Men's Basketball Southern Conference

VMI Hires Assistant Basketball Coach

Lexington, Va. - Don Burgess, a former Radford University standout forward,
has joined the VMI basketball staff as an assistant coach.

Burgess comes to VMI from Coastal Carolina University where he served the
past two years as an assistant coach on the staff of former VMI assistant
coach Pete Strickland.

While at Coastal Carolina, Burgess served as the Chanticleers' recruiting
coordinator and handled other coaching duties including game preparation,
student-athlete academic support, and coordinating CCU's camps and clinics.
Burgess helped coach Coastal Carolina's Troy Butler, who was the 2001 Big
South Player of the year and an honorable mention All-America selection.

Burgess also coached previously as an assistant coach at the University of
Central Florida and served on the staff of Kirk Speraw. He helped coach the
Golden Knights' Mark Jones, who earned both Freshman of the Year and Player
of the Year in the then Trans-America Athletic Conference, now Atlantic Sun
Conference.

Burgess compiled an outstanding career for the Radford Highlanders from 1990
to 1994, and served as a student assistant coach in 1995 while he earned his
degree in Business Management. As a player, Burgess averaged 12.4 points and
5.2 rebounds per game for his 117-game career. An All-Conference selection
as a senior, he finished his career ranked in the Radford top five all-time
in points (1,452), rebounds (614), steals (162) and blocks (84). A versatile
forward, he still holds seven school records, including a .402 shooting
percentage from 3-point land (94-of-234).
Burgess was an All-Big South selection in 1993-94 and was named captain and
MVP of the Highlander squad his senior year. He represented Radford on the
Big South All-Star team that toured Russia for two weeks in the summer of
1993.

Burgess is a native of Harrisonburg, Virginia. He is married to the former
Stephanie Riddlebarger, who is a 1995 graduate of Radford with a degree in
Elementary Education. The couple has one daughter, Kaley, who was born June
2001.

"We are extremely pleased to have Don join our staff," said VMI head coach
Bart Bellairs. " He has valuable experience as both a player and a coach at
two Big South institutions which will help us greatly when we move to that
league in 2003-04."

Burgess joins Grafton Young as new assistant coaches on the VMI basketball
staff. Young joined the staff in July after serving as head basketball coach
at Newberry College for nine seasons. He also served as the school's
athletic director from 1995-2000.

This will mark Young's second tour of duty at VMI. He was an assistant coach
for two seasons under Joe Cantafio in 1988 and 1989 and was on the bench
when the Keydets reached the Southern Conference championship game in 1988.
Young then went to East Tennessee State where he was a part of three
Southern Conference championship teams.