Photo Description and Credit: Kimberly Meadows Clark, principal owner of the Magic City Surge in Birmingham, Ala., is also the co-founder and president of the HBCU Basketball Association. (Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

Black women are magical ✨

That’s it. That’s the intro for this week :)

Black girl joy is overflowing from our historically Black colleges and universities. Forward this newsletter to your friends and fam so we can enjoy the abundance together.

– Starr

Whether you’re into basketball or not, Kimberly Meadows-Clark is someone you should keep your eyes on.

You won’t see her dribbling up and down the court or gracefully dunking on opponents. As a sports entrepreneur known by friends and fam as “SportsBae,” Kimberly’s skills are more business in nature – and historical. Just five years ago, Kimberly became the first Black woman in Alabama to own a professional basketball team after purchasing the Magic City Surge in Birmingham. Sis’ latest venture will attract more attention to historically Black colleges and universities nationwide.

Kimberly is the co-founder and president of the HBCU Basketball Association, a new professional league being advertised as the “NBA for HBCU athletes” who are being overlooked in the highest level of the sport. Only one of the 450 NBA players is an HBCU alum – and he was drafted a decade ago. The lack of HBCU players is an issue that has been pointed out to the NBA over and over again. Kimberly and her business partner, Kevin Williams Sr., believe they’ve created the solution.

As for the reason why the problem exists in the first place, Kimberly kept it straight with me: “We’re not their market. We’re not what they’re going for immediately. They’re not going to (Alabama) A&M before they go to Duke,” Kimberly said. “So we’re gonna create the space. We’re creating the menu. We’re cooking the food. We’re setting the table and you just come down, sit down and eat with us.”

The HBCUBA league’s inaugural season starts Spring 2023 with six teams in Alabama, Mississippi, Texas, Florida, Louisiana and Georgia. This league will solely showcase the talent of HBCU alumni and future fans don’t have to wait long to see their skills. The draft takes place in February and the season will kickoff in Alabama in April. Kimberly said 36 players have already committed to the draft.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE