By Caleb Brown, Staff Reporter
Six-foot-three twins, Bria and Cimone Woodard, verbally committed to Howard University, to play volleyball on Sept. 4, 2020, after decommitting from Texas A&M. They’re in line to become fifth-generation Historically Black College and University (HBCU) graduates.
Bria, an outside hitter, stated that early in their recruitment process, they “wanted a big conference and a big school,” according to Newsone. Going to a school like A&M would’ve given them that opportunity seeing that it is a “power five” school.
Cimone, a middle blocker, said that they “had to take the sport out of the equation for this decision.” At Howard, they’ll get the “best of both worlds” in terms of athletics and academics, according to an interview with HBCU Buzz.
Bria and Cimone led their high school team, The Episcopal Knights, in kills last year with 242 and 200 kills, respectively. Cimone also added 126 blocks to her stat line.
The Howard University Volleyball team are the reigning Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) champions and they have sat atop of the MEAC conference for the last five years with five consecutive MEAC Championships dating back to 2015.
The Howard Volleyball season was postponed this fall 2020 out of concerns from COVID-19, however, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is extending eligibility for all athletes regardless, if they have a season this year or not. MEAC volleyball will potentially span from early January to February with the MEAC championship being held in March. The Bison look to carry on their streak of greatness and collect their sixth MEAC championship like the stones on Thanos’s gauntlet.
The twins’ decision to come to Howard comes a few months after five-star basketball recruit Makur Maker made his decision to commit to Howard over other “power five” schools: UCLA, Memphis, and Kentucky. According to The Undefeated, Makur is the first top-ranked basketball player to commit to playing at an HBCU since Earl Jones played for the University of the District of Columbia back in 1980.
This past year, amongst the uproar for social justice, America’s seen a big push for top athletes to go back and take their talents to HBCUs. This commitment is just the latest example of HBCUs being taken more seriously in athletes’ eyes.
