Jason Whitlock saw one photo of Stephen A. Smith from an HBCU archive and couldn’t help himself. That’s right—one photo, straight from Winston-Salem State University’s archives, featuring Stephen A. alongside teammate and current North Carolina A&T head coach Monté Ross, and suddenly Whitlock is back on his soapbox, trying to discredit a man he’s clearly obsessed with. The photo originated on WSSU Ram Nation, a platform I created to focus on WSSU sports, culture and more. I expected it to raise some eyebrows and spark some discussion —but I didn’t expect it to turn into a five-minute rant from Jason Whitlock himself.
Let’s be clear: the photo is real. It’s from WSSU’s 1991 basketball team, the same year Stephen A. Smith was featured in the school’s yearbook and listed on the team roster. It’s not AI. It’s not Photoshop. It’s not some conspiracy cooked up in a basement somewhere. The photo has been sitting in WSSU archives for years, apparently mis-labeled as the 1991-1992 season. Below is the full photo.
Whitlock correctly pointed out that Smith would have been done playing at WSSU in 1992 as his journalism career was getting off the ground from the Winston-Salem State News Argus to the Winston-Salem Journal to the Atlanta Journal constitution. He correctly pointed out that Smith cracked his knee early in his WSSU career. His photo was absent from the 1990 WSSU yearbook and made another appearance in 1991 in what would have been his senior season.
The photo is an honest piece of HBCU history, pulled straight from a university archive. 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.
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. Once upon a time Whitlock was the black journalist-turned-columnist-turned lightning rod that looked to be ESPN’s Golden Boy. But a rejuvenated Smith came back from getting fired from the network and is now a $100 million man while Whitlock’s star at the network crashed and burned brilliantly.
Now he never misses a chance to take a snipe at Smith, using every chance he gets to create a narrative about his rival, with his time on his HBCU basketball squad one of his favorite jabs. His partially-informed, hastily put together response to the photo illustrates just how personal his beef with Smith is. And that likely isn’t going to change despite the fact that the photo in question is very real, if mislabeled.