HBCUs (Historically Black colleges & Universities) are experiencing a sports awakening amid the ongoing BLM movement. That has attracted the attention of leading basketball recruits at levels that haven’t been seen since the 1970s. Fortunately, leading casino sites are still offering bonus codes like the Leo Vegas Bonus Koodi for punters looking to wager on the sport.
As BLM protesters took to the streets to demand the end of racial vestiges earlier in June, a San Diego teen tweeted eight words that ignited a less visible, but powerful movement. In his tweet, the teen noted that it wouldn’t be bad to attend an HBCU.
16-year-old Mickey Williams was the person behind this Twitter post, which quickly went viral. Williams is among the most sought-after college basketball recruits in the Class of 2023. For this reason, he would become among the highest-rated athletes to attend an HBCU post-integration.
Though Williams’s post took college sports fans and recruiters by surprise, many were eager to give clues on the school an athlete might favor. And while Mickey is only in his sophomore year of high school, he has received over two dozen offers from top schools in the country, including notable scholarship programs from Arizona and UCLA.
Following his Twitter post in June, Williams listed five HBCUs among his top 10 choices for his college career. These schools include Tennessee State, Alabama State and North Carolina Central, and big programs like USC and Kansas.
Over the last few months, more top Black athletes have shown interest in joining an HBCU team, signaling that the Power 5 institutions may not have the same allure. Referencing Williams’s comments, NBA star Carmelo Anthony said it only takes a single person to change history. Days after Williams shared his Twitter post, Nate Tabor also withdrew from St. John’s in favor of Norfolk State, an average Black college.
In June, Makur Maker also revealed that he was forfeiting offers from Kentucky and UCLA to join Howard University. The move made him the highest-ranking player to choose an HBCU in over a decade. According to Makur, the move came as a way to encourage youths to lead in whichever way they can, hoping to see HBCUs as power schools in the next few years.
Hours after Maker’s statement, Daniel Ingram said he was de-committing from Cincinnati to join the University of Arkansas, another HBCU. The star quarterback had signed a letter of intent with the University of Cincinnati earlier in February.
As more players continue shifting their commitment in favor of HBCUs, these universities must compete with better-resourced and high-profiled schools to get top recruits. Fortunately, the ongoing BLM movement has helped to redirect the player’s attention to institutions surrounded by people with similar cultural experiences and backgrounds.
