Wanting to provide professional opportunities to HBCU basketball players who historically haven’t received them from the NBA is what drove Kimberly Clark to help form an organization that will do just that.
Starting in 2023, the HBCU Basketball Association — an upstart league — will host its inaugural season exclusively featuring six teams made up of Black college talent. They will be playing the sport in traditional HBCU territories that include Houston, Texas; Jackson, Mississippi; Birmingham, Alabama; Daytona Beach, Florida; Atlanta, Georgia and New Orleans, Louisiana.
The HBCUBA will begin in February 2023 and run through June. In between, there will be tryouts and even a draft.
Also read: All-HBCU basketball team: These players shaped Black college and NBA history
“We want to make sure we are taking care of the whole athlete to play on a professional level,” said HBCUBA President Kimberly Clark. “If a guy wanted to play professional basketball and he never got a chance, it will always be in the back of his mind and he will operate — he or she — in their full potential. It just won’t be about basketball. We will focus on the transitional development … to transition from a professional player back into society.”
Clark spoke with HBCU Sports senior editor Kendrick Marshall about the HBCUBA and what it means to put together a sports league for Black college athletes.
