Coach Leon Black has passed away

07/17/202410/27/2024

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Coach Black said that “Texas could only guarantee a visiting team $1300.” A laughable amount even in the ’60s. No great basketball teams from the East or West would play Texas in Austin with a guarantee to lose money. Recruiting great athletes to play in Gregory was nearly an impossible task. The same with great basketball high school athletes who chose to play at Universities with large fan bases in arenas that reflected the proper respect for the sport of basketball. Texas had neither.

The women’s basketball coach Rodney Page says about Coach Black in the mid-’70s

“That first year Leon and I collaborated on several doubleheader basketball games with the women’s game preceding the men’s game. Another first made possible by a willingness and generosity of spirit.”

Friendly, courteous, genuine, honest, determined, truthful, concerned, cooperative and gracious are a few words that come to mind when I think of Leon Black.

Coach Black’s pioneering spirit and his long-term vision moved Longhorn basketball to the next level. As the head coach, racial tensions subsided, African-American athletes and their extended families became great Longhorns, and an arena was built that proved the Longhorns were more than just a football program.

Click on this link for updates on the celebration of Coach Blacks life

https://texas-lsn.squarespace.com/coachblack

TLSN is not associated with the UT Athletics Department or any organization closely aligned with UT.

TLSN is an independent organization celebrating Longhorn Sports History and assisting qualifying Horns who need temporary financial assistance.

The TLSN website and newsletter are free, educational, historical, and insightful. Sharing Longhorn sports history through the eyes of those who created it.

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TLSN is not associated with the UT Athletics Department or any organization closely aligned with UT.

TLSN is an independent organization celebrating Longhorn Sports History and assisting qualifying Horns who need temporary financial assistance.

The TLSN website and newsletter are free, educational, historical, and insightful. Sharing Longhorn sports history through the eyes of those who created it.

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