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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.
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