Chris Paul and the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame have partnered up to introduce a four-team HBCU Basketball tournament to be called the Chris Paul HBCU Tip-Off. It is set to take place November 22-23 at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut.
“I appreciate the collaboration of the Basketball Hall of Fame and Mohegan Sun in hosting this inaugural event. With several family members and friends who have attended HBCUs, I know firsthand how important they are to our community and country’s future. I’m excited to offer an elevated experience to the players and fans this November.”
Chris Paul on the HBCU Basketball tournament
The four teams scheduled to feature in the tournament are the Morehouse Maroon Tigers, Virginia Union Panthers, West Virginia State Yellow Jackets and Winston-Salem State Rams.
Each team is in Division II conferences with Virginia Union and Winston-Salem State both members of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) while Morehouse is a member of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) and West Virginia State a member of the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC).
Currently a student at his hometown school of Winston-Salem State University, Paul has been a huge advocate for historically black colleges and universities, using his platform to bring awareness to black institutions.
Most will look to the Phoenix Suns point guard wearing HBCU apparel prior to games, but his impact on HBCUs goes much deeper than that. In January, it was announced that the Paul and his training academy was partnering with TLS Sports to present HBCUCon to showcase elite basketball players HBCUs have to offer.
Paul served as the executive producer for an ESPN+ docuseries called Why Not Us highlighting the North Carolina Central men’s basketball team.