It didn’t take a lot of discussion and convincing when Prairie View baseball coach Auntwan Riggins first heard about the planned Cactus Jack HBCU Classic baseball tournament that would feature Black college teams at Minute Maid Park.
Riggins couldn’t sign the Panthers’ program up fast enough.
“My initial thought was hey, let’s do it,” Riggins said. “Anytime anyone wants to showcase us, I’m down for it. Anytime anyone wants to put us into a situation that we really can’t put ourselves, then I’m down for it.”
That was prior to the inaugural Cactus Jack HBCU Classic last year. Riggins and the Panthers are back again this year for the second annual three-day round-robin tournament that will officially kick off the college baseball season on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
The six-team baseball tournament, which features SWAC schools Grambling State, Jackson State, Southern, Texas Southern, Alcorn State, and Prairie View, is sponsored by Travis Scott’s Cactus Jack Foundation and is supported by the Astros.
Riggins is looking forward to the tournament because it gives his team its first taste of competition for the season and it also provides an experience they wouldn’t ordinarily have.
“We’re playing in a major league park and that is probably every kid’s dream to have an opportunity to play in a major league park,” said Riggins, whose team has been picked to finish second in SWAC West in the preseason poll. “From that standpoint, it’s great for them. It’s great for the kids.
“That venue allows us to showcase our conference and our kids in a bigger light. They had all of the games streamed last year.
“A lot of it is to showcase our kids and to showcase our universities,” he continued. “So it benefits us as a program because it allows us to recruit off of it, as well. Then it allows people to get a chance to see what HBCU baseball is all about.”
Texas Southern coach Michael Robertson agrees.
“It’s a great event and an opportunity for the kids to showcase their talents,” Robertson said. “Anytime you have an opportunity to be associated with MLB baseball, that’s a big plus for myself, the student-athletes and everybody that is involved.
“I think we need to continue to do as much as we can to promote Black historical colleges.”
The tournament, which will see three games played each day over three days, is a chance for fans in the city and surrounding area to experience Black college baseball in ways they don’t ordinarily have a chance.
Here are the matchups:
- Day 1
- Game 1 – 11 a.m.
- Alcorn State vs. Southern
- Game 2 – 3 p.m.
- Jackson State vs. Texas Southern
- Game 3 – 7 p.m.
- Prairie View A&M vs. Grambling State
- Game 1 – 11 a.m.
- Day 2
- Game 1 – 11 a.m.
- Jackson State vs. Alcorn State
- Game 2 – 3 p.m.
- Grambling State vs. Southern
- Game 3 – 7 p.m.
- Texas Southern vs. Prairie View A&M
- Game 1 – 11 a.m.
- Day 3
- Game 1 – 11 a.m.
- Grambling State vs. Jackson State
- Game 2 – 3 p.m.
- Alcorn State vs. Praire View A&M
- Game 3 – 7 p.m.
- Game 1 – 11 a.m.
“A lot of people don’t value HBCU baseball like they value other conferences,” Riggins said. “It shows the world that we can compete at any level. The Cactus Jack Classic, the MLB venue that we play in, it gives us the opportunity to show the world that we can compete with anybody.”
Daryl Wade and Duane Stelly, who run the Astros Youth Academy, are credited with coming up with the idea of the nation’s first HBCU Classic that would rival College Classic that features the University of Texas, University of Houston, LSU and Vanderbilt at Minute Maid. They ran the idea by Paula Harris who is the executive director of the Astros Foundation and the senior vice president of community affairs, and she presented the idea of the HBCU Classic to Astros owner Jim Crain.
“Daryl Wade and Duane Stelly kind of had this as a dream to do something like this,” Harris said. “They just needed some support from the top and Jim is very supportive and I was ecstatic to do it. So we kind of take over the Minute Maid Park for three days, for a HBCU Classic.
“Unlike the College Classic or unlike any of the other traditional baseball tournaments, of course, we have to make it like a Homecoming.”
What Harris means is that the event, which kicks off Thursday with Travis Scott’s HBCU Celebrity Softball Tournament, will also encompass a high school college fair, gospel breakfast, an `Old School’ Party, and the Divine 9/HBCU Alumni Happy Hour during the weekend.
“I’m grateful for Travis Scott, Cactus Jack, and the Astros for putting this on for us,” Riggins said. “I think it’s needed, and not to sound ungrateful, but it’s past due.
“So my initial thought was let’s do it. I’m excited. Whatever you need me to do, I will do it.”
Proceeds for the celebrity game on Feb. 15 go toward the Waymon Webster Scholarship Fund, the Cactus Jack Foundation, and Project H.E.A.L initiative,according to the event’s website.
For tournament tickets and more information on these vents, head to astros.com/HBCUClassic.
