Sports
The prospect of players getting paid is another concern for HBCU schools, where large NIL deals are still taking root

Marc Smith was relaxing in his basement when he got a notification on his phone. The athlete from his alma mater, Grambling State, had posted on social media about not having enough food and needing help.
The incident prompted Smith to found Icon 1901 Collective in April 2022 to assist Grambling athletes land paid sponsorships at the college best known for iconic football coach Eddie Robinson. Smith searched and couldn’t discover a single historically black college or university with a collective focused on name, image, or likeness compensation, so he expanded Icon 1901 to represent HBCU athletes elsewhere as well.
“These kids want to be included in the NIL space, and a lot of universities don’t have the resources to do that,” Smith said.
Outside of the biggest and richest athletic programs, the financial burden of offering solid NIL options to school athletes is a relentless concern, and it’s often especially evident at HBCUs. The 4 major HBCU conferences recently agreed to work together to extend the worth of HBCUs and send more athletes to the professionals, but now a brand new problem has emerged.
The massive $2.8 billion antitrust settlement agreed to by the NCAA and the nation’s largest conferences includes the prospect of schools paying athletes directly as early as 2025. The revenue split is a brand new and daunting factor for all schools with modest resources, including HBCUs.
“There may be some questions about how they’re going to handle this, but if past experience is any indicator, they’re going to find the will and the way, based on alumni unification, to figure out a way to move these institutions forward,” said Texas Southern professor J. Kenyatta Cavil, who studies HBCU sports.
Less money to spend
Only a handful of black colleges have NIL collectives that help secure deals for athletes, but those initiatives have intensified over the past yr or two, due to alumni mobilization and Deion Sanders’ time as football coach at Jackson State.
Many HBCUs don’t make as much money from sports as their Championship Subdivision counterparts. Of the 64 FCS schools, none reported less total sports revenue in 2023 than Mississippi Valley State’s $4.8 million, in line with Knight-Newhouse. Eight of the 11 worst were HBCUs.
Alcorn State, like Grambling and Mississippi Valley, part of the Southwestern Athletic Conference, reported $7.9 million. That in comparison with $68 million at James Madison, which topped the list (excluding Ivy League schools).
The overall picture
SWAC Commissioner Charles McClelland said he doesn’t know what the athletics landscape will appear like in the long run. But he knows the big-money schools and conferences don’t either, and whatever happens will ultimately affect his league and the remainder of the FCS.
The SWAC and Southeastern Conference are headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama. That gives McClelland and SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey a probability to satisfy and discuss potential changes.
“He told me one thing, he said, ‘Charles, we have the same problems. It might be just zeros at the end of the problems. We’re all in this together,’” McClelland said. “We have to share ideas. And what better opportunity to learn and grow than to share ideas with the SEC from a Southwestern Athletic Conference standpoint?”
Dollars and departures
Prairie View A&M football coach Bubba McDowell said his SWAC program lost a half-dozen top players to ZERO MONEY. His school didn’t have them, others did. He’s wary of what revenue sharing might do to HBCU recruiting and retention.
“It’s going to hurt a lot,” McDowell said. “That’s what these kids are looking for, and that’s what society has done for these young men. I’m not against it. I’ve said from day one that if we’re going to do this, let’s do it right. We just don’t know how to do it right yet.”
McDowell and his SWAC colleagues are realistic. Unless their last name is Sanders, now in Colorado, the perfect recruits probably went elsewhere anyway.
They’re also now more more likely to develop after which lose players who aren’t recruited or missed by greater programs out of highschool. Alabama State coach Eddie Robinson Jr. (no relation to Grambling’s former coach) went from the Hornets to the second round of the NFL draft at the identical school.
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Hornets star point guard Kisean Johnson left for Western Kentucky after last season.
“We’re still looking for the same type of kid,” Robinson said. “It’s just a matter of whether we can keep them once they develop into that type of player. That’s the part you don’t like.”
Rich in tradition
There’s no denying the tradition and passionate fans of HBCUs. The Bayou Classic between Grambling and Southern drew nearly 65,000 fans to the Superdome in New Orleans last season. The Magic City Classic between Alabama State and Alabama A&M drew greater than 52,000 to Legion Field in Birmingham.
“I think once you become part of the HBCU family, you go to all these big games and it’s more than just, ‘I moved 2,000 miles away from home, I got a big check and then I never went back to school,’” Robinson said. “Once you start coming to Alabama State, you come to the Magic City Classic, you’re 50 years old and you come back to the Magic City Classic. It’s just part of what you do.”
FCS Challenges
Black colleges aren’t alone of their uncertainty about share revenue with athletes. Athletic directors below the Power Four face three major financial concerns: Less annual money from the NCAA because of a portion of the settlement; determining how best to work with a limited donor base to offer their school a probability to sign athletes with NIL contracts; and determining how much they’ll take if their school decides to pay athletes.
“In general, FCS football programs struggle to retain talent because they don’t have established NIL collectives or partners,” said Blake Lawrence, CEO of Opendorse.com, a NIL marketplace. “I think there’s a growing need for these programs at HBCUs and beyond to have a real answer to the question of, ‘How do you retain talent using NIL?’ That’s going to become a growing need.”
HBCU Teams and Collectives
Opendorse works with dozens of schools in all three NCAA divisions which have or are attempting to develop NIL collectives. That group includes HBCUs Jackson State, Delaware State and Howard.
The Icon Collective website states, “For years, black athletes have built fortunes through their skills on the field, and some have made history through their college and national achievements.”
Smith said he and his team aren’t attempting to make HBCU athletes wealthy. He said his collective represents about 350 athletes from 45 black colleges, or somewhat lower than half of the 107, in line with the Department of Labor. He said contracts typically range from $500 to $1,000 per athlete and sometimes last three to 6 months.
“We’re not here to create millionaires or make college free for kids. I’m here to lighten the load,” Smith said.
His son, Jayden, signed a $20,000 contract with math tutoring company Mathnasium in October 2023. Jayden Smith plays baseball at Xavier University of Louisiana, an NAIA school, and does things like making promotional videos for YouTube.
Grambling basketball player Jimel Cofer signed a contract with the Buffalo Wild Wings after his layup sent the Tigers into additional time in a First Four victory over Montana State within the NCAA tournament. Marc Smith said the deal was value $5,000.
Krispy Kreme stores in Tallahassee, Florida, are offering a special “Dean Dozen” named after Florida A&M quarterback Kelvin Dean, who was named the Celebration Bowl offensive MVP.
Players perspective
Alabama State quarterback Andrew Body, a transfer from Texas Southern, said he had some interest from Bowl Subdivision schools while he was within the transfer portal. Going there could mean some NIL money, but he said he is patient and focused on a possible skilled profession, saying that “getting money in college now kind of takes away your appetite for the game.”
“It’s hard to compete (with NO money), but I think what kids miss the most is that if you do what you need to do on the field, some connections, some income, whatever it may be, will come your way,” Body said.
Grambling State quarterback Myles Crawley, the SWAC preseason offensive player of the yr, said in July that he had not signed an NIL contract but noted that “there’s nothing like the HBCU experience.”
“I grew up around HBCU coaches, so I always said I wanted to start at an HBCU and finish,” Crawley said. “I’m building a culture so the next guy knows he can have a career at an HBCU. The money might be different, but as far as culture goes, there’s nothing like an HBCU.”
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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