Retired NBA Player Dooling headlines The Mental Health and Wellness of Blacks in Athletics summit
Retired NBA player Keyon Dooling headlines “The Mental Health and Wellness of Blacks in Athletics” summit presented by The Advancement of Blacks In Sports (ABIS). The virtual event will occur on Monday, February 1, 2021 at 7:00 p.m.
Joining Dooling on the panel will be college athletes Julian Hill of Campbell University, Kesha Brady of Tennessee Tech, and DePaul University head men’s basketball coach David Leitao. The panel will be moderated by Dr. Emmett Gill.
The purpose of the summit is to address the mental and emotional challenges of coaches and athletes in the climate of race, economic distress, COVID-related frustration, and mental strain.
Participants will be able to identify coping strategies, points of advocacy, and areas for growth for black coaches and athletes in collegiate and professional sports.
Following the panel, there will also be a special session Q&A from 8:00–8:30 p.m. with Dr. Mari Ross, who is the assistant vice chancellor for the division of student affairs at North Carolina Central University, and Dr. Pat Ivey, who serves as the associate athletics director for student-athlete health & performance at Louisville, for interested attendees, who must register to participate.
“The COVID19 pandemic has devastated this country,” ABIS Chief Executive Officer Gary Charles said. “It has also devastated the mental well-being of people across the country. ABIS is aware of this and we think it is vitally important that we shed light on the effect it has caused on collegiate athletes, coaches, professionals, etc. To that end, we would like you to join us on our Virtual Summit on Feb 1st on Mental Wellness.”
Here’s a look at the panelists.
Keyon Dooling: A retired professional basketball player who played 13 seasons in the NBA with the Los Angeles Clippers, Miami Heat, Orlando Magic, New Jersey Nets, Milwaukee Bucks, Boston Celtics, and Memphis Grizzlies. During his time in the NBA, Dooling served eight years on the NBPA’s Executive Committee in numerous roles, including six years as a union vice president, three years as first vice president. He also had a role on the NBA’s Competition Committee. Dooling attended the University of Missouri where was the 10th overall pick in the 2000 NBA Draft. Since retirement, Dooling has become a successful entrepreneur, charismatic motivational speaker, certified life coach, and author releasing his autobiography entitled, “What’s Driving You? How I Overcame Abuse and Learned to Lead in the NBA” in June 2014.
Emmett Gill: He is the Chief Visionary Officer for Athletes and Advocates for Social Justice in Sports and the founder of AthleteTalk (a wellness app for athletes). Emmett served as the Director of Student-Athlete Wellness and Personal Development at the University of Texas at Austin where he provided clinical services for college athletes and created signature programming including initiatives for injured athletes and substance use. Following his tenure at the University of Texas, where he was also a clinical professor in the Steve Hicks School of Social Work, Dr. Gill served as a professional sports crisis and wellness program manager — working on mental health initiatives for the NFL and NBA — including the NFL Lifeline. Gill is the past president and founder of the Alliance of Social Workers in Sports, a 225-plus member organization that promotes the social work profession in athletics. Emmett’s scholarship focuses’ sports scandals, the intersection between social work, sports and mental health, social justice in sports, and Black male athletes.
Julian Hill: A native of Fayetteville, North Carolina, Hill played in every football game for the Camels during the 2019 season, finishing with six catches. Four of his six grabs went for 10 or more yards, including a season-long 35-yard catch in CU’s season finale at Charleston Southern. He had two catches for 20 yards in a win over Shaw. The versatile Hill helped Campbell rush for a season-high 269 yards at North Alabama, one of six 200-plus yard team rushing performances on the year. He helped Campbell pass for a season-best 266 yards in a win at Mercer, along with 515 yards of total offense. As a prep quarterback at Pine Forest High School, Campbell finished his junior season with 1,750 passing yards, 175 yards rushing as a junior, and 24 touchdowns. He is majoring in sports management.
Kesha Brady: A native of Smyrna, Tennessee, Brady has scored 1,042 career points as of Jan. 22, 2021. Brady, who has 53 career double-digit scoring games, was named a 2020 All-Ohio Valley Conference First Team selection following a stellar junior campaign in which she led the team offensively, averaging 14.4 points per game. Other honors during her junior season included being named the TSWA Player of the Week (Jan. 21, 2020) and OVC Player of the Week (Nov. 26, 2019). She was named to the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll (spring 2020) Brady attended Smyrna High School where she received the 2015–16 Daily News Journal All-Sports MVP award and was also named to the 2015–16 All-District Girls Basketball 7AAA second team. She is majoring in exercise science, physical education, and wellness with a concentration in pre-physical therapy.
Dave Leitao: The New Bedford, Massachusetts native returned to DePaul in 2015 after leading the Blue Demons to three postseason appearances in his first stint of three seasons from 2002–05 in Lincoln Park. Leitao was named the 14th head coach in program history on March 29, 2015 and is back at DePaul to take care of what he describes as ‘unfinished business.’ In his first stint with the Blue Demons from 2002–05 he turned a nine-win team into a 16-win squad that laid the foundation for success over his initial stint at DePaul. Leitao graduated from Northeastern in 1983 with a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration. He and his wife Joyce are the proud parents of three sons, David III, Reese, and Tyson. David played for the Blue Demons while Reese is a sophomore tight end at Texas.
Dr. Pat Ivey: With over 20 years of collegiate experience in athletic performance roles, Ivey joined the University of Louisville staff as associate athletic director for student-athlete health and performance in January of 2019. Prior to coming to Louisville, Ivey worked the previous two years at Arkansas State, where he served as assistant athletics director of athletics performance for a year. He was the director of mental performance at Arkansas State in 2017. Ivey also served as the associate athletics director for athletic performance at Missouri from 2011–15 and was named the national strength and conditioning Coach of the Year by FootballScoop.com in 2013. He served as the assistant vice chancellor for access and leadership development at Missouri for 18 months from 2016–17. A former Missouri football letter winner (1993–95), Ivey was selected as an All-American Strength and Conditioning athlete in 1995. After receiving his undergraduate degree in 1996 in hotel and restaurant management with an emphasis in nutrition, he spent time in the NFL with the Detroit Lions, San Diego Chargers, Denver Broncos, and Green Bay Packers for four seasons from 1996–1999. He completed his master’s in health education in 2000 while serving as a graduate assistant director of strength and conditioning at Missouri. Ivey earned his Ph.D. in sports psychology from Missouri in 2013. He is registered Strength and Conditioning Certified (NSCA), National Strength and Conditioning Association Certified (CSCS), and Strength and Conditioning Coach Certified (SCCC). Additionally, he is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS), a member of the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA), and an accomplished speaker on sports performance. Originally from Detroit, Mich., Ivey and his wife Dr. Starla Ivey have two daughters: Paisli and Serena.
Dr. Mari Ross: A native of Las Vegas, Nevada, and graduate of Arizona State University has a lifelong commitment to pursuing mental and emotional health for minority populations and student-athletes. She has spent the last 20 years as a mental health consultant, sports psychologist, and a higher education senior administrator. She founded Ross Behavioral Group in 2009, which specializes in behavioral health services for minority populations, encouraging and advocating for mental, emotional, and behavioral wellness. Ross manages and integrates services in over 19 different locations including health care clinics, public and private companies, and universities. In 2017 Dr. Mari step down as the CEO and moved to a consultant role with Ross to pursue her passion of working exclusively in higher education and collegiate sports behavioral health. Currently, she serves as the assistant vice chancellor for student health and wellness at North Carolina Central University and as a sports behavioral health specialist for several collegiate sports teams.
ABOUT ABIS: Founded by Gary Charles, New York’s Godfather of Grassroots Basketball fostered a partnership with notable African Americans and social justice activists and allies to launch Advancement of Blacks in Sports, Inc. (ABIS), on September 2, 2020. ABIS is a non-profit organization with a mission to boldly advocate for a culture of equity and inclusion that results in the advancement of racial, economic, and social justice for Blacks in sports. ABIS Members include coaches, administrators, and athletes at all levels of sports, academicians, civil rights attorneys, social justice influencers, diversity, equity and inclusion allies, and advocates. For more see www.weareabisevents.org.
