THE JOURNEY OF A COLLEGE BASKETBALL COACH


Sept. 28, 2009


Roy Williams, Bill Self, Mike Krzyzewski, Tom Izzo, and many others are certainly household names in the sporting world. Leaders of high powered NCAA Division I men’s basketball programs, these coaches earn multi-million dollar salaries, numerous endorsement deals and travel the country and the world recruiting the best athletes for their institutions. For every Mike Krzyzewski, however, there are countless head and assistant coaches at all levels trying to make their mark and find success and happiness in the world of college basketball. A glance at the highly successful Division III Old Dominion Athletic Conference provides an interesting snapshot of the different paths taken in the journey of a college basketball coach.

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He still lives in the same house he lived in as the ten-year Head Coach at Division III Randolph-Macon College (RMC) in Ashland, Virginia, but when the prime recruiting month of July rolled around this year, Mike Rhoades, first year assistant at VCU, travelled in a slightly different style than he had in years past.

In Rhoades’ words, “At Macon, I drove everywhere and slept on a lot of couches. At VCU, I fly everywhere and stay in Marriotts.”

At the same time that Rhoades was spending his first July travelling the recruiting circuit as a Division I assistant coach, New RMC Head Coach Nathan Davis was hitting the road for the first time as a D-III Head Coach. Randolph-Macon moved quickly to replace Rhoades, welcoming Davis back to his alma mater after he spent eleven years as a D-I assistant at three different Patriot League schools, Navy, Bucknell, and Colgate. Davis and Rhoades are like two coaches passing in the night, both highly respected young coaches pursuing opportunities in the profession they love, not unlike many other coaches nationwide in the spring and early summer. What makes their situation ironic, however, is that after 10 years as the successful mentor at RMC, Rhoades felt the pull to test his talents at a higher level. At the same time, Davis, who had been at the “higher level” for eleven years, jumped at the opportunity to return to RMC as Head Coach.

Rhoades and Davis are not alone in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference in terms of moving between the two levels. Tony Shaver, longtime Head Coach at Division III power Hampden-Sydney College, became the Head Coach at William and Mary in 2003. Though there are others, not many make the jump from D-III Head Coach directly to D-I Head Coach. Conversely, many make the move from D-I to D-III to become Head Coaches. Former long time D-I assistants Don Burgess (Bridgewater), Clay Nunley (Randolph College), Kirby Dean (Eastern Mennonite), Dee Vick (Hampden-Sydney), and Hilliary Scott (Lynchburg) have found happiness as D-III Head Coaches, while Paul Russo (Emory and Henry) also spent some years at the Division I level. Roanoke College’s Page Moir, is perhaps the poster child for leaving the rat race of D-I to build a program at D-III. Moir spent time as an assistant at Western Carolina, Cincinnati, and Virginia Tech before returning to his childhood home as the Head Coach at Roanoke. Moir’s father, Charlie, spent 1967-73 as the Head Coach at Roanoke before moving into the Division I level, serving as Head Coach at both Virginia Tech and Tulane. The younger Moir has completed 21 years with the Maroons and is cited by many coaches in the league as a role model and mentor.

Former D-I assistants Davis, Burgess, and Nunley all proclaim to be more interested in having their own programs at quality institutions than with worrying about what level in which they coach.

“My goal was to be a head coach somewhere where I had the support of the administration and the alumni, and a chance to win. Of course, I had great affection for Randolph-Macon, as an alum,” commented Davis.

Quality of life is a factor mentioned by several coaches in their career decisions. Rhoades was fortunate that he only moved down the road. “At Macon, I lived 7/10 of a mile from the gym, and now I live 17 miles from the Siegel Center (VCU).”

Burgess and Nunley cite quality of life differences in Division III.

“This job provided not just the chance to be a head coach, but also a chance for some stability—the opportunity to lay down some roots. That was appealing,” said Nunley, who spent 4 years as an assistant at Wright State, followed by 5 years at Army, before landing the Randolph job in Lynchburg, Virginia.

After spending thirteen years as a Division I assistant, Burgess greatly appreciates the increased family time his new job provides. “The quality of life is great. We are allowed to be out on the road constantly [recruiting], but most nights we’re back in our own beds. My family had to adjust to having me around. At Bridgewater, our players normally have had between 8-14 days off over Christmas break. These kids get more time off in a year than I did in 4 years as a college basketball player,” said Burgess who played at Radford.

Roanoke’s Moir says, “At this level, you have the opportunity to have a sane family life. We recruit locally—I think I flew three times last year. My last year at Cincinnati, I flew 100,000 miles.”

Coaching is coaching, but there are other differences between the two levels. Rhoades described the whirlwind of his first July as a Division-I coach.

“I think I went from Richmond to Orlando to Ft. Wayne to DC to New York back to Orlando, and finally back to Richmond in something like 48 hours,” recalls Rhoades. As a D-III coach, Rhoades spent his summer “circling names and sending out questionnaires. At VCU, we know who we want and we are already looking at younger kids.”

The D-III mentors notice the difference in recruiting, as well.

RMC’s Davis explains, “Recruiting in D-I is much more intensive. Here, there is more time to spread it out. You’re still out a lot this time of year, but then it slows down, as you wait for applications, financial aid, etc.”

Nunley concurs about recruiting, saying, “You have to adjust to the mentality kids have about D-III. You have to be patient and sort through kids a little more.”

Burgess notes, “Recruiting is the same concept, but we have to be a little smarter and wiser with the kids we look at.”

Reality plays a role in career decisions, too, as noted by Bridgewater’s Burgess.

“There are only so many head coaching jobs in D-I and only so many high major assistant jobs.”

Nunley and Burgess also note a big difference in perspective in Division III athletics. According to Burgess, his players “take academics just as seriously as athletics.”

Nunley played Division III basketball at Goucher College and says, “Having played D-III ball, I respected the purity of this level—kids are here for the right reasons.”

There is certainly some irony evident in the career moves made by many of these coaches. Rhoades, who was highly successful as the head coach at Randolph-Macon, has been involved in potential D-I head coaching positions in the past, but was often told that his lack of experience on the D-I level was an issue. He is now gaining that experience at VCU. Burgess, a finalist for the Radford job, and candidate for others in the past, heard feedback that his lack of head coaching experience was a drawback. Obviously, he is now gaining that experience.

Of the recent trend of D-I assistants becoming Head Coaches in the ODAC, Page Moir comments, “When I first came to Roanoke, there were a lot of professors that were also Head Basketball Coaches on this level. Now that people are more interested in winning, it makes coaching at this level much more attractive. At the Division III level, you still have to win, but it’s more like a game, while it’s more like a business at the Division I level.”

There are certainly opportunities to make your mark on the profession at all levels. Moir, for example, currently serves on the board of directors for the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC). Among his colleagues on the board are Tom Izzo, Bill Self, Mike Brey, and others.

So the next time one of the big-time D-I coaches is in the news, remember, there is also some outstanding coaching taking place in Division III. VCU’s Rhoades will most likely continue to move up the coaching ladder and become an outstanding D-I Head Coach someday, but he will undoubtedly look back on his days as a D-III coach with great memories. Davis, Burgess, Nunley and others may one day get the urge to move back to D-I after gaining valuable head coaching experience at the D-III level; or maybe they will, as Page Moir did, find a home coaching true student-athletes in Division III.



Brian Doyle is an Assistant Principal and Associate Head Coach at Centreville High School in Clifton, Virginia. Prior to becoming Assistant Principal, Doyle was a high school head coach for thirteen years. Brian also serves as member of the voting panel for the prestigious Hugh Durham National Coach of the Year Award.