In a story from the mid-1990s about Coleman, Mintz is quoted as saying, "When Coleman arrived, he knew so little about basketball, we had to show him the free throw line. But he turned out to be one of the hardest working ball players I ever coached."
Coleman was a coach's dream player, according to Jax.
"He listened to everything we said," Jax said.
Coleman saw limited time off the bench during his freshman year, playing in 19 games and scoring 32 total points for a team that won the WSUC title and advanced to the NAIA national tournament for the first time since before World War II.
Blue Devil guard Willie White took Coleman under his wing. The pair would talk, eat and sleep basketball. White taught him to shoot and how to develop confidence in himself. During the summer, Coleman returned to Cleveland and worked on his game on the blacktopped outdoor courts in his hometown.
Coleman saw his first substantial playing time during his sophomore year, playing all of the games first semester when future Hall of Famer Jim Conley was ruled ineligible. When Conley returned to the lineup for the second half of the season, Coleman returned to the bench. But the 6-foot, 7-inch lanky left-handed forward started to show signs of future success on the court. Coleman played in 20 games, averaging 8.3 rebounds and 8.0 points.
When Coleman returned for his junior year, he captured the starting role and didn't give it back. Jax said. Coleman played 32-plus minutes per game for the next two years and only returned to the bench for an occasional breather.
The raw Coleman was turning into the refined Coleman. Jax said he could run with the best of the guards on the team and was very good at making the inside-outside pivots. "He was very good at the inside-outside, and he was a very smart basketball player," Jax said.
Coleman earned first team all-conference during his junior season, averaging 17.5 points per game - third on the team - and the astounding 19.3 rebounds per game as he pulled down 406 boards in 21 games.
But 1969 is the year remembered by most as Coleman's - and the entire squad's - most glorious year.
Coleman led the Blue Devils to a conference title and the NAIA National Tournament in Kansas City in 1969. That same year, he led the conference in scoring with 338 points, dominated the conference backboards, and was named the WSUC's most valuable player as well as to the NAIA first team, still today the only Blue Devil basketball player ever named a first team All-American.
Coleman had an outstanding national tournament where the Blue Devils defeated Linfield (Ore) College, 113-80, but then bowed out in overtime to Maryland State, 85-83, in the second round game. In the opener, Coleman scored 27 points and pulled down 25 rebounds. In his final game as a Blue Devil, Coleman tossed in 24 points against Maryland and collected 22 rebounds. “That tournament made him an All-American,” Jax said.
He finished his career with 1130 points - fourth on the all-time list - 921 field goals attempted, 449 field goals made, a shooting percentage of .487, and 410 free throws attempted, 230 made for a .560 shooting percentage.
Coleman was drafted by the American Basketball Association's Carolina Cougars and the National Basketball Association's Cincinnati Royals. He chose to go with Cincinnati and survived with the team until the final cut. Jax said he thought Coleman decided to sign with Cincinnati rather than Carolina because the city was in his home state of Ohio and he would be closer to home.
