VUU’s Butler, Osborne heading to Houston
Fred Jeter | 3/23/2023, 6 p.m.
The basketball season isn’t over yet for Virginia Union Coach Jay Butler and senior standout Robert Osborne.
While the Panthers were eliminated from the NCAA playoffs, both Butler and Osborne are booking flights for Houston and the HBCU All-Star Game.
In conjunction with the NCAA Division I Final Four, the game is set for April 2 at Texas Southern University, and will be televised on CBS at 4 p.m. EST.
Coach Butler, the CIAA Coach of Year, has also been named NCAA Division II Coach of Year by HBCU Gameday.
Coach Butler will co-Coach Team Willis Reed along with Grambling coach Donte Jackson. Osborne, the CIAA Player of Year, will play for Team Willis Reed.
Team Dick Barnett will include Joe Bryant and Kris Bankston from Norfolk State and Marquis Godwin from Hampton.
Bryant was named Division I Player of the Year by Gameday. The Player of THE Year award is named after former Southern University star Bob Love.
Another familiar face for Team Barnett will be 7-footer Brendan Medley-Bacon, a former VCU player who finished his career at North Carolina Central. Medley-Bacon averaged 12 points and six rebounds this past season for NCCU and had 58 blocked shots.
Team Barnett is named after the former Tennessee State star; Team Willis Reed is named after the former Grambling star. Both went on to NBA fame.
