The potency of Jobe: Outspoken 80-year-old basketball icon reflects on life, sport

Ben Jobe talks about his life in basketball last week at the Downtown YMCA. A
former college head coach and NBA assistant, Jobe, 80, now works as a scout for the New York Knicks.

MONTGOMERY, Alabama  -- Ben Jobe has never been like any other basketball coach or person for that matter.

He values “brain power” over freakish athleticism.

He’s a historian who’s unapologetic about his views on race in this country and beyond.

“Most people think slavery ended in 1865,” Jobe said. “Yes (Abraham) Lincoln did sign the Emancipation Proclamation, but the Southern states said the hell with Lincoln and kept slavery going for 80 more years. I was 12 years old when they came into Alabama and arrested slave owners and put them in prison. That’s 80 years we lost that we probably could have developed a lot of brain power.”

At age 80, Jobe can’t remember every errand for the day, but his thirst for knowledge enables him to stay current in today’s society.

He had 524 wins tucked away years before ESPN introduced him to the world in “Black Magic,” a documentary about the role African-Americans played in shaping and molding the game of basketball.

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Note: The legendary Coach Ben Jobe is best known as the former head coach of the Southern University Jaguars, a position he held for 12 years. He has also been head coach of the men's college basketball teams at Tuskegee University, Talladega College, Alabama State University, South Carolina State University, University of Denver and Alabama A&M University.  Mr. Jobe has also served as assistant coach at the University of South Carolina, Georgia Tech, and briefly served as an assistant with the NBA's Denver Nuggets. He is an extraordinary American that has so much wisdom to share with all...  (beepbeep)