While there are many ways for coaches to negatively recruit players. The ESPN article talks specifically about the role homophobia plays in the recruiting process. I can understand that some homophobic players would not want to play for a coach who is gay and vice versa. However, I feel that sexual orientation should not play into factor. To someone like me who has never had to deal with multiple sexual preferences on a team, it seem that it should be as easy as saying; if you're gay your gay; if your straight, you're straight. However for others it's not that easy. The quote by University of Baylor player Emily Niemann, stating; "my internalized homophobia made me believe that if people found out I was gay, they would kill me" struck me as something that should be of big concern to the league. No players should have to fear for their life being threatened based on their sexuality. However, I think this issue is something that is going to continue to grow. While homophobic coaches may not want gay players on their team, players may not want a gay coach. Therefore; if a coach is a single woman, some players may be skeptical to starting mentor-type relationships with the coach or may not look into playing for the team all together. I feel like this problem is becoming bigger than the game itself. In my opinion players and coaches should be more concerned with how the team is preforming while going through the recruiting process than sexual orientations. Overall this is a major problem not only with dealing with negative recruiting but also with the way the women's basketball league will be continue to grow in the future.
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