The tunnel formed near the baseline, and the children ran through it one at a time with their hands up, high-fiving the hands of Howard University student-athletes. Several Club kids got to the end, turned around, and went straight back through the tunnel to join the excitement again.

The Howard University women’s basketball team spent a Saturday morning at Richard England Clubhouse 14, running a basketball clinic with community kids and Club members. Coaches and players worked the floor together: ball handling at center court, shooting in groups with a call-and-response that got loud enough to fill the gym. “H-U, You Know!”

The part that is easy to miss

Zoe Stewart, a senior sociology major on the Howard roster, put her finger on something the drills did not show.

“Younger kids see faces on screens and advertisements, and they think they’re so far away from them. At the end of the day, we grew up just like them, watching the same type of people TV. So to be able to come out here and fellowship, it kind of makes you human with them, and it lets them know you can do the same things, you too can be in the same places.” Stewart plays guard for the Lady Bison.

Nobody in the gym was promised a scholarship or WNBA or NBA stardom, but they were given proximity. The kids were provided with a person that a child had only seen on a tv or computer screen; a person that was now someone who had just shown them how to hold their hands on a jump shot, and who laughed with them when the ball went in.

What the coach said

Brian Davis, associate head coach of Howard University women’s basketball, described the morning.

“For these young students to see us, to see these young ladies out here performing, doing well, being champions in the community and on the court, it’s very important for everyone to see so they can see their own possibilities.” Coach Davis said. “We had tremendous support from the kids. The kids were great, the energy was great!” He concluded.