Hokie ClubAs part of Virginia Tech Athletics' celebration of Black History Month, the department will be sharing compelling stories of its staff and their amazing accomplishments throughout the month. We are reminded in this series that athletics serves as a great equalizer and provides an aspirational narrative and opportunity for all. We continue the series with Virginia Tech Sports Hall of Famer, Ace Custis. In his current role with Tech's men's basketball program as Special Assistant to the Head Coach, Custis has spent over four years overseeing alumni relations and community outreach for the program.
Like many in Blacksburg, Custis has a deep-rooted connection with Hokie hoops.
"On my visit here as a kid, I went to the War Memorial Gym… I saw Quinton Nottingham and some of the players going to work, and I knew that if [Virginia Tech] recruited me, I would go."
Custis couldn't help but feel drawn to Blacksburg. Even from 351 miles away in Eastville, Virginia, his hometown, he still felt surrounded by a culture of maroon and orange.
"Everywhere I went, there were always Hokies talking about Virginia Tech."
Custis was a basketball standout at Northampton High School, on the east coast of Virginia. By 1994, Custis debuted at forward for Tech men's basketball. Then-head coach Bill Foster quickly realized the talent he had recruited from that small town across the Commonwealth, as he helped the Hokies open 1994 with a 10-1 record. It was only going up from there.
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In 1995, Custis was a key piece for the Hokies en route to their second NIT championship in program history. He averaged 15.8 points and 10.5 rebounds per game as a sophomore.
The 1995 NIT Championship is only one of many accolades he collected in his time as a Hokie. In a career where he joined the 1,000-point club, 1,000-rebound club, and at one point, was a top-10 scorer, Custis claims a familial African-American community was a vital part of fueling the success he earned in his time in Blacksburg.
"My five years in Blacksburg were some of the best times of my life. Not only being around my brothers on the team, some of the people around town, some of the community services I was in, I always felt this was a place I could come back to … When given that [coaching] opportunity [in 2019], I jumped on it. I always wanted to be a part of the community, and give back to the university that gave so much to me."
Of all his experiences, who was Custis' most prominent African-American role model? Not a staff member, or even a teammate, but a poet.
Nikki Giovanni is a famed African-American poet and activist, who spent her years teaching English studies at Virginia Tech from 1983, until just this past year, retiring in 2022.
Custis signed up for her classes swiftly upon arriving on campus.
"To get to know her outside of the celebrity that she is, it was eye opening. To see a person of leadership in her role, and the way she embraced the African-American community here, it was a great experience."
When Custis returned to Virginia Tech in the early 2000's, he was pleased to see her continuing the leadership he cherished so much, over a decade later, following the tragedy on Virginia Tech's campus in 2007.
"She touched me the most. And with the experience of April 16th … She stepped up into a leadership role and was a spokesperson for the university during a really trying time."
It's evident that in his education in Blacksburg, Custis viewed Giovanni as an example for why black culture should continue to be celebrated. Inspired by Giovanni's leadership as a young adult, it allows him to reflect upon the importance of educating the youth on the importance of minority representation in light of Black History Month.
"Kids get to have goals for their future, to have role models who give them something to shoot for. They can go to these people in leadership roles for guidance. Continuing to elevate [people of color] into roles of importance can be very impactful, not only here, but abroad as well."
As Virginia Tech's minority community continues to expand, Custis has become a huge proponent of athletics as a tool for promoting diversity.
"In the locker rooms, on the court…you don't see race. There's a lot of diverse backgrounds in the locker rooms. When you form a team of people from all ethnic backgrounds, they come together and it's for one goal."
During Black History Month, Custis has had the time to reflect upon what makes the growing diversity at Virginia Tech so special to him: an unrivaled sense of family.
And there's no hiding that Custis is as much of a family man as a family man can be.
When he isn't working at the Hahn Hurst Basketball Practice Center or talking with co-workers in Merryman, Custis simply enjoys time with his wife, Denedra, and three children, Charles, Adrian (Deuce) II, and Evan. "I spend a ton of time with my family."
You can find Custis at Christiansburg High School for his 12-year old son Adrian, where the Virginia Tech community can "make it a party" for a simple junior-varsity basketball game.
In a community that has provided Custis with so many people and so many achievements, what was his biggest achievement?
Marrying his wife.
Custis met his wife-to-be as an undergraduate at Virginia Tech.
"I've had success on the court, and off the court. I'd say my biggest achievement is marrying my wife. I met her as a student here at Virginia Tech. We dated throughout my time away from Virginia Tech."
Custis feels Denedra was paramount to his prosperity from the moment he met her.
"Marrying her was like the foundation of most of the success I had after basketball."
During a month dedicated to celebrating black history, Custis exemplifies what it means to be selfless. He's a former basketball player, a coach, a Hokie, but most of all, a family man. Always willing to put his kin before him.
He hopes that his work in athletics displays how powerful sports can be, as a device for ethnic harmony, for years to come. When Hokies cheer, they cheer for the common success of other Hokies, a purpose larger than themselves.
"Through athletics, race and other variables are taken out of it, you're one common goal, you're considered as one whole."