Kenny Blakeney was teary-eyed when he hugged his players and cut down the net last weekend in Norfolk, Virginia. The tears, though, were about so much more than just basketball.
“What they have done off the court has been as special as the accomplishments on,” Blakeney told USA TODAY Sports in a text message several hours after Howard qualified for its first men’s NCAA Tournament since 1992 and third overall.
Blakeney got his head-coaching job at the prestigious HBCU in Washington, D.C., in 2019. He impressed the administration with his comprehensive understanding of what Howard means in the Black community and his vision for what its team can be.
Howard has produced the first Black vice president (Kamala Harris) and the first Black Supreme Court justice (Thurgood Marshall). He is using the school’s rich academic heritage – late author Toni Morrison and Congressman Elijah Cummings also studied there – as key recruiting tool.
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“At every institution at every level, most basketball players walk in with the idea they want to go to the NBA someday,” Howard athletics director Kery Davis told USA TODAY Sports for a 2022 profile about Blakeney. “But do we develop leaders who are going to leave their mark? … He had a holistic plan for every part of the basketball program. When I saw that, I knew that he was a great fit for us.”
The No. 16-seeded Bison face perhaps their biggest in-game challenge of Blakeney’s fours years at Howard on Thursday when they play Kansas, the No. 1 seed in the West, in Des Moines, Iowa.
Howard coach Kenny Blakeney celebrates after defeating Norfolk State to win the 2023 MEAC men’s basketball tournament at Norfolk Scope Arena on March 11, 2023 in Norfolk, Virginia.
Who is Kenny Blakeney?
Blakeney, 51, earned the MEAC coach of the year honors this season and led…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/howard-ended-mens-ncaa-tournament-123517869.html?src=rss
Author : USA TODAY Sports
Publish date : 2023-03-17 03:05:31
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