Wake that ass up in the morning. The Breakfast Club morning.
Everybody is d J n V.
Just hilarious.
Charlamagne the guy. We are the Breakfast Club. You got some special guest joining us. We got the brother doctor West Bellamy, and we got beat out here.
Welcome, what's what's happening? Thanks for having man, Thanks for having us. We really appreciate it. Y'all are bringing a basketball tournament back to Charlotte.
To Charlotte, HEAs no disrespect to see I double a. Yeah, but it was better than Charlotte. No respect the ball.
What part like, the party scene was better, but the games were not being attended. That was the biggest problem with it being in Charlotte. Nobody comes to the games. Yeah, like everybody out at the day parties turning up, but ain't nobody in there seeing Johnson C.
Smith gets smacked by Winston Sandem state. I think about the fact, I.
Think times have change for HBCU sports, and I think that was the time when people didn't necessarily really go for the sports. Now more and more people are going to the sports there, they're broadcasting games more so I think if they bring it back to Charlotte, I think it'll be a lot different. I just think the Charlotte, that whole vibe and that whole scene was a lot better. It was fun and you got to see so many different people. I just don't get that from DMV and
I went last year. I just didn't feel that the same.
Well on, we won't shout out show love to Mayor Brandon Scott in Baltimore and our partners over at Van Wagoner and SEAAA.
I know they're doing their best in Baltimore. I was there this year.
I had a good time.
I thought they did really well.
But that's also to your points why we're bringing this new tournament, the Black College Invitational Championship, to Charlotte, our own tournament started by you, specifically for us, the Black College Invitational Championship. We don't have to beg or ask anybody else to do anything for our HBCUs. We started this endeavor to do this specifically for us. We'll take care of all the fees, we pay for travel, lodging.
Every team that comes to participate in the tournament, we give them an entry fee, and then the winning schools get twenty five thousand dollars and this is all led by us put together by us, So we need everybody to come out of support. Yeah, Trump Gon sign inn executive order no fundation Carolina.
And that's different from the n C Double A too, because like teams have to pay to go to the n C Double A or pay to go to the n I T and stuff like that. So for Wes to put in a situation where that b C i C actually pays the schools to come, like, that's different right there.
What you just said was actually that's true because all those years that it was in Charlotte cub A, I literally only.
Went for the party you number went to one day.
Definitely true.
So what's up? You're coming to Charlotte this shiit is the game.
I'm coming.
To get together to do this. How did y'all so so one?
This is an idea that that I have along with my my real good brother Russell Stewart. We've been talking about this for about a year and some change. A real quick backstory, it's gonna sound crazy. We were we were on a social media platform that shall not be named, and we saw a bunch of people complaining that a particular school in Norfolk State didn't get into the n
C double A tournament. They didn't get a large bid after having a phenomenal season, and folks were saying, man, damn like the NC DOUAA, they never give HBCUs more than one school. We never get more than one bid. We need to have our own tournament. So I hit my friend Josh runs this thing called HBCU nightly shout out to Josh and was like, Yo, man, we need to do our own tournament. So we were talking and things kind of fizzled out, and Yo, this sounds wild.
I had a dream in December of twenty twenty three. I was telling be die.
When I woke up, it was like God telling me, yo, go do the tournament. Wow.
And woke up, made some calls and we started putting everything together and lo and behold, less than a year later, we had the tournament.
Now.
I used to I live in Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, and was traveling back and forth to Charlotte and I would always hear this one particular voice on the radio.
Yo, then this sounds crazy.
I was telling him I will always hear his voice on the radio when I was traveling through on this particular station that shall not.
Be named yeah, that's how we rocked.
So I said, Yo, when we were talking for us with them together, people were like, well, yo, we need to get this personal host of this personal host.
And I'm like, nah, we gotta get this dude.
B Dot, the dude that was on the Beyonce record, the dude that's known as the mister Voice of North Carolina. So when I hit him up and was like, bro, we need to have you on board, he was like, you know, I'm everything HBCU. He attended was to Salem State University. I attended South Carolina State University and Virginia State University.
So we're all.
HBCU everything, And I mean it's it's really been a match made in heaven.
You know that, you know, you know you do the podcast. I didn't know maybe you didn't either.
I want to say thank y'all for playing that in February every day, Like seriously, thank y'all, Charlamagne, and just like appreciate it.
A lot of things that people don't know that you put them on to you, you know what I mean.
But you know what I like about that podcast is you.
Tell people about things that they may or may not know about black history. So tell us the history of the bc C, but I never even heard of it, honestly, And tell y'all did this yeah tournament and you won't because this is the first of his calling you did. You know what I'm saying, Like again, West told you, like this is his brain child and the idea that we don't have a space to celebrate HBCUs after our SWACK tournament or CI DOUBLEA tournament or MEAC tournament.
We don't have anywhere else. So an opportunity to have HBCUs come to a NC double A type environment like this is the genesis of it.
This is the history of it.
Right now, we're all participating in the history of the bci C. Last year, again the thoughts were coming to fruition and having conversations with the appropriate people at the different conferences.
It's a lot of legwork that had to go into this.
You got to get signed off from the NC double A, you got to get signed off from each individual conferences. There were certain conferences that wanted payments, and it was just a lot going on. So to have it in a space now where we're actually here, like less than three weeks away, like this is the genesis of the bci C. So I'm just excited to be a part of this black history and bringing something like this to Charlotte.
So you didn't go to DSU, I'm sorry, did you go to DSU?
Now? I went to Winster Salem State where you saw DSU. What's DSU?
Yeah?
Yeah, Lauren, think you talk about be dot from.
The time.
You list.
I'm like she said that was just like you know, it was like for your information be that went to d.
S U too, But she probably was talking about Brian Miller and I know that beat out to. It's a lot of punctuation guys out here in these streets. Yeah, but I know I know as well now, but I went to Winston Salem State University class of two thousand and six.
Yeah, she thinks he talking about.
Other understand them. He just want to mess with Lauren.
But how difficult is it to get the schools involved, right? Because I DJ a lot of the HBCU events, specially I like the rivalries, right, the rivalries a lot better because it's like you always see the Howard Hampton.
You always see the Hampton Norfolk.
You'll see uh Morgan and Howard and you'll see family in this one. So the rivalries are good because it gets the people involved, But how are you going to make sure fans come out and actually want to come to these games?
Because you said it's so difficult.
And a lot of times we don't get depressed, we don't get the TV time, we don't get a lot of those things where people don't necessarily find out about it. And that's why I like North Carolina too. I think a lot of colleges, especially HBCUs are in the South. That's it's easier for people to get there. So how are you gonna make sure that people get to these games and these colleges get there as well?
Well. We got a couple of ways.
We have a wide variety of different in game entertainment opportunities for people, different theme nights. I mean, we got a Welcome to Charlotte Knight on the first day. When we're looking at I mean, this is the first time ever you're seeing different conferences playing each other in a postseason tournament. So we're thinking that that's also going to drive attention to the games. When you have the MIAC versus Swag and then you have the Ciba versus SEC.
Like you again, you've never seen that.
And this is our first postseason basketball tournament, and we know, like we can't west our Laurel solely on people just coming to see the basketball games. So we have several of the games hosted by Nolimon Larry. Shout out to Nolimon Larry Charlotte. He's gonna be hosting the games on Thursday and Friday afternoon and in Friday evening, Saturday and Sunday for the championship games, we got b dot in games. We have performances, HBCU bands will be participate, paiding giveaways,
and then it's a whole week of events. So Tuesday we're kicking it off for the golf tournament. Wednesday, we have an HBCU Sustainability Summit with HBCU presidents from across the country, followed by an empowerment lunching that'll be hosted to buy some really cool folks, including the Durant Family Foundation. Shout out to doctor Yanda Durant and Mama Durant. Then
Thursday through Sunday we have the games. We also have an educational Day, so we'll be having High School Education Day with one thousand high school scholars from the Greater Charlotte area coming on Thursday, about another thousand on that Friday, and then we have a step show, a culminating event on Sunday evening.
So again like it's not just about the games. But make no mistake about it.
If I got one shot at this, if people don't come and support this year, there will be no year two. We got a one year agreement with the City of Charlotte, is kind of a proven year, yo, Wes. If you can pull us off and we make it what it's supposed to be, then we'll be able to do something moving forward. But if we don't, then there will be no year too.
So all the.
Parties, it's a trial, all the parties, all the day parties, the night parties, all the things that individuals are saying that they want to come for, Like, oh, that's cool. But if you only go to those things and we don't come to the games and we don't sell tickets, we don't put bus in seats, we don't have a safe weekend, we don't have people come in purchase hotels, then we will not have a year two. So we always talk about like us needing a seat at the table,
but yo, we're building our own table. We don't need anybody else to do anything for us. But when we do build this.
Table, come eat with your own. And that's what we're asking everybody to do.
No, no, you good.
I was just gonna just say that they have a system in place where they're selecting schools, but I hope politically they do it like where they get schools that are in that area so that fans of that school. You did know what I'm saying, Like because North Carolina Central is like lower in the me ACT, but that's a team that if they were in the bcl C, folks are.
Going to come to that. You did know what I'm saying. Customers, I know.
Points, But I'm.
This the fanet you have to do that. You did know what I'm saying.
So like I hope, I definitely hope that it's attended the way that it should be, so this can be the beginning of something.
I'm huge.
How did y'all even get the teams to participate, Like because it's the first time tournament, Like a lot of schools be like, I'm cool on.
That even get participant.
So, uh, there's a selection process. So what we're doing is after every conference tournament. The CE double A just finished. The sai C is this weekend, So after every conference tournament, we'll be talking to teams who finished in the top quadrant and then uh, those individuals are incentivized to come. So again, we give you five thousand dollars for participating in the tournament. We cover all food, travel, lodging, and
we're giving you a first class experience. Postseason basketball for those who don't win their conference tournament is non existent for us, so it's only incentivized for our season to continue and then to be a part of something in Charlotte where a lot of people want to be back in that city, and then doing something for the culture.
It wasn't really hard. As I've been talking to presidents.
And adsly, i just want to say, I just want to say this.
No, I'm not I'm going to give you your prose because well, this has been boots on the ground of this. Like when you asked that question, Charloamne, He's had to talk to every single head of every the SIEC, the SWACK, the CI double A, the MEAC, the NC double A like get signed up. So to answer your question, the first answer that will be connections, like the way he's
connected to so many different individuals. The people that can go in rooms that he couldn't go into and speak for him on behalf of the bci C. Now, yes, all the things he's saying is one hundred percent correct, but how do we get teams to sign off connections? The fact that he knows certain people and he was able to talk to them, that was able to because certain people wouldn't even listen and he had to have
certain conversations with other people to come. You know what I'm saying, Like, so cash, credit or connections, you always want them connections and he has those.
Y'all got a step show two right? Greek Fraternity?
Yeah, so it's the first ever b c C Step show. So this is the first ever interconference step show. So you know, you often have step shows and it's like just bring the best Greek teams, but these are going to be participating Greek teams and or step show teams from the different conferences be competing for the b c C Championship. So everything is not only built around competition, but including.
All four of our conferences.
Like so for example, when you you go to let's say you go to the Hampton right or you go to Morgan State, you don't necessarily interact with people from Grambling or from Miles College. Uh if you if you went to Clark Atlanta, you're not necessarily interacting with folks from Delaware State for example, Like.
Nobody that they do, Amni Jackson.
I'm saying, but again, it's all about really bringing these conferences together and having an opportunity for our student athletes, students and an alumni more than anything else, to be able to intertwine with each other is what it's all about. That's how we build culture, and in this era right now, more than any other, we have to make sure we build with each other, which means we got to spend time with each other, We got to do things with
each other. We gotta play against each other, we got to compete against each other, We spend money with each other. And I think that's all going to enhance us as we move forward. We more than enough, you know, I think about how you know on joy Reads last night, everybody gathered around and she ended up having the number one showing her demo twenty five to fifty four, Like, then.
Why were we even doing that? The last five years for her.
Yeah.
Yeah, it's like we're more than enough. You just got to show up. Yeah, and that's what it's about.
Let me ask you, so a lot of these conferences in these money is the biggest thing. Yeah, has sponsors came in or with sponsors a difficult thing? Oh no, it's been difficult. Made The biggest sponsor that came in and supported you right away that that you could sell.
The biggest sponsor's been Black Voters Matter, which really yeah, yeah, ironically shout out to my man Cliff and Tasha.
About only sold the companies that sponsored everything else and these these liquor companies that sponsor these companies. I mean, he's closes the companies because I see them sponsor everything else, right.
And they have been very slow quiet to come and to sponsor this. Just being completely honest with you, that doesn't mean it's not going to happen. Obviously, with three weeks out, it's gonna happen. It's gonna be a first class event. But to be.
Yeah, no, not for real, like we haven't.
But we haven't had we haven't had a lot of the support that you will see with traditional entities.
We're not the acc we're not the SEC.
Tournament budget absolutely correct, which is even more so while we're saying we need folks to come out to the games, because this is really, i mean pretty much half the tournament I've been paying for out of pocket. Uh like we and this is a I'm not gonna say the amount because I'll be in court, but but.
But this is this is a this is.
A very heavy endeavor in which we've had to put on and we haven't had the sponsorship support in what you see again from other entities, which is part of why we appreciate y'all for having us up here. I'm sorry, just you.
Yeah, I was about to do you have a really really dope videographer?
Yeah?
Yeah, yeah, man, Because how you got to do it is you got to package it a certain way. You got to make it look like something that somebody want to get. And to nb's point, they are supposed to be honestly like not quiet about giving money, and sponsors supposed to be coming out out the ass cheeks for this. But you gotta like package that it's real nice, like market it and have like the dopest I'm talking about, really really dope videographers do every day like you may,
especially that Step show. That Step show is going excite people.
That sounds like I could do that budget the work then.
But now I see this being really really big and that's how you get the dos and you know, not even just liquor.
But the.
We've had conversations. I'm saying, you know, we would love to follow up.
Because they're doing the rebranded damn. So they need just as much as y'all need.
We got to give.
We got to give. Credible credit is due. We have a really sponsorship on We're partner with Van Wagner. Van Wagner is the group that runs a C double A. They produced a Super Bowl shout out to my man, Julius and Brandon in the back.
They've been they've been really really helpful.
But I would I wouldn't be lying if I didn't say that again, we haven't received the same amount of support as others.
Either clothing, Jersey, whether it's Pulm or night Yeah.
I mean we've literally had conversations with all of these entities.
Well we have sometimes people.
Want to see it done, but I always say, with all these companies me, so we deal with these sponsorships and companies.
It's difficult.
Give me something like, give me a little five stacks just to help me out for the first year, and then when we prove ourselves, then we can go to the table.
But what about TV time? Is this gonna be on TV?
Yeah, So we are proud to announce that we have a television television partner with Rise. It's a new network. They're part of Samsung, so we're the first sports entity on their platform network US and Live golf. So Samsung came in as a partner, Samsung through Rise rather they came in as a partner, So we were really happy about that. And they're produce sent as well as streaming and televis in the entire tournament.
Really really looking forward to that. Everybody with a go cool.
Did you reach out to the networks as well and they kind of just fell back as well.
HBCU go b T.
Yeah, you know what I'm saying. You know, we got We're happy to be with ros and we're.
Really no, no, no, HBC, go Wheelhouse.
You know what I mean?
When I see stuff like that and I work with HBC, you go before and it's it's a black brother that owns that, and I seen them do the football games and they have the budgets, and a lot of people say that that college, you know, especially HBCU games don't do well. But they're only going to do well if we support. And this is the talk support. Yeah, you know, you know Dominican man, shout out. We know you're not Dominican shout out to you.
You go.
I will tell you we had some fruit full conversations for a wide variety of different reasons. We're working through how things can work out in the future, but for this right now again, Rod stepped up. They answered the challenge and they're showing us support. But more than anything else, you know, it's one thing to watch it on television. We need folks to come down to Charlotte and come to the games. And that's why I'm so happy for that.
Brothers like b do you know ess Envy Charlamagne for your support, because that's not only being on your platform.
Brother, I'm not a brother.
I heard what you just.
Brothers like she went to.
What she meant to be that what you mean was a lot.
It's a lot going on, y'all. Wow, just had to have a whole baby to put to the creators.
Exactly.
Yeah, rough out here, it's a tough It's interesting with the sponsors what I would want sponsors to do, And it's the question I'm gonna ask, how does this tournament help address the challenges at HBCUs faith in regards to funding, media, coverage, recruitment, because sponsors need to know if they are connected with y'all, they are helping with that.
Yeah. Literally, this is your one stop shop.
So when we talk about recruitment for HBCUs, our high school education days will be recruitment fairs.
We have two days of that. Specifically, when you look at creating.
An environment to show off the best of the best of HBCU culture from the sports environment, the games will be high quality, first class events. The high excuse me, the college bands that will be playing and performing also show you a glimpse of the HBCU culture. And then when you look at the alumni support and those who will be attending the games as well as the accilliary events, you're gonna get everything about HBCU culture at this excuse
this specific tournament. When you look at the presidents who will be attending the sustainability summit, the empowerment lunching, when you're gonna have literally five hundred players and stakeholders all in one room. There's no better place for you to be able to have a captive audience to show off whatever it is that you're selling and or supporting than
this event. But we understand it's the first year. But when we look at at some of these other conglomerates that have been built, they had support from the beginning. And what I'm saying is support us now or support us later. You will support us at support at some point. But our people specifically, we know they gonna have our back. And if anything else, we got platforms like this one that will show us love.
We got people like the folks in this room who will show us love.
And we got us you know some of this like that the tournament is gonna happen. We already got that part scored away. It's transpiring. And I think that's a testament of we don't gotta beg everybody else to do for us.
Now.
You're having more sponsorship money would be a lot easier for me and my children, because it's because you know, we're paying a lot right now. But we can do this ourselves, and we're doing this ourselves. Now later, they just gonna get taxed. We ask everybody to come on board. They didn't, so they're gonna have to pay that fee and pay that tax. But we can do this ourselves, and that's what we're doing. I'm sorry, how much hold eighty three hundred people? Yeah, so eighty three hundred people
in the boat, Jingles. We're anticipating around one hundred and fifty thousand people to come to Charlotte over that weekend. You know, a multitude of different events. We're not gonna say the thing that Envy's gonna be doing.
Uh you you actually told me I.
Work, But I mean we got We have a ton of events that will be taking place, from day parties to night parties to again philanthropic events. There's gonna be a lot of people who transcend in the city. We just need those folks to come to the game. The city of Charlotte has been great supporters and they've been great partner. Shout out to Mayor Lyles, a council in Smudgie Mitchell or James Smudgie Mitchell, the one hundred Black Men of Greater Charlotte. They've been great partners. A multitude
of different people. So this is gonna be a first class event. Like I think sometimes when people associate things with black and and us doing it ourselves, they think second class, and that's due to white supremacy. But we're showing folks that we will put together again a first class event that is put together by us, that is for us, and it's gonna be for the benefit of our people.
Why the bo Jangles Collegeum, I mean, y'all couldn't find no place.
Charlotte Spectrum is super super huge kind of seats is nice enough, Yes.
Welcome and to be real.
The BeO Jingles, you know, the city of Charlotte, the Charlotte Regional Visits Authority, they owned the BeO Jingles Coliseum and they've been very gracious hosts. Like Yo tell Us agreed, Yeah, bo Jingles has been dope. I mean, there's there's been a lot of events that have been taking place there. They have a first class professional team and they've been
really good partners. And if those of you who went to see All double A thought that you had a good time, when you come to Charlotte and see what we put together, you're going to see something very similar, if not even better. And I'm telling y'all come now, because in two three years, when you see this thing on the same level of as some of the other major sports conferences and entities, you're going to be able to say that you were a part of something from
the very beginning. So the biggest thing is we need these games to be sold out. Yea, we need busting the seats. Man that the BeO Jingles Coliseum hosts eighty three hundred people. All the floor seats have been bought out, so you know, of course, you know our folks they like yo, we want to sell in the floor. The tickets are very affordable. Tickets are forty dollars per session. We have two games on Thursday at twelve and two, then you have evening games at six and eight. That's
the same model for Thursday and Friday. So we start off with the MEACT versus Swack teams and the CIBA versus sei C on Friday, then the MEACT versus Swack Championship games on Saturday, and then the ciuble AA versus si C Championship games on Sunday. And it's men and women in sixteen teams. Yeah, so we don't leave our sisters out. You know, Jess, we don't leave the sisters out.
Yeah, I'm with you.
I'm with you.
We don't leave the sisters out because it's support for our ladies to have the opportunity to showcase their talents as well.
And we're hoping we're gonna have a few more surprises.
Where to go to get ticket You can go to ticketmaster dot com, or we prefer you go directly to our website www dot Black College Championship dot org. You can put it in any search engine, look us up on Instagram. You'll see all You'll see the history of this coming together. You'll be able to follow the journey and man, we just need your support.
You know.
Again, there's a lot of folks talking about how what we need to do for each other. There's a lot of discussion about, you know, what may be going on in other areas or entities in the world, or specifically in our country. But if you want the opportunity to be able to support your own it's with this. Even if you can't make it, you can buy a ticket.
Buy a ticket. We're gonna have, like we said, we have high school education that we can give a ticket to a kid like we have people who we can who we can put the butts in the seats for, but we need your support.
They can't, they cannot, they can't doubt your execution.
So like executed.
I'm not a person who like going begging for no sponsorship, doing none of that.
I understand. But y'all can do this ship. Y'all can do it.
And and after it's executed this year, everybody gonna be on y'all dicks, you know what I mean, just trying to give Oh, this is great, this is great, but that like you said, your text is and this ship won't be It's gonna be big.
Yeah, you're still having some difficulty transitioning to radio and not cursing a lot of stuff.
Work. I don't even come to work.
You went to the d su Brandon with the D That's what Lauren was trying.
She was she just.
Found that out.
Laura.
Wait, I don't know.
It's nothing that I don't know.
The su w.
W W dot Black College Invitational Championship dot org or again, you could just put in b C, I C and any of your search engines.
You'll see us come up the write ups all the information. You know.
Again, make sure y'all come down to Charlotte. The weather is gonna be nice, it's gonna be a first class event. B Do is gonna be on the mic, No Livan, Larry. We got a couple of other special guests man that that will be there in attendance too. You know a few friends of mine who will be in the city during that time, So you don't want to miss it.
It's gonna be a good time if you.
If this is not a success, can't blame the white man on this one. This is on us. That it's on us, It's one hundred percent on us. But we know it's gonna be a success. Like you always talk about the intentionality with our words and the positivity that we're putting in the atmosphere.
It's gonna give us. It's gonna yield the results that.
We're looking for and we don't need any charity Like this is gonna be a first class event with first class basketball. And it's the same weekend as the March Madness. So what we tell people also, you can't make it down to Charlotte, Yo. You can download the app, the Samsung Television app. You can put it on. You'll be able to put it on your phone. You can watch it on your television the same way. Y'all can't wait
to watch March Madness. This is HBCU March Madness. That's for our school, So come out and support or watching tune in. It's gonna be a success because I'm hearing casual people talking about the same thing.
I told him, y'all, like, that's more like we I was asking about ticket sales and whatnot, and I was just like, the ticket sales isn't as important as the conversation about him. When you got folks just organically talking about Yo, I heard about this event.
Da da da da.
That right there was way higher than just what you see y'all ticket sales right now. So I'm enjoying that too for show.
All right, well, doctor west Bellamy and beat out, y'all. I'll see y'all down there as the Breakfast Club. Good morning, Wake that ass up in the morning.
The Breakfast Club