How Jackson native, SWAC commissioner Charles McClelland realized his NCAA Tournament dream
He stood next to TBS’ Ernie Johnson with the NCAA Division I men's basketball championship trophy in his left hand and his right-hand underneath supporting it.
Johnson said, "And now, this is Charles McClelland. He is the chairman of the D-I basketball committee. This tournament is his, and you did a heck of a job, too. And you got the honors here with the champs.”
McClelland said, "On behalf of the Division I men’s basketball committee and (NCAA) President Charlie Baker, we would like to congratulate Coach Dan Hurley and the UConn Huskies as the 2024 national champions."
With those words, McClelland, 52, became the first African American man from an HBCU conference to chair the committee and to present the national championship trophy to the winning team.
And at that moment, McClelland, a Jackson native, reached the apex of his dream to be a part of the NCAA Tournament. It all began as a youth playing point guard at Powell Middle School and Callaway High School.
SWAC commissioner Charles McClelland's basketball dream
McClelland vividly remembers the moment that being part of the NCAA Tournament became his dream.
“My sophomore year at Callaway we played against Chris Jackson (now Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf) of Gulfport High School in the state championship in 1987 and lost," McClelland said. “I remember sitting in home economics class in high school in 1988, watching Jackson and LSU play in the NCAA Tournament.
"I caught myself at the national game as I sat at the table getting ready to walk up and hand Dan Hurley and the UConn Huskies the championship trophy. I flashed back to that date in home economics class, watching Chris Jackson, saying, 'I want to be a part of it.' I recall saying at the national championship game, 'I finally made it. I finally made it. I finally achieved my dream.' It reminded me that dreams do come true.”
How Charles McClelland became SWAC Commissioner
McClelland said he was taught by his parents, Charles McClelland Sr., then the principal at Northwest Rankin, and Lucille McClelland, a teacher at the school, that he could succeed despite his surroundings, but that he would need an education and work ethic to achieve his dreams.
Education and work ethic helped him reach the top spot in the SWAC.
McClelland said after graduating from Callaway in 1989, he enrolled at Prairie View A&M and planned to walk on to the basketball team. The following spring, however, canceled the entire athletics program. The school did bring back sports in 1991 in Division I in the SWAC, but as a non-scholarship sport.
After graduating from Prairie View in 1993, he worked in the accounting office, financial aid office, as an academics advisor and in fundraising. He got involved in athletics, serving as a golf coach, and sat on the oversight board of athletics. He earned a master's degree in business administration from the school in 1993, and in 2001, he was appointed by university president Dr. Charles Hines to be athletic director, becoming the youngest in Division I at age 29.
“I took over a program that was still significantly hampered,” McClelland said. “Because of my financial aid experience and my accounting and fund-raising experience, we were able to generate resources to get football and basketball scholarships back up.”
He was hired as AD at Texas Southern in 2008 and served until 2018, earning his Ph.D. in higher education administration from Texas A&M while there. Texas Southern athletic teams won 28 SWAC championships during his tenure.
SWAC COMMISSIONER CHARLES MCCLELLAND SWAC commissioner Charles McClelland thinks Deion Sanders is good for Jackson, JSU
McClelland lands his dream job with the SWAC
In September 2018, McClelland was hired as SWAC commissioner. When he arrived, he said the SWAC had a $2 million deficit. Today, the conference is headquartered in a building it purchased in Birmingham, Alabama, and McClelland said it has financial stability.
McClelland said the SWAC office is distributing record amounts of money to the schools and has signed a significant TV contract with the Allen Media Group to supplement what it was doing with ESPN.
McClelland has called the SWAC position a dream job, one that he worked hard to earn, and he has not forgotten the inspiration that launched him.
"My mom died 10 years ago," McClelland said. "I always keep her memory with me because she was one of my biggest supporters. My father is still there in Jackson, and we talked about how proud it made him, sitting there in Jackson, and watching me hand the trophy off. My dad thought about how far we had come as a family. Again, that is what I wanted. That's the ultimate prize for me, to have a good representation of my family."
J.T. Keith is the HBCU Sports editor for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at JKeith@gannett.com or reach him on Twitter @JTKEITH1.
This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: How Jackson native, SWAC leader Charles McClelland made NCAA history
