Long-time Hampden-Sydney head coach Dee Vick has joined the James Madison men’s basketball staff as the Dukes’ quality control coordinator for the 2019-20 season, as announced by Head Coach Louis Rowe on Wednesday morning.
Vick joins the Dukes after an 11-year tenure at Hampden-Sydney, his alma mater, where he accumulated 156 victories, second-most of any coach in program history. After returning to lead the Tigers beginning with the 2008-09 campaign, Vick built things quickly, leading H-SC to a 23-5 record, including a 14-2 conference mark, in the 2012-13 season, earning an at-large bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament.
“I’m very excited to make Coach Vick a welcome addition to our staff,” Rowe said. “Any time you get the opportunity to add somebody with his experience in building a program through the ups and downs, it’s a great thing. I’ve always said that if you get the ‘who’ right, the ‘what’ takes care of itself and, in addition to his wisdom, Coach Vick is a good man who will add a great deal to our program and its culture. I’m very thankful to our administration for their support and foresight in helping us make an addition of this caliber.”
“I am very excited to join Coach Rowe and the JMU basketball family,” Vick said. “Through the hiring process, I got a first-hand look at Coach Rowe’s passion and vision for JMU basketball and immediately wanted to be a part of it. It’s an honor to serve him, our student-athletes and an outstanding university like James Madison.”
Immediately prior to his tenure at Hampden-Sydney, Vick spent time in the Colonial Athletic Association at the College of William & Mary as an assistant to legendary coach Tony Shaver from 2003-08. Vick served as the Tribe’s recruiting coordinator and was a vital asset to the rise of Tribe basketball.
In his final season, W&M narrowly missed the first Colonial Athletic Association title in program history, advancing to the CAA title game for the first time ever before falling to George Mason.
The stint was not Vick’s first with Shaver, having both played for and worked alongside the Dukes’ former CAA foe at Hampden-Sydney. In his four years as a player for H-SC, Vick helped lead the team to a combined record of 79-31 (.718), which included a pair of Old Dominion Athletic Conference championships and two appearances in the NCAA Division III Sweet 16.
Upon his graduation, Vick joined his former coach’s staff and promptly picked up where he left off as a player, helping the Tigers to a record of 118-28 (.808) and four Division III NCAA Tournament berths. That included a 29-3 campaign in 1999, when Hampden-Sydney made it to the national championship game before losing to Wisconsin-Platteville in double overtime.
A proven recruiter and strategist, Vick’s 2012-13 team at Hampden-Sydney was hailed as one of the most successful teams in the nation, with the offense ranking first in the nation in scoring margin (+18.4), sixth in assists per game (17.5), first in field goal percentage (51.7), and 15th in scoring (81.5). Hampden-Sydney remained in the limelight, playing on national television in 2015 when the Tigers defeated the Coast Guard Academy in Puerto Rico for the Armed Forces Classic on ESPNU and WatchESPN.
The Tigers continued their travel schedule later in the year as they also played in the prestigious D3hoops.com Classic in Las Vegas then headed to California to play Division I UC Irvine, coached by Vick’s former teammate Russell Turner. Two of Vick’s players went on to become the first and only athletes in H-SC history to play professional basketball.
That year, Vick was also honored at Hampden-Sydney’s 240th commencement ceremony when the Class of 2015 presented him with the Senior Class Award for his meaningful contributions to the students, the College, and the community.
In 2012, Vick was selected to coach the second annual D3hoops.com All-Star Team in Europe. The team dominated match-ups with professional teams in Paris, Amsterdam, and Den Bosch, Netherlands, finishing 11-1.
Earlier in his career, Vick served as recruiting coordinator for Tommy Herrion at the College of Charleston where he helped guide the Cougars to a 25-8 season, advancing to the National Invitation Tournament and winning the Great Alaskan Shootout. Prior to that, Vick was a special assistant to Dave Odom at the University of South Carolina the same year the Gamecocks reached the championship game of the NIT.
Previously, Vick was an assistant coach at East Carolina University for two seasons under head coach Bill Herrion. Herrion is now at the helm of New Hampshire, who will travel to Harrisonburg to face the Dukes on November 23.
A native of Raleigh, N.C., Vick was a standout basketball player at Broughton High School. He and his wife, Krissy, a native of Chesapeake, Va., have three children: Ellie, currently a sophomore attending the College of William and Mary, Sallie, a senior in high school, and Ran, a high school sophomore.
The Dukes return four starters from the 2018-19 campaign, including Third Team All-Colonial Athletic Association selection Matt Lewis and CAA All-Rookie pick Deshon Parker.
https://jmusports.com/news/2019/9/25/dee-vick-joins-mens-basketball-staff-for-2019-20-season.aspx
