Earlier this month, streaming digital platform HBCU GO, the leading media provider for HBCU sports, announced the 2023-24 basketball schedule of televised games. A total of 19 basketball matchups, including both men’s and women’s games, will be featured.
Among the commentators is Nia Symone, who played Division I hoops at Alabama State University, the HBCU where she earned a degree in broadcast journalism.
“It’s an honor to be on a platform that is really amplifying HBCU sports and HBCU culture,” said Symone, who kicks off basketball season this Saturday at Clark Atlanta versus Spring Hill. She will serve as the color commentator for the women’s game and sideline reporter for the men’s game.
Symone also has other projects. She is a content creator for Nike and hosted Nike’s first-ever digital show, “Come Thru.” She is also the CEO and founder of Purpose To Be Heard, an athlete-led storytelling platform that examines experiences in sports and making the transition to life after athletic competition. There is also her non-profit, Athletes with a Purpose Foundation.
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“I was playing basketball nonstop from the age of four years old up until I was 22,” said Symone. “That is the same story for a lot of athletes. … Purpose to Be Heard is an authentic storytelling platform where we not only focus on your Tamika Catchings or Candace Parkers, but it’s for all athletes, whether you played on the D I, D II, D III or NAIA levels. It is a resource that my younger self needed so badly. We’re hearing the stories of all athletes, the highs and lows.”
Growing up in Atlanta, Symone’s early exposure to big-time sports came as a ballgirl for the WNBA’s Atlanta Dream when she was in high school. During pregame shootaround, she was able to interact with and rebound for the players. One day, she saw LaChina Robinson in the broadcast booth, which sparked in Symone the interest in broadcasting.
“LaChina took me under her wing,” said Symone. “She let me shadow her and Bob Radford for a game or two and be in the mix of what she was doing. From there on, I knew I wanted to study communications when I got to college and I wanted to be a commentator.
Here we are today, and I’m exactly what I wanted.”