Today at 4pm eastern time, the first ever HBCU All-Star basketball game will take place at Lakefront Arena in New Orleans. Top players from around the HBCU landscape will have the opportunity to showcase their abilities on a national stage.
Founded by CEO Travis Williams, the All-Star Game took three years to get set up to where the game is played on final 4 weekend. It sits on the calendar the Sunday between the Final 4 and the NCAA Basketball National Championship game that is played the next day.
The games gives the best players from the four major HBCU conferences such as the SWAC, MEAC, CIAA, and SIAC a chance to shine against the best. Often times when an HBCU team makes it to the NCAA Tournament, they are seeded low and have to play the top seeded teams in the tournament. The best players sometimes don’t get a chance to truly shine.
Norfolk State was a 16 seeded team coming into the tournament, and they had to face the defending national champions, the Baylor Bear, in round 1. Baylor, a #1 seeded team, were favored to repeat heading into the tournament. Texas Southern were met with the same fate as Norfolk State when they had to face the other #1 seed, Kansas. Kansas will be playing North Carolina in the National Championship game on Monday.
All college and high school students are free with a valid school I.D. The goal is to bring more exposure to the HBCU community and to continue to invest into the community. The game will be broadcasted on CBS Television Network and streaming live on Paramount+