Players from HBCUs have a long and storied history in the NBA, with luminaries like Willis Reed (Grambling State), Earl Monroe (Winston-Salem State) and Sam Jones (North Carolina Central), named to the league’s 75th anniversary team. Philadelphia forward Robert Covington (Tennessee State) is the only current NBA player from an HBCU, and he wasn’t part of Sunday’s All-Star Game.
But the on-court action in Indianapolis included a key figure from historically Black colleges.
Derrick Collins (Xavier-Louisiana), in his 23rd season as an NBA referee, was part of the officiating crew as the East outscored the West, 211-186. Unlike Covington, Collins has company within his NBA ranks: Nine of 74 officials attended HBCUs, ranging in seniority from Tom Washington (Norfolk State), in his 33rd season, to Matt Myers (Hampton), in his sixth season.
Three of the HBCU alums attended Southern: Bennie Adams (29 seasons in the NBA), Courtney Kirkland (24) and C.J. Washington (8). Adams has mentored numerous NBA officials since earning his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mathematics at Southern. But he has a special bond with his fellow Jaguars, who say he was firm in prodding them along.
“It’s something that was passed down to me, just having attended an HBCU,” Adams told nba.com. “What I thought was OK really wasn’t enough to be successful in the real world. So that tough love was just pushing them to do better, to do more because they had it in them.”
Black referees had it in them long before they could prove it at the highest level. The opportunity presented itself in the 1960s when superstars like Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain and Oscar Robinson asked the NBA to break the color line for officials. Jackie White, who attended Philander Smith College and later played for the Harlem Globetrotters, made history by becoming the NBA’s first Black referee in February 1968. Another HBCU alum, Ken Hudson (Central State),…
Read the full article here
