Olivia Delancy treats her birthday like a five-star production. The kind that would make most celebrities jealous, requiring weeks of planning carefully curated outfits, photoshoots, dinner reservations, and just the right amount of glam to match the moment.
Last year, the 5’11 Southern senior guard had the time to plan every detail.
Florida A&M’s season had already ended. The days slowed down. Her focus shifted to celebration mode — mapping out itineraries, lining up outfits, and quietly preparing for a future that included the transfer portal.
“I was just… sitting around preparing for my birthday,” Delancy said. “Getting my affairs in order.”
She remembers scrolling through her phone and seeing Southern win — first the SWAC tournament, then the First Four. Even from a distance, she felt it.
Pride. Joy. Possibility.
“As somebody who’s been in HBCU sports, I know we don’t always get that spotlight,” Delancy said to The IX Basketball during a phone call earlier in the week before the Jaguars left for their NCAA tournament game. “So, to see them on that stage… I was rooting for them. It was inspiring.”
Last March, she saw Southern claim a sliver of that spotlight from a distance. This March, she’s part of making sure it doesn’t fade. Back then, March Madness was something she watched.
This year, though, it’ll be different.
Now, as a participant, Delancy is booked and busy. Her attention squarely on basketball rather than birthday festivities.
Instead of finalizing dinner reservations, she’s locked into scouting reports. Instead of photoshoots, it’s film sessions. Instead of blowing out candles, she’ll be dancing in March Madness against Samford on her 22nd birthday in South Carolina, under Dawn Staley’s watchful eye.
Best birthday treat, ever.
Southern (19-13 overall) and Samford (16-18) tip off in a First Four game Thursday from Colonial Life Arena at 7 p.m., with the winner advancing to face a top-seeded South Carolina squad on Saturday at 1 p.m. on ABC.
A year ago, her birthday was a celebration.
This year, it’s a stage with spotlights and an audience.
“It was a good day,” Delancy said of last year’s birthday. “I just went to dinner, but it doesn’t compare to being able to compete in March Madness on my birthday. It definitely means the world.”
After reflecting on her own journey, she then widened the moment beyond herself.
“We’re excited for the opportunity to compete against Samford, but to know we’re going to be in the same building as Dawn Staley is surreal,” she said. “I’m a young Black woman first, and I’ve grown up watching Dawn Staley, loving her style, loving her clothes. It’s every women’s basketball player’s dream to be seen by Dawn.”
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If Southern advances, Delancy will sit at the top of South Carolina’s scouting report. She’s already the center of Samford’s attention. Soon enough, her name will be one that has to be called out over and over. The matchup isn’t entirely new to her. Florida A&M beat the Bulldogs, 72-67, last season, but she watched that one from the sideline.
This moment for Delancy didn’t begin in March; it started in a family where basketball was a way of life.
Delancy comes from a lineage where game and purpose have always intersected. Her father, OT, an All-American at Florida A&M and Hall of Famer, built a legacy beyond statistics. Her mother, Lisa, forged her own path with education and discipline. Both parents attended FAMU.
Together, they created a standard rooted in excellence, faith, and responsibility. At Florida A&M, that legacy wasn’t abstract. It was visible, tangible, and personal. Her father’s name lived in the walls. His story echoed in the same spaces where she practiced, competed, and grew. Every step carried meaning. Every game carried weight.
“It meant a lot to be playing there,” Delancy said. “Not just for me, but for my family.”
After averaging 12.1 points in 30 games as a sophomore during the 2023–24 season at FAMU, Delancy was shut down after eight games last season with a lingering right knee injury — the kind of progressive issue doctors warned could lead to a tear if she didn’t stop.
Leaving FAMU required the courage of conviction. There were long nights, quiet moments, and conversations beyond basketball. Tears came with understanding what she left behind and with faith in where she was meant to go.
“The first thing I did, and the first thing I will continue to do in this life that I live, is pray about it,” Delancy said. “I’m very faith-driven… I couldn’t make a decision without God.”
Even when the answers came, they didn’t erase the emotion. They clarified her purpose. She chose Southern, and the decision reshaped her path.
Delancy, who could start for most programs across the country, has embraced her role as a sixth-woman spark for the Jaguars. She shone last weekend as Southern captured its third SWAC tournament title in four years.
“Understanding that it’s not about me, and there’s a certain patience within this process,” Delancy said. “I’ve honestly just been enjoying the process more. If that’s where my team needs me, and that’s where my coach needs me, I’m happy coming off the bench and being able to contribute the way I do. It’s helped me grow in a sense of ‘we over me.”
Delancy’s impact hasn’t gone unnoticed inside the locker room. Her teammates recognize and rely on the spark she brings every time she steps on the floor. She plays with a blend of energy, passion, and purpose, using her size to create tough matchups and her shooting touch as a consistent weapon for the Jaguars.
Her growth has gone beyond scoring. Delancy has developed into a dependable defender and a steady presence, playing with a sense of freedom that comes from trusting the team’s depth and not feeling the need to carry everything on her own.
“She does a really good job coming into the game with the intensity she has,” sophomore guard and SWAC tournament MOP Jocelyn Tate said to reporters during Wednesday’s First Four media availability in Columbia. “A lot of people playing her role and coming off the bench may not be able to perform like she does. … She’s just wonderful for our program and fits in well.”
Delancy scorched Jackson State for 18 points in 16 electric minutes in the quarterfinals. She scored 8 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, during a pivotal second quarter in the semifinal win over Alabama A&M. She added 10 points in the championship against Alabama State, punctuating the last two SWAC tournament contests with buzzer-beating 3-pointers to close the first half.
Southern entered the SWAC tournament with more questions than a standardized test after a 12–6 conference record, even as the preseason favorite. Five of its six league losses were by three points or fewer. And despite close road losses to Alabama A&M and Alabama State to close the regular season, Southern still carried the swagger of a program accustomed to winning in March.
From the outside, the path didn’t look clean. It didn’t look like a championship run. But inside the locker room, the belief never wavered. To others, Southern’s journey felt uneven despite non-conference wins over Arizona and Houston.
To Delancy, it felt aligned.
“We walked into every game knowing God got us,” Delancy said. “Whatever was going to happen was supposed to happen. It didn’t look right to everybody else. But to us, it made sense. This was God’s plan all along.”
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That perspective carried the Jaguars through a tournament where they flipped the narrative, beating the very teams that had beaten them and capturing their eighth championship in program history.
A year after Southern’s First Four win over UC San Diego turned heads and lit up timelines, the Jaguars are back on the bracket, this time with Delancy in the middle of the story she once watched from afar. For her, it’s not just another Cinderella shot; it’s another chance for an HBCU program — and HBCU women’s basketball as a whole — to occupy center stage in March instead of the margins.
It adds another significant layer to a week already filled with meaning.
Seated at the postgame press conference with Tate and head coach Carlos Funchess, she shared the table with the tall, silver SWAC championship trophy, crowned by a polished basketball. It rested in front of the microphones, gleaming under the lights like a quiet witness to everything Southern women’s basketball has been, is, and is still becoming.
White net strands draped its crown, a symbol of the climb, the cuts, the celebration. Around it sat the players and coaches who had carried Southern back to the NCAA Tournament once again; the latest chapter in a program that continues to honor its past while pushing forward.
Beneath her championship smile and net-cutting joy lies the faith that fueled her through a season averaging 7.6 points in 17.5 minutes per game.
“There’s a certain kind of patience that comes with being brought off the bench,” Delancy said. “When you pray for patience, God doesn’t give it to you. He gives you situations to test it… and that’s what this has been for me.”
Funchess was already familiar with Delancy’s game. He didn’t need much convincing.
“She gave us buckets when she was at Florida A&M,” Funchess said. “We needed a stretch four, and she filled that role. Olivia can shoot it, post up, knock down the three, and get to the midrange. Our second unit is as good as our first. She did a tremendous job last week, and the best is yet to come from her. She’s a great kid and a beast. Just mentally tough.”
She’s thriving because of the clarity fostered by a family where competition and support coexist.
Her grandfather, who played at Jackson State and has coached basketball and is a legend in Delancy’s hometown of St. Petersburg, Fla., further cemented the game as a family language. A respected community figure, he shaped her understanding of the game. On both sides of her family, athletes, teachers, and leaders set the expectation of showing up, pushing through, and dreaming big.
Delancy plans to attend law school and become a lawyer when her playing days are finished, following in her parents’ footsteps.
“I’ve never felt like I was alone,” she said.
That matters because the journey hasn’t always been smooth. Through pressure, uncertainty, and expectations, her family has remained her compass, keeping her anchored in faith and purpose. Now, as she steps onto the floor in South Carolina in the middle of March Madness, she carries all of it with her.
Every prayer. Every conversation. Every sacrifice.
None is separate from the moment. They are the reason she’s ready for the opportunity. And somewhere between the belief, the patience, and the purpose, the moment found her. Not in the form of dinner reservations or photoshoots.
But in a game. A stage. A chance in front of Dawn and the entire country.
Delancy is still booked and busy. Just in a way that means more.
Alabama A&M selected for WBIT
With its second consecutive 20-win season, Alabama A&M was selected to compete in the WBIT and will visit BYU on Thursday at 9 p.m. This is another step forward for second-year head coach Dawn Thornton’s program. The Bulldogs enjoyed a season to cherish by winning the SWAC regular season for the first time in program history. They also enjoyed an 18-game winning streak.
AAMU defeated Florida A&M in the conference tournament quarterfinals before falling to eventual SWAC Tournament champions Southern in the semifinals.
The Bulldogs have been led all season by SWAC Player of the Year Kalia Walker. She was selected to the SWAC All-Tournament team after averaging 19.0 points, 4.0 boards, 2.0 assists and 1.0 steals in the two games played. She scored a career-high 31 points in a quarterfinal victory over Florida A&M.
Alabama A&M has also been fueled all season by a stingy defense. The Bulldogs’ identity always shows up in how tightly they contest every cut, pass, and screen with passion. With length on the wings and the post, the Bulldogs rank among the conference leaders in several statistical categories, including free-throw attempts (fifth nationally), free throws made (13th), scoring defense (14th), and field goal percentage defense (17th).
Walker is 34th nationally in free-throw percentage and 54th in free throws. In addition to Walker, the Bulldogs have received consistent contributions from Moses Davenport (10.1 points per game), Coriah Beck (9.6), and Jaida Belton (7.6 ppg, 6.7 rebounds per game).
Alcorn State hosting historic WNIT game
In a season full of accolades and highlights, it’s only fitting that Alcorn State will host a first-round WNIT game for the first time in program history. The Braves welcome South Alabama to Davey L. Whitney Complex on Saturday, March 21, at 3 p.m. The winner visits Purdue-Fort Wayne in a second-round contest.
The invitation represents the third postseason appearance all-time for Alcorn Women’s Basketball, and the first since the 2004-05 campaign under legendary head coach Shirley A. Gibbs-Walker. That season, the Braves took on Michigan State in the NCAA Tournament after claiming the SWAC regular season and tournament titles, respectively.
More importantly, this moment allows the Brave standout seniors Nakia Cheatham, Kiarra Henderson, Ja’Sharreah Hunt, Jayda Bowen, Jeanee Anderson, and Maya Hunkin-Claytor to play another home game. After finishing 17-13 overall after a quarterfinal setback in the SWAC tournament to Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Alcorn State earned the WNIT invitation after finishing second in the conference and regular season champion Alabama A&M was invited to the WBIT.
Alcorn State finished 10-3 at home this season. Cheathan is Alcorn State’s leader. The 2026 SWAC Defensive Player of the Year and All-SWAC First Team selection is the Braves’ top scorer (13.2 ppg). She also leads the team in rebounds (228) and blocked shots (31). Henderson is second in scoring, averaging 10.1 points and 6.3 rebounds. She also leads Alcorn State with 133 assists. Hunkin-Claytor is Alcorn’s top threat from the outside with a single-season school record 71 3-pointers, connecting at a 34.3 percent clip overall from beyond the arc.
