Alumni Then & Now: Travion Kirkendoll
Travion Kirkendoll is a 2018 graduate of Centenary College who is currently traveling the world with the Harlem Globetrotters and impressing audiences with his slam dunks! Travion played on the Gents basketball team all four years of his college career and holds the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference all-time scoring title with 1,919 points. You can follow Travion on Instagram here.
Centenary Days
I was an accounting major, all thanks to Dr. Helen Sikes - she definitely thought I would make a better accountant than I did! I became a member of the Xi Alpha Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi, Inc. where I held several offices. I also played a part in planning the annual Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference mixer where athletes got to connect outside of their sport. Off-campus, I worked as a basketball trainer for what is known today as We Are King David, LLC.
Life in 2022
Home for me now is Natchitoches, LA, but I live out of a suitcase on a tour bus due to work. I play for the World Famous Harlem Globetrotters, and that allows me to travel the world playing in front of thousands of people every single night! I’m fortunate enough to have already visited 21 states and three countries since December of 2021.
My current hobbies include making memories with family and friends, telling the greatest dad jokes ever, traveling, making dancing tiktoks, journaling, working out, and singing Fantasia’s When I See You at Sunday Funday brunch.
What was your favorite campus hang out spot?
My favorite place to go was definitely either James lobby or the SUB to annoy whatever friend that was working at that time of the day.
Who was your favorite professor?
Professor Hendricks was my favorite professor hands down. Not only was he my professor for my Paris trip during freshman year, he also taught me how beautiful poetry and journalism can be. This is something that changed who I was and how I thought and allowed me to fully immerse myself in an unfamiliar place and capture the beauty of it all.
What was your favorite study spot?
This is a tough one! I can’t decide if my favorite was in the hall outside the class minutes before the test or in bed, comfy after a late night Whataburger run at 2:00 a.m. (This method might not fully make sense, but momma we made it!)
How did Centenary’s unique community prepare you for life after college?
I think understanding early that there was so much diversity in the school helped me to understand, accept, and love the people around me regardless of differences.
Centenary taught me that people you aren’t related to can still be your family. I left knowing how to be comfortable in what I believe and understanding that whatever I think and say holds value.
Describe a day in the life of a Harlem Globetrotter.
Long story short? It looks like waking up, traveling, playing, and then traveling after. Long story long? It’s waking up at 7:00 a.m., traveling anywhere from 3-7 hours (whether by bus or flight),making it to the next city, checking into the hotel and dropping your stuff off and heading straight to the arena for the game. After the game, depending on how far the next city is, we either get on the road to another city or stay in that city for the night.
Then the cycle repeats…… every day!
How did you become involved with the Harlem Globetrotters?
It all happened very quickly. I was contacted about coming to try out for the team in the late fall of 2021. They flew me to Atlanta for a tryout, and they contacted me a week and a half later saying that I had made the team. I was coaching at a university in Virginia at the time, so I had to say goodbye to my players and moved back home. Early in the winter I was flown to Atlanta again for training camp, and on Christmas Day I left for tour for the first time. (I must admit that this process included the toughest tryout I had ever experienced in my life.)
What’s your favorite thing about being a Harlem Globetrotter?
One, I get to travel the world. Two, I get to associate my name with other great Harlem Globetrotters like Curly Neal, Meadowlark Lemon, Goose Tatum, Sweet Lou Dunbar, Geese Ausbie, and Lynette Woodard. To even be able to wear this name on my chest, is nothing short of a blessing from God himself, and I am so thankful to be whatever he’s calling for me to be in this season.
Favorite thing about being a Centenary Gent?
I think that the fact that we were D-III brought me joy! Being the underdogs made my summers of offseason workouts personal. So, anytime we played a higher division team, we played for each other and the school on our jerseys not “the names on our backs.” Centenary has produced so many amazing basketball players that I got the opportunity to play alongside and call my brothers. These guys and coaches pushed me day in and day out to do my best, and eventually be a part of SCAC History, holding the scoring title with 1,919 points.