Lifetime pioneer Jimmy Blacklock honored along with former UT teammates

By Riley Zayas

Exactly 50 seasons since Jimmy Blacklock first donned the orange and white, he stepped on to the Forty Acres once again. Only this time, he felt welcomed, not isolated like he had when he became a pioneer in Texas athletics as a member of the 1970 Texas men’s basketball team just one year after the team had been integrated.

Like it had back in 1970, when he was a star for Tyler Junior College, basketball was what brought him back to home of Texas Longhorns hoops in 2020, when he and his team took center stage in the Frank Erwin Center shortly before the 2019-20 season, like most sports around the country, was cut short by the outbreak of the coronavirus.

In his fifth year as [s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)]the head coach of the world-famous Harlem Globetrotters, and formerly a point guard for the team, Blacklock has traveled across the world, as his players showcase their basketball skills to fans young and old. However, coming back to the University of Texas, where he had inspired so many young players by becoming the first African-American starter on the team, held special significance for Blacklock.

That significance was not only the fact that he returned to the place where it all started, but also that he was named a “Globetrotters Legend” as part of the Globetrotters’ Pushing the Limits World Tour. It is an honor not given to many, only those who have made a significant impact with the team.

“Being a Globetrotter carries responsibilities that extend well beyond just performing on the court, and Jimmy has exemplified that spirit as both a player and coach” Globetrotters executive vice president and general manager Jeff Munn said in a team press release. “Our stars have introduced the sport of basketball to thousands of fans around the world, but just as importantly they bring smiles and goodwill to every country and culture they visit.”

Blacklock has done that in his time with the team, which began way back in 1974, when he graduated from UT. That spirit Munn spoke about was exemplified as he made an immediate impact on Texas head coach Leon Black’s squad, becoming the first black player to lead the team in scoring, becoming a letterwinner and a captain. He played a key role on the 1971-72 team that won a share of the Southwest Conference title, and did all of that in spite of constant racism he regularly faced on the road, and a feeling of isolation while on the Forty Acres.

“I think had I been a player of a different race, (the experience) would have been beautiful, incredible, but I wasn’t,” Blacklock told the Austin American-Statesman in 2018. “I loved the ball-playing, I loved the education. Socially, it was a disaster.”

At the time, it did not occur to Blacklock how big of a role he was playing in the full integration of the Texas basketball team, how he was unwittingly acting as a pioneer for the Kevin Durants and TJ Fords who would follow decades behind. He said that he did not realize his significance at the time, and it has only been in the past decade or two that he has really thought about it.

“At the time, I did not understand the significance of it,” Blacklock told KVUE news. “But every year for maybe the past 10 or 15 years I’ve really thought about it. Yeah, I may have had a lot of things to have done with that.”

A lot of things to have done with it indeed, as his courageous act to step forward and endure the racism paved the way for the talented African-American players who would contribute in big ways to Texas success in future seasons.

As Blacklock accepted his Globetrotters Legend ring at center court prior to the show, he was overcome with emotion, standing next to Black, a man who was more than a coach to him at Texas, but a mentor, and faithful supporter. The legendary Longhorn basketball coach never treated Blacklock any differently. In his eyes, he was just a basketball player, a guy the nine-year head coach at Texas relied on heavily during the 1970-71 and 1971-72 seasons.

“He’s a basketball player,” Black told KVUE. “We treated him as a basketball player and nothing more, nothing less.”

At the same time, Black said he knew Blacklock was not just a normal basketball player. Black was a witness to the insults and racism experienced on the road, against more unforgiving, and biased crowds. Blacklock remembers his coach being a “mighty man” who would stand by his stand no matter what he faced.

“There was a lot of resistance, but he stood strong,” Blacklock said to KVUE, “and I love him for that.”

By returning to UT, it came full circle for Blacklock and Black, in the city where it all began, where Blacklock’s basketball career took off. It was because of his incredible two years at Texas that got him to this point with the Harlem Globetrotters, to the point where he is now called a “Globetrotters Legend.”

“He’ll be as proud of me as I am with him,” Blacklock told KVUE, “because of the sacrifices that he made to bring me here and this is the only way I can thank him for what he has done for me.”

The recognition was about honoring Blacklock for his contributions to Globetrotters history, but because of the location at the Frank Erwin Center, and atmosphere of it being at his alma mater, fans were not only honoring him for that, but also remembering the impact he made on the Texas athletics.

During his speech, Blacklock proclaimed, “I am a Longhorn for life!”

A Longhorn for life he is, and a man whose legacy on the Forty Acres and with the Globetrotters will extend far beyond the court.
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