Pep bands view CIAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments as their ‘Super Bowl’

Edward Lee, Baltimore Sun
·5 min read

For the men’s and women’s basketball players and coaches participating in this week’s Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association Tournament in Baltimore, the six-day event is the culmination of a year-long quest to capture a coveted prize that includes an automatic entry into the NCAA Division II postseason.

For the pep band members and directors who will also descend upon CFG Bank Arena, there’s a loftier comparison.

“For us, this is our Super Bowl,” said sophomore Tiara Harewood, who plays the alto saxophone for Claflin, located in Orangeburg, South Carolina. “For us, this is everything. This is the biggest tournament [with] the most eyes, the most fun we’re going to have, the most exciting.”

Bowie State band director Billy Bennett also likened the tournament to the NFL’s biggest game of the season and said pep bands are woven into the very fabric of the games.

“It’s all part of the black college experience: the pep bands, the cheerleaders, the fraternities and sororities, the crowd,” he said. “That’s what really makes the entire experience whole.”

The bands aren’t just tooting their own horns. The CIAA recognizes the instrumental groups’ importance by reserving the penultimate night of the tournament for a “Battle of the Bands” contest where they vie for the affection of raucous audiences eager to sing and dance. Visit Baltimore President and CEO Al Hutchinson said he is looking forward to the bands’ presence at the CIAA Tournament.

“As a big music guy myself, I can’t wait to witness the electrifying atmosphere that the marching bands infuse into this tournament, creating an unforgettable experience for both players and spectators alike,” he said in a statement. “Their dynamic performances not only celebrate HBCU culture and Black excellence, but also elevate the spirit of competition to new heights, making these events a must-see for everyone in Baltimore.”

A CIAA Tournament without the bands is unfathomable, according to some fans.

“What else would it be?” Audrey Terry, 62, of Baltimore, asked rhetorically. “If they took the bands away, that would be a mistake.”

“You really need the music,” said Anubia Hayes, a sophomore at Benjamin Franklin High School. “They have a way of hyping the people up.”

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Band playing is serious work in the CIAA. The bands are limited to bringing 30 of their top instrumentalists, and many of the musical groups have their own nicknames that separate them from the teams they support.

Some of the top nicknames include the Marching Blue Thunder (Livingstone), Marching Bronco Xpress (Fayetteville State), Orange Crush Roaring Lions (Lincoln), Red Sea of Sound (Winston-Salem State), Sound of Class (Elizabeth City State) and Trojan Explosion (Virginia State).

For the Hilltop Soundtrack, which is the nickname of Claflin’s band, the CIAA Tournament is the crown jewel of the academic year because the university does not sponsor football. So the tournament is the biggest stage, according to band director Thurman Hollins.

“This is our time to really enjoy the athletic side of things,” he said. “There’s no pressure, but it gives us a huge responsibility. Our homecoming is during basketball. So we still share that commonality with the other HBCUs in that we understand what homecoming is. We’re just doing our part to give our students and our campus the opportunity as well.”

As much as the basketball teams compete on the court, that mindset has transferred over to the bands. Although there is no scoreboard, the bands try to play music that will get the crowds on their side.

Bennett, who is an assistant professor of instrumental music at Bowie State, said his philosophy of competing with an opposing band doesn’t involve playing the same song to see which group did it better. Instead, he said the Symphony of Soul — Bowie State’s nickname — might follow a fast song with a slow song or switch up genres to entice fans.

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“We may play go-go, we may play Baltimore club, we may play country, we may play gospel,” he said. “Everyone’s not doing that, but we definitely want to start the conversation because when we’re done, sometimes other band directors will say, ‘Hey, man, what song was that?’ And then we start talking about different types of music and everything. So it’s always an educational opportunity.”

The student instrumentalists dive headfirst into the informal competition but insist that it never gets personal.

“This is our game, this is our time to shine,” Harewood said. “But it’s all love. We welcome other bands, and we look forward to hearing what they have to play.”

The best response audiences can give the band is their participation. Bowie State junior Ellis Hicks, who plays the tuba, said one of his favorite sights is watching fans move and groove when the band plays a song like “Swag Surfin’” by Fast Life Yungstaz.

“As a musician in a band, the whole point of us is performing and to see other people fall in love with the music that we’re playing,” he said. “That’s when I feel like I’m playing and I’m feeling heard.”

Band members also choreograph moves to certain tunes, which delighted Randy Brewer, a senior at Benjamin Franklin High School.

“They put a lot of time and energy into perfecting everything,” she said. “That shows they care.”

Terry, who attended seven CIAA Tournaments in Charlotte, North Carolina, but made her first appearance at the one in Baltimore on Monday night, said fans crave the bands’ energy.

“They bring the pep, the fire,” she said. “They entertain the fans. If it’s a boring game, at least we’ve got the pep bands.”

While Hicks likes playing R&B from artists such as Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye, Harewood said she leans toward anything by Drake. She also said, “I prefer playing songs that we’re good at.”

Jimi Hendrix once said, “If there is something to be changed in this world, then it can only happen through music.” There is no known correlation between the pep bands and the championship-winning teams but Hollins pointed out that he was the band director at Johnson C. Smith when that program earned CIAA titles in 2008 and 2009 and St. Augustine’s when that school won the crown in 2010.

“I think I’m the lucky charm,” he cracked.