September 4, 2021 – St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Isla –
The University of The Virgin Islands (UVI) has recently announced that they will be hosting the first Virgin Islands HBCU Basketball Classic at their sports and fitness center in St. Thomas. The tournament will consist of both men and women’s teams competing in 6 games each. The tournament is set to take place November third through the fifth. Tournament participants will include teams from Arkansas Baptist College, Hutson-Tillotson University, Warner University, Wilberforce University and UVI. All the schools except for Warner University, are Historically Black Colleges and Universities. In this article I’ll be taking a look at the six men’s basketball teams competing in this tournament and what to expect from them.
First, Arkansas Baptist College is expected to come into the tournament with plenty of scoring ability as they have their three leading scorers returning for their junior years in Tairell Fletcher, Marcus Hunter, and Shane Dalcour. They finished last season 5-13 and dropped their final 5 games so look for them to come out with some fire in their eyes as they look to get back to winning.
Second, Hutson-Tillotson University. Their 2020-2021 season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic which was frustrating to say the least for the Rams as they finished their 2019-2020 season with a record of 9-19. Similar to Arkansas Baptist, look for them to come to prove the doubters wrong in the tournament.
Next, Warner University. Warner finished last year’s season with a record of 19-7 and have their two leading scorers returning in Rod Boggan and Darryl Mercer. Look for Warner to continue their winning ways in this tournament as they have a great chance to win it.
Wilberforce University also had their 2020-2021 season cancelled due to COVID-19. In their 2019-2020 season they finished 8-16. They brought in a new head coach in Mark Mitchell as he’ll look to turn the program around but it won’t be without a few bumps in the road as their leading scorer from their 2019-2020 season is no longer with the team. Look for Wilberforce to play for revenge and respect in this tournament under their new head coach.
Finally, the home team. The University of The Virgin Islands suffered from the COVID-19 pandemic as well as they had no season last year and finished their 2019-2020 season at just 3-11. Expect the Bucs to come into the tournament with a lot of momentum for their homecoming week and looking to put on a show for the home crowd.
The tournament should be a very fun and competitive atmosphere for all the players and fans. It is set to be a great event and will hopefully continue on for years to come after the first tournament wraps up in early November.
