While most of the country has its eyes fixated on the March Madness NCAA Tournament, HBCUs like Langston and North Carolina A&T made deep postseason runs in other tournaments. Langston’s men’s basketball team and North Carolina A&T’s women’s basketball program both set the standard of postseason performance, demonstrating how dangerous HBCUs can be when given the opportunity.
In their respective conferences, both Langston and North Carolina A&T finished within the top four. They had stellar seasons that were unfortunately cut short in the NAIA and NIT Tournaments, but were nonetheless successful.
North Carolina A&T
At the start of the year, the CAA conducted a major conference preview with the college basketball media outlet, The Field of 68. During the preview, the hosts talked to the coaches of every team for both the men’s and women’s squads. Prior to the event, the CAA compiled a preseason poll in which they ranked the teams for the upcoming season. North Carolina A&T had a spectacular first year in the CAA, going 12-6 in the conference and finishing in the quarterfinals of the tournament. For the upcoming 2023-24 season, however, analysts ranked them eighth out of 14 behind teams like Drexel, Northeastern, and Delaware.
The Aggies apparently took that low ranking personal. In response, they finished with an improved 13-5 record in the conference and went 22-11 overall. They had the same conference record as Charleston, tying for third in the standings. North Carolina A&T played well in the CAA tournament. They started off by steamrolling Hofstra, 55-40, though they fell to Stony Brook in the semifinal. Stony Brook would eventually lose to Drexel in the championship game, the same Drexel team that the Aggies split the season series with.
After the loss in the CAA tournament, the Aggies entered the NIT. They had two statement wins over UNC Greensboro and Old Dominion to enter the Super 16. In the Super 16, however, they ran into Troy, who defeated them 89-75. Despite the loss, head coach Tarrell Robinson talked about the importance of being a competitive team in the NIT and how that can carry over to next season.
“It creates a buy-in, it creates a fanbase because it shows Lady Aggie Basketball has a good show to put on,” he said. “For those who are returning, I hope the commitment in the summer, the commitment in the preseason, the commitment once we start playing, and the commitment during conference pushes us where we need to go. What we did here was great because it wasn’t so much talking about it. They lived it. They knew we were right there.”
The Aggies also had a handful of players take home hardware at the end of the season. Junior guard Jordyn Dorsey made the First Team All-CAA for leading her team with 12.9 points and 3.4 assists, as well as 5.2 rebounds per game. Senior guard Maleia Bracone earned All-Defensive Team honors with her 2.3 steals per game, finishing second in the conference in total steals at 79. Lastly, freshman forward Paris Locke secured a spot on the All-Rookie Team.
Langston
“Langston is a special place. It’s a place where I know that we can win and win big every single year. That’s the expectation, and so this is not our last deep run [in the NAIA Tournament] here.”
Langston head coach Chris Wright shared those sentiments with Andscape’s Mia Berry following their 71-67 loss to Freed-Hardeman in the NAIA Championship game. The Lions had a chance to become the first HBCU to win an NAIA Tournament since 1977. Instead, Wright and the returning player head back to the drawing board over the offseason.
Wright’s quote, though, rings true for the Oklahoma HBCU. Despite the unfortunate result, Langston had a wildly successful season, likely their best in school history. Not only did they reach their first NAIA Championship game in history, but they essentially erased all competition put in front of them. The Lions their season with a 35-2 record (technically 35-3 including an exhibition game). To say they dominated the conference would be an understatement. Langston went 21-1 in the Sooner Athletic Conference. They were untouched at home, going 17-0, and extended their dominance into the SAC Tournament. Langston hardly blinked as they won by an average of 15.6 points on their way to a conference championship.
10 days after beating Mid-America Christian in the SAC Championship game, the Lions faced off against Bellevue as a #1 seed in the NAIA Tournament. They kicked off the opening round by winning by nearly 40 points, then followed that up with a 30-point rout of Ave Maria University. Langston continued to win big over LSU-Shreveport and Indiana Wesleyan, a #2 seed. In the Fab Four, they faced fellow #1 seed, The College of Idaho, and defeated them 58-52. After winning every game since Feb. 3, the Lions finally tasted defeat once again against Freed-Hardeman.
While it’s certainly disappointing that Langston couldn’t go all the way, there’s absolutely no reason for them to hang their heads low. When Wright took over as the head coach for the 2021-22 season, they won a single game. Just one. The following season, they skyrocketed to 31 wins, completing one of the biggest turnarounds in collegiate history. The Lions continued to improve this season by adding four more wins to their previous record. If this meteoric rise is indicative of anything, then the Langston Lions will hoist their very first NAIA Tournament banner very soon, if not next season.