S.T.A.R. Development Works to Open New Doors of Opportunity for Basketball HBCU Talent

Program provides much-needed FREE support for HBCUs hit by COVID-19

 CHICAGO, IL – Chicago is a mecca of basketball talent. High school ballers have had tremendous success at top colleges and universities, and some have gone on to impressive NBA careers. S.T.A.R. Development wants to connect Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) to the Midwest’s pool of talent, especially in a COVID-19 environment that has affected many of these schools’ ability to travel.

“Our goal is to support the HBCU athletic structure and assist budget restricted small school programs,” said Anthony Welch, founder, and president of Serious Threat Athletic and Recruitment (S.T.A.R.) Development. “Our work focuses on helping to develop college athletic recruitment plans, mentoring athletes and parents, and working as a liaison between college recruiters and student-athletes. Ultimately, we want to help increase our youth’s chances of receiving financial assistance for higher education.”

Welch brings years of basketball experience to his work with HBCUs and small schools. He played under the legendary Coach Lou Henson at the University of Illinois, helping the team win the Big Ten Championship in 1984. He was drafted in 1986 by the Dallas Mavericks, later played in the Continental Basketball Association and overseas. In 2011, he launched a sports marketing business designed to showcase high school athletes. His interest in and support of HBCU basketball deepened when his sons went to HBCU Livingstone College and played on the school’s first ever team to win a CIAA Basketball Championship in 2014.

Most of the more than 100 HBCUs are in the South and are not able to make recruiting trips to Midwest cities like Chicago, Detroit, and Indianapolis. According to Welch, while big name talent is heavily recruited, there is still a wealth of talent with skills that would be tremendous assets to college programs, particularly HBCUs that are getting more media attention with the signing of top talent like five-star high school basketball recruit Makur Maker who chose to attend Howard University.

S.T.A.R. Development provides talented student-athletes that are under the radar and coaches with limited recruiting budgets access to one another through a free recruitment platform of services from athlete scouting reports to recruitment profile development to distribution of player videos to college coaching staffs. The website also has a feature called S.T.A.R. Watch, which highlights talented players. Post pandemic, S.T.A.R. is planning a spring HBCU prospect recruiting event to bring together some of the Midwest’s best high school talent.

The S.T.A.R. Development team’s passion for their work and commitment to supporting HBCUs has been well-received by college coaches. “Serious Threat Athletic and Recruitment Development is great stuff. We are big supporters and value their assistance in recruiting from Chicago,” says Lonnie Blow Jr., Head Coach at the Virginia State University. As HBCU coaches plan for basketball during and after the pandemic, S.T.A.R. Development is dedicated to providing no-cost recruitment support that can assist them in their work to build winning teams.