Another HBCU Star Bolts to Power Four Program

Miami Herald

13-07-2025

Florida A&M's (FAMU) Kirk Dawkins was one of the best stories in college track this season. Now, he's taking his talents to a Power Four program. After a record-breaking run through the 2025 season, Dawkins-who proudly carried the HBCU banner into the NCAA Outdoor Championships-has entered the transfer portal and committed to Iowa State University of the Big 12.
It's the latest blow in what's becoming an all-too-familiar pattern: elite HBCU track and field talent leaving for Power Four programs. But to understand why Dawkins' departure matters, you have to understand what he meant to FAMU.
Born and raised in Kingston, Jamaica-where sprinting is second nature and Olympic medals are a national currency-Dawkins grew up racing through the streets on errands for his parents. He honed his craft at Kingston College before taking a leap to the U.S. to compete at the University at Albany. The cold Northeast didn't suit him, and after one season, Dawkins transferred to Florida A&M. That's when everything changed.
With warmth on the track and in the community, Dawkins found his stride.
In 2025, he swept the SWAC's indoor and outdoor 800-meter titles, added gold in the mile and 1500-meter, and broke through at the NCAA East Prelims with a personal-best 1:46.62 to punch his ticket to Eugene, Oregon, for the NCAA Championships.
"Saying that you're going to make it to Eugene is one thing, but doing it is the next," Dawkins told the Tallahassee Democrat before the NCAA Outdoor Championships. "I have some unfinished business."
Dawkins wasn't just representing FAMU in Eugene-he was carrying the HBCU flag solo in the 800-meter race.
"To know I'm the only one representing FAMU and HBCUs at the national meet is a very nice feeling," he said. "It's all about executing and coming out on top."
Even before the NCAA Championships, Dawkins had made history, becoming the first Rattler since 2022 to qualify for the event. His coaches, Garfield Ellenwood II and Tamika Kimchen, had seen this coming.
"We set out a plan," Dawkins told the Democrat. "If I got to a specific point, we knew this season would be the year of glory."
But it's not just glory Kirk Dawkins is chasing. He's eyeing a spot on Jamaica's national team for the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo. He needs a 1:44.70 to qualify-less than two seconds off his PR.
"I believe with the training I've been doing and the mentorship of my coaches, family, and peers, I know I have a big chance of making it," Dawkins said.
Dawkins' transfer to Iowa State is the latest in a wave of high-profile HBCU track and field stars departing for Power Four schools this summer. He joins names like Jamarion Stubbs, Tyson Williams, and Amarianna Lofton.
Stubbs, a sprint king from Alabama State, announced his transfer to Arkansas after racking up six SWAC titles and a top-25 NCAA ranking in the 100 meters. Johnson C. Smith's Tyson Williams-a freshman phenom and DII indoor 200m champ. Committed to South Carolina shortly after placing third at the NCAA DII Outdoor Championships.
Then came Central State's Amarianna Lofton, a two-time SIAC high jump champion and elite multi-event performer, who announced her move to Purdue. She leaves CSU with four conference golds and a legacy of dominance in the jumps and hurdles.
One after another, HBCU stars are leaping from conference podiums to Power 4 lineups. And it's not a knock on their original schools. It reflects how good HBCU programs have gotten at developing elite athletes.
Is it fair to ask a student-athlete not to chase greater exposure, better facilities, and potential Olympic pipelines? Or is it a gut-punch to programs like FAMU that have poured in the coaching, care, and culture?
But Kirk Dawkins is different. While others left after DII championships or breakout freshman seasons, Dawkins reached the pinnacle of NCAA Division I competition-on his own terms, from an HBCU, without the hype machine of a Power Four behind him.
"All the hard work and the days of throwing up all paid off," said Garfield Ellenwood II, Director of Track and Field at FAMU. "To see his excitement-that's what it's about… seeing them reach their goals."
Still, the pattern is clear. HBCUs are producing world-class athletes, but keeping them is becoming the next big challenge.
Whether it's improved NIL deals, better facilities, or Olympic development pipelines, Power 4 programs have plenty to offer. And while HBCU coaches remain proud of their athletes' success, every departure leaves another "what if" behind.
Dawkins was set to graduate in 2026 with a degree in Supply Chain Management, and his love for FAMU runs deep. He calls it "a place of culture," and credits his transformation to the mentorship and support he received there.
"I'm not going to the meet like I'm from one of the smallest schools," he said before the NCAA Championships. "It's all about executing and coming out on top."
Whether he runs his next race in Iowa State colors or on the world stage for Jamaica, Dawkins will always be a part of HBCU track and field's proud lineage.
But his departure-and the growing trend it represents-raises big questions. Can HBCUs remain the launchpad for elite track talent and also the destination? Or are they now destined to be a proving ground from which Power Four programs pluck?
For now, all we know is this: Kirk Dawkins is headed to Iowa State. But the legacy he leaves at FAMU-and the fire he sparked across HBCU track-won't fade anytime soon.
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