TSU Honda Campus All-Star Team returns from national competition with awards and grant money for university

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (TSU News Service) – The Tennessee State University Honda Campus All-Star Challenge Team recently won awards and grant money at the 29th annual HCASC National Tournament.

The team finished third in the Bullard Division at the competition, which took place April 7-11 in Torrance, California, and involved 47 other teams from historically black colleges and universities.

TSU finished the competition with a record of 3-2, defeating Benedict College, Southern University in New Orleans and Cheney University, and losing to Prairie View A&M and Paine College.

The team’s collective effort earned $3,000 in grant money for TSU. Devon Jefferson, a member of the TSU Honors College who serves as the team’s captain, earned an All-Star award as the top scorer in the Bullard Division, which earned another $1,000 for the university.

TSU HCASC Team Captain Devon Jefferson

Jefferson, a junior marketing major from Murfreesboro, Tennessee, said although TSU didn’t make the playoffs this year, they grew as a unit. He said even though the award was given to him for his individual performance, it really came as a result of the work of the team.

“Honda always puts on a good tournament,” he said. ‘Even though we didn’t make the playoffs, we played some good close games and continued to mesh as a team.”

According to Dr. John Miglietta, professor of political science, who has served as the team’s coach since 2004, Jefferson is just the second TSU student to receive an All-Star award for being a top scorer at the national competition. Miglietta said the team was proud to participate in the event.

"The Honda Campus All Star Challenge is a great unique experience,” he said. “It showcases the academic knowledge of students from HBCUs around the country in the spirit of friendly competition."

Members of the HCASC team who participated in the competition along with Jefferson are Breanna Williams, senior, music major from Marietta, Georgia; Alekzander Garcia, senior, chemistry major from Nyssa, Oregon; and Terrence George Young, junior computer science major from Knoxville, Tennessee.

Alexandria Ross, a freshman, economics and finance major from Memphis, Tennessee, also attended the competition as the university’s institutional representative.

Some other members of the TSU HCASC Club are Aliyah Muhammad, of Nashville, sophomore biology major; Donovan Varnell, sophomore political science major, from Nashville; and Micah Williams, sophomore, combined mass communications and military science major from Seoul, South Korea.

TSU has participated in 22 national championship tournaments earning a total of $174,500 in grant money since the inception of the program in 1989.