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
EASTSIDE GOLF SIGNS JOSEPH BRAMLETT as the first member of PGA Tour

EastSide Golf is even.
Earl Cooper and Olajuwon Ajanaku founded a black brand of golf clothing, which goals to make golf more integrative. They have recently announced two fundamental movements to support this mission: they launched last month EASTIDE GOLF FOUNDATIONAnd today the brand has announced the signing of its first skilled Golfer under a contract of support: a member of PGA Tour Joseph Bramph.
Braglett said that in 2020 he was fascinated by joining Golf EastSide.
“Since then, I watched the brand growing,” he said. “They sent me a few shirts and other things, and I had many friends wore EastSide Golf (clothing). I watched their mission, what they were, the height they had, and I was very excited about the possibility of finally becoming part of it and push the brand forward.”
During all skilled competitions, a member of PGA Tour will wear brand clothing with a characteristic logo on the left breast, a black golfanist rocking golf club with a golden chain on the neck. Normal Fashion Elections Bramletta lie in a stereotypical sports outfit, nevertheless it is happy that it may possibly break out of this manner with EastSide turtleneck.

EastSide Golf
“They just bring different energy,” he said. “You see Jordan’s cooperation and growing up, I played golf from an early age, but basketball has always been my second sport. I am a big fan of Michael Jordan.” He called the Link with Golf EastSide “a very good fit”.
Bramp’s father initiated his love for this sport. His father, who, said, was “addicted to Golf, before I was born”, often exchange a golf club in the lounge. Braglett simply copied his actions.
“Every time his turn came to take care of me, he practiced (his) a short game and let me crawl on the grass,” he said. “I read the game very early and I don’t know exactly what it was, but it captivated me from the very beginning.”
The profession of Stanford graduates includes winning the national championships in the first 12 months. His win secured the PGA Tour card immediately after studying in 2010. His other achievements include winning the Korn Ferry Tour in 2021 and the recent third place at Puerto Rico Open, where he scored 21 years.

EastSide Golf
Bramlett is one of two black golfers commonly competing on PGA Tour.
“I was a black golfer all my life, so from the first day it was just part of my experience in the game,” he said. “That’s what I’m proud of, I know that this is something that distinguishes me a bit (and) I think it is also something that gives me a great platform.”
Departing from Saratog in California, he signed a contract with EastSide Golf not only to the present, but additionally for the future. Bramlett has one other decade for top -level competition. Despite this, when he finished, he would love to present up a game that he gave a lot to people like him, Cooper and Anjanak, despite the history of Golf to be inaccessible to black people.
“All positive and inclusion that they pressed, social times, and the ways in which they bring people to the game, making them feel more welcome, pushing the game forward,” he said. “I want to be someone who is involved.”
EastSide Golf signed Bramletta shortly after the announcement of EastSide Golf Foundation. The foundation was created to extend influence in three key areas: access, education and perfection. The Foundation will ensure resources to make Golf more available, share knowledge about sport and financial support for social organizations, golf teams and individuals through high -quality programs that favor long -term success.

EastSide Golf
“I am a PGA professional and I think that as PGA professionals, we bear the duties to bring people to the game,” said Cooper. “There is a bigger mission and until everyone feels welcome and everyone feels comfortable in the golf course, we still have a job.”
Cooper said that having a foundation allows Golf EastSide to receive larger funds to increase their mission. One of the features of this mission, which can probably profit, is EastSide Golf Invitational, a charity event starting the third 12 months, and now the official event of the Foundation Funds.
Now, the official event of the foundation funds, Invitational has generated over 100,000 USD for Morehouse College over the past two years. Since 2019, EastSide Golf has brought almost USD 300,000 in the school golf program for the support of scholarships, team operations and others. In addition to financial support, EastSide Golf also provides uniforms, transport, contacts and other experiences, such as the team host in Masters.
Their financial contribution is in step with the meaning of the school, which connects Cooper and Anjanak. They met in College via the Golf team and won the twenty fourth minority Golf PGA championship in 2010.
Although Cooper didn’t create PGA Tour, he wants to go away the heritage of motivating the next generation. “Although I’m not on the route, I can still influence,” he said.
For Bragletta, he just wants children to know that they’ll achieve all the pieces they gave their minds to.
“I was lucky to grow up, I had Tiger Woods,” he said. “I hope that I can set such an example for future generations.”
Sports
Ryan Clark breaks down in an emotional interview with Greg Brooks Jr.: “This child did not deserve it”

Ryana Clark “The Pivot” podcast It boasts “key conversations”. However, the host of the podcast was not prepared for the emotional variety of his last interview with a former footballer of the State University in Louisiana Greg Brooks Jr. After almost an hour conversation with Greg Brooks and his father, Greg Brooks, Clark, Clark Put in tears a moment after Brooks was thrown out of the interview.
“Sometimes I miss it. I look at the screen and I think it should be me, but I’m just glad that I’m here.”
“You are amazing. You are an inspiration, I mean that you are a superhero and I expected that from a very young age, when I met you, to achieve great things,” said Clark Brooks Jr. “I never expected you to achieve what you have man. I love you.”
For Clark, Ałunu LSU and the super Bowl master, this conversation was particularly annoying because he was there to witness Brooks Jr.’s journey. from early days of recovery.
“It’s hard to see, old,” Clark continued. “My tears are like a part of pride, but also just anger, because you are right, this child does not … does not deserve this man, and to be honest, GB (Greg Brooks Sr.), the most difficult part is for me that he has no anger. He is so happy of everything he has, he is so happy because of how far is.”
While the previous LSU football captain is grateful for recovery, his father, Brooks Sr., explained that Brooks Jr. He still experiences the extent of pain.

“Don’t you think that this child suffered, old? Don’t you think that he had the successes of all his friends? Not hear from the trainer for over 17 months? Seventeen Fu ** months … it’s painful, old” – revealed Brooks Sr.
In a lawsuit against the University and Mother of God of the Lake Regional Medical Center at Baton Rouge, the Brooks family claims that LSU staff and medical staff performed neglect in the Brooks Jr. And that the varsity did not inform the athlete’s family about his injury.
“I just want young athletes in the identical place, if something hurts, tell them.
(Tagstranslate) LSU Football (T) Ryan Clark (T) Sport
Sports
Coach San Antonio Spurs Gregg Popovich leaves the legacy of expressing injustice

Gregg Popovich, the most important coach of San Antonio Spurs Gregg Popovich, won the highest and maybe the largest coach in NBA history outside the side line. It also disappeared, but actually not forgotten, Popovich used his platform to talk against racial, social and political injustice.
“He was probably one of the first trainers of the modern generation, who really spoke about politics and social injustice,” said coach Golden State Warriors Steve Kerr, a former guard of Spurs near Popuvich. “One of my favorite trainers is (former basketball coach of men from the University of North Karolina) Dean Smith. Dean Smith in the 1960s. He helped break the racial barriers in the south, refusing to take his team in some places for staying or eating. Coaches who really distinguish me. “
Spurs announced the retirement of Popovich from coaching on May 2 after 33 years as the most important trainer. Naismith Hall of Famer is the NBA leader in the field of coaching victories with 1422 wins in the regular season. The three -time NBA coach led Spurs to 5 championships. The 76-year-old also took third place in winning the playoffs.
Popovich trained the Spurs dynasty, which included the NBA championships in 1999, 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2014, Hall of Famers David Robinson, Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and Future Hall of Famer Kawhi Leonard. With the NBA All-Star Center Victor Wembanyama, in its composition, Popovich trained only five matches this season, after which he suffered a stroke in a team facility on November 2, 2024. He never returned out of bord.
Popovich will remain in Spurs as the president of basketball operations and was replaced by Mitch Johnson, who was a short lived team of the team this season.
“It’s a sad day. It’s also an encouraging day,” said Kerr on May 2. “This is a natural transition for him organizationally to go to the next role. He also gives him space and time that he must regain after health problems.
“So I got a lot of mixed emotions … mainly my love for pop. My empathy for what has gone through with the Spurs organization. All of the above. This is a very emotional day for everyone involved. Thank you, pop.”
Coach Houston Rockets, Ime Udoka, former guard of Spurs and assistant coach near Popowicz, said on May 2: “This is a sweet -bitter day, of course, for all of us. But I am glad that he is in the good place. And I am glad that he is good with his family. A special day. A special person. One of the best for it. I am happy that I have a chance to work with him and call him.”
Cary edmondson-us today sport
Popovich also had an impact on the world, undeniably using his platform to speak about injustice. What made his openness much more unique was that he was a white man who spoke about marginalized individuals who didn’t seem like him.
Former San Antonio Spurs Forward Lamarcus Aldridge once described Popovich as “color blindness” to Andcape. Popovich was also known that he normally had an inventory with international talent.
“When you meet him, color doesn’t matter to him,” Aldridge said about Popovich. “It can refer. People can say that he and Stephen Jackson are really close. Stephen Jackson is the opposite of being from Europe. It doesn’t matter who you are. He connects with all people … He is so open to everything.”
Popovich once expressed respect for the playmaker San Francisco 49ers Colin Kapernicka and his national protest. These were the words of a person who attended the American Air Force Academy and obtained a bachelor’s degree in the field of Soviet studies. He served five years of the required lively service in the Air Force and once considered a profession in the CIA.
“A quite good group of people immediately thought that they did not respect the army,” said Popovich once. “It had nothing to do with his protest. In fact, he was able to do what he did because of what the army was doing for us. Most people think about it, but there will always be an element that wants to jump on fashion and this is unfortunate in our country.”
Popovich once took Spurs to the private screening of the film “Chi-raq” with the famous film director Spike Lee. Popovich had a former John Carlos track star, who joined Tommie Smith to get a controversial salut of black power on the podium medal during the Olympic Games in Mexico in 1968, confer with his team. Popovich gave his players the book “Between the world and me” by Tahisi Coates, who was written as a letter to the writer’s teenage son about reality, emotions and symbolism of being an African American in the United States. Popovich also took his team for the show “The Birth of the Nation”, the film Parker invested about Nat Turner, who managed the historic riot of slaves in 1831 and see the famous art of “Hamilton” in New York.
“It is obvious that the domestic plane of slavery still penetrates our social system in this country,” said Popovich once. “People want to ignore it, they don’t want to talk about it because it is uncomfortable.”
Popovich also described the race in America as “elephant in peace.” He believed that the White Americans didn’t understand the pain and stress related to being an African American. Popovich remembered listening to the black assistants of trainers about how that they had to confer with children about the best way to cope with the police in the event that they were confronted. He said it was something that as a white man never had in common together with his two children.
“It’s easier for white people because we haven’t experienced this experience. For many white people it is difficult to understand the everyday feeling with which many black people are dealing with,” Popovich once said. “I did not talk to my children about how to behave in front of a policeman when you stop. I did not have to do it. All my black friends did it. There is something that is wrong in it and we all know it.”

Daniel Dunn-Us today sport
Popovich also also talked about what he thinks were injustices in the American government, particularly against President Donald Trump. During October 27, 2024, a press conferencePopovich described Trump as “pathetic” and accused him of supporting the culture of racism and division in America. Popovich also added that he believes that Trump has confirmed racism, which normalized and legitimized discrimination on this process.
Popovich recurrently talked about the control of weapons. In 2023, Popovich gave an unnecessary, nine -minute lobbying lobbying for the laws of weapon control in America and criticizing “cowardly legislators who are selfish” before the match in Dallas. Popovich criticized republican legislators in Texas and Tennessee, and in addition expressed contempt for the expedition of representatives in 2023 Justin Jones and Justin Pearson from the Chamber of Representatives in Tennessee. Two black democrats were demonstrating weapons control on the floor of the chamber after a shooting in Nashville. Popovich called the provisions on the resistance of weapon control, an try and “clog all these things (in) the myth of the second amendment.”
“I was wondering because we have a governor and governor governor and prosecutor general, who made it easier to have more weapons,” Popovich said, referring to politicians from Texas. “It was a response to the murder of our children. I just thought it was a bit strange decision. But it’s just me.”
So how did Popovich develop into so conscious, caring and vocal?
The son of a Croatian father and Serbian mother organized naturally about other cultures, growing up in a racially diverse eastern Chicago in Indiana, 18 miles from the Chicago center. According to the universal census of the United States of 2010, Eastern Chicago had 42.9% black, 35.5% white and 19.1% of other races. Popovich attributed his military origin for making him aware of the world. He also learned about the world when he played basketball for the American Basketball Team of the Armed Forces in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union.
“When you meet him and learn about his upbringing and his origin, raised in (suburbs) Gary, Indian, in a multicultural district …”-said Udoka. “He all the time talked about the neighbors he had – an Italian family, a Jewish family, a black family. Everything around him was immigrants and his.
“This is the core of who it is. It is appropriate, regardless of whether you are black, white or different.”
Kerr also spoke about social injustice, racism, violence with weapons and political problems during the training of warriors. He recognized Popovich for uplifting him to make use of his platform to talk.
“I was 100% inspired by pop for the courage to speak and take the hits you do,” said Kerr. “I met POP after I signed a contract with Spurs in 1999 during the blockade. You can see the sacrifice for his country. A proud air force graduate. From the first national anthem (played in the game Spurs) I saw how he stood on an unusual American flut.
“This is a belief together with, say, the Shenanigans of this country politically – in actual fact all BS began at the moment, at the turn of the century … between social media and Buffoners politically, on this era, wherein everyone screams against one another.
-
Press Release1 year ago
U.S.-Africa Chamber of Commerce Appoints Robert Alexander of 360WiseMedia as Board Director
-
Press Release1 year ago
CEO of 360WiSE Launches Mentorship Program in Overtown Miami FL
-
Business and Finance11 months ago
The Importance of Owning Your Distribution Media Platform
-
Business and Finance1 year ago
360Wise Media and McDonald’s NY Tri-State Owner Operators Celebrate Success of “Faces of Black History” Campaign with Over 2 Million Event Visits
-
Ben Crump1 year ago
Another lawsuit accuses Google of bias against Black minority employees
-
Theater1 year ago
Telling the story of the Apollo Theater
-
Ben Crump1 year ago
Henrietta Lacks’ family members reach an agreement after her cells undergo advanced medical tests
-
Ben Crump1 year ago
The families of George Floyd and Daunte Wright hold an emotional press conference in Minneapolis
-
Theater1 year ago
Applications open for the 2020-2021 Soul Producing National Black Theater residency – Black Theater Matters
-
Theater11 months ago
Cultural icon Apollo Theater sets new goals on the occasion of its 85th anniversary