‘My beautiful chin’ is the inspiration for UK assistant coach’s nickname
New Kentucky assistant coach Ron “Chin” Coleman said he must have told the story of how he got the nickname a thousand times. So, Saturday marked the 1,001st.
He got it as a child growing up in Chicago. A friend named James (aka “E.T.” as in the Extra-Terrestrial) gave him the name.
“I guess it’s because of my chin,” Coleman said before adding, “my beautiful chin. And so it stuck with me ever since I was a kid.”
He went by “Chin” as a college player first for Weber State, and then Lamar. He scored 1,316 points in three seasons for Lamar.
Once his playing career ended after seven seasons overseas, Coleman turned to coaching and tried to lose the nickname.
“I thought, like, it’ll be more professional if I kind of got rid of my street name … but I couldn’t get rid of it.”
As a beginner assistant coach at Colorado State, Coleman went by “Ron.” “It lasted a hot week,” he said.
Then Colorado State Coach Tim Miles advised Coleman to stick with the more distinctive “Chin.”
“Everywhere he went, it was this persona: Chin,” Miles told The Chicago Tribune last year. “It’s like Madonna or Pele. He’s calling himself Ronald? ‘No, dude. Chin, who you are is perfect. None of this Ronald stuff. No Ron. It’s Chin. Chin!’”
Now, some family members know him as “Chin.”
“They don’t know me as ‘Little Ronald,’ which is what my mom calls me,” he said.
Haberdasher
Coleman comes to Kentucky with a reputation as a fashion maven.
In speaking with reporters after a UK youth camp session Saturday, Coleman said his fashion sense extends beyond suits.
“You can’t be called a haberdasher if you can just put on a suit,” he said. “I can put on a suit. I can ‘street wear’ is what they call it. I can dress down. I got it all.”
Coleman uses a tailor. “So all my suits and shirts and ties and socks and all that stuff is tailor-made,” he said.
He added that his broad shoulders make shopping off the rack impossible.
“I can get rid of everything else,” he said. “I can slim down. I can keep a slim waist. But the shoulders aren’t going anywhere. They don’t have a diet for shoulders.”
The Chicago Tribune noted that Coleman’s custom-made suits feature “fine European threads.” He also had a thing for pocket squares and bright socks that slide into leather Ferragamo loafers.
Equipment managers at Illinois were known to check with Coleman about pregame warm-up outfits for players.
Coleman approved Brad Underwood’s attire before the Illinois coach came on court for a game.
“I gave Coach Underwood some swag,” Coleman said. “I used to do his pocket squares for him.”
He was asked if he would be giving UK Coach John Calipari a wardrobe upgrade.
“I think Cal, he’s good money,” Coleman said. “I don’t have to do anything with Cal.”
Coleman lamented the cost of keeping fashionable.
“I’ve got a problem with shopping,” he said. “And it’s very expensive.”
He saluted Lexington for not having a high fashion store like Gucci’s within walking distance. Yes, he said, he’s transitioned to online shopping.
“I never was a guy who shopped online because I like to be able to see the stuff, feel it and touch it,” he said. “Man, I shop so much online now, it’s a shame.”
‘I am Chicago’
Coleman grew up in Chicago. He went to South Shore High School in Chicago.
As an assistant coach, he worked on staffs at Bradley (Peoria, Ill.), Illinois-Chicago and Illinois.
Coleman also coached for the Chicago-based AAU program known as Mac Irvin Fire, where he helped develop Jabari Parker and Jahlil Okafor. Other products of the program include former UK players Antoine Walker and Nazr Mohammed.
To augment his income, he also worked at the Chicago Public Schools central office, where his duties included placing substitute teachers.
“I am Chicago,” said Coleman before adding that his recruiting contacts extend far beyond the Windy City.
“Chicago is my footprints,” he said. “But I’m not just only Chicago. I think I am a little bit more than that because I have relationships all over the country, and even abroad.”
Coleman said he has recruited players in Belgium, the former Soviet republic of Georgia, Nigeria and Sudan.
“In this particular field, you’ve got to connect the dots wherever they’re dribbling balls. Not just where they’re dribbling balls in Chicago. … I think I have a long reach and it’s all about relationships.”
Do not typecast
Coleman said he does not want to be typecast as a recruiter. He said he had two interviews for head coaching jobs this offseason before deciding to accept a position on Calipari’s Kentucky staff.
“I chose Kentucky because it’s Kentucky,” he said. “I know that’s very cliché and very simple to say. But Kentucky is different. It’s Kentucky. There’s no other place like Kentucky. … I think Kentucky is the crème de la crème.”
Transfers, too
In assessing a recruiting class, the judgments should include transfers, Coleman said.
With the transfer portal nearing 1,700 players, players from other colleges will be a regular part of recruiting into the future.
“You can’t swim against the current,” Coleman said. “You have to swim with the current.”
