Fresh off Howard University’s first NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Tournament appearance in 21 seasons, the team was approached by director Trevonae Williams and producer Josh Heron to record a web series following them throughout the 2022-23 season.
The “cHampionship cUlture” trailer was released this week on YouTube, and the Lady Bison are excited for the world to see not just the basketball aspect of their lives, but the team’s off-the-court experiences as well.
“I’ve only seen the trailer and it gave me chills,” Howard head coach Ty Grace says. “You don’t realize how much impact you have and how emotional you are until you see yourself in these moments. The trials, tribulations and the good times. It just made me say, ‘Wow, we really had a story. I didn’t realize the progress we’ve made. We’ve turned into a championship culture.’”
Junior guard Destiny Howell added: “The trailer shows a more serious vibe, but there were times where the web series showed the light of the team, especially our funny moments. Howard has always been talked about when it comes to HBCUs. I’m glad we got a chance to represent our university, and now we start to dive deeper into athletics and create more of a buzz for ourselves as a team.”
“cHampionship cUlture” follows the Lady Bison around in their quest to defend their 2022 MEAC championship, as well as the pressure of expectations after winning an NCAA tournament game for the first time in program history.
“There was a lot of pressure and doubts from outsiders,” Bison junior guard Kaniyah Harris explained. “We heard that Howard’s not the same team, they can’t do it again, it was a fluke. That was a lot of eight own our shoulders. That was just us putting it into the air, praying and working hard to achieve our goal.”
The trailer provides a first-hand look at practice and game prep as well as thoughts from Coach Grace, her staff, and the players about everything the ’22-’23 season threw Howard’s way.
“It’s funny because we heard we weren’t going to get back to a championship, people assumed things. I knew the type of team we were, the culture we developed,” Grace said. “The standard was to win MEAC championships and graduate these young women. [We] can’t do anything less now, and that’s what we want to do every year. We don’t talk about anything else but winning and being better.”
Aside from having a target on their backs, the Bison women also understood from a cultural and personal standpoint how important it was to have their story recorded and shared.
“It was a very exciting experience. It was nice to have praise for ourselves,” Harris said. “Sometimes, you can go through life not knowing that you were a part of history. Our names and faces are going to be the standard now.”
“I was really excited for the team to be a part of it, so I don’t think it was any added pressure,” Howell said. “The cameras were something we had to adapt to. Then after a while, it made us feel kind of famous. It became normal having the cameras around.”
“People are looking at us in that way, it’s very important to represent Howard the way we do on the court,” Grace added. “All of these girls are so diverse, and I think we are unique in being Howard and having academic excellence while taking it to other another level athletically. To be able to display our talents on the court is something.”
Off the court, Grace is looking forward to the team’s true personality shining through.
“They’re more than athletes, they like to write, travel, very intelligent… I think you’ll see all of that,” she said. We were always our truest, authentic selves in such a positive and real way. I’m glad people are going to be able to see the hard work, blood, sweat, and tears that goes into developing a championship team.”
The Lady Bison are also hopeful that seeing the tough parts of their season, which concluded with a 69-65 loss to Norfolk State in the MEAC title game, will renew their determination and drive to get back to the NCAA tournament.
“I think when the team sees the documentary, it will push us,” Destiny Howell said. “We experienced a lot of disappointment and hurt. It’ll make us hungrier and more willing to work harder. This captures the real, the ugly, the funny moments, the unfiltered. There’s always ups and downs with every team. What separates teams is how you take those losses and learn and grow from them.”
“[The web series] will ignite a lot of hunger in the girls,” Kaniyah Harris said. “There’s always that feeling of ‘I could’ve got the rebound, made the layup, prepared myself better.’ Once you see the pain that we all went through. The pressure from this year might be worse than last year. I can’t explain, it was a different type of pain. This year, it’s more so we know we should’ve won the MEAC. We have to take it upon ourselves this year to get it done.”
