NCAA Basketball Coach Chris Burns Comes Out [VIDEO]

NCAA basketball now has its first openly gay coach. USA Today has the story:

Chris Burns stands before his players in Bryant University’s men’s basketball locker room. He is shaking, yet resolute. He’s rehearsed this conversation in his head dozens of times. But that’s just practice. This is game time. “There are parts of this business that lead me to believe what I’m about to tell you is not acceptable here,” the assistant coach says. “This is something I struggle with. It’s made me consider giving up coaching. It’s made me think I’m not supposed to be here.” Players are wide-eyed. Burns takes a deep breath. “I’m a gay man,” he says, at last. He goes on to say he hopes none of this will affect the players negatively, that he wants it to unite them. Bryant’s players surround him with hugs. They tell him they love him. He can exhale. “There was an initial shock factor,” senior forward Curtis Oakley tells USA TODAY Sports. “But everyone was, like, ‘Yo, Burns, we rockin’ with you.’ It was all love.”

Before becoming a coach, Burns was a star point guard for the Bryant Bulldogs, leading them to the 2005 national championship game. There’s much, much more at the link.