by Donal Ware

It has happened.

America has elected Donald Trump as the President.

Most national television hosts had a look on their face, the same as Hillary Clinton looked when she gave her concession speech.

Disbelief.  Bewilderment.

And Black America? Highly upset for the most part.

See, Trump has a history of giving off racial overtones, at the least, without calling him a racist.  Remember the Central Park Five?  Just two months ago he referred to Black people as, “the Blacks.” In also talking about Black folks he said, “Your neighborhoods are war zones.  You’re living in your poverty, your schools are no good, you have no jobs…”

You may ask, what are you getting at Donal? You rarely talk politics.

HBCU Sports and HBCUs are my passion.  What do HBCUs look like moving forward under a Donald Trump administration? That remains to be seen.

So when St. Anthony High School (Jersey City, N.J.) point guard R.J. Cole, one of the top-rated guards in the country and a three-star recruit, spurned offers from Maryland, Virginia, Georgetown and others to officially sign at Howard on Wednesday, it was a pretty big deal.

It did not receive the publicity that it deserves, even from us at BOXTOROW.

And it’s not so much that he signed although that is a big deal, but it’s why he signed.  Before becoming a head coach, Kevin Nickelberry was known as one of the top recruiters in the country as an assistant, most notably while at Clemson.  He recruited nationally ranked players like Darion Pellum and Michael Freeman to Hampton and he has been able to recruit some talent to Howard, which is why the Bison is picked to win the MEAC this year.

“I just thought [Howard] was a great fit for me academically and athletically,” said Cole “It’s just a different feel.  Everybody wants to go to the big school. I wanted to go the smaller school and make an impact there.”

The academic part is not just talk.  He currently has a 4.4 grade point average, the highest of anyone in his graduating class.

Cole will certainly make an impact.  He helped lead St. Anthony, who is coached by Bobby Hurley, Sr., to an undefeated 32-0 season last season and No. 3 final national ranking.

With many HBCU programs dealing with financial issues and now Trump as president, our schools need to use athletics as a true revenue generator.  More so, our athletic programs have been marketing components for the universities.

People will pay to see guys like Cole and other top talent play.  Television outlets will broadcast games.  We’ve been talking about this for years; the better players in the country coming back to HBCUs, like in a time when we had no choice but to go to Black colleges when non-HBCUs wouldn’t allow us in..  Perhaps Cole is the player that will start something and let others know that it’s cool to play ball at an HBCU.

“I feel like more players with talent can come to [HBCUs] and make them some of the top schools,” Cole said.  “It could be a new trend because not everyone wants to go to an HBCU.  Everybody is thinking big.  I can make a difference in that aspect.”

The support for Trump in a lot of these rural areas where non-HBCUs are located speaks volumes to me.  As a high school player, you have to ask yourself, do they really care about me the person or me the player?

When Cole came on his visit to Howard, Nickelberry and his staff didn’t have to create a friendly, family environment.  That environment was already there.  People are proud of HU and its vast accomplishments and it shows. (A little too much sometimes.)  Nickelberry met with Cole’s parents, his uncles and talked with them about what Howard had to offer.

Nickelberry is a master recruiter, but from a facilities standpoint has lees to offer than some other schools.  Yet he was able to land this big time player.  But first he had to believe he could get him.  So it begs the question, are other coaches going after the better players or do they believe they are wasting their time because the players will not come to their school?

It’s time to start recruiting the better players because things are changing.

With two strikes Nickelberry didn’t look at  a called third strike.  He swung and hit a homerun.

Cole has let other high school athletes know that it’s okay to attend an HBCU.  And you will still get noticed.  Look at the all the current players in the NFL.  There are a couple in the NBA too.

HBCU Division I schools’ exposure to national television is not great these days, but it could be worse.  ESPN broadcasts some games and the schools are shown on various television networks often when playing bigger schools.  History has shown us that television will cover the top athletes no matter the school.  Look at North Carolina A&T football and its now six games on the ESPN family of networks this season alone, a lot of that having to do with star running back Tarik Cohen.

Perhaps what Cole is doing is the beginning of a revolution for HBCUs today, that particularly with a Trump presidency is needed.

The revolution will be televised.

 

Donal can be reached @dware1