Black Magic: Discriminating Look at HBCU Worth Far More Than Hill of Beans

After integration swung open the doors of higher education to everyone with any modicum of motivation, enrollment at HBCUs (Historically-Black Colleges and Universities) steadily declined and athletic programs nosedived nearly into oblivion. Understandably, the vast majority of the premier African-American athletes follow the alluring money trail to superior facilities and greater exposure rather than enroll any longer at HBCUs. Actually, most HBCU institutions currently are imprisoned at the NCAA DI level, where collectively the Washington Generals of college entertainment are little more than indentured servants doing the bidding of their major-university masters; almost always getting whipped on the road as sacrificial lambs during non-conference competition. HBCUs also suffer from substandard scholastic standards typified by nine of their institutions having athletic programs failing to reach the Academic Progress Rate threshold required to compete in the 2020-21 postseason.

It's not a Trumped-up "go back to where you came from" but, if anything, the MEAC and SWAC should simply return to DII significance. Seven different historically-black colleges and universities advancing to the NCAA DI level captured a total of nine NAIA and NCAA College Division Tournament championships in a 21-year span from 1957 through 1977 (Tennessee State from 1957 through 1959, Grambling '61, Prairie View '62, Winston-Salem State '67, Morgan State '74, Coppin State '76 and Texas Southern '77). Coppin State is the lone school in this group to go on and post a triumph in the NCAA Division I playoffs.

With that historical background yielding a mite more perspective than diversity demonstrated by "open-minded" bloc voting for one party more than 90% of the time, let's also proclaim the political acumen part of journalistic jackal Jemelle Hill's brain couldn't fill an identity-politics thimble. The savvy shortfall is akin to another Michigan misfit, Congresswoman Squad Facade Tlaib, and fellow ultra-liberal Dimorats MadMaxine, Sheila Jackass-Lee and Ayanna "Don't Need Black Faces That Don't Want to Be Black Voice" Pressley. Exhibit A for jaded viewpoint of Hill, the sports world's progressive press puke playpen equivalent of NPR freedom-of-the-press hypocrite April Ryan, is her genius admonition imploring African-American "supremacist" athletes to abandon attending PWIs (Predominantly White Institutions) for HBCUs. Does Hill really believe hoopdom can go back to her "good old days" when a total of 23 products from HBCU schools presently at the NCAA Division I level were among the top 22 NBA draft choices in a 20-year span from 1957 through 1976. Such a ploy doesn't quite seem to be a sweet "art of the deal" insofar as Norfolk State's Kyle O'Quinn (2012) is the only HBCU product chosen in the last 15 NBA drafts and no HBCU school over four decades has reached a Sweet 16 in the NCAA DI Tournament while winning an anemic 10% of their postseason games.

What do you have to lose accepting Hill's repulsive racial profiling resembling throwing buckets of water on policemen? Can you say dignity? Her HBCU thesis is an affront to the many courageous hoopers who broke the color barrier 50 and 60 years ago. By wandering off progressive plantation, they are looked upon by her ilk similar to a life in womb in NYC, where thousands more black babies are aborted than born alive each year (a/k/a black genocide advocated by Planned Murderhood founder Margaret Sanger). In a nutshell, Hill is a do-as-I-provocatively-say; not-as-I-do-before-lecturing-you huckster. Why didn't ivory-tower social engineer attend TSU or a MEAC/SWAC member rather than a power-conference affiliate (Michigan State) to achieve her personal goals? While perhaps having a valid point if restricted to Trump University (no athletic program), the doltish former ESPN shrew shouldn't get critical welfare after showing how unfit and unqualified she was by failing to unearth the Larry Nassar predator scandal at her alma mater while managing editor at the State News or as a writer for the Detroit Free Press. Assessing the mental gymnastics exhibited by Hill and her equally-inept colleagues, the derelicts in duty need to don some enabler shame stemming from incompetence virtually allowing Nassar's sexual-abuse atrocities before, after and during six years she covered MSU. Prior to abusing our sensibilities about what an athlete is worth to a university, failed-at-my-job Hill should pay reparations by purchasing and reading abuse survivor gymnast Rachael Denhollander's memoir What is a Girl Worth?

Value wasn't much when all but two of the 25 HBCUs had at least one season with 20 defeats in a six-year span from 2003-04 through 2008-09 while Hill toiled for the Free Press and Orlando Sentinel prior to securing spot for her political pap at the Extra Sensitive Pious Network (ESPN). The pair of HBCU institutions emerging unscathed during that stretch were Hampton (worst record was 13-17 in 2003-04) and Norfolk State (11-19 in 2006-07). But in an attempt by someone who actually met the real G-Man "White Tiger" firsthand (not actor Bruce Jenner who played QB role in movie) to avoid being levied a $4.5 million fine by the U.S. Department of Education for withholding handout to MessMedia maven who "needs a history lesson," following are additional relevant HBCU basketball historical nuggets for Hubris Hill to utilize in any way the genuine racist and bigot sees fit. Perhaps she and chest-pounding #Dimorat operative Donna Brazilla will pass this inside Basketball Jones intel on to certain "Dem(wit)" presidential candidates for an edge in human-debris debate at Houston-based Texas Southern. At a bare minimum, maybe know-it-all Hill can help Brazilla secure direct access for the FBI to hacked DNC computer server.

A computer database isn't necessary to know there has been only two HBCU regulars on NBA rosters the last half of this decade (O'Quinn and Tennessee State undrafted free agent Robert Covington). O'Quinn is one of only three HBCU products (all second-rounders) picked in an NBA draft over the past 23 years (a/k/a length of time since Not Worth a Hill of Beans graduated from college). That's a stark contrast to average of three HBCU draftees annually selected in first two rounds in five-year span from 1974 through 1978 after a total of 10 different HBCU schools produced players among the top 69 picks in 1969. The next season (1969-70), Southern schools Alabama, Clemson, Georgia, Kentucky and South Carolina crossed the color barrier by featuring an African-American on their freshman basketball squad for the first time. As a further means of comparison, 17 straight NBA drafts from 1969 through 1985 had an HBCU product selected in first two rounds (total of 37 such players) despite the league not having more than 18 franchises until absorbing four ABA teams in 1976.

We presume Hill is referring to a HBCU school such as Grambling, which never has appeared in the NCAA DI playoffs. Success wasn't so difficult to find for the Tigers at the small-college level where they belong in order to thrive again. Beginning with third-rounder Charles Hardnett in 1962, they supplied one of the top 21 NBA draft choices four consecutive years through 1965. The majority of them didn't perform at the NCAA DI level, but following at the top of the hill is a ranking of the all-time top 25 HBCU players (a dozen from Grambling if include alphabetical list of honorable mention selections acknowledged below):

Honorable Mention
Johnnie Allen, Bethune-Cookman (Fla.)
Al Attles, North Carolina A&T
John Barnhill, Tennessee A&I
Billy Ray Bates, Kentucky State
Hal Blevins, Arkansas A&M
Tom Boswell, South Carolina State*
Alonzo Bradley, Texas Southern
Frank Card, South Carolina State
John Chaney, Bethune-Cookman (Fla.)
Bob Christian, Grambling (La.)
Nathaniel "Sweetwater" Clifton, Xavier (La.)
Emanual Davis, Delaware State
Mike Davis, Virginia Union
Terry Davis, Virginia Union
Warren Davis, North Carolina A&T
Charles Edge, LeMoyne-Owen (Tenn.)
Alphonso Ford, Mississippi Valley State
Jake Ford, Maryland State
Wilbert Frazier, Grambling (La.)
Mike Gale, Elizabeth City State (N.C.)
Earl Glass, Mississippi Industrial College
Charles Hardnett, Grambling (La.)
Fred Hilton, Grambling (La.)
Harold Hunter, North Carolina College
Lewis Jackson, Alabama State
Aaron James, Grambling (La.)
Jerome James, Florida A&M
Ben Jobe, Fisk (Tenn.)
Avery Johnson, Southern (La.)
Clemon Johnson, Florida A&M
Ed Johnson, Tennessee A&I
George T. Johnson, Dillard (La.)
Rich Johnson, Grambling (La.)
Caldwell Jones, Albany State (Ga.)
Charles Jones, Albany State (Ga.)
Earl Jones, District of Columbia
Major Jones, Albany State (Ga.)
Wil Jones, Albany State (Ga.)
Arvesta Kelly, Lincoln (Mo.)
Harry Kelly, Texas Southern
Julius Keye, Alcorn A&M (Miss.)
Richard "Pee Wee" Kirkland, Norfolk State (Va.)
Bobby Lewis, South Carolina State
Earl Lloyd, West Virginia State
Kevin Loder, Kentucky State/Alabama State
Ed Manning, Jackson State (Miss.)
Bob McCoy, Grambling (La.)
Maurice McHartley, North Carolina A&T
Porter Meriwether, Tennessee A&I
Ronald "Flip" Murray, Shaw (N.C.)
Lloyd Neal, Tennessee State
Audie Norris, Jackson State (Miss.)
Willie Norwood, Alcorn A&M
Kyle O'Quinn, Norfolk State
Joe Pace, Maryland-Eastern Shore
Bobby Phills, Southern (La.)
Willie Porter, Tennessee A&I
Marlbert "Spider" Pradd, Dillard (La.)
Carlos Rogers, Tennessee State
Frankie Sanders, Southern (La.)
Bruce Seals, Xavier (La.)
Willie Shaw, Lane (Tenn.)
Eugene Short, Jackson State (Miss.)
Tal Skinner, Maryland-Eastern Shore
Larry Spriggs, Howard (D.C.)
Larry Stewart, Coppin State (Md.)
Bennie Swain, Texas Southern
Carlos Terry, Winston-Salem State (N.C.)
Willis Thomas, Tennessee A&I
Henry Ward, Jackson State (Miss.)
Ben Warley, Tennessee A&I
Cornell Warner, Jackson State (Miss.)
Thomas "Trooper" Washington, Cheyney State (Pa.)
Donald "Slick" Watts, Xavier (La.)
Hershell West, Grambling (La.)
Earl Williams, Winston-Salem State (N.C.)
Kenny Williams, Elizabeth City State (N.C.)
Milt Williams, Lincoln (Mo.)
*Transferred with coach Ben Jobe to South Carolina and played for the Gamecocks in 1974-75 before becoming a first-round NBA draft choice as an undergraduate.

Perhaps Hill's bruised ego can (first) take time away from her petty feud with former ESPN colleague Stephen A. Smith, who played sparingly for Winston-Salem State in the late 1980s under legendary coach Clarence "Bighouse" Gaines because of a knee ailment. For what it's worth to someone as conceited as Hill, following is an assortment of additional trivia tidbits if she is interested in becoming an authentic HBCU expert:

• Football coaching legend Eddie Robinson won more than 70% of his games as Grambling's basketball bench boss from 1942-56.

• North Carolina College's Rocky Roberson scored 58 points in a game against Shaw (N.C.) during the 1942-43 season for what was believed to be a college record at the time.

• CIAA champion West Virginia State was the nation's only undefeated college team in 1947-48, finishing with a 23-0 record. The squad, coached by Mark Cardwell, included future NBA players Bob Wilson and Earl Lloyd.

• Tennessee A&I, coached by Henry A. Kean, was the nation's only undefeated team in 1948-49 with a 24-0 record. The Tigers' leading scorers, Clarence Wilson and Joshua Grider, were both eventually longtime standouts with the Harlem Globetrotters.

• Florida A&M won the 1952 SIAC Tournament final against host Alabama State, 71-67, despite having just four players on the court the final 13-plus minutes (including two overtimes) because of players fouling out.

• The first predominantly black college to take the floor in an integrated national collegiate tournament was Tennessee State (then Tennessee A&I) in 1953. Hall of Famer John McLendon coached Tennessee State to three consecutive national titles (1957-59). Oddly, the '53 Tennessee State team defeated McLendon-coached North Carolina College for the opportunity to go to Kansas City. Seven years earlier, McLendon led North Carolina College to a 64-56 triple-overtime victory over Virginia Union in the final of the first Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association Tournament. The CIAA Tournament blossomed into one of the premier postseason events in the country, including major-college tourneys.

• The governor of Louisiana threatened McNeese State to pull out of 1956 NAIA Tournament if HBCU institutions were allowed to participate. The Cowboys ultimately defied the governor's wishes and defeated HBCU powerhouse Texas Southern in national final.

• Western Illinois missed an opportunity to become the nation's only undefeated college team in 1957-58 when it lost to Tennessee State, 85-73, in the NAIA Tournament championship game. Western had defeated Tennessee State, 79-76, earlier in the season. It was one of three consecutive NAIA titles won by Tennessee State, which boasted future pros Dick Barnett, John Barnhill and Ben Warley.

• In 1959, North Carolina A&T became the first predominantly black institution to participate in NCAA Division II national playoff competition. The Aggies finished third in the tourney.

• The 1961-62 All-SWAC first-team selections included three frontcourters who later played at least 10 seasons in the pros - Prairie View's Zelmo Beaty, Southern's Bob Love and Grambling's Willis Reed. Grambling finished in the top 10 of the first 76 weeks of College Division/Division II polls from January 5, 1961 through the end of the 1966-67 campaign. The Tigers, coached by Fred Hobdy, placed in the top five 40 consecutive weeks from March 2, 1961, through January 28, 1965. Grambling supplied seven top 20 NBA draft choices in a 20-year span from 1957 through 1976 before moving up to the NCAA Division I level - Bob McCoy (10th in 1957), Hershell West (16th in 1963), Reed (10th in 1964), Wilbert Frazier (12th in 1965), Jimmy Jones (13th in 1967), Fred Hilton (19th in 1971) and Larry Wright (14th in 1976).

• North Carolina A&T's Hugh Evans, a 12th-round draft choice by the St. Louis Hawks in 1963, went on to become a long-time NBA referee. Evans, a high school teammate in New York with Connie Hawkins and a college teammate of Al Attles, spent three years in the San Francisco Giants' minor league system.

• Longtime Harlem Globetrotter Fred "Curly" Neal was an All-CIAA selection for Johnson C. Smith (N.C.) in 1962-63.

• The first family of small-college basketball, if not all of hoopdom, could be the six brothers Jones from McGehee, Ark., all 6-8 or taller, who became the top six rebounders in Albany (Ga.) State history during the 1960s and 1970s. Oliver and Melvin were borderline pro prospects before Wil (nine), Caldwell (17), Major (six) and Charles (15) each played a minimum of six ABA/NBA seasons. Major Jones, 6-9, led NCAA Division II rebounders in 1974-75 with an average of 22.5 per game. He is the last Division I or Division II player to average at least 20 per game.

• Elmore Smith, a 7-0 center for 1970 NAIA champion Kentucky State, was called for goal tending 12 times in a 116-98 defeat against Eastern Michigan.

• Louisiana College is the first predominantly white school to play a home-and-home season series against a HBCU (Grambling in 1971-72).

• In 1970, with an enrollment under 650 students, three Maryland State College players from a 29-2 team were selected in the NBA draft - Jake Ford (2nd round), Levi Fontaine (5th) and James "Bones" Morgan (7th). Four years later, the school (now known as Maryland-Eastern Shore) featured three more players chosen from a 27-2 squad - Rubin Collins (2nd), Talvin Skinner (3rd) and William "Billy" Gordon (4th).

• Tennessee State edged Oglethorpe (Ga.), 7-4, on February 16, 1971, in what is believed to be the lowest-scoring college game since the center jump was eliminated prior to the 1937-38 season. Tennessee State had overwhelmed Oglethorpe, 82-43, earlier in the season.

• Less than seven hours after returning to campus following a quarterfinal defeat against eventual 1971 NAIA champion Kentucky State, Grambling's Charlie Anderson died as a result of injuries suffered in a hit-and-run auto accident. Anderson, who averaged 18.3 ppg and 17.8 rpg, provided the game-winning basket in the Tigers' overtime win against Glassboro State (N.J.) in second round.

• Kentucky State's Travis "Machine Gun" Grant set the single-game NAIA Tournament scoring record with 60 points against Minot State in 1972. Grant finished his four-year college career with 4,045 points and a 33.4-point average.

• Dave Robbins, who is white, became coach at Virginia Union in 1978-79 in the predominantly black CIAA. Robbins went on to win more CIAA Tournaments than any coach in league history. VUU finished in the Top 10 of final national rankings nine consecutive seasons from 1987-88 through 1995-96 and 12 of 13 beginning in 1983-84.

• Alcorn State, competing in the Braves' second season at NCAA Division I level in 1978-79, went unbeaten during the regular season. They won at Mississippi State, 80-78, in first round of NIT before bowing at Indiana, 73-69, in second round. Bob Knight-coached IU went on to capture the championship.

• Texas Southern's Aaric Murray is the only HBCU player to crack the 30-point plateau in an NCAA Division I playoff game (38 against Cal Poly in 2014 First Four). Murray is one of 10 different HBCU players to score more than 25 points in a single NCAA DI Tournament contest after Prairie View's Gary Blackston tallied 26 in 2019 First Four. Texas Southern transfer Zach Lofton set New Mexico State's existing NCAA playoff single-game scoring record with 29 against Clemson in 2018 first round.

• Numerous HBCU hoopers were so versatile they eventually excelled professionally in other major sports. Earning acclaim as MLB All-Stars were: George Altman (Tennessee State), Al Bumbry (Virginia State), Larry Doby (Virginia Union), Chuck Hinton (Shaw NC) and Monte Irvin (Lincoln PA). Ex-hoopers among NFL/AFL Pro Bowl selections included: Buck Buchanan (Grambling), Harold Carmichael (Southern LA), Ben Coates (Livingstone NC), Len Ford (Morgan State), Too Tall Jones (Tennessee State), Jacoby Jones (Lane TN), Cy McClairen (Bethune-Cookman FL), Zeke Moore (Lincoln MO), Art Shell (Maryland-Eastern Shore), Otis Taylor (Prairie View A&M) and Rayfield Wright (Fort Valley State GA).

• Former ABA/NBA players who went on to coach HBCUs at the NCAA Division I level include Butch Beard (Howard University/Morgan State), Juan Dixon (Coppin State), Jerry Eaves (North Carolina A&T), Tommy Green (Southern LA), Bob Hopkins (Southern LA/Grambling/Maryland-Eastern Shore), Lindsey Hunter (Mississippi Valley State), Aaron James (Grambling), Clemon Johnson (Florida A&M), Gene Littles (North Carolina A&T), Larry Smith (Alcorn State), Mo Williams (Alabama State) and Larry Wright (Grambling).

Hill's hackneyed handiwork isn't exactly a novel concept. Doubt she realizes it, but the following alphabetical list of HBCU players didn't need her "tunnel-vision" encouragement to transfer from a power-conference member: