Jason Whitlock questions Stephen A. Smith's HBCU hoops resume again

04/02/2025 03:56 PM

Jason Whitlock and Stephen A. Smith have been engaged in a media beef that went public last January when Smith went on a scorched earth rant about Whitlock on his podcast. Whitlock, not one to be deterred, is on the attack against Smith again, this time continuing to call out his HBCU hoops resume.

Whitlock’s line of attack now comes as WSSU Ram Nation, a Winston-Salem State fan platform run byHBCU Gameday founder Steven Gaither, posted a picture of Winston Salem State’s 1991 basketball team. In the original picture posted on Monday afternoon, Smith was seen alongside teammate and current North Carolina A&T men’s basketball coach Monte Ross. The team was led by legendary basketball coach Clarence “Big House” Gaines, whom Smith has spoken fondly of in numerous interviews and media appearances.

1991-92 WSSU Rams men's basketball team. Player on the left is @CoachMonteRoss, to the right is @stephenasmith. pic.twitter.com/PQypeFiDUD

— WSSU Ram Nation (2024 NC D2 Attendance Champs) (@WSSURamNation) March 31, 2025

Whitlock questioned the validity of the picture, even claiming that it might’ve been AI in the latest edition of his Fearless podcast.

“ We’ve done the homework and we know where this picture comes from. It comes from whatever conference they were in the 90s, the 1992 Postseason conference for Winston-Salem State. It was in [the] media guide for that postseason conference tournament. This picture was in and. I’ve said here, I’m not sure if this is AI. I’m not sure if that is actually Stephen A. Smith.”

Whitlock then goes on to question the validity of the picture, as he attempts to use Smith’s accounting of his collegiate basketball career to cast doubt on it.

“Yes. There’s a striking resemblance between this man next to Monte Ross and Stephen A. Smith. But, even according to Stephen A. Smith’s own telling at the time of the 1992 postseason tournament of the conference that they played in, Stephen A. Smith was working at the Atlanta Journal Constitution or the Winston-Salem Journal. Winston-Salem State or Winston-Salem Journal, whatever. He was already started his media career. He was already graduated from Winston-Salem State. They can’t keep their lies straight.”

Gaither, who posted the photo from the WSSU Rams Nation profile, immediately posted an article and video responding to Whitlock’s assertion that the photo was fabricated. He posted the full image of the team picture and attacked Whitlock’s incessant needling of Smith as the ESPN star has made a clear career ascention.

“The photo is an honest piece of HBCU history, pulled straight from a university archive,” Gaither said in his op-ed. “But Whitlock took it as his chance to once again attack Stephen A., suggesting he fabricated his college career and calling into question everything from his memoir to his credibility.”

He added, “That's what this really comes down to—Jason Whitlock's obsession with tearing down Stephen A. Smith. He took the photo and ran with it to broader topics such as Smith's contract and political aspirations, two things many people would criticize Smith for, but two things he is clearly jealous of.”

Whitlock’s ongoing beef with Stephen A. Smith

Whitlock has indeed been constant in his attacks of Smith, who has largely ignored his commentary as he’s surged to the forefront of political, sports, and cultural conversations. In January 2024, Whitlock claimed that Smith fabricated portions of his memoir “Straight Shooter”.  Whitlock spoke about Smith in his article entitled, "Does Katt Williams' interview expose Stephen A. Smith as a fraud?"

In the article, Whitlock said, "Stephen A. Smith is the Kevin Hart of the sports media. Smith is a plant. Disney and ESPN installed Smith at the top of sports media because his inadequacies as a journalist make him easy to control."

Deeper in the article, he specifically alleges that Smith’s retelling of his time on Winston-Salem State University’s basketball team was fabricated.

"He (or his ghostwriter) claims he received a full basketball scholarship from Winston-Salem State after a one-day tryout in February 1988. A former Winston-Salem State basketball player allegedly drove Smith from New York to North Carolina for the tryout after Smith impressed the former player during a one-on-one matchup on a playground court. According to his book, Smith arrived on campus on a Saturday, checked into a hotel, and woke up Sunday morning to participate in a scrimmage….According to Smith's account, he knocked down 17 straight shots in the scrimmage, and Big House offered him a full scholarship immediately after the practice. This is laughable. In Big House's own memoir, he frequently complained about his limited budget at WSSU. The historically black Division II program was not flush with cash and a dozen scholarships to toss around. We're supposed to believe that Gaines gave one to a frail kid he saw play for an hour?"

He then went on to seemingly challenge that Smith was a student at Winston-Salem State at all.

"Smith's entire existence at WSSU is weird. His 'First Take’ show has traveled back to the campus at least twice. But we've never been shown more than one picture of Smith at the school. It's a standard headshot for a game-day program. There are no action shots of Smith as a player. Nothing from him socializing with his friends on campus. Smith's memoir doesn't feature a single picture."

Even with the image that Gaither posted of Smith as a member of the 1991 Rams basketball team, as well as other pictures of his time at Winston-Salem State, which Smith has often showcased on ESPN’s “First Take”, Whitlock continues his attack with limited evidence that Smith fabricated his HBCU journey. Steven J. Gaither, a proud Winston-Salem State alumnus has also repeatedly showcased photos and videos of Smith’s time as an HBCU student, even posting a video of Smith addressing mass communication students at the institution in 2004.

Whenever @stephenasmith came to @WSSURAMS to speak to Mass Comm students, he always gave us the real. This is back in 2004. pic.twitter.com/Wh93eYkfVQ

— Steven J. Gaither (@stevenjgaither) December 23, 2023

Smith responded to Whitock’s assertions immediately on his podcast in January 2024.

"I mean it from my soul when I say this is the worst human being I've ever known. I don't know of another human being worse than Jason Whitlock. He is a piece of s–t. He's the dude that's going to have a funeral and ain't going to be no pallbearers."

Smith continued, saying, "You see what he does is, he's the one that puts himself in front of white folks. The white folks, not all white folks, not most white folks, but the white folks that dare we say may have a problem with black folks…He says 'I'm your man.' That's what he does. You think I'm lying? Ask ESPN. Ask Fox. Ask the Kansas City Star. Ask them all. I could not imagine, as a black man, knowing our history, anything worse than a white supremacist. That is until Jason Whitlock came along. He's worse than them. He is the worst, most despicable, lying, no-good, fat-ass human being I have ever known in my life."

Whitlock is likely to continue his assault of Stephen A. Smith’s character and attempt to continue to use his HBCU experience to make his case. However, historical evidence shows that his argument is based on a flawed premise.

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