5 best NBA, NFL and MLB players to ever come from an HBCU

By Dante Pryor | Feb 16, 2022

NEW ORLEANS, LA - JANUARY 28: Jerry Rice #80 of the San Francisco 49ers runs with the ball against the Denver Broncos during Super Bowl XXIV on January 28, 1990 at the Super Dome in New Orleans, LA. The 49ers won the Super Bowl 55-10. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images) /

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Sammie Davis, injured in a Passaic train accident, had his biggest night as pro and college basketball stars played a benefit for him. Surrounding the youngster are, from left, Willis Reed, Bob Verga, Emmett Bryant, chairman Dick Vitale, Shaler Halimon, and Johnny Green, the winning coach. July 16, 1969. A Davis /

4. Willis Reed, Center — NBA, New York Knicks — Grambling State

Willis Reed is known for one of the most iconic moments in NBA history. Reed jogged onto the court in Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals after a torn thigh muscle kept him out of Game 6. No one thought Reed would play, so when he jogged out of the tunnel in Madison Square Garden, the crowd exploded with cheers and applause.

Reed only scored four points that night, but the courage and grit on display by merely showing up propelled the Knicks to the win and the NBA Championship that night. Reed and the Knicks would win one more title during Reed’s decade with New York.

Reed averaged 18.7 points and 12.3 rebounds during his time with the Knicks. He won an MVP (1970) and was a two-time Finals MVP (1970, 1973).

Reed’s beginnings were humble, however. Born in the Jim Crow South in rural Louisiana, the seven-time All-Star was raised on a farm near Bernice, Louisiana. West Side High School, where Reed played basketball, was segregated.

Reed would play his college basketball at Grambling State University; most of the larger schools in the south did not admit black players. The Tigers were the better for having him. Reed averaged over 26 points and 21 rebounds in his Grambling career, leading them to an NAIA Championship and three SWAC titles.

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