Steve Robinson believes he’s helped pave the way for other black coaches at Florida State University and the Atlantic Coast Conference.

At least he hopes that’s the case.

“I was the first black head coach of any sport at Florida State  not just basketball, but any sport,” said Robinson, who was an assistant at Kansas from 1989 to 1995 and rejoined Roy Williams’ staff last spring after being fired at FSU. He compiled a 64-86 record in five seasons in Tallahassee.

“In my own way I felt I was a pioneer at Florida State, that my being hired would help open the door for somebody else. That somebody else happened to be Leonard Hamilton.”

Hamilton, who also is black, succeeded Robinson at FSU.

“Maybe I helped open the door for Paul Hewitt (Georgia Tech head coach hired in 2000). Maybe Bob Wade helped open the door for me to get that opportunity in the ACC.”

Wade, who coached at Maryland from 1986 to ’89, was the first black head coach in ACC history.

“It is all about getting an opportunity,” Robinson said, “and trying to get an opportunity. It’s what we are all striving for.”

The latest NCAA study of all sports, released in 2000, shows that blacks made up 5.8 percent of head coaches and 15.1 percent of assistant coaches at non-historically black Division-I schools in 1999-2000. Blacks made up 18.9 percent of all student-athletes that year.

The coaching percentages were up from 5.1 percent and 14.3 percent, respectively, in 1995-96, the first year of the study. Blacks made up 45.3 percent of student-athletes in revenue sports football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball  just 13.7 percent of head coaches for men’s teams and 7.3 percent for women’s, according to the study.

“Is it where we want the numbers to be? No,” Robinson said of numbers of black head coaches. “We are making progress. We are making gains. It’s always an ongoing battle. In some ways that’s life in general. Maybe Tyrone Willingham being hired by Notre Dame (football) will help turn those numbers around. I know the numbers in football have not been good.”

Last year, just five of 114 NCAA Div. I head football coaches were minority coaches. Big 12 schools had at least two minority assistant coaches on each football staff, but no black head football coaches.

In basketball, the Big 12 had men’s minority coaches last year in Kelvin Sampson (Oklahoma), Ricardo Patton (Colorado) and Melvin Watkins (Texas A&M) on the men’s side and Marian Washington (Kansas) and Peggie Gillom (A&M) on the women’s side.

The Black Coaches Association, of which KU’s Washington is a former president, has made available to colleges lists of qualified black head coaching candidates. Reportedly Robinson’s name is at the top of the men’s basketball list.

“I have not heard that,” Robinson said. “I do know the president of the Black Coaches Association is Bob Minnix at Florida State (associate AD) who has done a great job. I have not been a real active member of the Black Coaches Association, probably not as active as I should have been or could have been. The time commitment, what it takes, always didn’t fit. I’ve been in a dogfight for five years trying to get that program (at Florida State) to work. That was the most important thing I was trying to accomplish.

“The BCA has done a great job helping coaches get their name out there. That is very important. People are always calling and looking for recommendations. Do you know names of people qualified for jobs? Bob has been very helpful in making those recommendations of names in helping provide the opportunities we desire.”

The Associated Press contributed to this story