The Tuskegee University men’s and women’s basketball teams have joined college basketball coaches across the country to help support victims from the devastating floods of Hurricane Harvey in Texas.
After a massive hurricane ripped through the city of Houston and left much of the area submerged underwater, ESPN’s Jeff Goodman reports that University of Houston men’s basketball head coach Kelvin Sampson has a challenge for his coaching counterparts: Donate 10 pairs of shoes and 20 shirts to the victims who lost everything. Wednesday morning the Tuskegee Athletics department accepted that challenge.
#HoustonStrong #ForTheCity #GoCoogs pic.twitter.com/aAlkkcNqnE
— Coach Kelvin Sampson (@CoachSampsonUH) August 28, 2017
There are 351 Division I men’s basketball teams in the NCAA, according to the 2016 Pomeroy College Ball Ratings. Full cooperation with Sampson’s challenge would provide more than 3,500 pairs of shoes and 7,000 shirts to those whose homes were damaged in the hurricane.
Tuskegee head men’s basketball coach Jerry Dunn wanted his team to join in despite being a Division II school that is a part of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC).
“I just think it is really a blessing to be able to assist those that are in need,” Dunn stated. “Coach Sampson came up with this brilliant idea and I am just pleased that Tuskegee’s athletic department is able to lend a helping hand to those suffering through this catastrophic and life threatening event.”
Coach Dunn has also asked his players to donate a pair of sneakers while he has committed to donating two pairs of his own.
It didn’t stop there with TU. The women’s basketball team also elected to join in. Head coach Quacy Barnes-Timmons has pledged shirts and other items. “It is difficult to watch families suffer like this, “Barnes-Timmons said. “This isn’t a lot, but when I saw the request from coach Sampson, I just knew we needed to do something”, Barnes-Timmons noted.
Men’s basketball opens the season November 14 hosting Johnson C. Smith.
Courtesy: Tuskegee Athletics
