No Regrets – Ohio State Buckeyes
12/8/1996 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
No Regrets
| Debbie Black |
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After 30 years of lacing her shoes, taking the court and playing her heart out, Debbie Black, an Ohio State women’s basketball assistant coach, has a new life to adapt to in her first year of coaching with the Buckeyes. Ohio State, ranked No.4 by both the AP and ESPN/USA Today preseason polls, offers Black an opportunity to ease into her new role on the sideline. The Buckeyes return five seniors and add only one freshman.
The team’s experience and knowledge has helped Black in her move from player to coach.
“They’re a veteran team and it is an ideal situation because I can learn from them and afterward help where they need me,” Black said. “It’s a great team to transition from player to coach because next year we’re going to have a lot of freshman and I’ll have to nurture them more. It’s a terrific year to get my feet wet as a coach and hopefully add to the program.”
Although Black is new to the Ohio State sideline, she will be coaching beside a familiar face in OSU head coach Jim Foster. She spent the 1999-2000 season as an assistant with Foster when he coached at Vanderbilt University. Black also played for Foster at St. Joseph’s University, where she joined Ohio State assistant coach Kelley Meury in winning two Big 5 championships and an Atlantic 10 title.
“I’m really excited to coach with Jim, and I don’t know if there are a lot of coaches I’d like to coach with,” Black said. “I am really lucky to retire from the WNBA (Women’s National Basketball Association) and walk into a coaching position like this – it’s perfect timing. I had one more year in my (WNBA) contract, but when this position came along I knew I couldn’t pass it up because it’s a natural progression for me.”
After college, Black traveled the world playing basketball. She played with the Tasmanian Islanders of the Women’s National Basketball League in Australia for eight years and won two national titles. She returned to the United States in 1996 to play in the American Basketball League (ABL) for the Colorado Xplosion until she began a career in the WNBA with the Utah Starzz in 1999. Next, she played for the WNBA’s Miami Sol from 2000-03 and ended her professional career with the Connecticut Sun in 2005. From team-to-team, one thing remained the same: Black consistently brought passion and energy to every season, game and practice.
She ended her ABL career as the all-time leader in steals (330) and ranked second in assists (608). In addition, Black was named 1997 ABL Defensive Player of the Year. Black’s defensive records continued to pileup throughout her career in the WNBA. Black retired ranked eighth in career steals (315), fourth in career steals per game (2.26) and first in career steal-to-turnover ratio. With the Miami Sol, Black was the WNBA Defensive Player of the Year in 2001. Black also recorded a quadruple-double with the Xplosion against the Atlanta Glory Dec. 8, 1996, when she scored 10 points, doled out 12 assists, snatched 14 rebounds and recorded 10 steals.
Tamika Williams, another OSU assistant coach, who played against Black as a member of the Minnesota Lynx, described Black as a terror on the court.
“The first two or three plays, she sends a message that makes players scared to dribble near her,” Williams said. “She’s 5-foot-nothing, but led every team she played for in rebounding. At practice, she still plays against the kids in drills and they can’t get past her.”
Foster believes the same liveliness and charisma Black possessed as a player will make her a positive addition to the coaching staff.
“Debbie’s attention to detail and her fundamental knowledge of basketball will make her an effective coach,” Foster said. “She’ll be a true attribute to the staff, considering her 18 years of experience as a player who played for a wide variety of coaches, and there’s also the energy that comes with her personality.”
Although Black’s transition into coaching has gone smoothly it still was difficult for her to end her playing career.
“I knew I was ending my playing career,” Black said. “Leaving basketball and doing what I love was very emotional but I don’t have any regrets and that’s a nice way to leave something.”
During her playing career it was easy for Black to help teammates because she was on the floor with them, but coaching is different. In only her second year on the sideline, Black is learning how to make players better from the bench.
“I have to learn new ways to express myself as a coach,” Black said. “It’s a different type of leadership as a coach and you say a lot less because you want the players to figure it out. That is hard for me, because as a point guard, I talked a lot.”
After playing with a variety of teams Black understands that each player needs to be motivated in different ways. In her switch from player to coach, she realizes she needs to let the players learn for themselves because that is how their game will mature. Black’s goal as a coach is to adapt to each team and fulfill whatever role they ask of her. Even though she will change her role with the individual teams, her approach will remain the same because she is always going to be energetic and excited.
“We’re going to develop the players, make them better players and better people,” Black said. “That’s what Jim Foster did for me. Under Foster we didn’t just talk about basketball, we talked about school and life. It helped me later when I lived in Australia and Italy.”
Meury remembers Black as a teammate from St. Joseph’s and said Black has the same level of energy now as she did as a collegiate player.
“Debbie brings an energy and enthusiasm that is contagious, not only for the players but for the people she coaches with as well,” Meury said.
Beyond learning how to express herself to the players as a coach, Black is learning another side of coaching.
“There’s more to coaching than just coaching and being on the floor. There’s a business side and I didn’t know all of its details,” Black said. “There’s always recruiting which is a critical part because you always need players that are the type you want to coach. I’m starting to see there is a lot of talent out there, but it might not be the kind you want to coach.”
Black said recruiting is interesting because she meets the young athletes as they are making big decisions. The student-athletes are searching for a university with a good basketball program and a strong education curriculum to help propel their future careers.
“As a coach you recruit the best players you can so you can develop them,” Black said. “Foster develops players and he always has. He works on their weaknesses and keeps your strengths because he tells you what you need to hear.”
At one of life’s crossroads, Black finds help from the highly connected Ohio State coaching staff and the veteran team as she transitions from player to coach. Without a doubt, Black’s energy for life and love of basketball will encourage the passions of her fellow coaches and the team.
