End of the road: Steve Joyner, JCSU agree to part ways

TROY HULL | THE CHARLOTTE POST

Steve Joyner holds a banner denoting his 600th win as Johnson C. Smith basketball coach after an 80-74 win against Claflin on Feb. 24.

Johnson C. Smith basketball coach Steve Joyner, who won 600 games and three CIAA titles with the Golden Bulls, is stepping down.

Joyner, who won three CIAA titles over 37 years and advanced to the 2001 Division II Elite Eight, confirmed that he and JCSU President Valerie Kinloch met earlier this month about the program’s future when they mutually agreed to separate.

“In a joint decision between the president and myself that maybe change was good for the program, good for the overall department,” Joyner said. “After meeting with her, the decision was made.”
Kinloch wrote in an email she and Joyner met on March 11 before reaching a decision.

“We spent important time discussing his significant contributions to, and leadership of, our JCSU Athletics Department, to include my unwavering commitment to our athletics program, the onboarding process for our new Athletics Director [Denisha Hendricks], and the monumental 600 wins he reached in Brayboy Gymnasium just before heading to the 2024 CIAA Tournament. We also spent time reflecting on next steps for our Men’s Basketball Team. In my follow-up email to Coach Joyner on Friday, March 15, 2024, I invited him to think with me about successfully implementing our next steps.”

Joyner’s 600-422 record is the third-best mark for a coach in CIAA history, surpassed only by Winston-Salem State’s Clarence Gaines and Virginia Union’s Dave Robbins, but the final three seasons were a struggle. The COVID-19 pandemic forced the CIAA to cancel the 2020-21 season. Roster churn and graduation stripped away the program’s foundation and upon the return of basketball the Golden Bulls won five games. Two years later,

JCSU went 14-12, but lost in the first round of the CIAA tournament. The Golden Bulls earned nine division titles under Joyner but no conference titles since 2009.

“We had to look at where we were, where we’ve been, and where we are coming out of COVID and having a shutdown year,” Joyner said. “We had to really rebuild the program. “Of course, that started out with a low number of wins but some very competitive games. The next year that improved – went from five wins to nine wins, on up to 14 wins. We were in the process of reestablishing the program, and so I think the university [will] take a look at ways that they want to go from this point on.”

JCSU will name an interim coach and launch a national search for Joyner’s successor, and given the school’s emphasis on academic rigor, will likely move to hire someone who can balance books and basketball.

“I think we would look for the type person who can come into an academic environment and continue to encourage our student athletes academically,” Joyner said. “We have good positive graduation rates, so we certainly want to continue that. But what's important to a lot of people, what they look at is wins, and certainly we want to continue to win. We'd like to win a few more championships. We were able to win a few but want to win a few more… [with] somebody who can continue to move the program in an upward mobility.”

JCSU’s basketball pedigree as a competitive force in the CIAA and regionally makes it an attractive job, Joyner said. Regardless of where the next coach comes from, the school’s academics and growing athletics profile should draw a deep pool of candidates.

“When you’re looking for a small, intimate environment located in a very vibrant city like Charlotte, located in a great conference like the CIAA, Smith has a lot to offer young folks who might want to come in and play ball here.”

Joyner said he hasn’t decided what he’ll do next but will take time to process a new chapter after JCSU, where he was a point guard from 1969-73 before returning to lead the program to new heights that included top 10 national rankings, seven All-Americans, 34 all-conference players and three CIAA coach of the year accolades.

“I will miss basketball more than anything,” he said. “Being in practice on a day-to-day basis preparing for ball games and coaching those games and watching student athletes mature, grow and get better because that’s what they want. They want to improve. We took great pride in telling student athletes that if you came to play ball … in our program, you certainly were going to be better prepared for your professional career after leaving here because we focus on all aspects of the game.”

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