Sports equity expert Dr. Ellen Staurowsky says the panic over transgender athletes is a distraction from a bigger playbook: rolling back Title IX and undermining college athletes’ rights. Sports columnist Charles Hallman continues his conversation in this second installment.
Charles Hallman
Charles Hallman is a contributing reporter and award-winning sports columnist at the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder.
Posted inOdds and Ends
Lynx’s Kosu adjusting to physical game, English, in second season
Minnesota Lynx forward Anastasiia Olairi Kosu opens up about honoring her late father’s legacy and adjusting to the WNBA’s physicality. Plus, the Timberwolves’ move to DAZN becomes the latest hit to local sports fans’ wallets.
Posted inSports
Sam Lacy Pioneer Awards honor nine trailblazers in Atlanta
The 2026 Sam Lacy Pioneer Awards honored nine Black sports and journalism trailblazers in Atlanta, including WNBA legends Renee Montgomery and Angel McCoughtry, Olympic great Edwin Moses, and Billye Aaron, widow of Hank Aaron. Sports columnist Charles Hallman was there.
Posted inBlacklight On Sports
Adrian Turner, David Collier, and Aaron Turner on Leading Programs, Representation, and the Black Coach Mentality
Three Black coaches and administrators from Minnesota suburban high schools join Blacklight on Sports to talk representation, rebuilding programs and what it means to lead systems not always built with them in mind.
Posted inBlacklight On Sports
Blacklight on Sports: Justus Dayee on State Tournaments, Entrepreneurship, and Carrying the Legacy of Clyde Turner
At 15, Justus Dayee has played state tournament basketball, run his own business, and carries the legacy of his late grandfather, Clyde Turner. He joins Blacklight on Sports to tell his story.
Posted inLynx/WNBA
WNBA All-Star game in Chi-town
The WNBA becomes the first U.S. pro sports league to host events at the Obama Presidential Center as All-Star Weekend returns to Chicago. Sports columnist Charles Hallman and broadcaster Cindy Brunson break down a surprising first half of the season.
Posted inOdds and Ends
Renee Brown’s WNBA legacy runs deeper than she’ll admit
Renee Brown helped build the WNBA from day one but rarely gets credit for it. At the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame ceremony, sports columnist Charles Hallman caught up with her, and with founding president Val Ackerman, on the league’s 30-year legacy.
Posted inTwins/MLB
Black players carry the Twins system into the All-Star break
From an injured Futures Game selection to a Twins pitcher’s back-to-back strikeout gems, sports columnist Charles Hallman rounds up four storylines from Black baseball players in and around the Twins organization.
Posted inAnother View
Don’t erase the Black players who built the W
Caitlin Clark isn’t the WNBA’s savior, and Black players built the league over three decades, says sports scholar Dr. F. Michelle Richardson. Sports columnist Charles Hallman also has an update from Timberwolves Summer League in Vegas.
Posted inBlacklight On Sports
Blacklight on Sports: Joshua Brown on Going Pro, Playing for the Lynx, and a 51-Point Farewell to the Canary Islands
From a late-blooming role player at Park Center to a 51-point farewell in the Canary Islands, Joshua Brown joins Blacklight on Sports to talk about five years at Duluth, his first pro season, and life as a Minnesota Lynx practice player.
Posted inBlack College Sports Report
Big changes ahead for HBCU hoops
From an expanded NCAA tournament to a growing HBCUAC, sports columnist Charles Hallman rounds up five points shaping the future of Black college athletics.
Posted inWNBA
Racial divide in the WNBA runs wider than the Grand Canyon
The Alyssa Thomas-Caitlin Clark incident reignited racial divisions in the WNBA, with Thomas and her family receiving death threats afterward. Sports columnist Charles Hallman talks with scholars about what’s really driving the divide.
Posted inBlacklight On Sports
Blacklight on Sports: Timberwolves Executive Terrell Battle on Coach Gaines, Stephen A. Smith, and Raising Two Pro Basketball Players
A phone call from Coach “Big House” Gaines sent Terrell Battle to Minnesota in 1992. Three decades, a Timberwolves career and two professional-athlete kids later, he joins Blacklight on Sports to talk about his journey, his friendship with Stephen A. Smith, and raising pros without ever forcing it.
Posted inOdds and Ends
Parker, Reeve reflect on Lynx-Sparks rivalry for the age
Ten years after the Lynx-Sparks rivalry reshaped the WNBA playoff format, Candace Parker and Cheryl Reeve looked back at Knoxville on the two Finals series that stacked their rosters with future Hall of Famers. Sports columnist Charles Hallman has their reflections.
Posted inOdds and Ends
Lynx practice player learns from the best
Minneapolis native Joshua Brown spent his first season as a Minnesota Lynx practice player, going up against Napheesa Collier and Kayla McBride, and came away a believer in the women’s game. Charles Hallman has his story.
Posted inAnother View
Parker, Delle Donne, Reeve headline WBHOF Class of 2026
Candace Parker, Cheryl Reeve and the late Barbara Kennedy-Dixon headlined the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2026. Sports columnist Charles Hallman reports from Knoxville on the induction weekend’s most moving moments.
Posted inCoaching while Black
Eight teams, one Juneteenth
Eight Twin Cities high school boys’ basketball teams gathered at Hoop Habits in Eden Prairie for a Juneteenth showcase of unity and competition, and all eight programs share one thing in common: every head coach is Black.
Posted inAnother View
Cost of college sports, follow the money
In the second of his two-part series on the cost of college sports, Charles Hallman follows the money from the SAFE Act’s Senate floor advance to Big Ten media distributions, NCAA revenue sharing and the stark financial gap between Power Four schools and HBCUs.
Posted inSports
Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame – They got it right
MSR sports columnist Charles Hallman profiles Tonya Chavers, the first Black female girls’ high school basketball head coach at Minneapolis North and a Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame Trailblazer, as she prepares to attend the 2026 WBHOF induction ceremony featuring Candace Parker, Elena Delle Donne and Lynx Coach Cheryl Reeve.
Posted inBlacklight On Sports
A Father, a Son, and a Golf Club: Jamison and Trey Rusthoven on Legacy, Sacrifice, and Chasing a Dream
On Blacklight on Sports, hosts Dr. Mitchell Palmer McDonald and Charles Hallman welcome father-and-son duo Jamison and Trey Rusthoven, a Twin Cities coaching legend and a 22-year-old professional golfer pursuing his dream on the APGA Tour.