NBA All-Star Chris Paul is producing a basketball Docuseries around Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) during the course of the 2020-21 season. Paul’s Ohh Dip!!! Productions will produce the show with Roadside founding partners Ron Yassen and John Hirsch. The two companies have collaborated on Emmy-nominated documentary Crossroads, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2018.
Paul aims to highlight struggles of HBCU basketball teams including specifically recruiting on every level.
“HBCUs historically have been at a competitive disadvantage with their basketball programs facing many challenges with funding, recruitment, misperceptions, and exposure,” Paul said in a statement. “With the current racial awakening in our country prompting young athletes to look at where they play, it’s now more important than ever to shine a light on HBCUs and showcase their value in sports and society.”
Though Paul went to Wake Forest University and played for the Demon Deacons, an ACC basketball program that has rivalries with the Duke Blue Devils and UNC Tar Heels, he grew up in Winston-Salem, N.C., the home of Winston-Salem State University, an HBCU that was founded in 1892. Paul has long been supportive of HBCU’s, and often wears gear from those universities when he walks into the arena before games. One night, Paul wore an orange hat with “Langston University” across the front, honoring Oklahoma’s sole HBCU.
