Some of the biggest and brightest stars in HBCU football will look to make a big impression on NFL and other professional football scouts as they take part in the HBCU Legacy Bowl this Saturday.
There is a lot of excitement around HBCU football with players getting more opportunities to succeed on and off the field.
With that attention comes added pressure on the young prospects to deliver a performance worthy of a shot at the pro level.
Before we get there, let’s take a look at the HBCU Legacy Bowl by the numbers.
7 – Most individual selections for a school
Of the 38 institutions with players selected to the HBCU Legacy Bowl, the school with the most participants is Florida A&M with seven.
FAMU is one of three teams with a five-player selection along with Jackson State and Arkansas Pine-Bluff.
There are eight different schools with four players who were picked to participate in the game (Alcorn State, Bowie State, Fayetteville State, North Carolina A&T, North Carolina Central, Norfolk State, South Carolina State, and Texas Southern).
Rounding out the field are six schools with three players, 10 with two players, and 11 with just one.
40 – Most players represented by one conference
The HBCU Legacy Bowl will feature 95 draft-eligible HBCU players (as well as three players from Chowan) as well as 38 different institutions represented.
These 38 schools are spread across seven different conferences including the Big South, CIAA, MEAC, OVC (Ohio Valley Conference), SAC (Sooner Athletic Conference), SIAC, and the SWAC.
The SWAC has the most selections involved making up nearly half the total field with 40 total players including 24 prospects on offense.
Following the SWAC is the CIAA with 19 selection, the MEAC with 16, and the SIAC with 14.
The remaining conferences are the Big South with five players, and the OVC and SAC with two (Tennessee State and Langston respectively).
22 – FBS transfers
Of the 98 HBCU Legacy Bowl selections, 22 of them transferred to an HBCU from an FBS program.
Three of those players transferred from FBS to a Division II HBCU: Javon Frazier from Liberty to Virginia State, Jamal Holloway from UNLV to Central State, and Myles Wolfolk from North Carolina to Bowie State.
In addition, nine players transferred to HBCUs by way of schools in Power Five conferences (Dee Anderson, Korey Banks, Cam Durley, Jay Jackson-Williams, Marquis McClain, Antwan Owens, Jawon Pass, Tim Walton Jr., Savion Williams, and Myles Wolfolk).
As a bonus stat, there are two that transferred from FCS programs to Division II HBCUs: Wesley Bowers from Georgetown to Bowie State and Joshua Flowers from LIU Post to Winston-Salem State.
23 – States/Provinces represented
This game will feature players from the United States and Canada with 23 different states and provinces being represented.
There are two U.S. states with double-digit players selected. Florida leads the way with 11 selections followed by Georgia with 10.
Two states have nine players (North Carolina and Texas), Virginia has eight, and two have seven (South Carolina).
There are six players who were born in states/provinces that do not have HBCUs including the following: Luke Barnes from Arizona, John Davis from Illinois, Isiah Macklin from Nevada, Matthew Derks from Ontario, and Joshua Flowers and Jamal Holloway from New Jersey.
Rather surprisingly, only 36 of the 98 players in this game were born in the same state as their respective HBCU.
Also read: Alabama A&M quarterback Aqeel Glass wins second straight Deacon Jones Trophy
6’1.5 – Average height of HBCU Legacy Bowl players
The average height of the HBCU Legacy Bowl prospects is 6-foot-1 and a half inches tall. Player heights range from 5-foot-9 to 6-foot-6 inches tall.
There are 81 total players that stand over six feet tall, with there being seven players that stand at the peak height of 6-foot-6 and just two at the lowest of 5-foot-7.
The most common height among the players is 6-foot-3 (21 players) and 15 other players standing at 6-foot-2.
The least common height is 5-foot-9 having just one player (Isaiah Totten).
8 – Conference Players of the Year
There will be eight former conference Players of the Year winners that will be participating in the HBCU Legacy Bowl.
Those names include the following:
SWAC Offensive Players of the Year: Felix Harper and Aqeel Glass
SWAC Defensive Player of the Year: Keonte Hampton
MEAC Offensive Player of the Year: Juwan Carter
SIAC Offensive Player of the Year: back Brett Sylve
CIAA Defensive Players of the Year: Devon Hunt and Keyshawn James
CIAA Offensive Player of the Year: Bryce Witt
Of those names, six won their respective award this past season (Carter, Glass, Hampton, Harper, Sylve and Witt) with Glass being the only two-time conference player of the year winner.
