Published: October 16, 2006 11:27 pm      

Bronze medal still near, dear to Coles

LEWISBURG — Bimbo Coles was one of the top prep basketball players every to play in this area. The former Greenbrier East standouts is still acknowledged as one of the top athletes of his generation from West Virginia.

He went to Virginia Tech and started at point guard for four years and would finish as the school’s all-time leading scorer.

But even during that spectacular run, Coles had no clue just how good he was.

He’d find out, putting together a 14-year NBA career that saw him named a captain for all five teams on which he played.

He won an NBA championship as an assistant coach with the Miami Heat last season.

Yet it’s that bronze medal that serves as a reminder of when he realized he could play basketball at the highest level. And why that bronze medal means more to him than any of the other hardware he’s collected along the way.

But that was not what was on his mind as a sophomore at Virginia Tech.

“I just never thought about it in those terms,” Coles after speaking at the Greenbrier Rotary Club luncheon Monday afternoon. “I had no idea what stage I was on. I never knew how good I was. Maybe I’m different, but going to the pros, I really never had an idea about that until after the Olympics. ”

That would be the 1988 games in Souel, South Korea. Coles and his mates won a bronze metal.

To think, Coles didn’t even want to go.

He got his name out there as a sophomore at Tech, when he absolutely broke down the vaunted Georgetown full-court press. He had 16 assists and continually dribbled through what was thought to be a nearly impenetrable defense.

“I just remember getting the ball and dribbling through the press,” Coles said. “I was a breakout game for me, I guess.”

Georgetown coach John Thompson, tabbed to coach the U.S. team, was impressed.

“After the game, I remember walking off the floor and shaking his hand and he said, “Terrific game, we’ll be in touch with you later.”

Coles had no idea what he meant.

What he meant was an invitation to the U.S. tryouts in Colorado Springs that summer.

“When I got my invitation, I didn’t know what it was all about,” Coles said. “Being out there, it was 96 of the best players. It was an unbelievable experience.”

Still, he had railed against going to Korea.

“I didn’t want to go,” he said. “They were taking the team to Europe for three, four weeks. I’d been out in Colorado Springs for a week. I didn’t know anybody. I missed my girl friend (Wesley, later his wife). They had to talk me into going.”

It would have been easy for Coles to tank the tryout. But that wasn’t in his makeup.

“They threw me out there to guard Rex Chapman full-court and I remember just locking him up, he couldn’t get the ball passed halfcourt,” Coles said. “At that time it wasn’t about anything other than competing. I guess that’s what made me player I was, just competing all the time.”

And why the Olympics is an experience he’ll always hold near and dear.

“The world championship hasn’t sunk in yet,” Coles said. “Maybe that’s because I wasn’t a player, but a coach. I did a lot of the scouting. I’ll always treasure the Olympic experience because it made me realize there was something else out there for me as far as basketball was concerned and how I felt about myself as a player after the games.”

Coles on a few other subjects:

--- On playing against WVU, especially Oak Hill’s Tracy Shelton and Boomer native Steve Berger.

“Matching up against them meant a lot,” Coles said. “We played against each other in high school. Steve Berger struck me out in baseball. And Tracy Shelton’s team beat mine in the sectional tournament when I was a senior. Playing against them in college was kind of like high school again. I wanted to beat them.

“Especially Tracy. A lot of people thought he was better than I was. A lot of that was because he was going to West Virginia University so a lot of people thought he was better than me. When it came down to it, he wasn’t.”

--- On junior high coach Peck Dorsey, who was at Monday’s Rotary meeting: “Mr. Dorsey was like a father figure to me growing up. Not only did he teach me how to get the best out of my talent, but he taught me the importance of my teammates, how to make them better. Not only that, but the importance of being a good person.”

--- On the NBA’s troubled image: “If you follow some of these kids backgrounds, you’ll understand some of the trouble they get into. A lot of these kids haven’t had the background that I’ve had. They didn’t have the following of people that helped make me successful and they aren’t from a place like Lewisburg. These kids are from the ghetto. They don’t have parents and they don’t have role models to help them understand what they’re going through. Really the biggest problem is they didn’t have a decent upbringing and they’re put in a position where they’re by themselves and they’re given millions of dollars. When you’re in the position, you think you’re invincible. You don’t know what the real world is about.”

--- Coles said his dream in high school was to go to WVU and play football and basketball. He ended up going to Tech and toyed with the idea of doing both.

Now, he’d like to give golf a try.

“I thought about doing nothing but playing golf for two years and seeing where I’m at by the end of that time,” said Coles, whose low round is 69. “But it would take too much time. I want to spend more time with my kids.” He has five children.

— E-mail: demorrison@

register-herald.com