Prairie View A&M head coach Bubba McDowell hosted a megacamp on his campus, but he extended an invite to Deion Sanders. The former Jackson State head coach and new head man at Colorado visited the SWAC school, and McDowell said he saw nothing but benefits.
“We’ve been going against each other,” said McDowell, entering his second season as PVAMU’s head coach. “We’re both Florida boys, he at Florida State, I’m at Miami we’ve had some great battles over the years. So it’s always great to see a Hall of Famer to continue to support HBCUs and camps in general. When he’s out here, he brings the kids out – now these kids can be able to be seen by multiple colleges.”
That is McDowell’s biggest focus – making sure that the prospects get a chance to shine in front of as many college coaches as possible.
“A lot of these kids don’t get a chance to go to multiple camps, so it’s always good to go to one big megacamp and then have 30-45 schools in here so they can see these guys selectively at one time,” McDowell said.
Coaches representing other HBCUs showed up as well, including Norfolk State head coach Dawson Odums and Florida A&M head coach Willie Simmons. Eddie Robinson Jr. of Alabama State, T.C. Taylor who succeeded Deion Sanders at Jackson State, Grambling State head coach Hue Jackson, Clarence McKinney of Texas Southern, Tennessee State’s Eddie George and Fred McNair of Alcorn State were also in attendance.
And McDowell was there as a gracious host as well as a coach looking to get a leg up on talent.
“We just want these kids to get looked at by anybody. Everybody can’t grab all of them,” McDowell said. “You’re going to have some good ones, some mediocre ones but we can’t grab them all. But those that are left over and you feel they can fit your program, you take them and develop them when they get there.”