Who is the man behind jersey No. 7? A criminal justice major with a minor in computer science, KJ Black seems to be headed in the right direction.
The Prairie View A&M signal caller, KJ Black, has worked hard to get to his self in the position he is in now, at the top of the SWAC. A laid back guy, who says that this Panther football team is a senior led group, but his voice is heard in the huddle.
Black lettered for four years, starting the final three years at Fern Creek HS. During his time at Fern, he accounted for 83 touchdowns (63 pass, 20 rush) and nearly 10,000 yards of total offense during his career.
KJ Black has also participated in the Kentucky-Tennessee All-Star Game, was the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Scholarship winner and an honorable mention All-State selection by the Louisville Courier-Journal. He was also named to the Lexington Herald-Leader’s Top 22 seniors in Kentucky following his senior season.
Black’s father, Kenneth Black Sr., now a middle school principal was a major influence in KJ’s decision to play football. His father also coached high school football while KJ’s family lived in Florida, he coached present NFL Brian Dawkins and Jabar Gaffney.
Black was among the leaders in the state his sophomore year after going 152-of-232 for 2,149 yards and 21 scores.
As a junior, ranked fifth in the state with 241.7 yards passing per contest in the regular season, completing 126-of-201 attempts while connecting on 22 touchdowns, earned honorable mention all-state and first-team All-District and All-County honors.
After his senior year, KJ was chosen both the region and district player of the year, earining All-Region, All-District and All-County accolades. Ranked 12th in the state in the regular season with 206.8 yards per game passing, he finished with 2,421 yards and 18 touchdowns through the air.
In his last year of high school competition, he led the Tigers to an 8-4 finish and a first-round victory in the 4A state playoffs before losing to the eventual champion.
Before every game Black has to have some kind of candy, he prefers shockers and Now and Laters. He also likes to listen to J. Cole, the Diplomats and Currency to get ready to play.
Coming out of high school, Black signed with Western Kentucky. The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers, a member of the Sun Belt Conference, fit Black’s playing style perfectly and he fit right into the scheme when he stepped on the field. After an excellent off-season, he was listed as the starting quarterback at the end of spring practice. He accounted for 216 yards of total offense in the annual Red-White Game, leading the White to a 23-21 win after going 17-of-29 passing for 159 yards while rushing 11 times for 57 yards.
Black reached the end zone from seven yards out on the second play of the second quarter for the White’s first score, and a nine-yard touchdown pass in the third period to give his team its first lead of the contest.
During the 2007-2008 season at WKU, Black played in all 12 games, while starting twice, throwing for 1,007 yards and eight touchdowns while completing 88-of-134 pass attempts.
KJ held a 136.56 pass efficiency rating and ranked eighth in the school’s season record books,.He also carried 104 times for 324 yards and two scores.
KJ recorded a team-high 1,331 yards of total offense and was 10-of-13 passing for 102 yards in his collegiate debut at No. 3 Florida.
He hit 4-of-6 attempts for 66 yards including his first career touchdown pass in win over West Virginia Tech, he also threw for 114 yards and a score, adding 27 yards on the ground, in Eastern Kentucky victory.
He came off the bench in the second half to lead the Hilltoppers on two scoring drives in a 20-17 victory at Middle Tennessee, finishing with 56 yards rushing on 11 attempts and 5-of-7 passing for another 74 and a touchdown.
His career-best on the ground was 107 yards on 14 carries and threw for 102 yards and a touchdown while going 14-of-23 in first career start at Bowling Green.
Then he also went 20-of-29 passing for a career-high 184 yards and a score at Ball State, finishing with a career-best 218 yards of total offense.
Black recorded 65 yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries and was 4-of-6 passing for 48 yards in the Indiana State victory, then posted seven attempts for 45 yards in win over North Carolina Central.
KJ collected 149 yards and a touchdown through the air against Troy, and then completed 5-of-6 passes for 135 yards and two scores in win over Morehead State, including an 84-yard touchdown throw that was the Toppers’ longest pass play of the year.
In 2006 Black got hurt and sat out as a redshirt. This was around the time that the head coach that recruited Black left the team to coach at Stanford. KJ felt like it was time for a change of scenery.
The playing style of Black, past and present, would be similar to Randall Cunningham and Donovan McNabb. Pass first and run second. With his exceptional arm and deceptive feet, Black is sure to blackout defenses in the SWAC for quite some time.