A Legacy Remembered: Charlene Curtis Chose to Lead so Many Could Follow
8/18/2022 3:29:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Charlene Curtis led a life of leadership and trailblazing courage.
Before coming to Wake Forest in 1997, Charlene Curtis had already blazed a trail for so many before her and continued to do so for her entire life. The Wake Forest community mourns her passing (1955-2022) and remembers her incredible legacy.
Dating back to her childhood, Curtis became the first so that many could follow in her footsteps.
Growing up in the Civil Rights era in Roanoke, Va., Curtis didn't attend a school that was truly desegregated until her junior year of high school, and spent much of her youth limited as to where she was allowed to go. Quickly, however, as the world around her changed ever so slowly, she earned opportunities.
At first, through her talent in music, where she earned her first ever "first," as the first African-American in the Roanoke Youth Symphony.
Her love of athletics also remained strong, leading her to try out for the women's basketball team as a freshman at Radford in 1972. Title IX had just passed that same year, and Radford didn't even offer scholarships for women's athletics at the time.
But Curtis' talent won out, as she made the team, starting all four years as the Highlanders' first African-American player in women's basketball. She went on to become the first 1,000-point scorer, male or female, in Radford history.
Coaching, however, was not something on Curtis' radar as a student-athlete. It was her love of music, after all, that took her to Radford University, where she majored in music and dreamed of becoming a high school band director.
Her first coaching experience came shortly after she graduated, in her first job as a teacher, and eventually a band director, in Bedford County, Va. where she not only was the first African-American coach at the school she taught at, but the first African-American teacher, period.
Curtis would open many more doors in the ensuing decades, earning a graduate degree from the University of Virginia in secondary education while coaching under legendary head coach Debbie Ryan, eventually succeeding her old coach Pat Bennett at Radford at just 29 years old in 1984.
She later became the first-ever African-American head coach for women's basketball at Temple University. There she served in her first stint with USA Basketball and USA Basketball Selection Committee. It was the first of many leadership roles that she took off the court in the profession, going on to be a part of the WBCA Executive Committee, the Black Coaches Association Board of Directors and East Regional Advisory Committee for the NCAA Division I Championships.
Curtis then went on to work with an assistant coach under her old Virginia colleague Geno Auiremma at Connecticut, helping build the foundation of the program, before Ron Wellman hired her as Wake Forest's first African-American women's basketball coach in 1997.
While she was the only African-American coach among her peers in the ACC, she was not the only African-American head coach on Reynolda Campus.
Jim Caldwell led the football team at the time with the two sharing the honor of the highest ranking African-Americans on staff in the athletic department.
Her time in Winston-Salem would see her cross paths with Dave Odom and Skip Prosser, with Prosser in particular enlisting her help in his mission to change the athletics' culture at the university.
While she may have been one of few, and occasionally the only person of color in certain rooms at both Wake Forest and in the ACC, that fact was never something at the front of her mind day-to-day at Wake Forest.
She knew that for that door to remain open for African-American coaches after her, she would need to make sure her student-athletes had chances to succeed not just on the court, but beyond.
The endcap to Curtis' long career of trailblazing came in 2008, when she was hired as ACC's Supervisor of Women's Basketball officials.
During her time in the conference office, Curtis oversaw the expansion of the women's basketball officiating staff, the management of all evaluations and ratings, and numerous training and educational opportunities to promote the recruitment and development of ACC Women's Basketball Officials.
She created and developed local officiating clinics with a common curriculum, something that did not exist previously, and the clinics are now commonplace across the ACC footprint.
During her tenure, the ACC added instant replay, developed a league-specific officiating website, and expanded the officiating observer program in partnership with the Colonial Athletic Association.
Curtis is survived by her partner of 24 years, Sharolyn S. Grant, her beloved sister Millicent N. Wright (Byrl) and her aunt, Evelyn Board Charlton (late James).
Details on a memorial service are incomplete at this time, and in lieu of flowers, the family respectfully asks that donations be made to the: Radford University Foundation (Charlene A. Curtis Women's Basketball Scholarship), P.O. Box 6893, Radford, VA 24142.
Porsche Jones ('06):
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"Charlene Curtis was an incredible person who created a special culture among our teams at Wake Forest. Those bonds still hold true today as the lessons we learned from her taught us about being a family. She held us accountable while she led with grace, humility and love. Coach Curtis was truly someone that was special to me, helping me get through an injury during my freshman year and we became really close during my rehab. Her impact on the game of basketball goes well beyond everything on the floor. She is someone that left an indelible mark on so many lives and she will truly be missed. Charlene gave hope to others to one day sit in the same seat she did as a black woman coaching the game of basketball at a high level."
Roxann Moody ('82), Assistant AD, Equipment Services
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"I have so many incredible memories of Coach Charlene Curtis. She truly impacted so many lives throughout her time at Wake Forest, but her entire life as well. Charlene did everything right and set an example for her student-athletes to follow. I will never forget when she recognized me on Feb. 24, 2002 in front of her team on my 20th anniversary of working at Wake. Her selflessness and incredible leadership is felt by all those she came in contact with. Charlene will be missed by so many."
ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips, Ph.D.:
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"Charlene was a pioneer in the sport of women's basketball, but more importantly, she was an amazing individual. Her kindness and class resonated throughout her life, and she will be missed by all who were fortunate to know her and her inspiring spirit."
Former Wake Forest Director of Athletics Ron Wellman:
