40th year: NBA remembers historic Supreme
By Gary Montgomery, BVN Staff –
The National Alliance of African American Athletes held its annual Watkins Awards ceremony and banquet this weekend at the downtown Marriott Hotel in Los Angeles.
Founded in 1989 with the mission to uplift and mentor youth, focusing on African American males, through programs that prepare students for college; leveraging athletics as the catalysts to inspire leadership, while recognizing and rewarding academic, athletic and community excellence.
Since 1992, The Alliance has selected five exceptional applicants from around the country to bring to the Watkins Award week- end event. The five finalists are treated to a weekend of mentoring, sports orientation, and professional consultation and alumni involvement sessions.
The Franklin D.Watkins trophy is awarded during a black tie dinner on Saturday evening. Past winners include: Myron Rolle, Florida State and current Rhodes Scholar, Darnell Dinkins, New Orleans Saints, Darius Walker, Houston Texans, Ronald Curry, Oakland Raiders and many other successful recipients in professional sports and business.
The 2010 finalist were Devin Gardner, Detroit, MI, Eric Reid, Baton Rouge, LA, Evan Washington, and Dallas, TX. Brandon Willis, Duncan SC, and David Yankey. These five young men have an average GPA of 4.0 are all outstanding athletes and each will be accepting a scholarship to one of the various universities next fall.
Saturday’s keynote speaker was Janele Hill, ESPN Sports personality.
Hill appears regularly on ESPN’s sports shows and guest hosts Jim Rhome’s, Rhome is Burning show on occasion. Hill, the women to serve as keynote speaker deliver a powerful and empowering message and received a roaring ovation after her speech.
The 2010 Franklin D. Watkins award trophy winner was Eric Reid from Dutchtown High School in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Eric is the ‘Student of the Year’ at Dutchtown, he mentors six freshman students. Eric is a member of Mt. Gillion Baptist Church. He is a volunteer assistant in the LSU Chemistry laboratory.
Eric was Gatorade Player of the Year, U.S. Army All American, #1 player in Louisiana, 1st team All-District Metro/All Parish, District MVP. He plays football and basketball while maintaining a 4.7 GPA.
The Watkins Award has sometimes described as the black Heisman but its academic, personal achievement and community service components make it so much more.
G Montgomery can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
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