for it, and carried its story in her heart. For McWilliams-Parker, this moment was more than special. It was homecoming, and history rolled into one memorable weeklong celebration. She was honored to be part of it. McWilliams-Parker has continued to blaze trails and make a difference beyond basketball during her distinguished career that started when she was a Hampton walk-on from Colorado
Player of the Year in 1988 and CIAA Volleyball Player of the Year in 1990, McWilliams-Parker still relies on the significant life lessons of leadership, accountability, communication, grit, and resilience to make an impact. With a career rooted in service, empowering others, and changing the game, McWilliams has spent nearly 30 years in intercollegiate athletics transforming the industry while positioning the CIAA as one of the nation’s elite conferences.
logo design, brokering a television partnership with AspireTV, negotiating a deal with Baltimore to relocate the tournament from Charlotte, and cultivating a partnership with NFL Leadership for HBCU/CIAA initiatives. For McWilliams-Parker, this is more than a tournament. It’s another pearl in a lifetime collection of gems in her determined spirit of lifting women, honoring the past, and paving the way for the next generation of athletes fighting for dreams that aren’t measured by statistics. “The CIAA tournament matters because it has made a huge contribution, not just because of basketball, but all of our sports, have contributed to this country,”
McWilliams said. “We have a responsibility to celebrate the history and the shoulders that we are stepping on that got us this far. It can be an emotional time sometimes for me when I think about the current time we’re in and how much work and sweat equity we have put in to advance our institutions, to give our student-athletes opportunities when they didn’t have it, and some of them still don’t in some places, but we have that. The tournament is special because we can bring our schools together.”
Springs, with a heart full of determination and tenacity.
Under her leadership some of McWilliams-Parker’s
Utilizing her experiences, she learned as a two-sport athlete at Hampton, where she was a member of the 1988 NCAA Division II women’s basketball championship team, Freshmen
achievements according to her bio on the CIAA website included improving the financial bottom line of the CIAA by more than $2.1 million, launching a new CIAA
4 3 | HBCU TIMES SUMMER ISSUE 2025
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