Wake Forest to Honor Curtis Thursday against NC State
2/12/2021 3:56:00 PM | Women's Basketball
The former Demon Deacon women’s basketball coach became the first African-American women's basketball head coach in ACC history in 1997.
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WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Former Wake Forest women's basketball coach Charlene Curtis is set to be honored on Thursday night inside Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum before the Deacons home game against NC State. This is part of the Atlantic Coast Conference's Historical Hidden Figures Campaign coinciding with Black History Month.
Wake Forest and the ACC are partnering with Advancement of Blacks in Sports (ABIS) & Black Leadership Association for Athletes, Athletic Administrators and Coaches (BLAAAC) to promote Curtis' accomplishments as a Demon Deacon and with the ACC.
A Trailblazer in Basketball
As the former Wake Forest women's basketball coach, Curtis has been a trailblazer in the sport. When she was named the Demon Deacons head coach in 1997, Curtis became the first African American women's basketball head coach in Atlantic Coast Conference history. During her seven seasons at Wake Forest, the women's basketball team had a 100 percent graduation rate.
Before coming to Winston-Salem, she helped build UConn into a national powerhouse, serving as an assistant under Geno Auriemma for two seasons. Curtis also was a head coach at Radford from 1984-90 and Temple from 1990-95.
After her coaching career, she continued to be involved in the game, working as an analyst covering both the ACC and the SEC, as well as in the studio.
In 2008, she accepted a job as the ACC Supervisor of Women's Basketball Officials serving the conference for 11 years before her retirement prior to the 2019 season. During that time, Curtis was key in expanding and further developing officials through clinics and educational opportunities.
Curtis was also a major moving force in the league's implementation of replay. She also was a member of the NCAA Rules Committee and NCAA Mechanics Committee during the implementation of the four-period format and restricted area arc with the lower defensive box to the women's game that started with the 2016-17 season.
