A week and a half before the SLAM Summer Classic Vol. 6 shut down Rucker Park, the legendary Harlem playground hosted another special event that’s become a New York basketball summer staple: the HBCU All-Star Dream Classic. After a successful inaugural event in 2023, it returned this year bigger and better.
Harlem native Darryl Roberts is the founder of Bridging Structural Holes, a nonprofit that spearheads the HBCU All-Star Dream Classic. Like many young hoopers, he dreamed of playing at a high major. Instead, his opportunity came at Lincoln University, the nation’s first degree-granting HBCU. “I fell in love with HBCU culture. My HBCU foundation is pure and authentic,” Darryl says. “And so are my Harlem roots.
“Anybody who hasn’t lived underneath a manhole cover understands that Harlem is the epicenter of Black excellence, Black culture and Black creativity,” he adds. “So when we were looking for a location [for the HBCU All-Star Dream Classic], there was no second choice because we wanted to do things outside of sports to inspire kids as well.”
This year’s Classic had it all: an HBCU resource center; food from Charles Pan-Fried Chicken on the adjacent handball courts; AKAs strolling by, and a youth marching band playing during game breaks. There were boosters chanting from the baseline; classic Marvin Gaye blasting from the speakers. And even Harlem’s own Pee Wee Kirkland. If you didn’t know any better, you’d think you were at the Greatest Homecoming on Earth.
Still, the main reason that hundreds of people gathered on this day was to watch 40 of the best HBCU hoopers in the country put on a show. After a tightly contested and action-packed girls’ game that set the tone, the boys’ game that followed was just as exciting. Both games were filled with highlights galore, prime examples of the overshadowed yet high-level talent that floods the HBCU basketball community and how they can compete with the best of ’em.
HBCU basketball has historically lacked marketing and promotion compared to its PWI counterparts, but that tide is turning slowly but surely. They may never be able to contend with high- majors when it comes to resources, but the HBCU hoops experience is second to none, and the HBCU All-Star Dream Classic shows it on full display, creating a loud and robust narrative about HBCUs, HBCU conferences and the HBCU lifestyle.
“For us, the scoreboard is not important,” says Darryl. “Our mission statement is to provide opportunity, access and resources to help people make better life choices.”
Sometimes, that “better life choice” means sticking to your roots and etching your name in the beautiful fabric of HBCU culture.
Photos by Curtis Rowser III.