CINCINNATI — Aiken High School boys basketball coach Derrell Black announced Friday afternoon he is retiring from coaching high school basketball, a week after leading the Falcons to the Division III state final.
Black, 34, said he will focus on his family and ministry.
“I will always be here to assist in whichever ways I can to support the Falcons and the City of Cincinnati,” Black wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
“I will miss calling the shots from the sideline in the Nest. It’s been a great run. I love you all!”
Black just completed his fourth season as a head coach, including three years at Aiken (27-2 this past season), which reached a state final for the first time in program history and set a single-season program record for number of wins. Aiken’s boys basketball program started in 1964.
“These last three years have been phenomenal and we saw this program come from the bottom all the way to the top,” Black wrote. “The support of the Aiken community has been amazing and we were able to bring the city together for his historic run this season.”
Black told WCPO 9 Sports he is retiring from coaching the high school game at this point but said he is open to be around in other capacities to give back to Aiken and the community of Cincinnati.
The 2009 Hughes High School graduate and former teammate of Purcell Marian girls basketball coach and athletic director Jamar Mosley has been coaching since he was 21 years old.
The Falcons had the best start in program history with a 21-1 record in the regular season. It was also the best start (21-0) for a Cincinnati Metro Athletic Conference program. The CMAC started in the 2007-08 school year.
Aiken captured back-to-back CMAC Red division championships the past two seasons. Aiken completed this season ranked No. 10 in Ohio by MaxPreps regardless of divisions.
"Excited for Derrell to have more time with his family," Aiken athletic director Paul Brownfield said. "He will be greatly missed but his impact on the basketball program and the athletic department will not be forgotten anytime soon."
Aiken does not plan to name an interim coach. The position may be posted on Monday through the Cincinnati Public Schools website.
Last week, Black held the state runner-up trophy at University of Dayton Arena after Louisville narrowly defeated Aiken in the Division III state final.
"It's the motivation that I need to never let this feeling happen again,” Black said after the game. “So I'm proud of my guys. I'm proud of the community stepping up, but I guarantee you we'll be back. This is going to be motivation for years to come."
