At the NBA’s All-Star Weekend in Indianapolis, the league hosted its third edition of the NBA HBCU Classic. This year, Winston-Salem State and Virginia Union, two teams in the CIAA, battled against each other in front of national audiences. Winston-Salem walked away with the 64-47 victory, but both teams had an unforgettable experience.
“This was big time,” Virginia Union head coach Jay Butler told the Associated Press. “This was an awesome event. Something kids will remember for the rest of their lives. When we first got here, they rolled out the red carpet from the airport to the hotel to the arena.”
Not only did the players show their talent to basketball fans across the country in an NBA arena, but they also got to meet some of their idols.
“It was just an amazing experience,” said Travis Vaughn, a freshman guard for Virginia Union. “I’m very fortunate. I got to meet Stephen Curry, Damian Lilard. I look up to them for my game, so I was very fortunate for that.”
Curry also stopped by Winston-Salem’s locker room before the game to meet the players.
“Walking in we got to see Kevin Durant,” said Winston-Salem guard Jaylen Alston. “I kind of stopped. I forgot a game was still happening, so I had to catch myself.”
Durant spoke glowingly about HBCUs and elevating their platform to a higher stage.
“It’s an opportunity for people around the country to see the type of talent they have at HBCUs. There’s a lot of hidden gems there, great coaching, great talent up and down the board. If we can give them the platform to showcase their talents and skills, we need to do so. So I’m excited for them. Hopefully, this becomes an annual thing and we start to see more and more talent come out of HBCUs.”
Stars also studded the stands during the game. Grammy award-winning artist Coco Jones opened the third NBA HBCU Classic with Lift Every Voice and Sing and the national anthem before tip off. On the sideline, Winston-Salem alum Stephen A. Smith, Virginia Union alum Ben Wallace, NBA All-Star Donovan Mitchell, and WNBA stars Rhyne Howard and Natasha Cloud sat court side. Vice President Kamala Harris’ husband Douglas Emhoff was also in the building for the game.
Both coaches recognized the importance of the opportunity, both for the student-athletes and for the increased visibility to the HBCU space.
“It’s big for out school and program and for our recruiting, moving forward,” Butler said. “I just want to thank the NBA and all those sponsors for basically allowing this event to happen. It is big for the HBCU community just to get this opportunity to play in front of millions on national TV.”
“I couldn’t even imagine when I was 18 to 24 years old, coming into the All-Star Game playing in front of Earl Monroe, Clyde Frazier and Magic Johnson, so that was huge,” said Winston-Salem head coach Cleo Hill Jr. “On the flip side for the student-athletes, they have career day [Sunday] and well-suited and booted to put our best foot forward for life after basketball. For myself, with my dad playing in the NBA for a short time, it was gratifying.”
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