After attending Minnesota at USC earlier this past season, I was totally impressed with a large showing of Blacks in attendance. Never in my five decades-plus of covering the women Gophers have I seen more than small pockets of Blacks, most of them players’ parents, at games in The Barn.
Junior Amaya Battle (Hopkins), freshman Tori McKinney and soph Taylor Woodson (Minnetonka), redshirt frosh Kennedy Klick (Brooklyn Park) and Eden Prairie redshirt soph Niamya Holloway are locally grown Black Minnesotans, plus graduate student Alexsia Rose for a total of six Blacks on this year’s 15-player roster.
“Maybe we need to go to the Final Four and they’ll start showing up,” said Terrell Battle jokingly. His daughter is Amaya.
The Gophers finished 25-11 and won this year’s WBIT championship, the only Big Ten school to win a title this season. McKinney won MVP — she and Battle made the all-tourney team. They finished WNIT runners-up a year ago.
But to argue Mr. Battle’s point, Black fans don’t show up even when the team makes historic runs, such as Minnesota’s 2004 Final Four run, or its 2003 Sweet 16 finish.
“My daughter grew up watching Rachel Banham and Amanda Zahui B., and that was huge for her,” recalled Nolana Holloway, Niamya’s mom. Banham and Zahui B. both were top WNBA draft picks and Gopher stars.
“All were very big for her to want to continue the legacy of being a Gopher,” added Nolana on a legacy that first began with St. Paul native Linda Roberts back in the 70s. Roberts is the first Black female to have her jersey hanging in The Barn’s rafters.
“I think as we continue to have our Black and brown girls be successful in the sport, I think it is going to bring more fan base coming around,” continued Niamya’s mother. “A lot of our [Black] girls go elsewhere, and so it’s good to see our girls staying home for girls to be able to watch.”
Sadly, too many good to very good Black female prep players opted for other schools than Minnesota.
“As a university,” stressed Minnesota Sr. Associate Athletics Director Peyton Owens III, “we need to do more outreach and more engagement” at city schools and other community locations, I think we need to continue to think outside the box and go further than just our immediate fan base and those that do have tickets and are involved with our program at the current moment.”
Then how do you increase Black attendance at Gopher women’s basketball games?
“I think it’s, in some cases, Black parents just don’t take the time to bring their children to games,” said Terrell Battle. “If we get the young girls [to] come watch them play, I think it’ll just be a trickle [down] effect.
“I think that’s what we have to work on, getting some of the schools that have predominantly Black populations.”
Finally…
Niamya Holloway, the six-foot redshirt freshman forward, missed the entire 2022-23 season with an ACL tear. The political science major this season saw her minutes increased over the course of this season — she played in 34 games, averaged 5.5 minutes a game, and tied Tori McKinney with a team-high 12 blocks.
“Nia gave us a great boost,” said Minnesota Coach Dawn Plitzuweit on Holloway. “I think she’s made some really significant things happen for us.”
“She’s a hustle player,” noted Holloway’s mother Nolana of Niamya, one of her four children. “What she does on the floor doesn’t go on the books, but it makes a difference in the game, and that’s what matters to me.”
Charles Hallman welcomes reader comments to challman@spokesman-recorder.com.