NEW ORLEANS – The inaugural HBCU All-Star Game, taking place on Sunday, April 3 during Final Four weekend in New Orleans at the UNO Lakefront Arena at 4 pm EDT, has named the nation’s top 24 HBCU players who will make up the two rosters for the inaugural contest.
Comprised of some of the best basketball players that have played out their eligibility in the four HBCU NCAA Division I and II confer- ences in the country, the game is backed by the official sponsor of the HBCU All-Star Game, Aflac©.
The 24 selections will be split up into two teams of 12 players for the historic game, named after a pair of HBCU legendary coaches in John McLendon and Clarence “Big House” Gaines.
The game will air live on the CBS Tele- vision Network and be available to stream on Paramount+.
“The 24 players that have been selected represent the best in college basketball at our country’s prestigious black colleges and univer- sities,” said HBCU All-Stars LLC Founder and CEO Travis L. Williams.
“Our HBCU All-Stars national scout- ing staff did an amazing job for the past three months evaluating some of the most talented players from the 48 HBCUs. We know there were many players deserving of the opportunity to play in this game. This is history in the mak- ing and has been a long journey to get to this point, but we are just getting started and expect to put on a great event with our amazing CBS Sports partners and HBCU All-Stars staff in New Orleans.”
“I am honored to have been asked by CEO Travis Williams to be a part of this history-mak- ing event,” said Cy Alexander, National Direc- tor for Scouting and Recruitment for the HBCU All-Star Game. “The exposure from CBS will be monumental for HBCUs moving forward.”
Team McLendon is comprised of players who competed in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) and Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC), while Team Gaines will be made up of players who competed in the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) and Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA).
Along with the announcement of the players for the game, HBCU All-Stars also announced the postseason individual award winners who will be honored at the game in April.
The HBCU All-Stars Willis Reed NCAA Division I National Player of the Year is How- ard University grad senior shooting guard Kyle Foster, who will also be suiting up for Team McLendon.
Foster was the top scorer for Howard at 15.8 points per game, third best in the MEAC. Foster led the MEAC and all of Div. I in 3-point shooting percentage as he canned 105 of 229 attempts on the season, a 45.85% clip. His 3.5 3-pointers per game was also tops in the MEAC and fifth best in the nation.
The HBCU All-Stars Sam Jones Division II National Player of the Year, and suiting up for Team Gaines, is Fayetteville State’s Jalen Seegars.
Seegars averaged 16.2 points, fourth best in the CIAA, while helping the Broncos capture their first tournament title since 1973. He was named the Tournament’s Most Valuable player after scoring 15 points in the title game. The Greensboro, N. C. native also averaged 1.2 blocked shots per game and 5.4 rebounds per contest.
The HBCU All-Stars Ben Jobe NCAA Division I Coach of the Year is Robert Jones of Norfolk State University, while the HBCU All-Stars Jerry Johnson NCAA Division II Coach of the Year is Fred Watson of Miles College.
Jones led Norfolk State (24-7) to its second straight MEAC Tournament title and NCAA berth. Watson led the Golden Bears (24-5) to the SIAC regular season title and a berth in the NCAA Div. II playoffs.
Jones is the head coach and Watson is the assistant on the McLendon team. Landon Bussie, head coach at Alcorn State, is the head coach of the Gaines team. His assistant is Corey Lowery of Lincoln (Pa.).
All four coaches won coach of the year awards in their respective conferences.
With a mission to advocate, educate, ex- pose, mentor and invest in HBCU student-ath- letes and coaches across the country, the event aims to showcase the best in Black college bas- ketball. Launched by HBCU All-Stars LLC, a Black-owned sports marketing and events company in Atlanta, the HBCU All-Star Game brings much needed exposure, visibility and recognition to outstanding, talented and hard- working HBCU student-athletes and coaches.
To learn more about the HBCU All-Star Game and to get additional information about its ancillary events and tickets, visit hbcuallstargame.com and follow @hbcuallstargame.
