The latest edition of Dr. Cavil’s Inside the HBCU Sports Lab Top 7 VP/AD rankings has been announced.
7. Dr. Trayvean Scott- Grambling State University
Dr. Scott oversees a Grambling State athletic program that is in a state of transition. Head football coach Mickey Joseph is completing his first season after replacing Hue Jackson. Patrick Crarey II will enter his first season as men’s basketball coach. Courtney Simmons is in her third season at the helm of the women’s basketball program and already has under her belt Grambling’s first 20-win campaign since 2002-03 as well as a WNIT berth. A partnership with College Sports Solutions seeks to position the Grambling athletic department to thrive in this latest evolution of the collegiate athletics landscape.
The program has invested in new, cutting-edge video boards and sound systems at Frederick C. Hobby Assembly Center and Eddie G. Robinson Stadium.
Grambling student athletes shone in the classroom, scoring a single-year 964 Academic Progress Rate ( APR) and a multi-year score of 961. Women’s tennis and cross country recorded perfect scores of 1,000, while the football team posted the highest APR in the SWAC.
6. Dr. Louis “Skip” Perkins- North Carolina Central University
Dr. Perkins assumed the role of NCCU’s Director of Athletics on June 1, 2022. It marked a return to school where as a tennis player Perkins was a four-year team captain and an all-conference performer. In his first season, the Eagles’ football team claimed the MEAC crown and the HBCU national title by winning the Celebration Bowl. The tennis team reached the MEAC championship game for the first time in program history. The next season the football team would earn a playoff berth. N.C. Central student athletes excelled in the classroom, setting a record 3.22 cumulative GPA. In the 2023-24 academic year, the NCCU football team recorded a perfect 1.000 academic progress report (APR).
5. Roman Banks- Southern University
Roman Banks has served as Southern University’s Director of Athletics for eight seasons after being the head men’s basketball coach and then concurrently the interim Director of Athletics from 2015-17. Under his leadership Jaguars’ Athletic teams have claimed 24 championships and made 8 postseason appearances. Student-athlete GPA has risen from 2.63 to 3.24 during his tenure, with 712 student-athletes earning their degrees. Southern basketball has led the SWAC in attendance for the last five seasons and yearly increased season ticket sales for football. Banks also helped finalize Southern’s five-year deal with Under Armour that made the brand the University’s official athletic apparel and footwear provider.
4. Kery Davis- Howard University
Since Davis assumed leadership over the Howard athletic program, Bison sports teams have won 31 conference or national titles.
The Howard football team claimed the 2023 MEAC championship and competed for the HBCU national championship in the Celebration Bowl. In 2023 Men’s basketball won both the regular season and the MEAC Tournament and competed in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 30 years. Men’s Swimming and Diving captured its first Northeast Conference championship. Women’s softball and basketball claimed MEAC Championships and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2007 and 2001, respectively. Women’s volleyball won six conference titles, which included a run of five consecutive championships from 2015-19.
Davis negotiated numerous sponsorships with notable brands such as AT&T, Rocket Mortgage, Nissan, Mielle Organics and Nuna Baby, Inc. He also helped craft a groundbreaking partnership between Howard and Jordan Brand to make them one of six, at the time, under the umbrella of the iconic brand.
3. Dr Melody Webb- Norfolk State University
In the nearly five years that she has helmed the Norfolk State athletic department, the Spartan athletic department has brought home 16 MEAC Championships. The Norfolk State women’s basketball program continues to be the class of the conference, winning four consecutive regular seasons, as well as a three-peat in the MEAC Tournament, making three consecutive NCAA Tournaments. The men’s team has won the regular season championship in four out of the last five MEAC regular season crowns and was able to win the conference tournaments in 2021, 2022, and 2025. Cross country and track & field both claimed conference titles in the 2023-24 campaign.
Under Dr. Webb’s leadership the football program made its most notable hire in football legend Michael Vick as its head football head coach. In addition her administration has overseen over $2 million in facility upgrades, including the installation of video scoreboards, replacement of the orginal court at Echols Hal new artificial turf at Dick Price Stadium and locker room renovations.
2. Dr. Jason Cable- Alabama State University
The Alabama State athletic department has claimed the SWAC Commissioner’s Cup and the Sadie Magee/Barbara Jacket Awardfor the third consecutive year. The Hornets won eight league championships -bowling(regular season) , men’s tennis (regular season and tournament )cross country, women’s indoor track and field (regular season and tournament ) , women’s golf and women’s tennis (regular season).
ASU’s student athletes have been getting it done in the classroom Alabama State has won the SWAC’s Academic Achievement Award six consecutive years, four of which have taken place under Dr. Cable’s leadership. The award is bestowed upon the athletic program that has the highest percentage of student-athletes with a GPA of 3.0 or more. With 74%, Alabama State bested UAPB which finished second with a still impressive 71%
Numerous athletic facilities increases have taken place under Dr.Cable’s watch that includes, a new video board, scoreboard and ribbon board and audio system installed at the Houston Markham Football Complex , new replay system installed at Lockhart Gymasium, new video board and audio system installed at the Wheeler-Watkins Baseball Complex , new audio system installed at the Barbara Williams softball complex.
In embracing this technological age in which we find ourselves, the new athletics website, bamastatesports.comdebuted in the fall of 2023 and launched the BamaStateSports mobile application. The Hornets Sports Network , which is a subscription based streaming platform was also launched.
1.Ashley Robinson – Jackson State University
During his tenure, Vice President and Director of Athletics, Ashley Robinson has been the driving force behind the continued ascendancy of Tigers athletics. Jackson State Athletics was honored with the C.D. Henry Award for the best all-around men’s program in the Southwestern Athletic Conference in 2022-23 and 2024-25. Jackson State football claimed its third SWAC Championship in four years and capped off the 2024 season by claiming the HBCU National Championship by defeating South Carolina State 28-7 in the Celebration Bowl. AD Robinson hired Deion Sanders as head football coach in 2021, which immediately catapulted the program, and the university, to unprecedented national prominence, and led to two of the aforementioned SWAC championships and back-to-back appearances in the Celebration Bowl.
Women’s basketball won five consecutive SWAC regular season titles ( 2019-20 to 2023-24), three SWAC Tournament titles, and NCAA Tournament appearances ( 2021, 2022, 2024). Robinson is a five time National Athletics Director of the Year – (2024) HBCU Legends AD of the Year; (2024) Light On College Sports HBCU AD of the Year; (2023) Black Student-Athlete Summit AD of The Year; 2024 Cushman & Wakefield AD of the Year awarded by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA); 2022 Cushman & Wakefield AD of the Year awarded by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA).
