After a shortened 2020-21 season, the Howard Bison men’s basketball team returned to action on Monday, Nov. 8 against the District of Columbia Firebirds.
Upcoming season highlights include actor Michael B. Jordan’s Invesco QQQ Legacy Classic in Newark, New Jersey (Dec. 18), the NBA All-Star Weekend HBCU Classic in Cleveland, Ohio (Feb. 19), and the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference tournament in Norfolk, Virginia (March 9-12).
Led by head coach Kenneth Blakeney, the Bison beat Virginia State University and Bowie State University in their two preseason exhibition games.
Coach Blakeney won two NCAA championships as a player with Duke University, and has coached at Howard since 2019. His career includes stints at Harvard University, where he recruited NBA player Jeremy Lin, and at Columbia University, his last position before coaching at Howard.
Graduate student Kyle Foster is the veteran of the squad, as this season is his fifth as a Bison. Last season, Foster led the team in three-pointers made and came second in points scored. Hopefully, he’ll “Purple Rain” down even more threes this season, as an homage to his self-proclaimed look-alike Prince.
Buffalo chicken wing lover and junior Khalil Robinson has played for Howard for three seasons. His accomplishments include mounting an impressive recovery from an injury in the 2019-20 season and leading the team in total assists during the 2020-21 season.
Graduate student and Bowie, M.D. native Sam Green may only be in his second season as a Bison, but he’s brought an impressive track record with him. He played four years at Drexel University, and had the second-most rebounds on the team after his debut season at Howard.
Senior Deven Richmond’s season is off to a solid start, as he averaged six rebounds during the preseason exhibition games. Richmond is a fan of the reality show “Big Brother” and, like Green, a second-year Bison and Bowie, Maryland, native.
Redshirt sophomore Steve Settle III made the preseason All-MEAC third team, after a freshman year that included honors like MEAC Rookie of the Week and being the team’s top scorer. He’s setting out to have a much better start to the season than the Washington Football Team, his favorite NFL squad.
San Antonio native Jordan Wood is returning for his second season after averaging double digits in his three starts last season. Wood’s planning for his season to be more than just “Alright,” despite what his favorite artist Kendrick Lamar might say.
After playing in all five games of the shortened 2020-21 season, sophomore Thomas Weaver is back for more. He’ll be playing with a soundtrack of Lil Baby and Playboi Carti to hype him up.
Graduate students Randall Brumant and Tai Bibbs are bringing their talents from Columbia University to reunite with Coach Blakeney.
In their first season as Bison, they’re both making up for lost time. Brumant started in both exhibition games while Bibbs averaged 14 points over 27 minutes. The newcomers also share a love of singing rappers; Brumant is a fan of Joey Bada$$ and Bibbs is a fan of Drake.
Sports Management major Dontarius James is a sophomore transfer from Jacksonville University and was recently named to the preseason All-MEAC second team. This season, the soul food lover is looking to turn his potential into success.
Heading up the freshmen is Bryce Harris, who was the team point leader in both preseason exhibition games. Harris is hoping to continue his hot streak into the regular season and emulate his favorite NBA player Russell Westbrook.
D.C. native Elijah Hawkins, musician Miles Stewart, Manchester United fan Ayodele Taiwo and self-proclaimed Joe Biden look-alike Aljaz Vidmar are also freshmen trying to make their marks on the team.
The team opened the regular season against the University of the District of Columbia Firebirds and the Regent University Royals in back-to-back home competitions on Nov. 9 and 10.
Copy edited by Jasper Smith
