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.
Charles Hallman
Charles Hallman is a contributing reporter and award-winning sports columnist at the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder.
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.
Posted inOdds and Ends
Back together againÂ
MSR sports columnist Charles Hallman sits down with Janel McCarville, now in her first year as a Minnesota Lynx assistant coach alongside Lindsay Whalen, tracing a friendship and partnership that began at the University of Minnesota and has lasted nearly three decades.
Posted inBooks
Justin Ellis confronts Minneapolis’ hidden racial history in new book
Minneapolis native and journalist Justin Ellis discusses his new book The Cruelty of Nice Folks at Magers and Quinn on June 22, examining how Minneapolis has hidden its history of white supremacy and racial inequality behind the veneer of Minnesota Nice.
Posted inTwins/MLB
Four to watch
With Simeon Woods Richardson traded to Toronto, the Minnesota Twins now have four Black players on the roster: Josh Bell, Byron Buxton, Royce Lewis and Taj Bradley, all four of whom played in last Sunday’s win over St. Louis.
Posted inAnother View
Cost of college sports
MSR sports columnist Charles Hallman examines the NIL wild west in the first of a two-part series on the cost of college sports, tracing the legal battles that made player compensation possible and the congressional efforts now trying to roll it back.
Posted inLynx/WNBA
McCowan: Still in the league
Teaira McCowan was preparing for her first extended break from basketball when Cheryl Reeve called. Five minutes later she was a Minnesota Lynx, signing a one-year deal as one of the league’s most accomplished post players enters her eighth WNBA season.
Posted inAnother View
In a 30-year league, Black female head coaches are nearly extinct
The WNBA is 64% to 70% Black, yet there is not a single Black female head coach in the league this season. MSR sports columnist Charles Hallman examines why that disparity is not getting the attention it deserves.