Sports

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

Published

3 months ago

August 22, 2024

IAM

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.”

This article was originally published on : thegrio.com

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Sports

In 2025, the Basketball Africa League play-offs will move to South Africa

Published

5 hours ago

November 22, 2024

IAM

The 2025 Basketball Africa League season will feature a brand new venue for the finals and playoffs and will also start at a brand new location.

The BAL 2025 Playoffs and Finals, scheduled for June 14, 2025, will happen at the recent home in Pretoria, South Africa. This will be the first time the BAL playoffs and finals haven’t been held in Kigali, Rwanda. The BAL 2025 season will also debut in a brand new location in Rabat, Morocco on April 5, 2025. During the BAL 2025 season, 12 of the best club teams from 12 African countries will play 48 matches in Rabat, Kigali and Dakar, Senegal, before traveling to Pretoria for play- offs.

“Over the first four seasons of BAL, we have seen tremendous growth in on-court competition, attendance and engagement from fans and partners in Africa and around the world,” BAL president Amadou Gallo Fall said in a press release. “Our groundbreaking fifth season will build on this momentum and continue to showcase the level of talent and passion for basketball in Africa, including through the first BAL games in Morocco and the first BAL Finals in South Africa.”

The 12 teams will be divided again into three conferences of 4 teams each. The group stage of the Kalahari Conference will happen from April 5 to 13, 2025 in Rabat. The group stage of the Sahara Conference will be held in Dakar from April 26 to May 4, 2025. The group stage of the Nile Conference will be held in Kigali from May 17 to 25, 2025. Eight teams from the three conferences will qualify for the play-offs in Pretoria, which will start on June 6 and end with the BAL 2025 finals.

“The Kalahari conference marks another expansion of BAL into a new country on our continent and we are more than satisfied,” FIBA Africa president Anibal Manave said in a press release. “The competition continues to grow each year, providing greater exposure for our sport and helping to raise the level of basketball in Africa, making the league increasingly competitive.”

National champions from Angola, Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal and Tunisia routinely qualify for the BAL. The remaining five teams are from FIBA Africa’s Road to the BAL qualifying tournaments.

In the 2024 BAL season, Petro de Luanda of Angola became the first team from Sub-Saharan Africa to win the championship. According to BAL, the 2024 BAL season reached fans in 214 countries and territories in 17 languages, set an attendance record of greater than 120,000 fans in the 4 host countries and generated greater than 1.2 billion views across the NBA and BAL social media channels.

Marc J. Spears is Andscape’s senior NBA author. He used to have the option to dunk on you, but he hasn’t been able to do it for years and his knees still hurt.

This article was originally published on : andscape.com

Sports

NFL star Terrell Owens signs a contract with Michael Strahan’s talent agency

Published

18 hours ago

November 21, 2024

IAM

NFL Hall of Fame receiver and podcast host Terrell Owens has signed with a talent agency to further strengthen his claims within the entertainment game.

According to , Owens was signed by SMAC Entertainment, headed by host and NFL Hall of Famer Michael Strahan and his business partner Constance Schwartz-Morini.

NFL insider Jordan Schultz has also joined SMAC Entertainment.

“We are excited to add TO and Jordan to the SMAC family. They are both at the top of their game and set the standard in their industry,” Schwartz-Morini said in a written statement. “TO and Jordan have already brought an infectious energy to our team, and we are excited to help them realize their vision for careers in media, business and branding.”

A five-time first-team All-Pro and six-time Pro Bowler, Owens played for the San Francisco 49ers, Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas Cowboys, Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals. In 2018, he was finally inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

A member of the 2000 NFL All-Decade Team, Owens finished his profession with 1,078 catches for 15,934 yards, 14.8 yards per catch and 153 touchdowns, rating third all-time in receiving yards and touchdowns.

Since retiring from skilled soccer in 2012, Owens has already made several moves. He has appeared in several movies and tv shows, including “,” and in addition had his own reality show, “, on VH1.

He currently co-hosts the podcast with former NFL player and sports analyst Shannon Sharpe.

SMAC Entertainment is home to stars similar to rapper and actor Common, Wiz Khalifa, Strahan, Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders and current NFL players similar to Stefon Diggs and DK Metcalf.

This article was originally published on : www.blackenterprise.com

Sports

Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker brings an NBA championship desire with his Olympic experience

Published

1 day ago

November 21, 2024

IAM

The gold medal went to the USA Basketball team. Mission completed on the 2024 Paris Games. U.S. men’s basketball coach Steve Kerr just answered his final query during his final news conference on Aug. 10 after his team defeated France within the gold medal game.

However, before leaving the stage of the press conference in Paris, Kerr stopped to deliver an unsolicited message to media around the globe.

“Devin Booker is an amazing basketball player. Nobody asked about him. He was our unsung MVP. I just desired to say that,” Kerr said.

The “underrated MVP” compliment meant so much to the Phoenix Suns guard.

“It meant everything. No one really asked him,” Booker recently told Andscape. “That was probably something that was weighing on his mind throughout the entire process. A 12 months ago I said what I desired to do for this team and what we desired to do for the country.

“It was a lot larger than all of us. Survival was something we’d discuss for the remainder of our lives.

The USA Basketball team was centered around NBA star icons LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant. There has also been some discussion amongst media and fans in regards to the lack of playing time for Jayson Tatum and, to a lesser extent, Tyrese Haliburton. Lost within the shuffle was the all-around, unselfish play of sharpshooter Booker wearing the armband.

Guard Devin Booker throughout the final men’s basketball game between France and the United States on the Olympic Games on Aug. 10 at Bercy Arena in Paris.

Daniel Kopatsch/Getty Images

Booker was fourth in scoring for the U.S., averaging 11.7 points, 3.3 assists and a couple of.2 three-pointers made early in all six Olympics, and likewise had the perfect plus/minus (plus-130) for an American. Kerr was impressed with Booker’s deal with a difficult defense, regardless that he is thought for his offense, ball movement and the way he has adjusted to not being one in every of the highest options on offense.

“I just understood what was at stake,” Booker said. “I’m proud to be from this country. I’m happy with playing basketball. Even though it wasn’t invented in America, we dominated for a very long time. Obviously the world is incredibly talented and the sport is growing, however it was just one other message to allow them to know who we’re.

Booker said he also learned in regards to the preparations from his all-star team, watching the preparations on and off the court. The 28-year-old added that he gained lifelong friendships.

“It’s cool to see that everyone has their own issues,” Booker said. “In my 10 years in the NBA, I’ve learned that you have to choose what you can use for yourself. But the level of detail, the attention to detail, the intensity – it’s all consistent across the board.”

As for Durant, Booker said the bond between the 2 Sun stars “is close and grows stronger every day.” They live about five minutes from one another within the Phoenix area and commonly spend time at home and on the road. Most recently, Booker had to steer the Suns without Durant, who was sidelined with an injury.

The amazing Durant averaged 27.6 points, 6.6 rebounds and three.4 assists, which were tops for the Suns. However, the 14-time NBA All-Star has been sidelined since November 8 with a left calf strain. Suns players Bradley Beal (calf) and Jusuf Nurkic (ankle) were also sidelined. The Suns are 1-5 without Durant, which incorporates 4 straight losses.

Booker and Suns sans Durant’s next rivals shall be the New York Knicks on Wednesday evening (ESPN, 10 p.m. ET). Over the last six games, Booker is averaging 24.1 points, shooting 43.2% from the sphere and making 16 of 43 three-pointers. Suns guard Tyus Jones said there was numerous pressure on Booker offensively due to the injury.

“We’re asking a lot of Book,” Jones said after Monday’s 109-99 loss to the visiting Orlando Magic. “It’s numerous pressure for him. We are very focused on it. They are physical with him, holding him and grabbing him, throwing two or three bodies at him all night long. So he’s got so much on his plate and we just need to proceed to seek out ways to get him open within the moments we will and proceed to assist him when other players are taking shots and making plays.

Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker (left) with Suns forward Kevin Durant (right) during a game against the Los Angeles Clippers on Oct. 31 on the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles.

Adam Pantozzi/NBAE via Getty Images

Booker currently has two Olympic gold medals, 4 NBA All-Star appearances and one NBA Finals appearance. The only thing missing from the Suns’ second-leading all-time scorer is an NBA championship. Since the Suns joined the NBA as an expansion team in 1968, they’ve yet to win a title.

After experiencing the joys of winning a gold medal, Booker as an NBA champion wants the gold Larry O’Brien NBA Championship Trophy much more.

“Most of the guys that were there did it,” Booker said of his Olympic teammates who were NBA champions. “They were champions. This is standard for them. Anything lower than that, they need nothing to do with it. It’s contagious…

“That’s all I want. That’s all I want.”

Marc J. Spears is Andscape’s senior NBA author. He used to have the ability to dunk on you, but he hasn’t been capable of do it for years and his knees still hurt.

This article was originally published on : andscape.com