History and legacy will be on full display as three legendary Black sportswriters will be honored on April 12 in the inaugural class of the Black Sportswriters Hall of Fame at North Carolina A&T.
The inaugural Black Sportswriters Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place in Deese Ballroom on Saturday at 6 p.m. and tickets can be purchased online. Rob Parker, the first Black sports columnist at the Detroit Free Press, developed the idea after conducting a baseball masterclass at North Carolina A&T in the spring of 2023.
“We have so many great current and former Black sportswriters, and I’ve been in a business for 39 years and know a lot of them, work with a lot of them, and we weren’t getting our recognition for what we bring to the business,” Parker said. “I wanted to make sure that everyone is appreciated and the people who are excellent get recognized.”
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William C. Rhoden, sports columnist for ESPN’s Andscape and former New York Times columnist; Michael Wilbon, co-host of ESPN’s Pardon the Interruption and former Washington Post columnist; and Claire Smith, the first female to cover Major League Baseball for the Hartford Courant, will be the three inductees recognized Saturday.
Thirty-two voters were allowed to nominate anyone, and each recipient needed at least 75% of the vote to win.
“If you would’ve told me before the voting started, I could pick the three – the first three people who should go in – all three of them [would have] made it because Bill Rhoden, Claire Smith, and Mike Wilbon are three of the best who’ve ever done it, so it’s awesome that they’re getting in as the first inducted class,” Parker said.
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The event will take place at North Carolina A&T because Parker was moved by students and their fascination with the sports journalism industry.
“The reason I picked North Carolina A&T was, a couple of years ago, I did a baseball masterclass and I was so impressed by the students and their questions and their concentration on the masterclass and the journalism program as a whole,” Parker said. “I thought it would be a great place to showcase the journalism excellence at North Carolina A&T.”
Rhoden revealed his enthusiasm for the award.
“I’m honored to be included in the company of those as great as Claire Smith – who I’ve known for years – and Michael Wilbon – who I’ve known for years – and the fact that this is an inaugural effort by a sportswriter, Rob Parker, who I’ve known for years. It’s just a great and special honor,” Rhoden said.
Rhoden is the only recipient with a historically Black college and university (HBCU) background.
“It means that Morgan [State] was great for me,” Rhoden said. “It was empowering for me and the place where I was meant to go. We all take different paths to achieve our goals, but Morgan was the perfect place for me and my temperament and I met the person who launched my journalism career.”
When Parker sent the notice and ballot for the Black Sportswriters Hall of Fame, Smith felt humbled when she realized that so many of her peers, mentors, and heroes included her in the conversation of the best of the sports journalism business.
“When he informed me of the outcome of the vote, that was really what knocked me back because, as I said, there were countless people on the ballot itself and even more people that I’ve met throughout my 47 years of doing this, that I consider Hall of Famers,” Smith said. “And to be voted for that honor by my peers – I think my peers are the Hall of Famers, and they voted me to be in the inaugural class – blew me away.”
For Rhoden, mentors like Sam Lacy, the sports editor of the Afro-American newspaper, and even Smith have impacted his career and helped shape him into the sportswriter that he is today.
“There are a lot of unsung heroes like Sam Lacy, who a lot of people will never know but really have an impact on you,” Rhoden said. “There are so many people along the way. It’s very important to have people in your corner who let you know you are on the right track.”
Smith acknowledged Lacy and Larry Whiteside, a renowned baseball writer who helped her excel in her career.
“Larry was always there for me when I first met him,” Smith said. “Larry, or as we called him ‘Sides,’ was just someone that I could watch and watch him work at his craft and turn out absolute art when it came to writing and then always have time to talk to the next generation.”
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The “Original Six” of pioneer sportswriters and editors – including Lacy, Whiteside, Wendell Smith, Bryan Burwell, Thom Greer and Ralph Wiley – will be honored posthumously at the Hall of Fame.
“We want them to be honored as a group, and we want the first six that we put in to go in together,” Parker said. “We want to make sure we remember the past, but we also want to celebrate the people while they’re alive while they can touch the students at the school, so that’s the main purpose of this.”
Said Smith: “To be mentioned in the same sentence as Sam Lacy and Wendell Smith is incredible. I remember as a child seeing the paper delivered to my grandparents’ home in Catonsville, Maryland, and that’s when I came to the realization that there were two different kinds of newspapers in cities like Baltimore: the historically Black newspapers and then the majority of traditional newspapers.
“So fast forward to 2025 and you see their names already in the Hall of Fame and to know that in just a few days, Bill and Mike and myself, our names will be mentioned alongside theirs – it’s just … humbling.”
Parker hopes to expand the Hall of Fame to include the ceremony, special events and masterclasses for students to connect them to mentors.
“I hope that there will be some [events] that will spawn from it … more stuff for students who will be able to learn from some of the best,” Parker said. “Connecting students to mentors is a goal of the Black Sportswriters Hall of Fame.”