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‘Overlooked My Whole Life’: H.B.C.U. Set Stage for an N.B.A. Career

Robert Covington remembers his college basketball practices. He remembers the two-on-one full-court drills where he was the “one” and had to try to defend two teammates. He remembers the endless games of one on one that more closely approximated cage matches. He remembers breaking curfew to sneak into the gym to work on his shot — and the late-night phone calls to his coaches when campus security caught him.

But most of all, Covington remembers feeling driven when he was at Tennessee State.

“I felt like I was overlooked my whole life,” he said.

Now in his eighth N.