INGLEWOOD, Calif. — In the era of college sports where players suddenly went from amateurs to paid professionals, perpetual have-nots at historically black colleges and universities would seem to be in an impossible financial position.
Yet HBCU administrators insist they have a unique product to sell, even as the rich-poor gap of big-time athletics seems to be pushing them to the brink.
“Clearly from a resource and funding perspective, [HBCUs] have been historically bad, right?” North Carolina A&T athletic director Earl Hilton said Friday ahead of his basketball team’s appearance in the HBCU Classic, an annual NBA-sponsored game between traditionally Black institutions.
“But there are some things that student-athletes get at HBCUs that you can’t buy,” Hilton said. “And so that’s why I’m reluctant to say we have a fear of where we’re headed. I do think there are some things that we can offer that you can’t replicate outside.”
Before Hampton University dropped a heartbreaking 71-70 decision to North Carolina A&T at the Kia Forum, Pirates athletic director Anthony Henderson plainly said Black history is a focal point of the pitch.
“That’s what we sell,” Henderson said. “Nobody’s going take care of you and care about you more than we are.”
North Carolina A&T and Hampton compete in the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA), a conference in which they stand out as HBCUs — unlike all-HBCU leagues such as the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) or the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC).
The top basketball payroll in the CAA is probably a touch north of $1 million while the bottom end is likely around $100,000, Hilton and Henderson both estimated.
Even the CAA’s top end pales in comparison the eight-digit payrolls of college basketball blue bloods.
“We’re in a unique situation, playing in the CAA. I tell people we’re a Division I institution that just happens to be an HBCU, and not the other way around,” Henderson said. “We operate as a Division I institution. We embrace our HBCU heritage. But make no mistake about it, we’re trying to win the CAA and go to the NCAA Tournament.”
If HBCUs are going to stay competitive or at least shed that underfunded reputation, leveraging Black businesses for support will have to be central, according to Courtney Brunious, who teaches clinical management and organization at USC’s Marshall School of Business.
“So many people in entertainment, business leaders and entrepreneurs have come out of HBCUs,” Brunious said. “There’s a lot of pride that’s attached to that HBCU experience and to that culture and environment. That’s a connection that’s special for not only the graduates from those schools but within the Black community.”
The resources for major universities can seem limitless and a world away from HBCUs.
Former Jackson State football coach Deion Sanders, now at the University of Colorado Boulder, regularly pointed out the funding disparities faced by HBCU athletic departments.
Hall of Fame safety Ed Reed famously lasted just 25 days as football coach at Bethune-Cookman after he publicly complained about lacking resources and facilities at his short-term employer, most notably the cleanliness of his office.
Hilton, the athletic director at North Carolina A&T, still can’t wrap his head around the wide range of sponsorship deals enjoyed by college sports elites, such as LSU’s partnership with Caesars Sportsbook.
“The ‘official sportsbook of the university,’” Hilton said. “I never thought those words could ever be written, and yet here we are.”
