To be sure, there are institutional factorswhich make landing blue-chip minority coachesdifficult, but the same could be said for hiringminority faculty or recruiting minority students.
Harvard has chosen to surmount institutionaldifficulties in these other arenas, which begs thequestion Hoyte and Harvard coaches have asked: Whyhasn't the University made a similar effort todiversify athletics?
For now, Harvard will have to content itselfwith those who, like Bruce Tall, are willing tolook past career considerations and the obstacleof a school which focuses heavily on academics.
But depending on the good will of exceptionalcoaches like Tall is a questionable way to setUniversity policy. Everyone agrees that new,aggressive measures are necessary, but no one isquite sure why they aren't off the ground.
And no one we spoke to is optimistic thatthings will change in the near future.
"The purpose of the [NCAA Self-Study] reportwas to develop a plan, and I think it was a goodplan, but if I've heard anything in the 16 yearsI've been here, it's plans," Johnson says."Results, I haven't seen."