The best high school football player in the country fired a social media shot across the bow by suggesting that he could possibly consider playing at an HBCU instead of a Power 5 school.
Kayvon Thibodeaux, the five-star defensive end from Thousand Oaks (California), revealed in June that Alabama, Florida State, Oregon, and USC were among schools he would be choosing between.
But Thibodeaux also added one other school to the list.
Florida A&M.
How crazy would it be if the top athletes started going to HBCU’s👀😏
— kayvon thibodeaux (@kayvonT8) July 19, 2018
How would it look if an HBCU didn’t make my top 5 but I ended up at one 👀
— kayvon thibodeaux (@kayvonT8) July 19, 2018
Thibodeaux says he plans to visit FAMU soon, which has created a stir on Twitter. FAMU fans went so far as to create the hashtag #Kayvon2FAMU in an effort to entice his services.
At only 17, Thibodeaux — just by making such a public tease — places himself in uncharted territory from a historical perspective.
Engaging in hope trafficking to a subset of college football fans — that have been starving for legitimacy from athletes like Thibodeaux since full-blown integration within intercollegiate athletics — came about a half-century ago.
Thibodeaux’s tweets arrive more than 25 years after Chris Webber, the consensus best high school basketball player in the country, was asked to consider playing at an HBCU before ultimately signing with Michigan in 1991 out of Country Day School in suburban Detroit.
“A lot of people put that pressure on me to go to an HBCU, like ‘Come on, Chris, you can change it around, you can change it around’” Webber said as chronicled in the book Forty Million Dollar Slaves.
“But I think that process has to start within the black college association,” he continued. “Playing on BET is not good enough for me. Just like me playing on MTV is not good enough. I want the world to see. In a way I feel guilty because we could have changed that rhyme. But we had to do what was best for us at that time. But we talked a lot about going to black colleges.”
And that prevailing perception, among other things, has prevented HBCUs over the years from effectively winning the expensive arms race in high-stakes recruiting.
There was a fear of being forgotten. There was a concern of losing out on television exposure and public acclaim.
NBA lottery pick Dennis Smith Jr. wore a sweater that read “HBCUs Matter” even though he chose to play college basketball at North Carolina State University over Duke, Kentucky, Louisville, North Carolina, and Wake Forest.
The symbolic act of solidarity caused a debate among the those who supported the gesture and other who criticized the fashion statement for its hypocrisy.
Will Thibodeaux do more than just give lip service about the importance of HBCU like Webber did nearly 30 years ago and Smith most recently?
Or will he be just like every other blue-chip athlete and marry themselves to bluebloods while stringing HBCU supporters along in the process for likes and retweets?
I’ll confess I left a reply on his twitter because I can relate to growing up in Los Angeles and choosing FAMU for college. Of course, I was a middling basketballer on middling high school squad, and no one was trying to attract me for my athletic exploits, however.
The FAMU group discussions about his recruitment have amused me to no end. Let’s look at the obvious and the not-so-obvious. For the record, I think he will choose USC; it doesn’t get more big time for a kid from the city of stars, movies, women and cars (h/t Kool and the Gang) than to play Saturday afternoons on the Coliseum floor.
The fact that he started his high school career at LA City’s Dorsey, which historically competes for city titles, and is wrapping up at Oaks Christian, which historically competes for California state titles, is a metaphor for FCS vs. FBS football. I would expect him to want to compete at the highest level he can attain.
In terms of a familial environment, FAMU beats those other schools by a mile. However, I doubt he would give us high marks for our facilities. His high school facilities are probably superior to ours presently.
The final point is distance from home and having family see him play. Cali-to-Tally is quite a change of scenery, and the logistics of getting into and out of Tallahassee can be expensive. Major conference programs have TV contracts that ensure their games will be televised so that Papa Pete, who comes to all the high school games but does get out much anymore, can still see his grandson play. So the odds are against a 5-star California boy to head south to a lower division.
Good luck to Kayvon, and remember that the Rattlers will strike, and strike and strike again!!!
I think it’s a great that the young man is considering a HBCU, how great it would be he should also consider Grambling, NC A&T or Southern good luck to the young man, where ever you decide to go show case your talent and receive your degree
I think it’s a great that the young man is considering a HBCU, how great it would be he should also consider Grambling, NC A&T or Southern good luck to the young man, where ever you decide to go show case your talent and receive your degree
Please let this young man know that some of greatest football players have come from SWAC schools. If it’s attention he wants, if he wants a career in football, he should look at Jerry Rice, Walter Payton, Steve McNair, Doug Williams, and Donald Driver.