VMI Q&A: Men’s basketball coach Duggar Baucom

By Chris Lang

Published: August 5, 2008

The final of three VMI Q&As is with Keydets basketball coach Duggar Baucom, who has put VMI in the national spotlight with a fast-paced offense that’s produced the nation’s leading scorer the last two years. That player—Reggie Williams—is gone, but Baucom expects the Keydets to run more than ever this season.

I have to apologize to Duggar, however. It seems like whenever we’re paired together in golf tournaments, we don’t fare too well. That’s all my fault, though, not his. On the interview:

N&ASo you say you’re a 7-handicapper?

DB: (Laughs) Well, I’m supposed to be. I am in May and June at least.

N&A: What’s your golf background?

DB: I never picked up a club until I was 25.

N&A: Really?

DB: I started playing when I was 25, back when I was a policeman. Some buddies and I would play on our days off. My dad grew up playing, but I never played a round with him. He died when I was 20, so we never got to play. So I started playing when I was 25, and I love it. It’s sort of my passion now.

N&A: Self taught, or did you take any lessons?

DB: Nah, I’ve never taken any lessons. I don’t know anybody who can do anything with that swing. (Laughs)

N&A: Tell me a little bit about the tapes of Loyola Marymount and La Salle that you have in your office? (In the 1980s and 90s, those schools were the offensive juggernauts of Division I hoops.) What got you interested in that style of play?

DB: I just think what coach (Paul) Westhead was able to do with those players, the style that was played, how they were always attacking and putting pressure on the other team, I’ve always liked that. We kind of wanted to emulate a little bit what they do. And we’ve tried to. I’m hoping this year maybe we’ll be even more like Loyola Marymount than we actually were last year. We’re going to be small again, but we’ll have better shooters. We’ve actually been able to recruit to this style. Even last year, the four kids we signed early were recruited to a different system.

The two we signed late last year were better shooters, including Austin Kenon, who’s one of the best 3-point shooters around.

N&A: Did you get that guy, that Jeff Fryer type who can shoot from the corner?

DB: Austin Kenon is going to be my Jeff Fryer. Actually, I have to make a little adjustment. Jeff Fryer was a 6-3 white guy, Austin Kenon is a 5-10 black kid. So they’re a little different.  But I guarantee you Austin can shoot as good as Jeff can.

N&A: So is Austin completely eligible again? (He missed the second half of last season with academic issues.)

DB: He took care of business in the classroom. He was one of our top students during the second semester. He just got a couple of unfortunate breaks the first semester, a couple of things out of his control. He rebounded and kept his wits about him.

He’s done great in the classroom and terrific on the court. He’s a terrific kid from a terrific family. Any time a kid becomes ineligible and the family still comes to every game, that says something for the character of the family. So he’s back, and everybody’s excited about it.

N&A: So you were a policeman?

DB: For nine years. In ‘83, I started a law enforcement career. I was a city policeman in Charlotte for five years. I was a state trooper in North Carolina for four years. On Christmas day of ‘91, I had a heart attack, and they wouldn’t let me come back to law enforcement. So I went back, got my degree at UNC Charlotte and started coaching.

Coach (Bob) McKillop at Davidson gave me my first job. When I was in law enforcement, I was a resource officer in Charlotte, and I coached at my alma mater, North Mecklenburg. So that’s how I got an interest in coaching. I got to know coaches. I worked camps all summer, and coach McKillop at Davidson gave me my first opportunity. I think it was exactly nine years later that I got my first head coaching job.

N&A: At Tusculum?

DB: I was there two years. I was fortunate to have some good kids and they listened. We won two (conference) championships there and went to the NCAAs.

N&A: Did you think you’d get your first Division I job so quickly?

DB: No, and I feel very fortunate. There’s only 337 of us. Age-wise, I wasn’t very young. But in terms of how long I’d been in the business, it happened pretty fast.

N&A: Have your players ever seen the police officer side of you?

DB: Uh-huh. Yeah. They do. They see the disciplinary side every now and then. That was a fun life. I still have buddies in Charlotte and I appreciate the guys out there doing what they do. I have a lot of them coming to our games when we’re down at Winthrop or at High Point, guys will travel and see us play. I get e-mails from them. So it’s nice to stay in touch with those guys.

N&A: What’s it like having your wife work in the athletics department? (Sherry Baucom is VMI’s senior woman’s administrator.)

DB: I was in Vegas recruiting, and she called me and told me she got a promotion. She was just named associate A.D. I told her I was so proud of her, and that’s awesome. And I said you can say whatever you need to be about folding clothes or emptying the trash or mowing the yard, but don’t yell at me at work. I get enough flak from people at VMI. I don’t need to hear it from my wife. (Laughs)

I tell you what, she’s one of the most valued employees at VMI. She has a tough job as an academic advisor for athletes. She’s in charge of eligibility, and she works with our women’s issues on the athletics side. She knows every athlete there and does a great job. I’m proud of her. I think she has a career in athletics, so one of these days when I ride off into the sunset, I can go where she goes.

N&A: Appreciate the time, Duggar.