Beyond the Yard- Hilltop Highlights
HOWARD SWIMMING AND DIVING
By Bilal Badruddin
The Howard University men’s swimming and diving team dominated the 2022–23 Northeast Conference Championship earlier this month. This was the team’s first conference title in 34 years, and first under the leadership of alumnus and coach Nicholas Askew.
Since he took over the helm of the swimming program, Askew has completely transformed the team — a team he was once on as a student.
In 2013, Askew was one of the alumni who felt the University should shut down the team, calling it a “disservice to the student athletes.” But rather than simply complain about the team being under-resourced, Askew took the role of coach and has since elevated the program to be the only Division 1 HBCU swim team.
A Howard swim meet is unlike any other. With a poolside DJ and the Bisonettes performing on the side, Askew made the swim meets a hot ticket for the campus community. What the team has accomplished goes far beyond Burr Gymnasium. At the NEC Championships in Geneva, Ohio, the men’s team broke 16 records and the women’s team broke an additional 15 records.
HOWARD BASKETBALL
By Bilal Badruddin
Saturday, March 11 was an exciting time in Norfolk, Virginia, for alumni of Howard University and Norfolk State University, as the men’s and women’s basketball teams for both institutions made it to the championship game for the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. The Howard University men’s basketball team came from behind to win the game, marking the first NCAA Tournament berth for the team since 1992.
In women’s basketball, Howard beat Norfolk State University to reach the 2022 tournament. This led to the University’s first NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament win, when the Bison defeated University of the Incarnate Word.
In the first round of this year’s NCAA Tournament, the men’s team played against the defending national champions, the University of Kansas. The team, band, cheerleaders and dozens of alumni gathered in Des Moines, Iowa, to cheer on the men’s basketball team. While the game did not end in favor of the Bison, alumna and Vice President Kamala Harris joined in community with the team post-game.
While for many basketball teams a loss in the NCAA Tournament means the end of their season, for the men’s basketball team the work continues. Throughout the season, the men’s basketball team had been creating awareness and volunteering to support Black maternal health. During their various hotel stays, the team would collect unused hotel toiletries to donate to Mamatoto Village, a D.C.-based nonprofit focusing on Black maternal health. In the near future, the basketball team will lead a diaper drive. This team, under the leadership of Coach Kenny Blakeney, is showing the true meaning of being of “Truth and Service.”