Charles Barkley has made giving to HBCUs a habit and he’s adding two HBCUs to the list – Jackson State and Bethune-Cookman.
The Basketball Hall of Famer and current TNT basketball analysis is donating $1 million dollars to each of the HBCUs, according to AL.com.
These two gifts are just the latest in a series of philanthropic endeavors by Barkley involving HBCUs. He has previously given to Alabama A&M University, Clark Atlanta University, Morehouse College, Miles College, Tuskegee University and Spelman College. Now Jackson State and Bethune-Cookman have been added to the list.
Bethune-Cookman University Director of Athletics is Reggie Theus, who played against Barkley in the NBA during the 80s and 90s, and proceeded him as an analyst for Turner.
“I’m just so incredibly humbled by what he’s done. It’s just a big thing. He’s my NBA brother. It’s a small fraternity,” Theus said. “I was actually surprised. I didn’t know this was coming.”
Bethune-Cookman hasn’t figured out how its gift will be used, but Theus is thankful for Barkley’s generosity.
“We’ll figure those things out,” Theus told the Daytona Beach News-Journal. “These kids deserve it. … This is just going to help us move in the direction of building a championship culture, which extends beyond athletics to academics. It’s on and off the floor or the field.”
“They know what I’m up against. I’m doing a job that hasn’t been done, being AD and head basketball coach, and taking over a situation that needs a lot of help, but I feel really blessed to have that opportunity to build something.”
Often a lightning rod for controversy, Barkley has been wildly successful in his second career, recently signing an extension worth upwards of $200 million over the next decade.
“I’m just so lucky and blessed beyond anything I can imagine,” Charles Barkley told AL.com. “All this [expletive] money is crazy. I’m gonna use the rest of my life to bless as many people as I possibly can.”