Race in America is a passionate topic for FIU men’s basketball coach Jeremy Ballard

Growing up in East Atlanta, Jeremy Ballard’s early thoughts on race was that it didn’t much matter.

Love was what counted, and Ballard experienced tons of affection as the proud son of a white father, John Ballard, and a Black mother, Rita Ballard. They started dating in 1975 and have been married since 1980.

“There was one white person in the neighborhood, and that was my dad,” said Ballard, 39, who is 39-27 in two years as FIU’s men’s basketball coach. “I didn’t meet another bi-racial kid until I was in high school.

“When you grow up in a black neighborhood and you are as light as I am, it stands out. But the neighborhood embraced me, and my dad [a retired English teacher] was well-respected.”

As Ballard grew up, things weren’t always so idyllic. The harsh realities of racism in America became apparent.

“When I went to a white neighborhood,” Ballard said, “I was black to them.”

Recently, the issue of prejudice has been front and center in our country, and Ballard has felt a range of emotions — anger, frustration, despair, incredulity … and a glimmer of hope.

In the wake of the killing of George Floyd, Ballard was asked by two of his FIU players — Isaiah Banks and Cam Corcoran — to please make his thoughts public.

On June 6, Ballard did so, and the words just flowed.

“My heart is hurting,” Ballard wrote on Twitter. “While the heinous murder of George Floyd has sparked the flames of nationwide outrage — which we are hopeful will at long last affect real change — it has also solidified some horrific truths of our society.

“The fact that seemingly the overwhelming majority of our country ONLY NOW accepts that ‘Black Lives Matter’ is encouraging to some and reassuring to many. But it should be infuriating to all.

“Black lives mattered six years ago when the people of Ferguson protested the murder of Michael Brown. Black lives mattered 60 years ago when the assassinations of civil rights leaders such as Martin [Luther King Jr.], Malcolm [X] and Medgar [Evers] were routine. And black lives mattered 400 years ago when our people were enslaved, tortured and murdered en masse.”

A LOVE STORY

John Ballard, 70, taught high school English for 31 years. As one of his motivational tactics, he would take his highest-achieving student of the week to one of their school’s basketball games.

On one particular week, the top student was one of Rita’s younger brothers. When Ballard went to his student’s house, that’s where he met Rita, who was home from college.

And when Rita’s brother was too sick to go to the game, she volunteered to attend in his place.

That’s where the story of John and Rita, now 65, began. John remembers their first real date, to an Atlanta tavern called Manuel’s. At the bar, one of the patrons made a racist remark directed toward John and Rita.

“The bartender jumped over the bar and beat the stew out of [the patron],” John Ballard recalled of the fight between the two white men. “[The bartender] came back and told us, ‘He’ll never bother you again’.”

These days, a mixed-race couple is usually not a big deal, and the power of loving someone from a different race, religion or ethnic background is probably why the Black Lives Matter has resonated — finally — so strongly in 2020.

But in the 1980s — and in the Deep South especially — an attitude adjustment was required.

“I can vividly remember going to first grade and people asking me what my color is,” Jeremy Ballard said. “I went to a mostly-white church school at that time, and I had to come home and ask my parents that question. But my parents made sure me and my two [younger] sisters were proud of who we are.”

There’s a lot to be proud of — Ballard’s sister Megan is a surgeon in Miami; their sister Mia is a psychologist in Atlanta; and Jeremy is not doing too badly for himself as FIU’s coach.

Ballard grew up in a house where education was stressed, and there was love on both sides of the family.

“My dad’s family lived in Stone Mountain [an Atlanta suburb],” Ballard said. “My granddaddy was a preacher at a Baptist church, and I spent a lot of time in Stone Mountain, which was mostly white. It was very interesting to see the dichotomy between East Atlanta and Stone Mountain.”

PASSION FOR HOOPS

Jeremy Ballard grew up going to the basketball games at the schools were his father taught, including Crim High.

John Ballard was the school’s scorekeeper and never missed a game. Jeremy Ballard was right there, too, soaking up the intoxicating atmosphere of competition.

Among Crim’s former alumni are two ex-Heat players: Anthony Carter and Shandon Anderson. Both of them were also students of John Ballard.

“Those players were beloved by me,” Jeremy Ballard said, “and there was no better place to watch high-level basketball.”

During his high school years at North Atlanta High, Ballard was being recruited to the Naval Academy by its assistant basketball coach, Emmett Davis.

“I had him pretty excited about Navy,” Davis said.

But, before Ballard could sign with Navy, Davis landed the head-coaching job at Colgate University in rural Hamilton, New York. Soon after that, Ballard signed as part of Davis’ first recruiting class at Colgate.

“It was culture shock,” Ballard said of his initial impression of Colgate. “It was in central New York, middle of nowhere, not very diverse and only 3,000 students.”

Ballard, though, made the adjustment, and, by his senior year, he was named team captain.

Davis said he had grown fond of Ballard and his family ever since the home visit to their house in East Atlanta years prior. And even though Ballard — an undersized, 6-foot guard — didn’t become a starter until his senior year, he was well worth the scholarship in Davis’ view.

“Jeremy was a hard-working player who got after guys defensively and was very vocal,” Davis said. “He wasn’t a great shooter, but he could make an open shot.

“During his senior year, even though he was a starter, I put him on the scout team in practice because he had such a great understanding of the game. He could pull those scout-team guys together and help us prepare for our next opponent.

“The fact that he would accept that role shows you what type of leader he is.”

DESTINED TO COACH

On the day following Ballard’s graduation from Colgate, Davis offered him a job as a full-fledged assistant, even though he had zero experience in coaching.

“His enthusiasm, his passion — I knew he’d be a great recruiter,” Davis said. “He builds great relationships with players. It didn’t take long to see he would become a superstar coach.”

Davis could ultimately be right about that as Ballard is off to a good start at FIU, his first head-coaching job. Prior to coming to FIU, he was an assistant coach for 14 years, including stops at Tulsa, VCU, Illinois State and Pitt.

But beyond basketball, Ballard is politically active, hoping to help leave a better world for his six-year-old son, Khalif Jamal.

“I am distraught with the knowledge that the. young men whom I have the blessing to coach have inherited a world where their lives are not only devalued but also endangered,” Ballard wrote on Twitter.

“But while the pain in my heart is palpable, my hope is that this generation can convince my generation and those before me that BLACK LIVES TRULY MATTER.”