HBCU all-star basketball game to return, this time in Columbus
Devin Green had been an all-time great player at Hampton, but he was in need of a little more exposure.
After playing his senior season at Beechcroft, Green made the decision to play for Hampton, where he became a star. His four years with the Pirates saw Green earn two all-league selections, be named Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference rookie of the year in 2002 and finish as the school’s fifth all-time leading scorer.
But that much would only get him so far.
It wasn’t until his participation in a 2005 exhibition in Cleveland that pitted an all-star team of players from Historically Black Colleges and Universities against a team of Ohioans that Green got the last bit of exposure he needed. Green captured MVP honors in the game played at what is now Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse, parlayed that into an invitation into the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament and, eventually, a professional career that began with the Los Angeles Lakers and lasted 15 years.
That all-star game went away. The need for it didn’t, and this April, Green will be there when it returns as part of the College Basketball All-Star Game & Celebrity Extravaganza. Assembled by the Classic for Columbus, an Ohio-based non-profit that hosted a regular-season college football game at Ohio Stadium, the game at Nationwide Arena is aimed toward providing opportunities for athletes from HBCUs while also making an economic impact both locally and for scholarships at HBCUs.
At the center of it all is basketball, the game that helped change Green’s life.
Athletics at historically Black colleges: ‘Pathway to upward mobility’
“A lot of the players who are going to be in it, these are going to be your underdog guys,” Green said. “These aren’t going to be your guys on the draft board, on a high draft board, so any time you can get an extra platform to go showcase your talent, why not?”
John Pace, the CEO of Classic for Columbus, initially created the event that took place in Cleveland from 2004-05 before selling it to a company that opted not to continue producing it. Last year, he bought the rights back and began working to bring it to his hometown. The football game between Central State and Kentucky State generated an economic impact of just more than $10 million for Columbus while raising close to $400,000 for scholarships.
The goals for the basketball game and event, which will take place from April 20-24 and include networking opportunities among other events, are similar.
“Being able to bring the football game back and now the basketball game, there’s nothing more rewarding than to be able to make a contribution to your own community,” Pace said. “For a lot of young people, inner-city young people, rural young people who don’t have access to great access to resources academically or otherwise, sports becomes their pathway to upward mobility.”
Former Ohio State men’s basketball player and local philanthropist Clark Kellogg is one of the brand ambassadors for the event. Kellogg said his participation was a no-brainer once the idea was presented to him.
“I’m always for uplifting and moving people forward, particularly student-athletes and men and women of color,” he said. “I wanna be engaged in things that are intentionally about uplifting Black people. The Classic for Columbus mission under John Pace and his team’s leadership is really around education, empowerment and economic development. When you can actually couple those things on the platform of basketball, then I’m interested in doing whatever I am able to do to support that.”
The game rosters will feature 12 players from HBCUs and 12 from other colleges in Ohio. Columbus native Corey Benton, a Westerville North product who plays for Florida Memorial, is scheduled to play against an Ohio team that lists Ohio State’s Kyle Young and Xavier’s Paul Scruggs as participants.
Some are already stars. Some could be the next Green, and that’s the goal.
“If I was one person in ‘05, then we need two people this time that get an opportunity,” he said. “Or three people that get to tell this story the next time.”
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