VESTAL, N.Y. - Every February, Binghamton athletics joins with the rest of the country to celebrate Black History Month and honor the achievements and contributions of past and present Binghamton African-American student-athletes, coaches, staff and administrators.

We also reflect on the advancements toward racial equality and the continued fight for racial justice. The NCAA has a commitment to acknowledge and celebrate all student-athletes. As such, we honor the contributions made by generations of Black and African American athletes on and off the field.

Binghamton has a rich history of performance and leadership by Black students and professionals in the department. Here are just some of those individuals.

Glen Abbott (baseball, 1969-72) 
Abbott was a shortstop and leadoff hitter who became the school's first All-American in any sport with his NCAA College Division second-team selection in 1970. That year, he led the entire nation in stolen base average, stealing two per game. He holds school records for most stolen bases in a game (4) and consecutive games with at least one stolen base (10). Abbott was honored as Binghamton's "Athlete of the Year" in 1970-71. He was a member of the inaugural Binghamton Athletics Hall of Fame in 1996.

Glenn McIver (basketball, 1973-78)/Griffin McIver (softball, 2013-16)
McIver played in 78 career games and ranks among the program's top-10 in both scoring and rebounding. He is a member of the 1,000-point club (ninth with 1,101 pts.) and ranks fourth all-time with 699 career rebounds. His rebound average of 9.9 was third-highest in the school's first 66 years of basketball history. McIver came to campus from the Bronx and ignited a program that had previously relied on local and unrecruited players. He was inducted into the Binghamton Athletics Hall of Fame in 2013. Some 35 years after his graduation, Glenn's daughter Griffin began an elite softball career at Binghamton. She was a first team all-conference and all-region performer and ranked among the nation's top 25 in slugging and home runs as a senior. McIver also earned academic and community service accolades for her work off the diamond.  

Lester Ware (wrestling, 1977-81)
Ware wrestled heavyweight before earning two degrees on campus. He was among the nation's top seven three times including an NCAA runnerup finish in 1980. After missing his sophomore season with a knee injury, Ware returned to the mat for his junior season and unseeded at the NCAA Championship, he recorded four victories — three by pin — to earn national runnerup honors. Ware was honored as the University's "Athlete of the Year" in 1980 and received the school's prestigious Foundation Award in 1982. He was inducted into the Binghamton Athletics Hall of Fame in 2009.

Clyde Robinson (Women's Basketball Coach, Athletics Administrator, 1980-2001)
Robinson has produced one of the longest-tenured careers on campus, now in his 42nd year. Before serving in his current role as director of campus recreation, Robinson spent 21 years in athletics, serving in a variety of key roles. He was women's basketball coach for three years (1985-88) and associate director and facilities coordinator for two decades, and his counsel and array of knowledge in facilities, programming, championships and staffing were pivotal in the growth of the athletics program into a strong, national-caliber Division III program in the 1990s and the preparation of the program's elevation to NCAA Division I.   

Crystal Joseph (track & field, 1984-87)
A high jumper, hurdler and sprinter, Joseph earned three All-America honors in her final two years, twice finishing as national runnerup. A school-record holder in three events, Joseph was named Binghamton's "Athlete of the Year" in 1985-86 and 1986-87. She also won the female John Bilos Award. Joseph was a member of the inaugural Binghamton Athletics Hall of Fame in 1996.

Christopher Coleman (track & field, 1986-89)
Binghamton's first male track All-American, Coleman earned five All-America honors in the sprints. He was a national runner-up in the 55 meter dash at the 1988 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships. After graduation, Coleman turned his attention to another sport - bobsledding. The sprinter earned a spot as a brakeman for the United States Olympic bobsledding team, and competed in both the 1992 Albertville and 1994 Lillehammer Winter Olympics. He was a member of the inaugural Binghamton Athletics Hall of Fame in 1996.



Nell Jackson (Director of Athletics, 1981-88)
Dr. Jackson was an Olympian, American record holder in the 200-meter dash, coach, educator, administrator and author. She received her bachelor's degree in physical education from Tuskegee Institute in 1951, her master's degree from Springfield College in 1953 and her Ph.D. from the University of Iowa in 1962. Jackson won a spot on the 1948 U.S. Olympic team, competing in both the 200-meter dash and the 4×100 meter relay in London. After the 1948 Olympics ended, she and her fellow relay runners met with President Harry Truman. In 1956, the U.S. Olympic Organization made Jackson the first African American head coach of a U.S. Olympic team when she was named to coach the track & field team. She coached at the 1956 Olympics and again at the 1972 Games in Munich. In 1973, Jackson was hired as director of women's athletics at Michigan State University, becoming the first African American woman to head athletics at a major university. She came to Binghamton in 1981 and served as Director of Physical Education and Athletics from 1981 until her untimely death in 1988 at age 58. Jackson has been inducted into five halls of fame: the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA), Black Athletes, the Women's Sports Foundation, Michigan State and Tusekegee University. 

Sherwin Telford (basketball, 1991-94)
Telford played three seasons of basketball at Binghamton from 1991-94 and those years represented the best three-year span in program history. His teams compiled an overall record of 61-23 and won three straight SUNYAC East Division titles. A 6-foot-2 shooting guard, Telford poured in 1,685 points in three seasons, which ranks second all-time. He averaged 20.5 points per game, and shot a stellar 52% from the field, including 42% from three-point range. He was inducted into the Binghamton Athletics Hall of Fame in 2004. 



Monique Hacker (track & field, 1996-99)
A gifted athlete who excelled in the jumps, sprints and hurdles, Hacker graduated as the most decorated Binghamton athlete — male or female — in school history. She became the school's first female national champion, capturing five NCAA triple jump titles and claiming 12 Division III All-America and two Division II All-America honors. One day after joining the team as a freshman, she broke the school's indoor triple jump record by nearly five feet and qualified for her first national meet. There, she captured the first of her five championships and also placed seventh in the 55 hurdles. Hacker repeated her national title two months later outdoors and also took fourth in the 100 hurdles. She was featured in Sports Illustrated on July 15, 1996. As a sophomore, she qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championship in four different events. Outdoors in 1997, she captured her third triple jump title. In her junior year, she won both the indoor and outdoor triple jump titles, setting NCAA meet records at each championship. Hacker was named NCAA Division III Female Indoor Track Athlete of the Year after singlehandedly accumulating enough team points for BU to finish third in the entire nation. As a senior, Hacker competed as a Division II athlete and added two more All-America honors to her credit, including a national runnerup finish in her final collegiate performance. In addition to her national honors, she earned 17 state titles and 12 conference crowns and was named BU's "Athlete of the Year" an unprecedented three times.

Jewdyer Osborne (track & field, 1994-98)
Osborne etched his name in history with a masterful performance at the 1998 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championship in St. Paul, Minn. In the final race of his collegiate career and the final Division III competition for the University, Osborne captured the national title in the 110-meter hurdles, becoming the first NCAA champion in the school's men's track & field history. His blazing time of 14.19 seconds lowered his own school record and broke the stadium mark at the Macalester College venue. The NCAA title capped a near perfect senior season that also featured national runnerup honors in the indoor 55-meter hurdles. Osborne was named the University's "Athlete of the Year" twice. He was inducted into the Binghamton Athletics Hall of Fame in 2009. 

Brian Hamilton (track & field, 1996-99)
A versatile athlete who competed in jumps and sprints, Hamilton stamped his legacy with one glorious performance on March 5, 1999. At the NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field Championship, held at the 60,000-seat RCA Dome in Indianapolis, Hamilton soared a school-record 24 feet-2 1/2 inches to capture the national title. His record-breaking jump was more than two inches past his nearest competitor and gave him the distinction of becoming BU's first and only NCAA Division II champion. He was a three-time All-American, four-time conference champion, three-time state champion and graduated as the program's record-holder in the indoor and outdoor long jump. Hamilton was inducted into the Binghamton Athletics Hall of Fame in 2007. 

Rachel Laws (basketball, 2002-06)
Laws was a three-time America East all-conference selection who scored 1,246 career points — fifth-most in school history. She was named to the America East All-Championship and All-Academic teams, selected as an  Arthur Ashe, Jr. Scholar-Athlete and received the conference Sportsmanship Award as a senior. She was inducted into the Binghamton Athletics Hall of Fame in 2016. Now Dr. Rachel Myers, she is currently Dean of Equity & Inclusion, instructor in English, and academic advisor at Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford, Conn. She earned a Ph.D. in African American & African Studies with a concentration in English from Michigan State. Dr. Myers also is a published scholar who has written on the experience of Olympic black female athletes, media representation in sport, conceptions of masculinity in sport, and race and sport. Her first book, "Race and Sports: A Reference Handbook" was published in January 2021.

Tyler Deuel (wrestling, 2011-15)
Deuel became Binghamton's first champion in the elite EIWA conference, winning four straight matches to claim the heavyweight title as a senior. He pinned his opponent in the finals to reach the top of the podium and earn a trip to the NCAA Championships. Deuel won 11 straight matches to end the regular season and was 17-2 in dual matches. He was an NWCA All-Academic Team selection, a SUNY Chancellor's Award recipient and was BU's America East Man of the Year nominee. Deuel also was the Co-Male Athlete of the Year. 

Imani Watkins (basketball, 2014-18)
Watkins is Binghamton's all-time scoring leader with 2,125 career points. Her scoring total also ranks ninth all-time in America East history. She also graduated with the school record for three-point field goals (244) and is second in career steals (269) and sixth in assists (412). Watkins was a three-time America East All-Conference selection and the 2018 Player of the Year. As a senior, she led the America East and ranked No. 23 in the nation with 20.5 points per game. 

Ze Zeon (Deputy Director of Athletics, 2016-)
Entering his second decade of college athletics leadership, Ze Zeon serves a number of capacities at Binghamton. In his seventh year at the University, Zeon has been the Associate Director of Athletics with oversight of facilities and operations, and sport supervisory roles. His range extends to capital projects, fiscal management and external relations. Zeon also serves as the Divisional Diversity Officer for Athletics and is the department's NCAA Athletics Diversity and Inclusion Designee (ADID). In March 2022, Zeon was chosen to participate in the prestigious National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) Senior Administrator Mentoring Institute. This is a program that prepares senior-level athletics administrators who are one step away from becoming an Athletics Director.  



Eugene Marshall, Jr. (Director of Athletics, 2023-)
Marshall brought nearly 40 years of college athletics administrative experience to campus when he arrived to Binghamton in January 2022. He came from Hampton University, where he led the CAA member Pirates as Director of Athletics for eight years. His vast experience, including 34 years as a senior athletics administrator. During that long tenure, Marshall has been a strong voice for diversity and opportunity. He has served as president of the Black Coaches Association, chair of the NCAA's Minority Opportunity and Interest Committee and was a founding member of the Minorities Opportunities Athletic Association. One of his many projects has been to speak on behalf of "Eracism," a social inclusion movement started by College Insider Inc. to bring change through education, awareness and action, with current and former college basketball coaches leading the way.