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Former Tennessee forward C.J. Black chases a loose ball during his playing days 1997-2000.

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Two things come to my mind when I remember former University of Tennessee forward C.J. Black. First, is his infectious smile that lit up the entire arena when he made a great play. The second, is what I termed the, "C.J. Black shake."

"I got the shake from my brother," Black said with a laugh and a smile that I could see in my mind through the telephone. "My brother, Jerome, told me when I was a sophomore in high school that I needed more than blocked shots and big dunks for people to remember me. He said that I needed to be entertaining, that I needed a gimmick. So, he worked with me on developing a "post big-play celebration.

"My teammates wanted me to do it more often, but I didn't want to do it all the time. Listen, I had a method to my madness. If I did the shake all the time, it wouldn't have had the meaning that it did. I used it as a tool to win the mental game."

Everyone knows that the older men get, the greater they were when they played the game. If you talk to Black for more than five minutes, he'll have you convinced he was an All-American and the Vols won a national championship when he was at UT.

"After my sophomore year at Tennessee, the other team stopped coming into the lane because I blocked so many shots," Black said. "I, singlehandedly, forced other teams to develop new plays. They had to develop a 10 to 12 foot jumper to even get a shot off."

All joking aside, Black's biggest play as a Vol was a blocked shot in 1999 to beat Kentucky at Rupp Arena, 47-46. His block as the buzzer sounded ended years of frustration in Lexington.

"I enjoyed blocking shots more than anything in the game of basketball," said Black. "Most people don't realize it, but I averaged almost two blocks per game in my career at Tennessee. I always thought of it from the opponent's perspective. I can just imagine him coming down the lane and seeing me. It must have been like the gates of heaven. The clouds opened up, and all they saw was my smiling face.

"One time I saw the other teams scouting report on us. It said, 'Don't talk to C.J. Black. He'll step up his game if you talk to him.' So, other teams stopped talking to me."

Remember what I said about as men get older, the greater they were when they played the game? Well, listen to this windy. I asked Black about his favorite play as a Vol. He took me back to a game in the SEC tournament against South Carolina.

"We were on a 3-on-2 break with Tony Harris running the point," Black said. "He dished over to me and I took off from at least 15 feet from the basket. I was up so long in the air that I switched the ball from my left hand to both hands in midair. I was so high that I was looking down at the basket," Black said with even more laughter."

After Black left UT, he spent four years playing professionally. three of those years were overseas in Australia, France, Germany and Austria. "It was cool to see the world," said Black. "I got to see a lot of neat places on this earth and wouldn't change a thing. Well, except one thing I guess. I was injured all the time. That's why I ended up retiring from the game. It got so frustrating after a while. I ended up coming back to East Tennessee to work for Tate and Lyle in Loudon. I'm getting married in August and am settling down."

Black, like many former Vols, has made East Tennessee his home. It was his plan all along.

"When I was coming out of high school (Chattanooga Brainerd) I was considering five schools: Kansas, Maryland, Wake Forest, Virginia and Tennessee," Black said. "I chose Tennessee because I wanted to make my state proud of me. It was important to be loyal to my state. My dad had always raised me on loyalty. I guess along the way I picked up some of his characteristics. I am proud of what we were able to accomplish. We put Tennessee basketball on the map and had a lot of fun along the way."

Black has many claims to fame. He broke a backboard in a game in high school. He blocked a shot that beat Kentucky in Rupp Arena. And he will always be famous for his sense of humor, and all of the windy stories he can come up with.

Mark Packer hosts the Locker Room, presented by Parkwest Medical Center, on Sunday at 10 p.m. on MyVLT2.

© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.