Johnson C. Smith has found, for now, the coach who will attempt to follow in Stephen Joyner Sr.’s footsteps.
Antwain Banks, a veteran coach, was named interim men’s basketball head coach on Wednesday, replacing CIAA legend Joyner, who recorded 600 career wins before retiring last month.
Banks most recently served as associate head coach at IUPUI, but has also been an assistant at Alabama A&M and head coach at Kentucky State for four seasons.
Before AAMU, Antwain Banks was an Assistant Coach at Clayton State (Ga.) University where he helped the Lakers to a 24-7 mark in 2017-18, including a Peach Belt Conference Co-Championship and an at-large bid to the NCAA Division II Tournament. Clayton State’s 24 victories were the second-most in program history while the Lakers went 19-3 in league play. They finished the year fourth in the regional rankings and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Before joining IUPUI in 2015, Coach Banks was head coach at Kentucky State University, serving at the top of the Thorobreds program for four seasons. After serving two years as an assistant coach and one year as interim head coach there, he was eventually promoted to head coach.
Prior to his time at Kentucky State, Coach Banks spent seven years as a member of the Indiana University Southeast (IU Southeast) basketball program (two as a player and five as a coach). He helped IUS reach 166 victories (.712 winning percentage) and five appearances at the NAIA Division II Men’s Basketball National Championship.
Additionally, Banks helped to lead the Grenadiers to the KIAC Tournament finals in six out of seven years. He also coached four NAIA All-American Honorable Mention athletes and eight KIAC All-Conference players during his five years there.
