James Blackmon, Sr.
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James Blackmon Sr. (born August 7, 1964) is an American basketball coach and former noted college and high school player. Blackmon has coached two teams to the class 2A high school basketball championship in Indiana, winning back-to-back titles in 2008 and 2009. He also won the class 3A high school basketball championship in Indiana in 2016. Blackmon played
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in college for the
University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical ...
Wildcats. As a senior at Marion High School, in
Marion, Indiana Marion is a city in and the county seat of Grant County, Indiana, United States, along the Mississinewa River. The population was 28,310 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is named for Francis Marion, a brigadier general from ...
, Blackmon was runner-up for the award of
Indiana Mr. Basketball The Indiana Mr. Basketball honor recognizes the top high school basketball player in the state of Indiana. The award is presented annually by ''The Indianapolis Star''. The first Indiana Mr. Basketball was George Crowe George Daniel Crowe ( ...
, won that year by
Steve Alford Stephen Todd Alford (born November 23, 1964) is an American men's college basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach for the Nevada Wolf Pack men's basketball, Nevada Wolf Pack of the Mountain West Conference (MWC). ...
. Blackmon was named to the
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and
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teams in recognition of his high school success.


Coaching career


Bishop Luers High School, Fort Wayne, IN

The 2012/13 season was Blackmon's 9th year as head coach at Bishop Luers High School. Blackmon was hired as head coach for the 2004/05 season, taking over a team whose combined record was 7–33 for the prior two seasons. Blackmon has revised the boys' image at a school better known for its championship history in Indiana high school girls basketball. During his tenure, the Knights' play in the state tournament has resulted in 2 state basketball championships and 5 sectional championships. In addition, the Knights have won 3 conference tournament titles and 2 conference regular season championships. Past players coached by Blackmon include
Deshaun Thomas Deshaun Leroy Thomas (born August 29, 1991) is an American former professional basketball player who last played for LDLC ASVEL of the French LNB Pro A and the EuroLeague. Standing at , he played the small forward and power forward positions. ...
, the 2010
Indiana Mr. Basketball The Indiana Mr. Basketball honor recognizes the top high school basketball player in the state of Indiana. The award is presented annually by ''The Indianapolis Star''. The first Indiana Mr. Basketball was George Crowe George Daniel Crowe ( ...
and holder of 3rd place in the list of the state's all-time leading scorers. His teams at MHS have featured his sons,
James Blackmon Jr James Blackmon Jr. (born April 25, 1995) is an American basketball player who last played for Pınar Karşıyaka of the Basketbol Süper Ligi (BSL). He played college basketball for the Indiana Hoosiers. High school career Blackmon played three y ...
. and Vijay Blackmon. The 2007/08 Knights won the
Summit Athletic Conference The Summit Athletic Conference, or SAC, is a high school athletic conference consisting of ten high schools located in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Three of the schools are private; one being a Lutheran academy, and the other two being Catholic preparato ...
holiday tournament for the first time in school history. The win was the first of 3 consecutive tournament titles. The Knights went on to win the Class 2A Indiana high school basketball championship in 2007/08 and again in 2008/09. The Knights have won 5 sectional titles under Blackmon's leadership, in consecutive seasons starting with 2006/07 and ending in 2009/10 and later in 2012/13. The 2010/2011 Knights won their first SAC regular season title with a win in their final regular season game. In May 2011, Blackmon resigned as head coach to accept a similar position at his alma mater, but would later remain at Luers. The 2011/2012 Knights repeated as SAC regular season champions. In April 2013, Blackmon resigned as head coach to accept the position offered to him two years earlier at Marion High School.


Marion High School, Marion, IN

Blackmon announced he was leaving Bishop Luers after he was named head coach on May 11, 2011, by a 5–2 vote by the school board of the Marion Community Schools. With the move, Blackmon would be returning to his alma mater, a school whose rich basketball tradition includes the second-most titles in the history of Indiana high school basketball. Later that same month, in a dramatic change of events, Blackmon sent his letter of resignation to Marion and announced that he would be retaining his position as head coach at Bishop Luers. In 2013, rumors tied Blackmon to Marion High School again when it was reported that he had been interviewed for the head coach's job. On April 24, 2013, the Marion Community Schools board voted unanimously to offer the position to Blackmon after the recent resignation of the prior head basketball coach. Once again, Blackmon accepted. Blackmon commented that he reneged after the previous hiring due to problems certain board members and others had with that selection process. This time, the board's 7–0 vote was met with warmth and ovations from those in attendance.


Head coaching record

* – Blackmon served a one-game suspension issued by the IHSAA in the first game of the 2011/12 season, won by the Knights. The Knights finished the season 14–9.


Playing career


Professional

Blackmon was drafted by the
New Jersey Nets New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...
in the 5th round, the 94th pick overall in the
1987 NBA draft The 1987 NBA draft was held on June 22, 1987, in New York City. This draft included two future members of the NBA 50 Greatest Players list, David Robinson and Scottie Pippen, as well as fellow Hall of Famer Reggie Miller, who was named to t ...
. However, he never played in an NBA game.


College

*Senior (1986/87
Season schedule
*Junior (1985/86

*Sophomore (1984/85

*Freshman (1983/84

br> Blackmon's value was evident right from the start. He was one of only 5 Wildcats who played in all 34 games that season.


High school

* Blackmon finished his high school career with 1,897 points, currently listed as 66th best in Indiana boys' high school history.IHSAA Basketball Scoring Records
/ref> * Blackmon scored 21 points to share leading-scorer honors for the victorious West team in the 1983 McDonald's Boys All-American Game. * Blackmon was selected as a member of the 2008
Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame The Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame is a sports museum and hall of fame in New Castle, Indiana. While it honors men and women associated with high school, college, and professional basketball in Indiana, an emphasis is placed on the athlete's high ...
Silver Anniversary team. *Senior (1982/83) ** Blackmon scored 914 points during the 1982/83 season, the 10th best single-season total in Indiana boys high school history. ** Blackmon led the Marion Giants to a regional championship and the state championship semi-finals before losing a high scoring game to Anderson High School. In his last game, Blackmon scored 52 points to set a state finals tournament record that still stands today. The effort, tied for 6th best in Indiana boys high school tournament history, was not enough to overcome the 42 points scored by Anderson's Troy Lewis, the second best individual effort in Indiana's single-class state finals tournament history. *Junior (1981/82) *Sophomore (1980/81) *Freshman (1979/80)


References


External links


Blackmon’s game-by-game college statistics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blackmon, James Sr. 1964 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Canada American men's basketball players Basketball players from Indiana High school basketball coaches in Indiana Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball players McDonald's High School All-Americans New Jersey Nets draft picks Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) People from Marion, Indiana Shooting guards 21st-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen