ESPN's 'First Take' headed to HBCU alma maters of Stephen A. Smith, Shannon Sharpe

Smith, the New York City native, played college basketball for the Winston-Salem Rams and wrote for the school's newspaper before graduating in the early 1990s. Though he's arguably the most visible sports alum of the school, he's certainly not the only famous one. Earl "The Pearl" Monroe starred at Winston-Salem before embarking on a Hall of Fame career with the Baltimore Bullets and New York Knicks. 

Several NFL players came from the school, including Yancey Thigpen and Oronde Gadsden Future Hall of Famer and current Golden State Warriors point guard Chris Paul — a native of Winston-Salem — finished his Bachelor's degree at the school.

Sharpe was a brilliant athlete at Savannah State, starring in football but also playing basketball and competing in track and field from 1986-1989. Many players for the Tigers would make it to the NFL besides Sharpe, including current San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Steve Wilks.

HBCUs have gained greater visibility in the last several years, from the sporting point of view as well as social justice, academics and more, such as when Mackenzie Scott donated $30 million to Winston-Salem in 2020, the single largest donor gift in the school's history. However, Deion Sanders' rise as a college football coach drew attention to the HBCU world as he spent three years at Jackson State University and onboarded Travis Hunter, the two-way star who was considered the number one recruit in high school when he signed with the Tigers. (Both Sanders and Hunter left for Colorado after the 2022 season.) 

The NFL, NBA and Major League Baseball have each made larger efforts to connect themselves with HBCUs, and the NHL's Nashville Predators have lent their support to the development of Tennessee State's men's hockey program, the first of its kind in the history of HBCUs.