Sports
Coaches: Automatic end-call offers could displace March Madness in half the majors

Memories of winning the NCAA First Four Tournament at Grambling State University in Dayton, Ohio will ceaselessly be remembered by the men’s basketball head coach Don’t trust Jackson. This yr, Grambling entered the tournament for the first time in history, winning the Southwestern Athletic Conference tournament championship, a goal Jackson had been seven years in the making.
“Playing in the NCAA Tournament was an amazing feeling for me, the coaching staff, our players, our alumni and our institution,” Jackson told Andscape. “There is nothing like competing at the highest level and making it to the tournament.”
However, in March, the commissioner of the Southeastern Conference Greg Sankeyco-chair of the NCAA Division I Transformation Committee, which he previously advisable tournament expansionsuggested eliminating automatic qualifying, an idea of the head men’s basketball coach at Michigan State University Tomek Izzo That’s right is value considering. However, many other coaches argue that implementing this proposal would have a negative impact on tournament participation for mid-major programs – reminiscent of those at historically black colleges and universities.
Currently, two HBCU athletic conferences in Division I basketball, the Southwestern Athletic Conference and the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, receive automatic bids to the NCAA Tournament. Other mid-sized conferences with HBCU members, reminiscent of Coastal Sports Association (CAA) i Ohio Valley Conference (OVC), also receive automatic offers. In the last 10 years, no HBCU organization has received an at-large bid to the tournament.
In a tournament known for its Power Five dubs and middling matches David vs. Goliath gamesmany imagine the college basketball landscape will change if David isn’t any longer capable of compete.
“That is the beauty and magic of March. If we subtract that, we don’t have 12 (over) 5 upsets and 16 (over) 1 upset,” said Howard University men’s basketball head coach Kenneth Blakeneywhose team lost the match in the First Four v. Wagner College in this year’s tournament. “Two (mid-major) teams in the Final Four last year, that’s the beauty and magic of what makes March Madness March Madness. There are so many brackets that are thrown out the window and that can be a problem, but that’s what makes March special.”
Head women’s basketball coach at Jackson State University Thomas Reed will always remember the time her team got here near upsetting LSU in the first round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament.
“The NCAA Tournament brings prestige and honor to our program and gives us a different type of platform to showcase what being an HBCU is all about.…We get a lot of viewership because people know we’re going to compete with a chance to win,” Reed said. “Having adequate representation at the NCAA Tournament helps shine a positive light on our culture and our institution. We will show that we have now great coaches and great players.
Another post-season tournament, the so-called National Invitation Tournamenteliminated automatic bids for mid-major regular-season champions for the 2024 NIT and no HBCUs that may have mechanically qualified a season ago were chosen to participate. The Women’s National Invitation Tournament will still allow regular season champions to qualify; two HBCUs were chosen for this yr’s postseason tournament.
“Now the NCAA is trying to follow the NIT blueprint and layout by eliminating a lot of mid-major basketball teams,” he said LeVelle Moton, head men’s basketball coach at North Carolina Central University. “I can not imagine the NCAA Tournament without high schools. whether or not they are HBCUs or low-level majors. “In my opinion, I don’t think people want to see another tournament with all the Power Five schools.”
Moton has 4 MEAC tournaments under his belt Champions since he took over the team at his alma mater in 2009. After the Eagles’ first NCAA Tournament appearance in 2014Moton remembers the chancellor at the time Debra Saunders-White informing him that first-year enrollment for next yr was already filled.
“Our website has skyrocketed. People were calling saying, ‘Here it’s (basketball player). Sam Jones he went, didn’t he? “It’s been proven that the best teams in football and the best teams in basketball get (their) sign-ups through the windows every year,” Moton said.
This translates into higher athletic fees for college kids, Moton said.
“The economic impact of the tournament on the university is such that this type of marketing cannot be paid for,” he added. “It’s valued at probably $25 million.”
After earning his first NCAA Tournament berth as a head coach in 2023, the head women’s basketball coach at Norfolk State University Larry Vickers I saw that playing in the tournament opened the door to recruitment. The Spartans lost to South Carolina in the first round of the tournament, but received praise from the Gamecocks head coach Dawn Staley.
A couple of months later, North Carolina State University transferred Diamond Johnson, a former five-star recruit committed to play for the Spartans.
“So many people emailed from everywhere. “Hey coach, I’ve never heard of your program, but I like watching you play, I like your style of play.” Obviously basketball gives us that opportunity where there’s not a huge difference in scholarships and stuff like that, but I don’t think we’re going to be able to recruit as well right now,” Vickers said.
“We managed to get it Anjane Richardson, who was in the top five kids in our state. The freshman said, “This HBCU culture is for me and I want to stay closer to home.” Then we received Diamond Johnson. … But if we do not make it to the tournament, every top team will just have 15 amazing players waiting for his or her turn because everyone desires to play at this point.”
Head men’s basketball coach at Tennessee State University Brian Collins participated in the NCAA Tournament as a player, helping lead Belmont University to its first tournament in 2006. He also bid for the tournament as an assistant coach at East Tennessee State University in 2017.
Tennessee State is a member of the OVC and Collins realizes that eliminating mid-range offers may have a direct impact on his players.
“If you take that away, think about it, why are you playing then? What are you fighting for? It’s hard to put into words, but if you take that away, you take away the dreams of the student-athletes who have worked so hard,” Collins said. “We would never have heard about Steph Curry and what he did at Davidson. What Damian Lillard did at Weber State, Paul George at Fresno State, Ja Morant at Murray State. You would never see these guys on stage and they would show you that they are just as talented as the guys from North Carolina.”
The issue of eliminating automatic offers also caught the attention of the head men’s basketball coach at North Carolina State University Kevin Keatts, whose team reached the Final Four of this yr’s tournament. Keatts, who previously spent several seasons at the University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW) in the CAA, understands the struggles mid-major programs must undergo to qualify for the NCAA Tournament and the privilege that Power Five schools have.
The Wolfpack won Atlantic Coast Conference tournament, but he had below is the recording of the conference 0.500. However, Keatts’ program still earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
If Keatts was still working at UNCW, it won’t have earned him the pick.
“In my time at UNCW, I won 28 games, and if I didn’t win that championship game, I probably wasn’t going to the NCAA tournament, so I had to (win it),” Keatts said during the Final Four. “So I hope there are other opportunities (for mid-majors). … If we could expand the tournament — and I’m not saying expand it a little bit just to get the Power Fives to attract more teams — I would like to give some opportunities to the mid-majors as well.”
Retired women’s basketball coach at Hampton University David the Sixth led the Pirates to 6 NCAA Tournament berths. Despite advancing to the tournament multiple times, Six has advocated for another option for HBCUs: he believes the NCAA should create a separate mid-major tournament much like the FCS football playoffs.
“HBCUs have great coaches and great talent,” Six said. The point is that schools need to speculate in it. They need to put resources into it, and that’s difficult. HBCUs are helpful and great at what they do, but you understand, if someone is making $175 million from their athletic program, HBCUs haven’t any likelihood of competing.
“Every now and then people say, ‘Well, you know, we’ve had Cinderellas before,’ but there were a lot more (Power Five) winners than Cinderellas.”
However, given the NCAA Tournament’s long and storied history and the national support behind it, other coaches do not believe a separate tournament would have the same appeal.
“All brackets are the NCAA tournament. This is where everyone’s heart is, not only fans, coaches, players, but also consumers. That’s everyone. This is historic,” Moton said. “That’s why I don’t think starting your own business will have the same financial, economic or just emotional impact as it does now.”
Sports
Jalen Milroe can follow the Jalen path in NFL

Star Black playmakers aren’t any longer an exception – they’re the rule. Throughout the entire football season, this series will discover the importance and influence of black QB from bottom -up to NFL.
Indianapolis-keep me, should you heard it earlier: playmaker Alabama born in Texas, who’s a stronger runner than a passerby, will probably be called outside the first round of the NFL Draft.
The playmaker was undefeated in Sec as a primary -year starter.
The playmaker never played for the same offensive coordinator.
The name of the playmaker is even Jalen.
But it isn’t clear that Jalen hurts. This winter he was busy winning the Super Bowl MVP, and he didn’t play Iron Bowl or against Michigan.
Instead, it’s a former playmaker of Crimson Tide Jalen Milroewho last week Combine Combine tried to convey the case to the trainers and evaluators that he – like his namesake – is price being their playmaker franchise in the future despite questions on his ability.
“I went through adversity. I saw everything as a quarterback, “Milroe said on Friday. “I played at the most difficult conference in the country. It would be easier to play at other conferences, but what I could see in Sec catapulted me that I was ready to play NFL. “
Justin Casterline/Getty Images
Departing from Katy in Texas, she originally got involved in Texas in 2019, but a 12 months later she fell to Alabama. After he was sitting behind the Crimson Tide Starter Bryung for 2 seasons, Milroe took his reins in the 2023 season. He helped Alabama survive Sec (8-0) this 12 months, won by the conference rival and two-time defender Georgia in the SEC championship, which caused Crimson Tide to the play-off collection.
But while Milroe had a big arm (his 10 yards for the test took third place in Sec in 2023), the pass was not his strong suit. For two seasons as a starter Milroe never achieved 3000 yards in one season, the first starter of Alabama, who did it because it … hurts.
Hurts, from Houston, led Crimson Tide to the National National Championships in 2016–17, but during these two seasons were lower than 5,000 yards. While Hurts was a singular Rusher (1,809 yards and 21 sticks) at the moment, his weakness as a passerby is known for led to the spare Tua Tavailoa during the break of the national championships in 2017.
In the mix, Milroe decided that despite his pedestrian passes, he was still worthy of being a start at NFL.
He is aware of his weaknesses and swore that he worked in the ass to enhance outside being “one dimension.” He could move when his legendary trainer, Nick Saban, retired after the 2023 season, but decided to not fall off. He traveled six miles a day to ensure that that something was left in the fourth quarter in the fourth quarter. He studied progression and reads after I-SNAP to lift his IQ in football.
Unlike the forecast sorts of the first round, Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders, Milroe threw a mix on Saturday, hoping that he would show the bands that he has mechanics to do that to the playmaker NFL. It turned out to be a mixed bag. Milroe showed strong arm strength and a very good location of sail routes, curls and it while throwing exercises, but fought accuracy on intermediate and on the routes.
“That’s so many things that I can learn more where I am today and where I will be when it comes to day 1, starting with NFL,” said Milroe before Saturday exercises. “Always be a game student, at all times attempt to develop, because it would be so many opportunities in which I can look back and say that it was the moment after I grew up as a playmaker.
“That’s right now, I’m just trying to grow as much as possible, put my best foot forward and just look for development.”
Derick E. Hingle/Getty Images
Milroe was asked that he was one other playmaker in Alabama to succeed in the mix, following in the footsteps of the role (who moved to Oklahoma in 2019), Tavailoa, Mac Jones and Bryce Young. Milroe said he appreciates being in the company of others, but he added that it’s difficult to check him with others.
“We had different bands, we had different players around us, we had a different system,” he said.
But when he specifically asked what he could study the journey of Hurts-from the first manager of the game after the super Bowl-Milroe master said he inspired him his companion Alabam.
“The most important thing I learned from J. Hurts is how he kept his head (I) always continued to work,” said Milroe. “He at all times raised his game, he has never been self -deserved, and all the pieces you see is great progress from him.
“And I have to applaud him as a person, he as a man, because he is definitely inspiring for many playmakers of my image, as well as many playmakers throughout the country. He leads to all of us. “
The couple isn’t completely similar. Hurts had about 20 kilos on Milroe when he was in college. Milroe has a stronger arm, while Hurts played more and not using a mistake of football: Milroe threw 17 interceptions and ate 67 bags for 2 seasons as a starter in comparison with 10 captures Hurts and 43 bags.
But they can each be changing the game when their teams need them. In a highly publicized match against Georgia at the starting of the last season, Milroe finished almost 82% of his passes on 374 yards and two appointments, adding 117 yards to the ground for the next two results.
Milroe can also match the wounds in the so -called “Jalen-ISMS. “
“Climbing upstairs is not easy, but when you reach the top of this mountain, you will learn so many things when it comes to adversity when it comes to difficulties, things along the way,” said Milroe in a mix.
Sports
Like Tommie Smith and John Carlos from 1968. Black Power Salute inspired me to find my goal

I’d say that I grew up within the household to be sure that that me and my siblings were aware of the black history. My parents invested in the gathering of black encyclopedias. On the duvet we had a version of the Bible with Black Jesus. Our house was stuffed with books of black novelists and thinkers, and if a black document appeared, we watched it. I watched all movies made on television about Dr. King, each “Roots” and “Alex Haley’s Queen” and I sat for all 14 hours “Eyes on the reward”-as a toddler. Bless my heart.
Having said this, there have been pockets of black history, and more likely that I had no opportunity to delve into once I was a toddler. The college was where all the will for information and understanding of the combined. I attended Morehouse College in Atlanta, Ga., One of a very powerful historically black universities within the country. It was there that I met people from around the globe whose knowledge about black history differed (often depending on the colleges and the communities by which we lived), but everyone had hunger to learn more.
One day, through the first yr, I remember one among my friends in a T -shirt by which I had definitely seen before, but I never paid attention to. There was a black and white screen printing on the shirt (what I do know now) the enduring moment on the Olympic Games in Mexico in 1968, where on the rostrum for 200-meter medals, Tommie Smith, John Carlos (races 1. And 3. Place Finaners) Everyone gathered a black fist in gloves while he played “Star Spangled Banner”. Peter Norman, the second place from Australia, wore a human rights badge, like Smith and Carlos.
Not only did they raise the fist of black power (although they each said it was for human rights), they received medals in black socks to represent poverty within the black community, and Smith wore a black scarf for black pride. Carlos showed solidarity with blue-wheeled employees, unpacking the jacket and wore a necklace from the beads for individuals who were lynched. Due to the state of Black America in 1968 and a continuing struggle for equality and civil rights, there have been calls to a boycott of the Games. Martin Luther King, Jr. He was also killed in April this yr – and all three athletes were inspired enough to find a way to do it on the rostrum, which led to one of the crucial durable images of public protest.
I remember how I learned history and realized that on the most important scene these brave men used their moment of triumph and victory to quietly protest against the conditions of underrated communities in America. I felt strengthened; We often discuss standing on the arms of giants, however the more I got into the history of black in America, the more I spotted what number of giants there have been. In college I used to be very bad and for a while ready to burn every part that represented the establishment or any obstacle to black liberation. I felt like all those individuals who even saw their space on the planet in reference to individuals who could never give you the option to speak as heroes whose lives were to be modeled later. Especially since it was also fastidiously that putting people in front of him can often bring an enormous personal loss.
When Smith and Carlos took their position, they were booed on the stadium and ordered to be sent home by the International Olympic Committee. The athletes returned home, but they weren’t welcomed by the hero, but as a substitute of rough sleds, and even in some cases the specter of death. They were also not beloved by athletes. Two men, associated eternally in history, even have a good relationship –Carlos even claims that he let Smith go within the race Because “Tommie Smith would never put his fist in the sky if I won this race,” the claim that Smith denies.
History ultimately has a way of rights, but it surely took a few years and realizations on the front of social policy, in order that the actions of those persons are perceived as brave and needed, not only selfish and smug.
The lessons that I learned from College and continuous reading and education I gained (my head remained within the book about black history) were one among the best advantages in HBCU. The very variety of books I learned about about which I actually have never heard of – I actually have upheld me all my life.
That is why I remember sooner or later I used to be walking around Washington, the eastern Washington market and a street seller was selling different photos of moments in black history, and he had a 40 -inch photo within the Tommie Smith and John Carlos frame. I paid for it in money and spent it across the capital of the country until I returned home. I do know that it happened in 2005 (I finished Morehouse College in 2001) because I just moved to my first apartment with no roommate and it was the very first thing that I actually have ever suspended on the wall. This picture within the frame still hangs on the wall in my home in 2025 and I used it to teach my children about sacrifice and privilege and how you may have to discuss individuals who cannot.

The query that my youngest children often ask: “How do I know who can’t speak for herself?” Which is an incredible query. For this I answered an easy fact, pointing to the photo:
“These men have made a gesture that gave people whose most of us, including them, would never see or never know them, but on which life negatively affects the alternatives of the wealthy and the federal government. Sometimes you may have to take this chance to say something because you do not know in the event you’ll ever have such a big platform.
Son, there may be at all times someone who cannot speak for himself, and you may have to use it in a voice, because perhaps the thing you say or a stand that can help someone you understand, live a greater life. ”
I take advantage of words that may understand a little bit higher, but I can inform you that my children have a look at this photo on a regular basis, and once one among my sons said: “These guys are heroes, right?”
I say yes, they’re. They are the heroes of the Black History.
They will live eternally for speaking, and even quietly, in solidarity with those that couldn’t.

(Tagstranslate) @Ap
Sports
Main Treasury Official Morgan State University, Sterling Steward, died

Morgan State University announced that his older associate athletics director and tax director, Sterling Steward, died.
No reason for death was disclosed, but the college has confirmed his contribution since he was employed in December 2022.
Morgan State University Athletics mourns Sterling Steward’s departure https://t.co/avjzilxhja
– Grizzly Life (@grizzlylife22) February 26, 2025
Steward died on February 26. In Morgan State he was accountable for the event of university programs, supporting partnerships and strengthening the financial and operational success of the Faculty.
“Sterling was more than a colleague-he was a respected leader, mentor and friend,” said in a written statement by Den Freeman-Patton, vice chairman and director of inter-university athletes. “His passion for athletics and commitment to raising Morgan programs were visible in everything he did. He worked tirelessly to ensure that our sports students had resources and the possibilities of distinction, and its impact will be felt for many years. We expand our deepest condolences to his family and loved ones, especially his three sons and sister when we mourn this huge loss. “
While the steward worked in Morgan, strategic growth and cooperation occurred. His work with the institutional development department helped to offer more opportunities and created lasting relationships to support sports programs.
Steward earlier he worked At the University of New Orleans (UNO) as an assistant to the college athletics director for strategic income generation. He also made stays on the University of Alaska Fairbanks, Savannah State University, Mississippi Valley State University, Alabama State University, Kentucky State University, Eastern Oregon University and Xavier University in various roles, including for a senior consultant athletics director and sports director.
He was from New Orleans, who received the title of bachelor and master’s degree on the University of Southern Mississippi. He won a bachelor’s degree in the sphere of coaching and administration/history of sport and his master’s degree in the sphere of sport management.
(Tagstransate) Morgan State Universiry
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