Photo provided by Gabrielle Jones The JSU Honda Campus All-Star Challenge during the awards ceremony<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nThe Jackson State University Honda Campus All-Star Challenge team made it to the final four during the national championship tournament, which kicked off April 13, 2019 in Torrance, Calif.<\/p>\n
JSU\u2019s team competed against 48 other HBCU\u2019s for bragging rights during the competition. Unfortunately, the team was defeated by Florida A&M University.<\/p>\n
After practicing Monday-Friday weekly to get ready for the big tournament, the students were ready to make a great impression for Jackson State. JSU President William Bynum Jr. attended the competition to support the team.<\/p>\n
Teammates not attending the tournament believed the team would do well because they had player who had participated in previous national tournaments.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought that the team played fairly well to only have one player with the national experience. They persevered through tough times and made it farther than most people believed they would. I knew they had the skills to make it from participating in long practices and stiff gameplay against one another,\u201d said Isaiah Barnett, a junior computer science major from Durant, Miss.<\/p>\n
The new players on the national team: Kaitlin Littleberry, Gamica Norwood, and Aaron Ridley, had to go against veterans of the game. Their expectations were high but they did not know what to expect going into the game.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was expecting to lose the first game. So many of the schools had members that had been competing for years, meanwhile this was my first time ever. The first day competing, I kept thinking I was not good enough, so I only played one game however the second and last day something finally clicked in my confidence,\u201d said Norwood, a junior math education major from Gary, Ind.<\/p>\n
She added: \u201cI had people coming to me all throughout the competition saying just how much they were routing for me. We made it so far in the end it was matter a matter of two ultimate challenge questions. I am still happy that I had the experience and I know what I have to do next year to get even further.\u201d<\/p>\n
The team entered their first day of competition with a match against Xavier University.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe match against Xavier was a tough one. We knew going into that match that they had won the Prairie View A&M University qualifying tournament, and that they were hungry and eager for a rematch against us to even the score from last year, so we approached this game with elevated focus and aggression. The game lived up to its hype, as it was back and forth, and it came down to the ultimate challenge,\u201d said team captain Justin Clarke, a senior accounting major from Memphis, Tenn.<\/p>\n
At the end of the match, JSU would take the win over Xavier with a score of 540 to 425.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the end, we emerged victorious, but not without the bruises and scars indicative of good battle. That match is definitely one I will remember for the foreseeable future,\u201d said Clarke.<\/p>\n
After the Xavier victory, the JSU began a win streak beating teams throughout the day, such as University of Arkansas Pine Bluff and Kentucky State University.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew that we were good at what we do. Even though we had new members. I knew that we were going to make it to the finals. We practiced hard and worked even harder. We had a huge support system and coach (Joshua) Cotton believed in us and I believed in us also,\u201d said Ridley, a freshman accounting major from Memphis, Tenn.<\/p>\n
Although JSU lost in the final four against Florida A&M University, the team still received the Star Award.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe whole experience as a new national team member was amazing. I learned that I really need to work on time management. I could have dropped so many points but my timing was off,\u201d stated Littleberry, a junior political science major from Bakersfield, Calif.<\/p>\n
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