For a moment on March 16th Jackson State and the SWAC had the nation’s attention. For half a basketball game it wasn’t about how low the SWAC’s RPI was or if they were one of the worst conferences in college basketball. For the first 20 minutes, basketball players from an HBCU proved to the world that they too were talented. However, when the final buzzer sounded, the game was over and so to was Jackson State’s season.
One could scan throughout the New Orleans Arena and look up at the scoreboard and see the tremendous difference in the score. Everything that was supposed to happen did happen, only it happened in the second half. No one gave Jackson State a chance in the game and rightfully so, their opponents were the defending national champs, a 16 seed had never defeated a 1 seed, and the Gators have four potential NBA draft picks on their team. Even with all of that, Jackson State went toe-to-toe with the University of Florida for 20 minutes. If Jackson State would have beaten Florida, it would have been considered one of the greatest upsets in college basketball history. One has to ask though, would it still be considered an upset if four of the five players who started for Florida, who happened to be black, would have attended an HBCU such as Jackson State?
Grambling and its top two rival schools, Southern and Jackson State University, each has a nearby high school basketball program that has players that coaches should be foaming at the mouth to sign. Lanier High School which resides in Jackson, MS has been to 12 state championships and won 7 of them in the last 16 years. Jackson State is only six minutes away from the school. That same school produced Monta Ellis who is a candidate for the Most Improved Player Award in the NBA in his second season in the league. Grambling Lab which is literally in the back pocket of Grambling State University, the last few years has produced the Millsap brothers. Paul who currently plays for the Utah Jazz, played his collegiate ball at nearby Louisiana Tech and his younger brother Elijah went down to Lafayette to play for the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Southern Lab featured Glen “Big Baby” Davis not to long ago.
How would some of the powerhouses react to those types of players playing at HBCU’s? How would America react to an HBCU wearing Cinderella’s glass slipper during the month of March? Would that school receive as much attention throughout the following season as George Mason has this year? Would some of the top high school African American athletes begin to stop ignoring HBCU’s as if they didn’t exist or as if it signaled the end of their career? There is only question that remains to be asked, are our coaches going after any of these athletes that are growing up in their own backyards? If they are, something is going wrong somewhere.
Grambling and its top two rival schools, Southern and Jackson State University, each has a nearby high school basketball program that has players that coaches should be foaming at the mouth to sign. Lanier High School which resides in Jackson, MS has been to 12 state championships and won 7 of them in the last 16 years. Jackson State is only six minutes away from the school. That same school produced Monta Ellis who is a candidate for the Most Improved Player Award in the NBA in his second season in the league. Grambling Lab which is literally in the back pocket of Grambling State University, the last few years has produced the Millsap brothers. Paul who currently plays for the Utah Jazz, played his collegiate ball at nearby Louisiana Tech and his younger brother Elijah went down to Lafayette to play for the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Southern Lab featured Glen “Big Baby” Davis not to long ago.
How would some of the powerhouses react to those types of players playing at HBCU’s? How would America react to an HBCU wearing Cinderella’s glass slipper during the month of March? Would that school receive as much attention throughout the following season as George Mason has this year? Would some of the top high school African American athletes begin to stop ignoring HBCU’s as if they didn’t exist or as if it signaled the end of their career? There is only question that remains to be asked, are our coaches going after any of these athletes that are growing up in their own backyards? If they are, something is going wrong somewhere.
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