Epps Memorial Scholarship Basketball Challenge Featuring SIAC vs. CIAA to Benefit Clark Atlanta University Student-Athletes
“Without this scholarship it would definitely be a burden on my family…”
ATLANTA (Dec. 7, 2016) The rosters are set for this year’s epic battle on the
hardwood between two legendary HBCU athletic conferences at the L.S. Epps
Memorial Scholarship Basketball Challenge. The SIAC will suit up against the
CIAA in this two-day basketball showdown happening at Clark Atlanta University’s
Epps Gymnasium Dec. 17 at 4 p.m. and Dec. 18 at 2 p.m. CAU is among four teams,
including Albany State University, Shaw University and Livingstone College
to compete in the challenge.
Off the court, proceeds from this historic event will support the Epps Memorial
Scholarship fund for student-athletes at CAU like women’s basketball player Danielle
Veney. The senior criminal justice major from Baltimore said the Epps grant helped
her achieve educational goals without accumulating mountains of student loan debt.
Now Veney has her sights set on post-graduate studies to attain a master’s in forensic
science.
“It really is an honor,” said Veney. “A lot of people don’t get this opportunity
and I’m blessed to have received this scholarship named after a person like Coach
Epps,” she continued. The Epps grants came at the right time for Veney, the only child
to a single mother. “Without this scholarship it would definitely be a burden on my
family. So, it will help my mom more than me because she won’t have to come out of
pocket thanks to the blessing of the Epps Scholarship,” Veney explained.
CAU Athletics Director J. Lin Dawson hopes to extend this relief to more
student-athletes with this year’s Challenge. “We’re inviting all friends of CAU and the
Epps family to support this challenge and our students by giving the gift of education,”
said Dawson.
The Basketball Challenge is named in honor of iconic former Clark College
(which later became Clark Atlanta University) head basketball coach and athletics
director Leonidas S. Epps. He came to Clark College athletics in 1949 and went on to
earn the most wins of any active basketball coach in the NCAA Division III with a
record of 424-264, according to the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame. Extraordinary about
this particular accomplishment is that for decades Epps and his players did not have a
home gym to practice and play in.
Epps also served as head football coach at Clark College from 1951-1970. He
occasionally coached golf, tennis and track, producing championships in each sport, the
Hall of Fame said. Amazingly, on top of all his coaching duties, Epps simultaneously
served as athletics director at Clark College.
For more information on the L.S. Epps Memorial Scholarship Basketball
Challenge, including how you can contribute and how to get tickets visit CAU.edu or