zoom seminar with a group of basketball coaches and officials last spring designed to educate people on systemic racism.