Ojai Black went back to school to get an education.
The former Texas State starting point guard had been working at an Amazon hub in south Austin for eight months throughout the pandemic. Black decided in mid-July he was going to quit soon. He was ready for something new.
That opportunity came a few weeks later. The university announced on Sept. 22 that head coach Danny Kaspar was resigning from his position and named assistant coach Terrence Johnson the interim for the 2020-21 season. Two days later, Black received a call from Johnson.
“Man, I need your help,” Johnson told him.
Johnson was searching for a graduate assistant to join his staff who could emphasize his message and make the team’s systems more relatable to its players.
Black, also known as “Juice,” had been a major part of the program since he transferred to the school from McLennan College in 2014. In three seasons with the Bobcats, he played in 98 games and started in 68. As a senior, he averaged 8.0 points and 4.0 assists per game and became an on-court maestro, consistently running the team’s offensive and defensive schemes to perfection.
Johnson, assistant coach Robert Guster and Director of Operations Alex Hausladen were all on Kaspar’s staff during Black’s senior year. Current redshirt senior guard Marlin Davis was a freshman on the 2016-17 team, too. Even after Black graduated, he’d come back to San Marcos often to help out with basketball camps or play in pick-up games against his former teammates and newcomers of the program.
“He knows what it's like to be on this court and he knows, not only what it's like to be a Sun Belt college basketball player, but he knows what it's like to be a Bobcat,” Hausladen said. “And most importantly, with his familiarity with Coach Johnson and Coach Guster and myself, he knew what the expectations were.”
Black became a top candidate for the position without even knowing he was in the running for it.
“I had no clue he was going to ask me,” Black said. “I told him ‘Man, anything you need from me, T. Don't care about the pay, I don't care about what role it is. Whatever you need from me, I'm willing to do that to help you get this thing off the ground and keep it running.’”
One of Black’s main responsibilities this season has been helping with the hands-on development of players, especially when it comes to Davis and junior guard Mason Harrell. Both have seen upticks in their production as a result. Davis was averaging 4.1 assists per game before injuring his right knee on Feb. 5, the highest mark of his five-year career. And Harrell is notching career highs in points, rebounds, assists and steals this season.
Being a former point guard himself, Black is able to pick up on the tendencies of other players — where Davis and Harrell’s teammates will relocate coming off screens, when they’ll become open, how opposing teams are going to try to defend it. Johnson calls it “the game within the game.” Black plays it well and passes what he knows on to the rest of the team.
“His voice carries a lot. Like, when he says something, everybody listens,” Harrell said. “With the team, he just brings a lot of good energy and keeps all the guys positive all the time. So he's just a great person to be around.”
It’s taken the team some adjusting to get used to Black as a coach rather than a player. With the number of injuries and COVID-related absences the team has dealt with this year, Black has had to fill in at times when the team goes five-on-five in practices — Harrell said he still defends and knocks down shots at a high level.
It’s taken Black some adjusting, too. He said he finds himself getting more excited on the bench as a coach than he ever did as a player. But he’s also learning how to channel his emotions to fit the moment.
“If we're rattled then the guys are gonna be rattled. If we're tight, then the guys are going to be tight. So, it really just starts with us,” Black said. “I jump up and down on the bench at times and I've had to catch myself.”
Black said he can see himself becoming a head coach someday. He’s a natural at the art of coaching but he’s still getting the hang of the business side of the profession. On a typical day, he gets into the office at 8:30 a.m. and leaves sometime after 6 p.m. Other days are much longer. But he’s enjoyed it so far. He barely considers it work.
The 2016-17 team was the first that broke through since Texas State joined the Sun Belt. The Bobcats were the first group with a winning percentage above .500 since 2002-03 and the first group to reach 20 wins since 1993-94.
Now with Black back on the team, the Bobcats could hit another milestone heading into their final two games on the schedule. The maroon and gold need one win to clinch their first-ever Sun Belt regular season championship.
“A lot of times when you join a staff, you have to kind of learn the ropes and learn the culture of the program,” Hausladen said. “Ojai was one of the people who installed the culture of the program.”
Texas State (16-6, 10-3 conference) hosts Louisiana-Monroe (7-16, 5-11) for a back-to-back on Friday and Saturday, both games tipping off at 4 p.m. Black is ready to see how far the Bobcats can go.
“I just love to win, I love to compete, man. And what I really just missed the most about playing ... was being a part of a team,” Black said. “I'm excited to be a part of something and to help someone reach their goal and just reach the things that they want to accomplish. And that's what I'm here for.”
