In NAIA national championship, Langston University men’s basketball has chance at history

My motivational speech centered on enjoying every precious day as a college basketball player with your brothers, knowing that with each passing day you’re closer to the end.

Mixed in was talk about being honest with yourself, making the most out of college on and off the court and the potential legacy that can come from winning a first-ever championship for your university.

What probably should have been talked about was how special it would be to make history at an HBCU.

After speaking to the locked-in Langston University men’s basketball program in its locker room that morning, I saw the Oklahoma City Thunder raise their first NBA championship banner about 40 miles away that night on Oct. 21, 2025.

Tonight, Langston has an opportunity to bring another championship to Oklahoma as the Lions play in the NAIA National Championship game in Kansas City, Missouri, against Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.). The Lions earned this opportunity by defeating Ave Maria (Fla.) 72-69 in overtime on Monday night.

Langston’s players can make history that hasn’t been achieved by an NAIA HBCU (historically Black colleges and universities) men’s basketball program in their lifetimes. The last HBCU to win the NAIA men’s basketball national championship was Texas Southern University in 1977. The last HBCU to win an NCAA-sanctioned men’s basketball title was Division II Virginia Union University in 2005.

“Winning a title for Langston in my last college game would mean everything, it’s bigger than me,” Langston senior forward Cameron McCoy said. “It’s about leaving a legacy, honoring everyone who built this program, and showing that all the hard work, sacrifice, and belief paid off. It would be the perfect way to give back to a place that gave me so much.”

For Langston head coach Chris Wright, he and his Lions are hoping the third time is a charm in the NAIA National Championship game. Under Wright, Langston suffered a heartbreaking 71-67 loss to Freed-Hardeman in the 2024 NAIA National Championship game as they lost a six-point lead with under a minute remaining. Also under Wright, Talladega College’s men’s basketball team lost the 2022 NAIA National Championship to Loyola (La.) 71-56 on March 22, 2022.

It’s been remarkable what Wright has done for the Lions since arriving in 2023, inheriting a program with a 1-27 record the previous season. In his first season, the Lions finished with a 31-3 record and advanced to the NAIA Sweet 16 during the 2023-24 season. The 2023-24 Lions posted a 35-2 record, capped by a trip to the NAIA National Championship game. Langston finished the 2024-25 season 26-8 and advanced to the NAIA Sweet 16.

This season, the 2024 NAIA National Coach of the Year has his Lions back in the title game.

“It would mean a lot to so many people,” Wright told Andscape on Monday. “HBCUs face obstacles that most people in college basketball can’t fathom.

“We realize that we are playing for so many people across the country tomorrow. We hope that the third time will be a charm. Freed Hardeman has won 31 consecutive games for a reason. We will have to play really well to have a chance to win this.”

I had the honor of giving the commencement speech and receiving an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Langston University during the school’s 123rd commencement on May 6, 2023. Thank you to then-president Dr. Kent Smith, who hired Wright, and current the president, Dr. Ruth Ray Jackson, for that honor.

It was at that time that I was able to build a rapport with Wright and his program. Wright is a Langston treasure, known for his tough love, discipline and defense-first mentality, while also getting the best from his players on the court and in the classroom.

During a breakfast we shared in Oklahoma City during the 2025 NBA Finals, Wright surprised me with a beautiful 2023 NAIA National Championship game ring. It has company in my awards display, sitting next to my 2023 Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame honor.

Langston University was founded on March 12, 1897 as the Colored Agricultural and Normal University. It is the only HBCU in Oklahoma and was established as a public land-grant institution. On this night, HBCUs all over the country will be rooting for the Lions to earn their first basketball crown and bring a long-awaited title to Black colleges 20-plus years in the making.

You have a chance to make the history we talked about at the beginning of this season. It’s legacy time. Go Lions!

And coach, you know my ring size.

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