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Photo courtesy of Christina Wolfe
has unlimited potential and an unintentional
comedic timing. The baby brother of the
squad, jointly cared for by the group, he
continues to learn the game and the culture
simultaneously.
The “D-League” is the affectionate title
of the team’s scout team. A combination of
players rehabbing to return and those whose
most glorious moments come in testy practice
battles, designed to harden the whole. Kerry
Blackshear represents the former, a future
force. Devin Wilson returned after a dalliance
with football. Tyrie “Pig” Jackson hopes to
man the point some day. LeDay’s younger
brother, Seth, nicknamed “Junior,” is a
leaper, not quite ready to inherit his brother’s
kingdom. Matt Galloway, the manager turned
walk-on, earned a scholarship, a reputation
and occasional playing time through his reps.
Nick Fullard bangs bodies for the satisfaction
of getting better, and Greg Donlon is a model
of physical discipline if not basketball ballet.
The coaching staff reflects the team
itself—an eclectic mix. Coach likes to have
an old guy, a fired guy, a young guy and a
star in the making. Some fit multiple bills,
but all those roles are represented in Steve
Roccaforte, Jamie McNeilly, Christian
Webster and Jeff Reynolds. Strength coach
David Jackson and twin brother Jim once
served as the backbone of the Hokies in a
prior era. A portrait of maximizing physical
ability through hustle and heart, “Jax”
preaches lessons in toughness. Team trainer
Ernest Eugene has the players’ respect and
admiration—each equally difficult to obtain.
DevinJohnson,LyleWolfandCaraJacobsen
keep the trains—and planes—running
on time. The job requires patience. Josh
Chambers cultivates a new-era image, while
graduate assistant Joe Fulce trades his
sneakers for a video camera to document the
journey. Nick “Lucky” Buchanan stands as the
Coach’s body man, assuring the efficiency of
time in a turbulent existence.
Team chaplain E.L. Smiling is aptly
named. A talented pastoral prodigy, he also
possesses a nasty crossover. Bruce Garnes
manages the program’s equipment—and
morale. Kendrick Gholston keeps the players
academically focused through the rigors of
athletics pressure, while Elizabeth Bahret
manages Buzz’s Bunch—Coach’s lifelong
passion project to help children, who, in turn,
help him.
Student managers Sean “Diddy” McClurg,
Justin “Acuff” Ammermann, Francis “Pope”
Duggan, Mike “Cocoa” Reutt and Justin
“General” Swartz are the lifeblood of the
program, and also hold it down on the
managers’ game circuit. Watch them snap into
action at any given moment.
Coach adores photography and chronology,
intent on not leaving any moment left in time.
So Christina Wolfe diligently snaps away,
Mike Burnop and I provide the soundtrack
and Bill Dyer notes the historical perspective.
Incredibly, the largest cultivator of Coach
takes a backseat publicly while holding it all
together. Coach calls wife Corey “the real head
coach of the team,” and she is omnipresent
in all family endeavors (immediate and
extended) , along with his four children (Zera,
Calvin, Mason and Addyson). In fact, so are all
the significant others, parents, children and
extended families. And, of course, the tribe
has elders to lean on in “Big” Fred Wasson and
Coach Robert Orr.
It boils down to this. Everyone has a seat
on the bus for a reason, and everyone in those
seats needs this family. Need trumps want, as
evidenced in Tech’s success in tight games.
Coach lovingly refers to the family as the
“folk band,” which seems appropriate. And
the folk band, which began with a Buzz,
has found a mainstream sound. So grab an
instrument, Hokies, the band is about to head
out on its March Madness Tour. And as Coach
would say, “this time of year, it all starts with
one more.”
Tech’s basketball family members put the needs of others over themselves,
and that trait has led to successes during Buzz Williams’ tenure.