Since the first diagnosis of the coronavirus, many monumental events for blacks have occurred across the world. Events such as the Covid-19 outbreak, the murders of Ahmaud Aubrey, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd, and the racial tension across the globe have caused a shift in the way Blacks think. The word that describes the mindset most Blacks have in 2020 is, survive. It’s the word survive because Blacks: face higher rates of hospitalization or death from Covid-19, are being targeted by law enforcement at a higher rate than other races, and continue to protest against inequality and systemic racism. In sports, the word survive resonates because an enormous population of athletes is black. These black athletes (at the high school, collegiate, and professional level) are using their platforms to show their peers and fans what they can do to help their race survive. Recently, 5-star high school basketball players Makur Maker and Mikey Williams spoke about playing college basketball at an HBCU. Their comments echoed what many Blacks have been saying on social media, “support black businesses”. These two athletes understand basketball at the collegiate and professional level is more than just a game. They understand who has been profiting the most from the play of black athletes, white men. These young men want to help re-write the narrative and strengthen the black community. They want to help generate the millions of dollars their talent is worth for a black institute instead of a predominately white school. In simpler terms, they want to help the black community survive.
During an interview with Bleacher Report’s sports journalist Taylor Rooks, Williams stated, “A lot of athletes are so star struck by big-name schools and coaches that they forget they control their own narrative. If there’s anybody that is getting paid from me being at their school I’d want it to be my own people. It’s all about timing and situation. I support the black community to the fullest and any way possible I can help I’m going to do so no matter what it is.”
In the article Good bet for the office NCAA pool: Black men will play and white men will profit, written by Shaun R. Harper in 2018, Harper states “March Madness annually generates more than $821 million dollars.” This three-week basketball tournament accounts for most of the NCAA’s annual revenue. (Harper, 2018) Harper also points out a report created by the University of Southern California’s Race and Equality Center, where they found that every NCAA Division 1 men’s basketball champion since 1991 has come from a Power Five school (except for the University of Connecticut and Villanova). The same applies for every NCAA Division 1 football champion since 1989. Out of the 65 campuses that are considered a Power Five school, Blacks make up 55 percent of football teams and 56 percent of the basketball teams. (Harper, 2018, p. 3) However, Blacks who attend these schools make up only 2.4 percent of the undergraduate population. Although the study shows that Blacks are the majority that plays in the NCAA men’s tournament, it also shows that they are the minority of highly compensated courtside and leadership roles. Harper reports that at these universities 79 percent of head basketball coaches and 71 percent of athletic directors are white men. All five conference commissioners are white men. (Good bet, 2018) The report by USC shows what Power Five head football and basketball coaches, athletic directors, and conference commissioners earn. “Basketball head coaches earn an average salary of $2.7 million annually. Football head coaches earn an average salary of $3.7 million annually. Athletic directors earn an average salary of $707, 418 annually. Conference commissioners earn an average salary that exceeds $2.5 million.” (Black Male Student-Athletes, 2018, p. 8)
Similar to Harper’s article, another article that sheds light on how PWIs (predominately white institutes) profit from Blacks’ play in sports is The 27 schools that make at least $100 million in college sports. This article written by Cork Gaines, Business Insider’s sports editor, in 2017 reveals that the 27 schools that make the most money off of college sports all come from Power Five schools/conferences (the information is from the U.S. Department of Education and USA Today). The top three sports that made each school the most money were football, men’s basketball, and women’s basketball. The University of Texas which was ranked first on the list made $182.1 million and the University of Virginia which was ranked last made $100.6 million.
Recently, Trevon Logan, an Economics professor at the Ohio State University, and Stephen A. Bergman, an Economics graduate from the Ohio State University, created a study (Revenue Per Quality of College Football Recruit) that provides estimates of player monetary value in college football. In the paper Logan and Bergman stated, “This is the first study to exploit player specific ex ante recruit ratings, team performance, and football specific revenue and profit (revenue net of expenditures) to infer player valuations.” Logan and Bergman concentrated on “ex ante ratings of players and their relationship to revenue.” They estimated that five-star recruits increase annual revenue by $650,000, four-star recruits increase revenue by $350,000, and three-star recruits increase revenue by $150,000. According to them, “two-star recruits reduced annual revenue by $13,000.” In the table below, one can find the average star quality (referring to recruits) of teams from BCS conferences and non-BCS conferences.
Some say that the reason HBCUs do not get five or four-star athletes out of high schools is because of lack of exposure and poor facilities. Recently, Dwyane Wade spoke about the lack of exposure and poor facilities that HBCUs have during TNT’s NBA T.V. show, The Arena.
After watching Wade’s response, Maker responded to the 3-time NBA champion and future NBA Hall of Famer on Twitter:
“No knock to [Dwyane Wade] but playing in HS [high school] facilities didn’t hurt Kobe [Kobe Bryant], KG [Kevin Garnett], or Bron [LeBron James, Sr.] … Most facilities in Australia [Maker is Kenyan-Australian] are like Howard [Howard University] or Mid-majors. Didn’t hurt LaMelo [LaMelo Ball] or RJ [R.J. Hampton]. If Ja [Ja Morant] brought TV to Murray State, then it’s about your game. Send Zaire to HU.”
Sports programs like Clemson spend millions of dollars to create athletic facilities that lure five and four-star recruits to play at their university. In 2017, the Clemson Tigers opened their new Allen N. Reeves Football Complex. The Tigers spent $55 million on renovations. Although an athletic facility or stadium aren’t the prime factors that help an athlete go pro, Power Five schools understand the saying “Like a kid in the candy store.”
Unlike Clemson, North Carolina A&T, the HBCU national football champions for the last three years, does not have an athletic facility or stadium that would catch the eye of a five or four-star high school recruit. According to Jemele Hill’s article, “A&T’s entire endowment is worth barely as much as Clemson’s football complex.” With an athletic facility that might be considered subpar to a top athlete in their state and the lack of tv exposure, North Carolina A&T could not sign a five or four-star high school recruit from the class of 2020. This is the same case for all the other HBCUs football programs that are at the NCAA Division-1 level.
Recently, in an interview with The New York Times, Antoine Bethea, a 14-year NFL veteran and Howard alum, spoke about Howard University’s athletic facility’s conditions when he was a player there. The article stated that during Bethea’s tenure at HU, the Bison’s weight room was in the basement of a dorm. In addition, the football team had to take 12-hour bus rides to away games because they couldn’t afford plane tickets.
Five and four-star recruits transferring from a Power Five school to an HBCU is an action that has become common. Players like DeVante Kincade, Danrieze Scott, and Deondre Francois are well-known players that took this route. Before the new NCAA transfer portal rules that players now enjoy, there used to be transfer portal rules that allowed coaches to decide what schools and conferences players could not transfer to. This prevented players from joining top-tier sports programs like the one they came from. As a result, football and basketball players ended up transferring to sports programs that play at the NCAA Division I subdivision level (FCS and mid-majors). Several HBCU sports programs play at the FCS and mid-major level.
Another way five and four-star recruits attend an HBCU is if they get in trouble or become academically ineligible. Sometimes when highly ranked players get in trouble at Power Five schools and are suspended indefinitely, other Power Five schools consider them a high risk and avoid them. Often HBCUs are some few colleges that will give these athletes a second chance. Players like A.C. Leonard, Isaiah Crowell, and Davon Dillard are players that flourished from an HBCU giving them a second chance.
Although black institutes welcome top athletes that have troubled pasts, HBCUs produce graduates that serve their community. HBCUs are successful at producing judges, lawyers, doctors, and S.T.E.M professionals. According to the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, HBCU graduates represent 80% of black judges, 50% of black lawyers, 40% of black members of congress, 40% of black engineers, 50% of black professors at non-HBCUs, and 12.5% of black CEOs. Students experience more upward economic mobility at an HBCU than at PWIs.
There is research that shows HBCUs are successful at helping first generation and low-income students enter middle class. Yet, these colleges and universities remain financially disadvantaged. Earlier this year HBCU Money reported the total endowment for all HBCUs from 2019, $2.1 billion. HBCU Money also reported that “54 PWIs had an endowment above $2 billion, and 108 PWIs had an endowment above $1 billion.” If top black high school athletes attended HBCUs, their talents would help black institutes generate millions of dollars. When Norfolk State (a No. 15 seed) defeated Missouri (a No. 2 seed) during the 2012 NCAA Division-1 Men’s Basketball Tournament, NSU generated $2 to 4 million for their school that year. The task Norfolk State accomplished is the same goal Maker has in mind for Howard.
“We gotta lead. You know, everybody gotta lead. Everybody gotta take a stand and do something. And if I’m doing this, it’s going to bring awareness to the choices that we have to make. And as top recruits, we have to make choices that are responsible, and to better our community,” Maker said.