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Andscape at the Olympics is an ongoing series exploring Black athletes and culture around the 2024 Paris Games.

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PARIS – For half an hour in a packed auditorium Thursday, Team USA men’s basketball players Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant answered questions about the Olympic experience. They talked about the opening ceremony on the Seine, excursions into the Olympic Village, the competition Team USA is expected to run through.

Finally, I decided to ask Curry a question that I knew was near and dear to his heart – and to his body politic. I asked about his friendship with Vice President Kamala Harris.

Harris was thrust into the political center stage Sunday when President Joe Biden made the stunning announcement that he was withdrawing from the presidential race. Shortly after, Biden said he supported Harris as his successor.

The vice president was born in Oakland, California, served as attorney general of California and was elected U.S. senator. First and foremost, Harris is a lifelong Golden State Warriors fan.

On Thursday, Curry said he planned to return the support.

“It’s a big, big, deal to say the least,” Curry said. “She represents the Bay Area. She’s been a big supporter of us and so want to get that energy right back to her.”

Curry said that he was just excited, “knowing obviously we’re representing our country here and this is a very monumental next couple of months for our country and the direction that we’re headed. So just excited for the journey ahead for her.”

What I find promising about Curry’s unflinching support is that his words — or perhaps the presidential campaign — will reactivate a pro athlete community that largely and lately has been dormant.

With no life-and-death issue to react to and with the preoccupation with personal brands breeding caution, many athletes have gone underground. The upcoming presidential election is a potential tsunami that hopefully will activate the community.

Four years ago, that community, especially the NBA and the NFL, became a powerful public force in supporting, if not shaping, protest. WNBA players famously took down a Republican senatorial candidate players found problematic. Protests by NFL players who knelt during the playing of the national anthem became so powerful that then-President Donald Trump scolded team owners, calling them to keep their players in line.

As much as I advocate for political activism and messaging among athletes, this time around there won’t be only basketball and football players bringing politics into the stadium. Some MLB players, by their own field gestures, have already thrown their hats into the ring in support of Trump, though they denied that’s what they are doing.

Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Taylor Walls had to explain the gesture he made Sunday when he appeared to mimic Trump’s reaction to an assassination attempt during a campaign event in Pennsylvania on July 13. After hitting a double in against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium, Walls raised his fist and appeared to mouth “fight, fight, fight,” a clear allusion to Trump’s gesture immediately after being shot on his right ear.

Walls said the gesture was not meant as an endorsement of the former president, but of course it was.

On Sunday, the St. Louis Cardinals celebrated a victory after a home run by outfielder Alec Burleson. Burleson’s home run trot and the Cardinals’ dugout celebration appeared to show Burleson and many of his teammates cupping their ears with one hand while raising their opposite fists in the air. Another Cardinals player, outfielder Lars Nootbaar, also made the gesture as he rounded the bases after hitting a home run an inning later.

Burleson is a DJ and Cardinals designated hitter Matt Carpenter called the celebration an “inside joke,” with Burleson explaining that the cupped hand and arm up was intended to mimic the movements of a DJ.

Right.

On the other hand, it’s all good. I look forward to all pro athletes using their platforms and visibility to support a candidate and promote a cause. This should lead to some very robust clubhouse/locker room discussions.

The upcoming presidential campaign, with Harris likely at the center, will likely be so filled with misogyny and racism, that it will be impossible for anyone to stay on the sideline — including athletes.

“A very interesting time for our country for sure,” Curry said. “The fact that President Biden gave her an endorsement and Vice President Harris is trying to bring her energy to this campaign, and hopefully, she’s on the ticket winning the election.”

Harris visited Team USA training came in Las Vegas recently before the events of earlier this week. Especially in a campaign where the young, the undecided and the disinterested could help decide the election, well-informed athletes like Curry can be valuable assets.

“Hopefully this is a great way to do our part to continue unifying the country,” Curry said Thursday. “Sports brings a lot of people together, and for her in this moment, knowing what’s ahead, it’s just all about positive energy and optimism, knowing how divided our country is right now.”

The NBA season will be gearing up in October. The NFL will be in full force in November. Everyone will be choosing sides. After a period of dormancy, political activism will hopefully reenter the stadium.

On Thursday, USA men’s basketball coach Steve Kerr made his preference clear. “Kamala Harris is a great candidate and I’ll support her,” he said.

I’m looking forward to athletes making a welcome reentry into the political arena.

As the next executive of Florida A&M University, Interim President Timothy Beard will be tasked with managing the backlash over the school’s apparent failure to sufficiently vet a multimillion dollar donation from a dubious donor.

Beard will take office at a time of increasing political pressure on higher education in Florida, and as state officials are scrutinizing programs at the university that they see as underperforming.

Beard previously served as the president of Pasco-Hernando State College north of Tampa and earned a Ph.D. from Florida State University. He also holds a bachelor’s degree from FAMU, where he worked as a professor and administrator, according to the university.

An HBCU that has climbed in the national rankings in recent years, FAMU and its devoted alumni network have long prided the institution on graduating some of the state’s top Black professionals and politicians — and giving first-generation students and those from low-income families a fighting shot at the middle class. But the school has also been troubled by the recent donation debacle and previous allegations of mismanagement.

“In my opinion, Dr. Beard has the academic pedigree, administrative experience, political capital and emotional intelligence to lead in this interim period,” FAMU Board Chair Kristin Harper said.

The board of FAMU voted Tuesday to confirm Beard as interim president, on the condition that he not apply to become the school’s permanent president. Beard is scheduled to take the helm on Aug. 5, pending contract negotiations.

Beard’s position is subject to confirmation by the state’s Board of Governors. A spokesperson did not immediately respond to questions about when the board would meet to vote on Beard’s nomination.

Sitting president Dr. Larry Robinson will stay on the job through Aug. 4, allowing him to preside over a final student commencement on Aug. 2.

At a graduation ceremony in May, Robinson stood on stage in his academic regalia holding a jumbo check for $237 million — which would have been the single largest private donation to an HBCU, if it ever materialized. An outside investigation into the donation is ongoing.

“We really are for the community because we don’t charge to get in our games,” said Rawlings, the founder and commissioner of the AEBL, which kicked off its 12th season on July 6. Through support from sponsors, AEBL games are free to the public and feature small business vendors, food trucks, on-court games, and contests for kids during halftime and timeouts. Besides hosting back-to-school drives, scholarship giveaways, and community givebacks, the league allows fans to meet the players, take pictures and get autographs. “They can’t do that in these other arenas. So when you come to our games, you’re getting all of the aspects of a professional game for free.”

Fans have seen respected local hoopers from surrounding areas and colleges test their skills against a spectrum of NBA players, including recent NBA Finals opponents Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving and Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown. AEBL has also served as a family reunion as former LA Clippers teammates Montrezl Harrell and Williams have teamed up multiple times. Current and former Atlanta Hawks players Trae Young, Paul Millsap and Joe Johnson have played over the years. Johnson has a team that is going for a three-peat championship this summer.

“Playing in leagues like [AEBL] is therapeutic because it takes you back to your childhood, playing the game with passion in the park or rec leagues, and everybody comes out,” said Johnson, head of the Iso Yoga team, which is named after his new yoga studio in Atlanta. Most Atlantans remember Johnson for his six All-Star Game appearances with the Hawks and when he played for the famed Atlanta Celtics AAU team during his junior year of high school in the late 1990s. “[AEBL] is a very nice intimate setting. It may not be like playing in front of 20,000 people, but the 800 or 1,000 people that do show up? Man, it’s so much fun, bro.”

While many have come to know the league for the men’s play with viral moments such as former Boston Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas scoring a league-record 65 points or Harrell shattering the backboard twice, AEBL has also promoted the women’s game. In 2015, the league began hosting a women’s all-star game during the men’s championship weekend and invited some of the city’s top female players. The all-star game became so popular that an Atlanta Entertainment Basketball League Women’s pro-am was planned for 2020. COVID-19 pandemic restrictions delayed the league until 2021. Now entering its fourth year, AEBLW has become an outlet for women to showcase their playing and coaching skills while at home from overseas play, staying sharp during the college offseason or waiting for their next WNBA opportunity.

“Very few women that played in high school go on to play in college and an even smaller percentage of them go on to play professionally,” said Portia Benbow, the Senior Manager of Community Impact for the Atlanta Hawks. Before her current role, she spent three years working with the AEBL to launch the AEBLW league. Benbow said that though there are a handful of women’s leagues in America, the number is even smaller when it comes to pro-ams and ones that attract top talent. “Leagues like [AEBLW] give women a high-level platform to get exposure again in competitive play, to showcase their talent and to stay in shape.”

Notable players who have played in AEBLW include LSU Lady Tigers standout guard Flau’jae Johnson and Chicago Sky assistant coach Tamera “Ty” Young. This year, the league will feature players such as 2024 Georgia High School Player of the Year and McDonald’s All-American Dani Carnegie, who will be playing her first year at Georgia Tech.

“We always understood the importance of women playing the game and making sure that they had the resources and then also putting the eyeballs on them in a way that I don’t even think that the WNBA understood until recently,” said Rawlings. He said AEBL aspires to expand the women’s summer league and create a league similar to the NBA G League for female players looking to enter or return to the WNBA.

“We want to force the opportunity for women to make more money playing,” Rawlings said. He said that women who want to hoop, let alone be compensated, during the summer are always at a disadvantage compared to their male counterparts.

For perspective, the WNBA plays games during the summer and has 12 teams. With so few roster spots, many players find paid opportunities overseas or accept that they won’t be making money playing anywhere. The NBA’s G League has 31 teams, with the possibility of going to one of 30 NBA teams, and players earn a minimum of $40,500 per season. Rawlings hopes to get at close to paying half of the G League’s minimum salary to female players and allow them to stay in America to play. He has aspirations of creating this new platform by next year.

“It’s gonna transform and really transcend the summer aspect of basketball where we create a pipeline where WNBA teams could also recruit and be exposed to talent they may not even see on the collegiate level.”

AEBL has also entered youth basketball. In the past decade, NBA legends such as Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant in 2015 and Lakers forward LeBron James in 2019 have blasted AAU basketball for not teaching fundamentals and focusing on playing more games to make money and justify expensive registration fees. As recently as May, NBA champion and Hall of Famer Alonzo Mourning called the league “tainted” on the All the Smoke podcast.

A 2022 Aspen Institute study reported that rising registration costs and other expenses like shoes, clothes and gear have left many kids out of the growing “pay-to-play” travel team model in youth sports. Many parents reluctantly pay up, hoping to get their kids access to seemingly better resources than their local school or gym rec league can provide. They also see it as an opportunity to be seen by more talent scouts and assume it will create a path to college scholarships and, ultimately, the NBA. So, people with at least a couple of connections and a little know-how create more teams and tournaments to capitalize on those hopes.

“Youth basketball needs to be disrupted,” said Rawlings, who started the Jr. AEBL league in 2020. The league focuses on developing fundamental skills to help kids decide if they want to continue to the next level and have fun while doing so, rather than forcing them. “The actual product of youth basketball is really suffering tremendously because everybody’s focused on the money. Everybody’s focused on their kid becoming a pro or signing an NIL deal and we’re forgetting about making sure that the kids are growing and developing, falling in love with the game.”

The Jr. AEBL league standouts are invited to play for AEBL’s Elite youth teams, which compete exclusively in Adidas’ middle school youth basketball circuits. AEBL created “The 24” High School All-Star Basketball Game for boys and girls and the HBCU Elite 100 Prospect Camp, launched in 2021.

This year, HBCU Elite 100 invites high school and juco players to camps in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, New Orleans, New York, and Charlotte, North Carolina, where they can showcase their skills for HBCU basketball coaches and pro scouts. The top 20 prospects in the camps are divided into two teams and play against each other so coaches can get a deeper look at their games. The concept is similar to the long-running National Basketball Players Association 100 camp and Nike Elite 100 camp that funnel highly-ranked high school players to Division 1 colleges and the NBA. The exception is that the HBCU Elite 100 purposely guides interested players to Black colleges.

“We do know and understand that HBCUs before the last couple of years were not sought out among elite athletes, it was always a backup option,” admits Rawlings, noting that he’s seen players get scholarship offers on the spot at the camp. He said 15 boys and eight girls have signed with HBCU teams through the camp. “We want this to be a driving force to get more kids to go to these schools and to create silos for coaches to find the next wave of talent. Because outside of Greek letter organizations and family lineage, you don’t hear about HBCUs being discussed in the sports world.”

To add icing to the cake, Rawlings helped orchestrate a National HBCU Signing Day event in Atlanta this past June to celebrate recent HBCU signees, even those who did not participate in the camp. The event gave them a taste of what athletes attending larger schools experience, inspiring others to follow them.

“It’s a great experience especially because you feel the family vibes here,” said Ny’mire Little, one of the four athletes featured at the signing event. Little will be playing for Clark Atlanta University this fall.  

“We’re bigger than basketball,” said Rawlings, who, before launching AEBL, split time managing up-and-coming rap artists and sponsorships for the A3C Festival and Conference while also working as a coach with Nike’s Georgia Stars AAU team and in the Atlanta Hawks basketball development department. “When I created the league, it was to also foster opportunities and connections for people in our community to be able to get access and then be able to get opportunity in the sports world.”

The group consisted of Emmanuel Durojaiye of Morgan State University and Marcus Plummer of Grambling State University from Getty Images’ HBCU Photographer Mentorship Program, and MLB intern Jamea “Nadia” Beavers of Spelman College.

Equipped with cameras and training, the creatives documented every moment as 50 athletes from Division I HBCU baseball programs performed on a national stage, aiming to enhance their prospects for the MLB draft.

Emmanuel Durojaiye, Morgan State University

Emmanuel Durojaiye, an engineering major and graduating senior at Morgan State University, became interested in sports photography as an incoming freshman seeking to be active on campus. Since then, he has balanced his engineering studies and sports photography with contributing to the growth of his university’s media department. He helped establish MSU Creatives, an initiative where students intern with Morgan State’s athletics program.

“My creativity thrives in this setting. Upon realizing the minimal sports coverage my university received with only one professional handling all sports photography at the time, Randolph Brent, now the current digital media director at MEAC [Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference], quickly became my mentor,” Durojaiye said. “As he handed me my first camera, a Canon T7, from that moment, I felt compelled to create a larger platform to showcase my peers.”

“This picture shows the athletes running alongside their teammates, coming out of the dugout amidst smoke, lights and music. In this moment, you can hear the players yelling, ‘Yah!’ Being able to capture the camaraderie they had for each other, as well as their love and pride in representing their athletic abilities, felt amazing,” Durojaiye said.

“The band truly embodied the spirit of HBCU culture and history, bringing it to life on such a grand platform. It meant a lot to hear our songs resonating through the crowd, who were ecstatic. Both Texas Southern’s Ocean of Soul and Prairie View A&M’s Marching Storm showcased their schools with pride and passion battling off on the field,” Durojaiye said.

“Captured at the end of the game, this was a moment where players were flipping and dancing in celebration,” Durojaiye said. “I had to crouch low to get these shots, and catching him midair truly shows the level of excitement I feel. You could tell it meant a lot for the players to be there, as this wasn’t just another game for them but a chance to showcase that there is talented athletes at HBCUs.”

Marcus Plummer, Grambling State University

Marcus Plummer, who is pursuing his master’s degree in sports management at Grambling State University, graduated in 2023 with his bachelor’s degree in mass communication. He got involved in sports photography in high school to stay connected to sports after his time as a player.

While at Grambling, he gained experience photographing campus life and homecoming events before moving into university athletics.

“I felt this year’s classic was a great representation for Grambling, with five athletes participating. After having a phenomenal year and becoming the SWAC [Southwestern Athletic Conference] champs in baseball, seeing Tiger Borom walk away with the Swingman Classic MVP trophy at the end was truly amazing,” Plummer said. “Just being alongside these athletes from my school felt great, and I’m proud to represent our athletic department in this creative space as a photographer.”

“In the front is Tiger Borom, with what I believe is his family in the background, posing with a thumbs-up after winning MVP,” Plummer said. “I also love this picture because it shows his support and just the crowd and the youth in the stands who came to watch the players.”

“Ty Jackson has such a great personality that you can see when photographing him. He hit a double and started celebrating as soon as he made it to second base,” Plummer said. “Moments like this in baseball are cherished because they showcase the personality of the game, and the fans loved it. His energy throughout the game was truly something special.”

“[Jose] Vargas pointing to his country’s flag beneath his hat shows the deep love he holds for his roots. I’m glad to capture this on such a stage where he represents not only himself but also his culture, community, Grambling and the name on the back of his jersey. It carries immense meaning,” Plummer said. “Seeing and capturing moments like this is my favorite because they’re often easily overlooked.”

Jamea ‘Nadia’ Beavers, Spelman College

When Jamea “Nadia” Beavers took Advanced Placement art classes in high school, an introductory photography course sparked her interest. Upon starting college, she studied arts with a focus in photography. To gain more exposure and experience in sports photography, she started photographing events at Spelman and nearby universities, which led to a summer internship with MLB, where she was invited to shoot the HBCU Swingman Classic.

“As a growing photographer, I really liked having the opportunity to capture images of individuals who look like me, particularly in environments where diversity among Black and brown people is not as prevalent. This experience was incredibly positive as it allowed me to connect with many individuals, including players, fellow photographers, media professionals and even fans,”  Beavers said. 

She said being the first student photographer from Spelman to shoot the game meant a lot to her.

“Representing my HBCU at Swingman Classic and through this internship with MLB and connecting with Getty mentors was amazing,” Beavers said.

“Before the game, the players stood for both the national anthem and the African American national anthem, ‘Lift Every Voice and Sing,’ led by gospel artist Kirk Franklin. It was a great moment to see players look toward the flag with honor,” Beavers said.

“I took a lot of pictures from the ground using a millimeter lens,” Beavers said. “Taking action shots like this was new for me. Quickly I was able to adapt, even with the intense energy between the teams. I could see my pictures getting better as the game went on as it was my first time using this lens.”

“At the end of the game there was a large crowd of people, and I had to get through other photographers from various outlets to capture this photo,” Beavers said. “Seeing this through my lens was amazing. I could clearly see the joy on everyone’s faces, and it felt incredible.”

The HBCU student photographers also participated in the MLB All-Star Futures Game on July 13. More of their work can be found on gettyimages.com and @MLBDevelops on Instagram.

In its inaugural year of competition, Talladega became the first HBCU program to win an NCAA-sanctioned meet, and freshman gymnast Kyrstin Johnson won the USA Gymnastics national championship in the vault.

Johnson and fellow Talladega freshmen gymnasts Alexa Chuy and Kiora Peart-Williams, who described the program’s end as “absolutely gutting,” and Derrin Moore, founder of Brown Girls Do Gymnastics, sat down with Andscape reporters Mia Berry and Ari Chambers. They discuss their fundraising efforts to try to save the program, their initial response to learning their program will be shut down and why Talladega has been special for them.

“I never thought about scouting. I never thought about working in player development. Like, I had my mind on wanting to play,” Rembert told Andscape. “It was a tough transition because I felt like my dreams were, like, crushed. … I’m still in professional baseball, just on a different side.”

Like Rembert, other former baseball and softball players from historically Black colleges and universities are finding a home in MLB front offices and hoping to open additional pathways for HBCU graduates to enter leadership positions with the league. 

“I feel like that my grind started when I first started working for the Pirates,” Rembert said. “Just like, new guy, 23 years old, just starting out, just trying to make a name for myself and, like, move up the ranks, and it was just a lot of work.”

After starting as an operations assistant with the Pirates at the end of his 18-month fellowship, Rembert earned a full-time role as a scout. His daily workload includes doing a full breakdown of collegiate and high school players his team could potentially draft, and during baseball season, Rembert spends much of his time on the road talking to players.

“Different people get different starts. The main route for a lot of scouts is, like, they played professional baseball and maybe they coached at a high level and wanted to go into the scouting space. … It’s all about who you know, at the end of the day,” Rembert said. “It’s about relationships, [and] the MLB is, like, it’s such a relationship-driven business.”

Everything Rembert learned as a former collegiate baseball player in the Southwestern Athletic Conference have helped him transition from athlete to scout.

“Since I was a kid, like, I’ve always been evaluating players at the back of my head. … Now I get paid to do it,” Rembert said. “So, like, even when I was playing at Alcorn, I was always evaluating players because I was always trying to find a competitive advantage. I was always evaluating players to see what they did well [and] what they didn’t do well so I could beat them.”

A diversity program with the Atlanta Braves helped Tyrone Brooks, the senior director of MLB’s Front Office and Field Staff Diversity Pipeline Program, enter the league in 1996.

When the MLB started the Front Office and Field Staff program in 2016, Brooks knew he wanted to help others break into baseball.

“We’re making inroads as far as helping to get people into the industry, especially persons of color, and looking at what opportunities are out there,” Brooks said. “We just noticed there wasn’t enough completely out there, and that’s where part of my role is helping to be a conduit working closely with the 30 major league clubs and helping them in identifying talent.”

Brooks said he recommends candidates when teams have jobs available, and offers help in other ways.

“Also a big part is providing that support for individuals as they’re looking to make their way into the game and help them to hopefully live their dream and do something that they’re going to want to do and love for the next 25 to 30-plus years,” he said.

Over the last few years, many participants in the three classes of MLB diversity fellows have landed permanent jobs after completing their fellowships, he said.

“There’s all different ways for individuals to make their way in, and from the fellowship standpoint that has been probably our most successful way for folks to get fully entrenched within the front office,” Brooks said. “We’ve had over a 90% success rate of individuals coming into the program and getting hired in full-time roles beyond the fellowship.”

Like Rembert, former Grambling State University infielder Jalen Heath also benefited from the program. Heath, who graduated from Grambling State in 2019 with a bachelor’s degree, worked in accounting before returning to the sport he loved.

In college, he would follow draft trends and the transaction pages of his favorite MLB teams, but he didn’t know opportunities in baseball front offices existed until he met Brooks. 

“I was set on just working, getting a job and having a career in accounting,” Heath said. “I just wouldn’t be getting the same fulfillment out of it that I wanted from my career and my work. I missed baseball. It was a big part of me that was just kind of gone, so I kind of wanted to get back into it, be around it and make an impact that way.”

Heath is an operations assistant with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He spent the first year of his 18-month internship working in player development with the organization’s minor league team. Now he assists with monitoring MLB rules and transactions.

“You want to be a sponge about everything,” Heath said. “It’s one of the things where you have to be humble [because] it’s hard to know everything coming in … and so I think I’ve been blessed to have a pretty good support system around me with the Pirates and people in our organization who [I] can lean on and ask questions, ask for guidance and kind of help me train myself to be a better baseball professional.”

Although Heath is still in the internship, he also works with Brooks and participates in Zoom calls and panels to encourage former HBCU students and student-athletes to pursue a career in pro baseball.

“The ones that are interested, I try to reach out to them and answer any questions they may have or give them some advice. I try to tell them it’s a busy schedule for baseball,” Heath said. “I definitely just want to be available and be around to give back and do my part of supporting and fostering a culture of HBCU athletes breaking into the game of baseball and at the professional level, whether it be on the field or off the field.”

Former University of Arkansas Pine-Bluff infielder Braelin Hence comes from a strong baseball background. His father, Marvin Hence, played baseball, and his brother, pitcher Tink Hence, plays for the Springfield Cardinals, a Double-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals.

“[My dad] played the game for a long time. I feel like you learn what you learn because of the people around you. So, my dad being such an advocate of baseball, I won’t say I didn’t have a choice, but even if given a choice, I still would have picked up baseball,” Hence said. “It’s been my first love. … It’s been something that has given me a lot of fulfillment in life. It’s kicked me down at times, but at the same time it’s picking me right back up.”

After a hip injury forced Braelin Hence to retire from the sport, he unofficially became an assistant coach at UAPB, and helping his former teammates inspired him to pursue a different career in baseball.

“I always had dreams of playing baseball. But, you know, certain things happen in life where it opens your eyes to new things and new possibilities,” Hence said. “So once the door was open, it was something that I knew I had to walk through. It was something I knew I wanted to work through. So it just became first nature to me, like, seeing another guy chase his dreams, and being able to help that and assist with that has been one of the most fulfilling things ever.”

At 24, Hence has a summer internship with the Los Angeles Dodgers organization. He loves working with players who are the same age as him and those who are younger.

He collaborates with coaches and players daily to determine ways to enhance their progress. He helps with scheduling practices, works with players on drills, equips batting practices and learns more about the technology side of the game.

“Just the ability to learn from working with players every day, all from different ethnic backgrounds, you learn more about the game from players than you’ll probably ever learn on your own,” Hence said.

Hence isn’t the only UAPB alum interning with the MLB this summer.

Alyssa Wesley, a former outfielder for Arkansas-Pine Bluff’s softball team, knew that once she graduated from college, she wanted to work for either the NFL or the MLB. Attending the NFL’s HBCU Careers in Football Forum in December 2022 “opened up my eyes” to how she could have a career in sports, she said.

“I was like, now that I got a sniff of it … this is what I was meant to do,” Wesley said.

At the urging of her friends, Wesley applied to the MLB’s summer internship program. She is currently the MLB’s baseball and softball development intern and works with the league office. As a part of her internship, she worked with the MLB for its first baseball and softball joint event, advises young girls on their college recruitment and how she landed an internship with the league.

“I’ve actually stayed connected with them, even [the] last couple days, just giving them advice on anything that can help them grow their careers, whether it’s on the field or off the field, whether it’s in the office or not,” she said. “So it’s really special to kind of keep giving back to the game because the game gave me so much playing.”

After she graduated from college in 2022, Wesley spent one season with UAPB’s softball program as a graduate assistant coach, which has helped her in her new job.

“It’s kind of funny, like, seeing the difference between inside the white lines and outside of white lines. … Since I played, then I also had coached, to now working in a front office for a major league corporate office, you definitely see the levels to everything,” Wesley said. “Just hearing the ideas on what they can do to not only just grow baseball but also grow softball is really special, too.”

Wesley’s summer internship ends in August, but she knows she wants an MLB career. During her time with the league office, she has built relationships with people in multiple departments.

Ultimately her goal is to get a full-time job in an MLB front office and continue to represent HBCU graduates working with the league.

“I feel even more proud to be a UAPB graduate, especially working at MLB. I want to put that HBCU on the map,” Wesley said. “I think every HBCU should be proud of that. … I think it’s real special to show what we’re doing and showing that people like us can do it. It doesn’t just have to be a dream. This is actually really possible.”

In their final showcase before the 2024 MLB draft, which runs from Sunday through Tuesday, Bufford and Walker will be among 50 Division I HBCU athletes playing in the second annual HBCU Swingman Classic on Friday during MLB All-Star Week in Arlington, Texas.

Walker, second baseman for the Tigers, participated in the inaugural Swingman Classic in 2023.

“It was the ability to play in front of, I want to say, 14,000 fans for the very first time. That was awesome,” Walker told Andscape. “Just being able to meet all the guys, you know, from different HBCUs and hearing their stories and being able to be coached by former big leaguers and Black personnel who’ve made names for themselves in the major leagues … it was awesome.

“This year, I’m expecting the same thing. I’ll be a little bit older and a little bit more mature.”

Third baseman Bufford, who also was on the inaugural roster, is looking forward to showcasing his growth.

“It was fun competing in the Swingman last year. That was another event where I was able to showcase myself in front of scouts,” Bufford told Andscape. “I enjoyed meeting new players and coaches and was able to pick their brains about not only baseball but life. What I am hoping to show scouts this time around is how consistent I [have] been and how much better I got [since] the last time that they seen me.”

Illinois native Bufford, who started playing baseball when he was five years old, was a member of the Jackie Robinson West Little League team that won the U.S. Little League World Series in 2014 before losing the world championship game to South Korea. (The team was later stripped of its U.S. title after it was discovered it had used ineligible players.)

Grambling State baseball coach Davin Pierre remembers watching the predominantly Black Little League team from Chicago. When Pierre saw Bufford at a prospect tournament in Atlanta, the two connected and formed a relationship that brought Bufford from Illinois to Louisiana.

When Bufford arrived at Grambling in 2020, he was 6-feet-3 and 170 pounds. One of his biggest developments as a player was filling out his frame by adding around 25 pounds of muscle.

“It was just the talent, like, man. I knew this young guy was gonna be the king one day. He was one of my favorites, but he worked hard. … He was always on time, always doing the things you need to do, and he was about baseball,” Pierre said. “He worked on his craft to the point where it put him in a good position, and now he has an opportunity to hear his name called in the draft.”

Bufford broke the Grambling State home run record earlier this year. He entered his senior season with 36 career home runs, one run behind Chris Cottonham, who set the record in 2000 with 37. Bufford took the No. 1 spot March 3, hitting his 38th homer during Grambling’s 3-2 victory over Florida A&M University.

“Imagine watching the kid from his freshman year all the way up until his senior year and watching him, you know, just conquer barrier after barrier,” Pierre said. “He’s one of the best players in Grambling State University baseball history to me collegiately.”

On May 25, Bufford hit a three-run homer in the ninth inning of the SWAC semifinals to help the Tigers defeat defending champion Florida A&M 14-11, and in the conference championship game, he scored the winning run. Bufford was named SWAC tournament MVP honor and earned an All-SWAC baseball First Team spot. He finished the season batting .343 with 10 home runs, 57 RBIs and 52 runs scored.

“My first year at Grambling, my hitting and fielding wasn’t as good as it is now, and while being at Grambling I learned a lot about myself as a player and made the proper adjustments that I needed to elevate my game,” he said.

Though Bufford doesn’t know where he will fall in the 20-round MLB draft, he was grateful for the opportunity to display his skills at the MLB combine in June in Phoenix.

“That was really like a dream come true, because not everyone gets the chance to get invited to showcase yourself in front of every major league organization, and I had fun doing so,” he said.

Over the two years Bufford and Walker have played together, they have built a lasting relationship. 

“Just being able to play with Cam for two years, I just know that good or bad, he’s always got my back,” Walker said. 

After graduating from Grambling, the two are still supporting each other during the next phase of their baseball careers.

“We’re both praying for each other. We’re just continuously talking about how we’re going to do it and this is what we’ve been dreaming of,” Walker said. “This is the last step of the goal that we need to accomplish before really starting off in our major league careers.”

Walker, a New Orleans native, started playing baseball at 4 years old and was a multisport athlete, playing football and running track and field before settling on baseball.

His collegiate career began in 2021, just 10 minutes up the road from Grambling State at Louisiana Tech. After redshirting his freshman year due to a non-surgical shoulder injury, he followed in the steps of his Louisiana Tech teammate Shemar Page and transferred to Grambling and became a staple for the Tigers’ offense.

“Being injured in the beginning at Louisiana Tech and then coming into a season where you didn’t play as much as you would like to [before] transferring to a school where you didn’t know anybody and you didn’t know you can fit in was hard,” Walker said. “But I did have a lot of help from Shemar, who made that first jump the year before. So he definitely helped me through the process and just getting to know people, building relationships with my coaches before I even got there.”

In his senior season, Walker established himself as a power hitter in the SWAC, finishing in the top five players in the conference in on-base percentage, hits, runs scored and home runs. 

“He possesses one trait that I think is probably one of the greatest traits that any kid can have … he is a dog,” Pierre said. “He is a competitor. Fierce. When he’s at the plate, he wants to knock the pitcher’s head off. When he’s on defense he wants to have energy and be out there making plays.”

For Walker, his breakout season for the Tigers was the result of getting fully healthy and doing the little things in the offseason. He batted .381 with 11 home runs, 41 RBIs and 71 runs scored.

“Just really staying in the weight room and you know [and] just kind of tweaking out little things in my swing to make it better and better after every game, every practice,” Walker said. “I kind of caught the barrel a little bit more this year.”

Walker’s work ethic and leadership drew praise from his teammate. 

“Playing with Kyle was like playing with my younger brother. … He is one of them ones who really make sure that he is getting better every day at something, and he is not afraid to ask questions either,” Bufford said.

Walker, who played with the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team in June, was the only HBCU player on the International Friendship Series roster for Team USA.

“It kind of brought me out there with a chip on our shoulder,” Walker said. “Seeing guys from all over the place and you know that you’re one of the only few from a smaller school, smaller conference … it was awesome being out there.”

Walker believes he had a good showing at the MLB combine and hopes to showcase more elements of his game at the HBCU Swingman Classic.

“I definitely think I did pretty well. I know there were some elements of [batting practice] that I kind of wish I did a little bit better in showcasing my ability out there,” Walker said. “But I think the physical test, I killed it. I know I had a pretty good 30-yard dash and showed some athleticism with the broad jump and stuff like that.”

Walker has been in contact with former Grambling State coach James Cooper, who is currently the manager of the New York Yankees’ Single-A affiliate Tampa Tarpons and has advised Walker about the draft process.

“[Cooper] said it’s just a lot of waiting around, especially when you’re not sure who’s gonna [pick] you for the draft,” Walker said. “It’s super-important to just be patient and stay prayed up.”

Pierre believes both of his players have earned the opportunity to play pro baseball and have opened doors for future Grambling baseball players in the process.

“These guys deserve an opportunity to go out there and show that they can play with anybody across the country,” Pierre said. “It’s big to see that happen because it don’t happen for a lot of kids at the HBCU level, and it’s a big recruiting tool for us to show kids across the country that, man, if you can play baseball at the next level, you can get those opportunities.

“These guys are setting a path for future kids to show them that magic can happen for you.”

Maya, a Clark Atlanta University alum, started as a recurring character on sister CW show All American before starring in All American: Homecoming, her spinoff show that takes place at Bringston University, a fictional historically Black college in Atlanta. The campus serves as the backdrop for the series while Maya’s character navigates young adulthood as a mother and student-athlete, and Maya’s time as an HBCU student aided her portrayal, she said.

Andscape spoke with the Los Angeles native Friday about the final season of All American: Homecoming, Simone’s love triangle and the impact of a television series set at an HBCU.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

How was it being an HBCU student in real life and then portraying one on the show?

It’s very serendipitous. … In this life that we all live, there’s certain things that we do without any expectations of it actually coming to fruition. So I think me being able to portray an HBCU student from LA, it was just mine. It was always a part of my purpose, and I’m grateful that I had a showrunner like Nkechi Okoro Carroll, who saw that in me and gifted me with the opportunity to portray this role in a way that is reflective of little girls that look like me, that come from backgrounds like mine, and just allows me to honor the fact that these stories really do matter. … This is what I believe is my purpose, which is to tell stories. 

How much of your personality is reflected in Simone?

Where the humanity aspect comes in with acting, in general, is to just bring a bit of yourself to the role no matter what it is. I think the majority of [Simone’s] personality, when it comes to the goofiness and when it comes to the little moments of South Central LA, even though she’s from Beverly Hills. It just wouldn’t be right to not play her in that way. Because, again, don’t get it twisted: Black is Black. So you could be from Beverly Hills, but you have aunts and cousins that are in Crenshaw or so – it doesn’t matter. I just knew that I wanted to bring a little bit of my LA upbringing to the character and really to every character that I play. … I just want to be authentic, so I had to bring my South Central roots to this little Beverly Hills girl.

Season Two ends with a cliffhanger of Simone deciding between two suitors. Does the love triangle get resolved this season?

It definitely does, and I think it gets solved in a way that is more so for Simone than anyone. And I feel like that’s me not saying much at all because there’s so much that happens in the season for her. But I think in regards to love, I think it gets solved for her. That’s the most important part of this puzzle, her and her decision for herself.

What is it like portraying a character in a love triangle?

Simone has had more suitors than I’ve ever had in my lifetime, and I’m not mad at her for it. I think especially [with] the girls, let them live, let them have options. Just in hindsight, at my age and stage in my life, I don’t think you should have put all your eggs in one basket, because you sincerely just don’t know. Whether it’s a man or a job, life is about living and experience, so I always implore women to explore life in all it has to offer.

What can viewers expect to see from Simone this season? 

I would say resilience because I feel like when you’re younger and you’re experiencing so many trials and tribulations of life, we don’t really look at it as if it’s something that’s happening for us but more so to us. … When you’re able to change your perspective … and you are able to, like, look at it from the lens of growth and maturation and evolution and really surrendering to life and all that it has to offer to you, whether good, better and different, I think you just have a different perspective on coming out of the fire. 

I think that Simone definitely will experience a lot that will aid her toward her growth as a person, as a woman, as a mom and as an athlete. There are so many hats that Simone wears. But I think this is a lot about her resilience for herself, and it was really beautiful to play this season. … I know people are so invested in Simone and this love triangle because it’s fun. We want the girls to win, but at the same time, life happens, and when life hits, it does transform you. It does change you. … It was really refreshing to be able to play a more nuanced, grounded version of her this season.

How do you think All American: Homecoming’s portrayal of an HBCU will impact the next generation of students? 

I think the impact will be just more visibility and more of an opportunity to see themselves. One thing I will say is just being in the business as long as I have your purpose for doing it starts to shift. I believe that Homecoming was not an opportunity that was solely for me, my dreams, my purpose and my work. It was really for the generations of children who want to go to a historically Black college or university, who want to learn more about the legacy, who want to act, who want to play tennis, who want to be the main character or who want to tell stories. So I think this opportunity is extremely weighted. But I think the impact is a blessing. … I’m grateful to look at my art, in any and everything that I create, as something that’s just beyond me. I’m happy to serve the generation in that way, so I hope it inspires people to just keep doing what they want to do and going for what they want to go for.

How important was it for the show to portray issues that were happening on HBCU campuses?

As Black people, we have a responsibility that we don’t necessarily ask for, but we have a responsibility to reflect truth, authenticity, resilience, elevation, art, culture and history. … It’s too important because of how we impact other people, not just our people but literally the world. Everywhere in the world is influenced by Black culture. … That’s why it’s major that history is trying to be taken out of schools. It’s, like, you can’t erase history and then sit here and celebrate other cultures and history because, again, it’s all in the fabric of this world, of this country. … We have to give credit where credit is due. And you know Black people, that’s just how we move, that’s just how we work. So, it deserves that amount of visibility, time and education because … we are real people with real impact, and we matter.

This will be the final season of All American: Homecoming. What was your initial response to the show’s cancellation?

I’m really proud of this season and despite our fate being what it is, I mentioned this earlier: It is about quality, not quantity. And I think the quality of work that we’ve done in a matter of three seasons, it has impacted people.

My character being a guest star to recurring [on All American], I didn’t know if they would attach to this version of this world, especially coming off the height that All American still has. It’s still doing an astronomical job at celebrating culture and giving back to these kids and families that really love the show. I didn’t know what Homecoming was actually going to do, and it surpassed what I thought. So I think that how we started and definitely how we finished is rooted in so much more than how long we’ve been on.

Another unique element of the event is that it happens simultaneously in three cities, led by satellite HBCU Alumni Alliance groups in Atlanta, Philadelphia and Washington. Living up to their motto of “Run for you. Run for them. Run for us!” each branch combines the funds from registration fees, donations and sponsorships to fund scholarships for local HBCU students.

HBCU Alumni Alliance CEO Dan Ford, an alum of North Carolina A&T State University, created the event in Atlanta in 2007 after Marck Dorvil, a fellow alliance member, expressed disappointment that he hadn’t seen many Black people participate in the city’s flagship running event, the Peachtree Road Race.

“He came to us asking how we can get more people of color involved in these organized runs,” Ford said, since the assumption then was that Black people don’t run. “And we said, ‘Well, what if we did our own organized run?’ But you gotta think, 17 years ago, asking people of color to get up on a Saturday morning to go out to a park and run, and pay for it, was unheard of. People said it was the dumbest idea they ever heard.”

There have been essays, books, studies, TV series, podcasts and other discussions about how Black people weren’t interested in running. Among the reasons for the lack of interest are a fear of “running while Black,” and thus being exposed to racial harassment and violence, the cost of entering races and the safety and walkability of Black neighborhoods. Those barriers mean Black people don’t see one another running, giving them less motivation to try it. Add this to the belief that running doesn’t hold the same cultural cachet as basketball or football, and the result is many African Americans sitting on the sideline and missing out on many of the reported mental and physical benefits of running.

In creating the run/walk, the HBCU Alliance wanted to change these attitudes, but they almost proved their naysayers right. According to Ford, the inaugural race in 2007 at Grant Park in Southeast Atlanta drew only 250 participants. For many, 250 Black people gathered at the park is a certified function. However, that number looks like a failure considering Atlanta is home to four HBCUs, with extended family via alums and Black Greek-letter organizations. The alliance increased its promotion, and the following years saw incremental improvements as word spread. Local running clubs such as Pretty Girls Run and Black Men Run started bringing their crews, but there were still small numbers of runners.

Not yet able to hire professional race event consultants, volunteer organizers struggled with providing basics such as T-shirts, bibs and even proof of registration. However, people kept paying to sign up, eventually generating enough income to pay professional organizers. Ford and his staff introduced the Alumni Row tailgate experience, where schools set up their own tents, and the ones who raised the most money received preferred placement.

In the early 2010s, Ford added a 10K race to attract more serious runners. These decisions initially paid off as attendance increased to 2,500, forcing the race to switch locations to the larger Piedmont Park in the densely populated Midtown area. The move created higher expenses because there were more streets to cross, resulting in higher costs for permits and police officers. As a result, Ford kept the course in the park, a decision he said was a disaster. One year, he even tried to appease runners who complained about running in the morning heat and held the event at night, which was another mistake. In 2015, seeing the numbers declining, Ford decided to cut the 10K, added vendors to the tailgate and shifted the focus to attracting more walkers. Registration has increased every year since.

“You already know how we bring the smoke when things don’t go right, and people had every right to be upset,” said Ford, noting the only years they saw less participation was in 2020 and 2021, when they switched to a virtual option because of the coronavirus pandemic. “Some of our processes were not great experiences, but they stuck with us.”

“One of my first races that I ever did was the HBCU 5K when I first started running,” said Tes Sobomehin Marshall, a respected Atlanta race director and founder of The Race, the nation’s largest Black-owned and operated half-marathon. She has participated in the HBCU 5K as a runner, volunteer and vendor. “It’s literally like the Black runner homecoming in Atlanta.”

Even as the Atlanta HBCU Alumni Alliance was still figuring things out, a demand grew for similar experiences in cities with a high HBCU graduate presence. The first group to create a franchise race was the DC Metro HBCU Alumni Alliance in 2013. Their race was held on the campus of Howard University and stayed there until 2019, moving to the Black-owned St. James Sports Complex in Springfield, Virginia, after a change in leadership. Hearing the negative feedback about the 14-mile drive, they moved the race back to Washington this year and will start at MLB’s Nationals Park. The Philadelphia HBCU Alumni Alliance was created in 2020, and it hosted its first race virtually in 2021. The group currently holds its race across the Delaware River at Cooper River Park in Pennsauken, New Jersey.

“Doing all of the races on the same day is us working together and amplifying it because we recognize that the bigger the stone you throw into the pond, the bigger ripples you make,” Ford said.

The event also serves as a way to bring together even more alums from surrounding areas.

“We’ve got three different Hampton University alumni chapters in our consortium from Virgina, Maryland and D.C.,” DC Metro HBCU Alumni Association President Tanye Coleman said. “But in our alumni row, we only have one tent for Hampton University so they’re not competing with each other. They’re all getting together.”

One of the race’s primary goals is simply to get more Black people active. However, the Atlanta course is certified by the USA Track & Field governing body, so the race still attracts competitive runners. The times are official and can be used to qualify for other races such as the Peachtree Road Race on July Fourth, and many runners use the Atlanta HBCU 5K to tune up for it. This includes non-Black runners who show up for an easy win to pad their stats.

“They were like, oh, that’s a certified race so I’m gonna come out here and just bring the smoke,” said Ford, who says the event is open to all, including Black people who didn’t attend HBCUs. “There were years when I wondered what’s happening right now. We’re giving out medals and ain’t nobody looking like us. But over a period of time, our gazelles started coming out.”

“There’s competition out there with some very good runners,” said Delaware State University alum Shannon Booker, who leads Atlanta running group Movers & Pacers. Booker moved to Atlanta in 2017 and said running in the race has helped him connect with other HBCU alums and Black people in the city. He’s been a top finisher each year he’s participated and won the race in 2022. “For me, it’s just a good time because, unfortunately in a lot of the races I enter, I don’t see many of us, let alone at the front of the pack.”

“I keep telling people, hey, anyone can participate, not just your alums,” said Philadelphia HBCU Alliance president Gregory T. Wilson. “Everybody’s money is green when it comes to supporting the mission.”

Supporting the mission is also a competition. When people sign up for the race, they can register as a member of one of their local alumni associations. As the totals increase, they can also see which schools are raising the most scholarship money, motivating them to spread the word and get more people registered on their behalf. People who don’t plan on participating physically to “exercise their wallet” and donate separately. HBCU Alliance members also use professional connections to get corporate sponsors to support the cause. The results are that some HBCU students get a few hundred dollars to buy books, others receive larger grants from corporate sponsors, and the alumni associations receive a cut of the money they raised on their own, which can be used at their discretion.

“We’re not taking any proxies,” Ford said. “You have to be here, because we want them to experience like this is your HBCU family. So you can’t send your auntie to come get your check.”

“I’ve used that money to help me buy books and a laptop, which I really needed coming into college because the one I already had was definitely rundown,” said Howard University student Sydney Wynn, who has won the DC Metro Alliance scholarship twice. “People are always looking for big scholarships that will give you complete full rides, but people don’t realize that applying for scholarships like this really adds up.”

HBCU alums donating and registering also helps since historically Black universities have been underfunded for decades. Since 1987, HBCUs have been underfunded by the government by at least $12 billion compared to predominantly white institutions. A 2023 study by research groups Candid and ABFE found that large U.S. foundations decreased their HBCU funding by 30% between 2002 and 2019. However, President Joe Biden announced that his administration has invested $16 billion in HBCUs over the last three years.

“You never know politically what type of funding will be available,” Wilson warned, emphasizing that it’s still up to HBCU alums and alliances like this one to do their part. “You’ve heard horrific stories on how many institutions have been shortchanged by the state from getting their federal allotted dollars. There’s hundreds of millions of dollars that schools were supposed to get, but they didn’t.”

While HBCUs may still be miles behind predominantly white universities in funding, efforts like the HBCU 5K Run/Walk are helping close the gap.

However, after weeks of additional training, booking flights, and making travel arrangements with his family for the cross-country trip, Cole found out he wouldn’t fulfill his lifelong dream and compete for a spot at the 2024 Paris Olympics. According to an email sent to Cole by USA Track & Field statistician Glen McMicken, Cole’s time at the MEAC championships didn’t count because it was not a USATF-sanctioned event.

“I will say I’m numb to it now, like, in the moment,” Cole told Andscape. “Just kind of, like, trying to keep my composure. It just sucks that something I worked, like, my whole life for is just [taken] away from me for something that’s out of my control. A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, it’s just taken away from me.”

When Cole, the two-time MEAC 100-meter dash champion, went to register for the Olympic trials, USA Track & Field rejected his time. According to the sanction application on the organization’s website, “An event may obtain a USATF sanction by filing a completed USATF sanction application with the appropriate USATF Association, paying the requisite local and national sanctioning fees and complying with the requirements of obtaining a sanction.”

The USATF events calendar outlines which track and field events are sanctioned by the organization. The MEAC’s Outdoor Track & Field Championships aren’t listed on the calendar, and neither are the Southwestern Athletic Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships.

The USATF Virginia Association, which has direct knowledge of the USATF sanction applications submitted in the state of Virginia, confirmed to Andscape that the MEAC didn’t complete the application to have its conference outdoor championship in consideration to be USATF-sanctioned meet.

In a statement released Friday, the MEAC said: “The MEAC was recently informed that our multiple appeals submitted last week to have Kai Cole approved to compete at this year’s USATF Olympic Trials were denied by USATF, despite his posting an automatic qualifying time at the MEAC Outdoor Track & Field Championship. Although the MEAC Outdoor Track and Field Championship remains an official NCAA Division I championship event, USATF policy changes implemented this year resulted in the event not being officially sanctioned by USATF, making all competition results ineligible for Olympic Trial qualification. 

“We understand Kai’s frustration and took all available steps to rectify the situation so he could compete in the Olympic Trials — an opportunity he clearly deserves. The MEAC fully supports our member institutions and student-athletes as they pursue their dreams and strive for excellence. We are disappointed by the decision from USATF and are working to ensure our track and field championships are sanctioned USATF events moving forward. No further comments will be made regarding this matter.”

After several efforts to appeal, Cole exhausted his options.

“I was under the impression that I didn’t have to worry about that,” Cole said. “So when I found out it wasn’t sanctioned, it’s just like how could you forget something so important like this for an Olympic year, out of all years. [I’m] just seeking clarity on why it happened.”

Cole and his family have canceled their travel plans. Cole said he is taking some time to figure out his options for pursuing a pro track and field career. Before the USATF decision, he was in talks with agents and sponsors about deals depending on his trial performance. Now he is waiting to see what opportunities are still available to him.

“[This season] was definitely at its height kind of cool. Then it was completely shut down,” Cole said. “Before, I felt like I exceeded my own expectations running college track and field. Everyone knows I ran 10.05. It feels like it was erased because it’s not recognized by anything. It’s like I never did it.”