It was August, 30, 1956, and Wilberforce University opened its doors in Wilberforce, OH, making history by becoming the country’s first private HBCU owned and operated by African Americans. Fast forward to the start of the 2024-25 basketball season and the school once again made history when its men’s and women’s basketball programs struck a partnership with AND1, a collaboration that marks AND1’s first sponsorship of an HBCU athletic program. It’s a watershed moment for both the iconic streetball brand and the university.
Over the past few years, many brands have tried their hand at collaborations with the HBCU community, but oftentimes, these partnerships fall flat, feeling forced and opportunistic at a time where HBCUs have begun to garner more recognition. While AND1 isn’t Black-owned, they’ve maintained their stake as an integral player in hoop culture and Black culture since first taking the world by storm in 1993. That’s what separates AND1 from the pack and has led to this “passion partnership” with Wilberforce, as AND1 brand director Dexter Gordon likes to call it.
“Wilberforce is an NAIA school, but we wanted them to feel like a DI,” says Gordon, referring to the abundance of apparel and product they supplied the teams with, in addition to a high-major-
esque preseason media day. And this is only the beginning of AND1’s commitment to their expanding HBCU footprint.
“We’re looking at other schools [to partner with],” Gordon says. “If opportunities from bigger schools come, then cool. But our mindset is that we want to start with the smaller HBCUs and shine a light on them.”
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