PINE BLUFF, Ark. — When Deion Sanders, the current head football coach for Colorado was the head coach at Jackson State University, he galvanized that five-star players like Travis Hunter would come to play at HBCUs.
However, he wasn't the only coach in the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) to do that.
Before then, head women's basketball coach Dawn Thornton landed five-star recruit Zaay Green back in 2021.
Green came to UAPB out of the transfer portal and also played at both Texas A&M and Tennessee. Now, Green is a graduate student-athlete at UAPB and has helped the Golden Lions earn the best field goal percentage and amount of points per game and the SWAC.
"Zaay wanted to go to an HBCU and she wanted to make a difference. She wanted to be the first to do it," Thornton described.
"It speaks a lot of volumes there's not just me. There are other schools that have other players doing what they need to do at those schools like Jackson State and Grambling. You can go anywhere. You can have your own story wherever you go," Green said.
Thornton explained how they will probably begin to see more players open up about being interested in attending an HBCU.
"Our HBCUs gave us African Americans an opportunity to go to school when a lot of other places wouldn't allow us on their campuses. So having an opportunity to pour into young women who have a choice. It's something that I don't take lightly," she added.
Earlier this year, the Golden Lions took down the Arkansas Razorbacks, which was UAPB's first Power Five win ever.
As of Sunday, UAPB is 8-3 in SWAC play and the Golden Lions have been having their best start to conference play since the 2006-2007 season.
Coach Thornton is one of a kind, as she has a very fun and unique fashion style. The Jackson, Mississippi native is also known as the Diva Coach.
"When I was a little girl, I was bullied in middle school, and for a very very long time. I found myself in a box. I found myself in a shell but sports helped and gave me a little bit more confidence. It gave me leadership roles and so I understood certain things that I embraced," Thornton said. "I watched Sheryl Swoopes when I was growing up as a basketball player. She wore red lipstick and so I would put on blue eyeshadow and red lipstick. When I played with Jackson State it just kind of stuck with me."
She explained how when she became a coach, she understood that there are other girls who looked just like her.
"It's okay to be a 6'2" African American woman and walk into a room and embrace that room," Thornton explained.