16) Nat Clifton (Xavier University of Louisiana)

As only the second Black player to sign an NBA contract when the color barrier was lifted in 1950, Clifton’s basketball legacy was secure. But he supplanted that superlative and quickly established himself as the first Black superstar, helping the Knicks reach three consecutive NBA Finals. Already 28 years old when he first suited up for the Knicks, Clifton had played for several years with the barnstorming Harlem Globetrotters and New York Rens. Prior to that, he was a prep legend at DuSable High School in Chicago, catching the eye of college scouts in 1942 by shattering the Illinois state tournament single game scoring record. He enrolled at Xavier, a catholic HBCU in New Orleans that was founded in 1925 by a nun dedicated to educating Native and Black Americans. “Sweetwater” led the Gold Rush to the title game of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) Tournament but departed school after just one year to enroll in the U.S. Army. Two other players have reached the NBA from Xavier, and coincidentally were teammates on the late ’70s Sonics: Bruce Seal and Slick Watts.

15) Marvin Webster (Morgan State)

Born and raised in Baltimore, Webster remained in his hometown to attend Morgan State, a public HBCU. It was there that he received his “Human Eraser” nickname for shot blocking, and led the Bears to the 1974 NCAA Division II championship. Drafted third overall by the Hawks in the 1975 NBA Draft by the Hawks, Webster’s biggest NBA impact was as the leading rebounder and third leading scorer on the ’77-’78 SuperSonics that reached the NBA Finals. He then signed a controversially large free agency contract that summer with the Knicks but struggled the rest of his career due to complications from hepatitis, which eventually led to his death from a heart attack at age 56. Webster was posthumously inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2018, thanks in large part due to research conducted by a sports analytics club at his high school. Though Morgan State joined Division I in 1984 and has reached two NCAA Tournaments, Webster still stands as the only player from the school to reach the NBA and he furthermore continues to hold the school record for career rebounds.

14) Purvis Short (Jackson State)

Spurning scholarship offers from all the biggest NCAA programs, Short instead enrolled at Jackson State in 1974. The public HBCU was located in his home state of Mississippi and gave him the opportunity to team up with his older brother Gene. It also gave Short a chance to rack up major stats against inferior opponents, averaging 26.4 points and 9.9 rebounds per game in his final three college seasons. He then followed Gene’s footsteps into the NBA, getting drafted fifth overall by the Warriors. With his patented “rainbow” jump shot, Short averaged 20+ points per game four times, including as high as 28.0 per game in ’84-’85. Short lasted 12 seasons in the NBA before knee issues forced him to retire. Older brother Gene was also a first round pick of the Knicks but played just one season before returning to Mississippi to become a car salesman. Aside from the Short brothers, other notable Jackson State alumni include 2004 Pistons champion Lindsey Hunter and Cornell Warner, who backed up Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the ’73-’74 Bucks that reached the NBA Finals. 

13) Caldwell Jones (Albany State)

For 18 straight seasons, a member of the Jones family was the starting center for the Albany State Golden Rams basketball team. Caldwell was the third of six brothers to matriculate at the Georgia-based HBCU, hitting campus in 1969. In his senior year, Caldwell was playing for his oldest brother Oliver, who had become the head coach. The pair led Albany State to its first ever SIAC title in 1973. Of the six Jones brothers, four moved on from Albany State to the NBA and Caldwell was the most successful of the bunch at the pro level. He was an ABA All-Star in 1975, led the league in blocks twice, then later played in three NBA Finals with the 76ers before getting traded to the Rockets as part of the package for Moses Malone. The four Jones siblings are the only NBA players from Albany State, though the school also produced Mack Daughtry, who spent one season in the ABA. Caldwell was part of the inaugural class of the Albany State Sports Hall of Fame in 1999, with brothers Charles, Major, and Melvin joining him in 2004.

12) Jimmy Jones (Grambling)

Drafted in 1967 by both the New Orleans Buccaneers of the ABA and the Baltimore Bullets of the NBA, the choice was easy for Jones. A lifelong Louisianan, he was born and raised in the small town of Tallulah, then matriculated at Grambling in 1963. A public HBCU in rural Louisiana, Grambling was founded in 1901 by a group of farmers looking to increase higher education amongst Black Louisiana residents. Jones carried the torch at Grambling from Willis Reed (who was a senior there when he was a freshman), averaging over 20 points per game while leading the Tigers to three SWAC titles. When two pro leagues came calling, Jones knew his heart was in his home state and signed with the Bucs. He was named 1st-Team All-ABA three times, an All-Star six times, and finished as high as second in the league in scoring. Jones did eventually suit up for the Bullets for three seasons, starting in ’74-’75, before retiring. Though it was once an NBA pipeline, producing not just Jones and Reed but also Aaron James and Larry Wright, no Grambling alum has reached the NBA since 1977.

11) Avery Johnson (Southern)

Like many players on this list, Johnson had a circuitous route from his HBCU days to NBA stardom. Despite leading the NCAA in assists per game in his senior season at Southern, Johnson wasn’t drafted in 1988 and played a stint in the USBL before signing with the SuperSonics. He bounced from Seattle to Denver to San Antonio to Houston and back to San Antonio in his first four seasons, finally settling in as the starting point guard for the Spurs. Johnson developed into one of the NBA’s steadiest point guards in the ’90s, eventually rewarded with a 1999 championship with San Antonio. Southern was actually the third college that Johnson attended, as he started out at New Mexico Junior College, then an NAIA school in Oklahoma before joining the storied HBCU in his native Louisiana. In his two years on campus, “The Little General” led the Panthers to back-to-back NCAA Tournaments and was the first player in Division I history to average double-digit points and assists per game in the same season. In 2013, the school renamed its hardwood as “Avery Johnson Court” and retired his #15 jersey.

10) Anthony Mason (Tennessee State)

Mason’s heart was always in New York, the city in which he grew up and later had his best pro years with the Knicks, but his college journey took him to Nashville. It was there that he was recruited to the public HBCU Tennessee State in the mid ’80s, just as its basketball program was transitioning to Division I as part of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC). In his senior year, ’87-’88, Mason averaged 28.0 points and 10.4 rebounds per game for the Tigers, catching the eye of pro scouts. Portland drafted him in the third round of the 1988 NBA Draft but cut him that same summer, setting off a three year sojourn that took the forward from Turkey to Venezuela to the CBA to the USBL, with short stints with the Nets and Nuggets in between. He finally caught on with the Knicks in 1991, working his way up from the Summer League team to becoming a roster mainstay, eventually earning a Sixth Man of the Year award, an All-Star appearance, and playing in the 1994 NBA Finals. His 2,075 career points at Tennessee State still stands as the school’s all-time Division I record and he’s also second in career rebounds.

9) Truck Robinson (Tennessee State)

Before it joined Division I in the ’80s, Tennessee State was a Division II powerhouse, especially in the years they were led by Leonard “Truck” Robinson. Born and raised in Jacksonville, where he is still arguably the greatest prep player in the city’s history, Robinson was recruited to Tennessee State in 1970. In his junior and senior years, the undersized (6’7″) but bruising power forward led the Tigers to the Division II Tournament Final Four, including a National Final appearance in 1974. A second round pick of the Bullets in 1974, he played in the NBA Finals as a rookie coming off the bench but had his best years later with the Jazz and Suns, getting named 1st-Team All-NBA in ’77-’78, appearing in two All-Star Games, and leading the league once in rebounds per game. A proud tradition of Tennessee State players reaching the NBA started with Dick Barnett being a first round pick in 1960, continued with Robinson and Anthony Mason in the ’70s and ’80s, and most recently includes NBA All-Defensive team member Robert Covington. In 2018, Robinson was inducted into the Small College Basketball Hall of Fame.

“So how did one of the obvious greatest talents of his generation end up at a Division II school? According to the man himself, major colleges considered his style of play “too street and too Black,” a familiar refrain for many stylish players of that era.”

8) Charles Oakley (Virginia Union)

The all-time NBA rebounding leader amongst HBCU players, Oakley attended Virginia Union, a private HBCU founded in 1865 in Richmond to educate freed slaves. He was recruited from Cleveland by the legendary coach Dave Robbins and earned Division II Player of the Year honors in 1985 as a senior. Word of his scoring and rebounding prowess outstripped his Division II obscurity, and Oakley was drafted ninth overall in 1985 by his hometown Cavaliers, who then traded him to the Bulls. Over 19 NBA seasons, Oakley developed a reputation as an elite rebounder and defender, one of the league’s all-time toughest players, and folklore status amongst Knicks fans. He was inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame in 2016 for his collegiate contributions which weren’t limited to on the court. While playing for the Knicks, Oakley managed to recruit another burgeoning defensive superstar Ben Wallace to Virginia Union in 1994. The program has also produced 1969 first round pick Mike Davis and 12-year NBA veteran Terry Davis.

7) Bob Love (Southern)

A public, land grant school in Baton Rouge, Southern University has always been known more for its football history. Football was actually the original scholarship granted by the school to Love, who was a two-sport star at Morehouse High School in Bastrop, Louisiana. He switched to basketball and eventually set the school’s all-time scoring record (still standing), became Southern’s first All-American (at the NAIA level), and was the first Jaguar alum to play in the NBA. Over 11 successful NBA seasons, Love averaged 20+ points per game seven times, was named 2nd-Team All-NBA twice, and made three All-Star appearances. It was quite a journey for the son of a single mom sharecropper and one of 14 siblings. Love’s first basketball hoop was made from wire hangar and his first basketball from rolled up socks. In 2012, Southern honored Love alongside its two other biggest basketball legends, Avery Johnson and Bobby Phills, by retiring his #41 jersey. The Southern program worked its way up to Division I in 1977 and has made nine NCAA Tournament appearances.

6) Zelmo Beaty (Prairie View A&M)

One of just two players in Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) history to be inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame (along with Willis Reed), Beaty was enshrined in 2016. He is also the only player in Prairie View A&M history to play in the NBA. The second oldest public university in Texas, Prairie View A&M was founded in 1876 and started its basketball program in the 1920s. Beaty came along in 1958, was named an All-American twice, and led the Panthers to the 1962 NAIA Tournament title. He was drafted third overall by the Hawks and spent seven seasons with the franchise, making two All-Star appearances. Beaty then became one of the biggest NBA stars to defect for the ABA, joining the Utah Stars in 1970 and becoming a dominant force in the new league, including earning the Playoffs MVP award when the Stars won the 1971 championship. In addition to the Naismith, Beaty has also been inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame and the Texas Sports Hall of Fame. Prairie View A&M joined NCAA Division I in 1977 but have mostly struggled at that level.

5) Earl Monroe (Winston-Salem State)

Monroe’s exploits at Winston-Salem State are almost as legendary as his Philadelphia playground escapades. Playing for the Division II HBCU based out of North Carolina, Monroe averaged 41.5 points per game in his senior season, earning Player of the Year and leading the Rams to the 1967 national title, the first ever for an HBCU school at any level. It was also in his college years that Monroe earned the nickname “Earl the Pearl” when local sportswriter Jerry McLeese began referring to his baskets as “pearls.” At the NBA level, Monroe was Rookie of the Year, 1st-Team All-NBA, an All-Star four times, and won a championship with the Knicks in ’72-’73. Winston-Salem State produced several other NBA players under the guidance of its legendary coach Clarence “Big House” Gaines (a Naismith Hall of Fame inductee alongside Monroe), including Haywoode Workman, Carlos Terry, Earl “The Twirl” Williams, and Cleo Hill, who in 1961 became the first HBCU alumnus to be selected in the first round of the NBA Draft. It is also the alma mater of broadcasting personality Stephen A. Smith.

4) Bob Dandridge (Norfolk State)

In 2021, the Naismith Hall of Fame count of HBCU players and coaches inducted increased from 10 to 12 with the additions of Ben Wallace and Dandridge. It was a long time coming for Dandridge, who was drafted out of Norfolk State by the Bucks in 1969 and developed into one of the premier NBA forwards of the ’70s. While attending the Virginia-based school, Dandridge participated in a game many consider the greatest in HBCU basketball history. In the 1968 CIAA Tournament championship, Dandridge was the leading scorer with 38 points as Norfolk State defeated North Carolina A&T in a 134-132 triple overtime thriller. That was just the start of his clutch championship round performances, as he eventually scored more points in the NBA Finals during the ’70s than any other player. Dandridge played in four NBA Finals and won two titles: 1971 with the Bucks and 1978 with the Bullets). Though the school was Division II in Dandridge’s day, Norfolk State transitioned to Division I in 1997 and made headlines in the 2012 NCAA Tournament with a major upset of Missouri.

3) Ben Wallace (Virginia Union)

From the small town of White Hall, Alabama to junior college in Cleveland to HBCU Virginia Union to un-drafted in the NBA, nothing came easy for Wallace. He likely would not have even played college ball if not for the influence of Charles Oakley, who mentored Wallace at a youth basketball camp then guided his recruitment to his alma mater Virginia Union. Wallace accomplished something at the Richmond-based HBCU that Oakley never did, leading them to a NCAA Division II Final Four in 1996. Though his NBA career infamously started slow, Wallace eventually developed into one of the greatest defensive players in league history. He earned Defensive Player of the Year a record four times and was 1st-Team All-Defensive five times. Wallace was also the heart, soul, and defensive anchor of the ’03-’04 Pistons title team. Wallace is a member of the CIAA, Virginia, Michigan, and Alabama Sports Halls of Fame, and in 2021 was additionally enshrined in Springfield.

2) Willis Reed (Grambling)

In a honor that will likely stand for the foreseeable future, Reed is the only HBCU alumnus to win NBA league MVP or Finals MVP. Not only did he earn both those awards in the ’69-’70 season, Reed also provided one of the most indelible moments in basketball history, bounding through the tunnel of Madison Square Garden to start game seven of the Finals despite a torn thigh muscle. Though nothing in his collegiate career reached those heights of importance and renown, Reed also had some significant successes at Grambling, averaging 26.6 points and 21.3 rebounds per game in his senior season, getting named an All-American twice, and leading the Tigers to the 1961 NAIA national championship. Playing for Grambling was a natural fit for Reed, who was born and raised just 20 miles away on a farm in still heavily segregated Northeastern Louisiana. Though his entire pro career, both as a player and coach, happened in New York, Reed’s heart was always back in the countryside of Louisiana, and he eventually retired to a large farm just down the road from the Grambling campus.

1) Sam Jones (North Carolina Central)

In prepping for the 1957 NBA Draft, Red Auerbach asked his friend and former player, Wake Forest coach Bones McKinney, for scouting advice on the ACC. McKinney reportedly responded that the best player in the state of North Carolina was actually Jones, who had just finished up his senior season at North Carolina Central. The rest, as they say, is history, with Jones getting selected eighth overall by the Celtics and eventually winning 10 championships and making five All-Star teams. A public HBCU located in Durham, just down the street from Duke, NCCU was a longtime Division II powerhouse under Hall of Fame coach John McClendon. Jones earned a degree in teaching from NCCU in 1957 (following two years off to serve in the U.S. Army) and considered quitting pro basketball a couple times early in his career to take on teaching until he developed into a key cog in the Bill Russell Boston championship machine. In 1984, he became just the second HBCU player to be inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame, following Willis Reed.