On March 12, Texas Southern University (TSU) celebrated their participation in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) tournament.
TSU is one of two Historically Black Colleges/Universities (HBCUs) to compete in the 2023 NCAA Tournament, the other was Howard University.
TSU has appeared in the lineup for March Madness eleven times, over the years.
“I think it’s really good. I think there’s been controversy around HBCUs being able to play with predominantly white schools,” said Madison Brooks, who is a finance major at Howard University and Texas native. “It’s good to see that HBCUs are having the chance to get the same scouting opportunities as other big colleges.”
HBCUs first entered the March Madness tournament in 1985 with Division I teams North Carolina A&T and TSU.
Though TSU has appeared in 64 rounds of March Madness, they haven’t won an NCAA championship.
“I feel like people think that HBCU sports are not as good and that, you know, talent like athletic talent goes to predominantly white institutions (PWI), which really is not true. This kind of athleticism just proves that athletes from HBCUs are just as good as those from any other school,” said Brooks.
“It is kind of ironic because athletics are predominantly Black like the National Football League (NFL) is predominantly Black. The National Basketball League (NBA) is predominantly Black, but for some reason, Black talent goes to PWIs.”
Fairleigh Dickinson University (FDU) took an early lead and continued with their momentum. This led to the end of TSU’s season in the first round NCAA tournament.
According to a press release, the number of threes that FDU hit “overshadowed the fact that there was 4:54 left in the second half for TSU” to score.
Player John Walker III led TSU with a score of 22 points, four rebounds, and two assists and steals.
“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with messing up or not making it, you know, because not everyone will. First of all, you are not going to win 100% of the time; everyone loses,” said Brooks. “So, I would say don’t be too hard on yourself, learn from your mistakes, and just try to come back performing better than you did before.”
Christion Billy 