Posted by - Fri, Sep 8, 2006 - [Men's Basketball] - Viewed 499 times
Kelly Hodge Johnson City Press Sports Editor
Dustin Edwards has taken his passion for basketball to Milligan College.
The former standout at Unicoi County High School and Carson-Newman has been hired as an assistant coach to Tony Wallingford. Edwards comes to Milligan after two seasons as the girls head coach at Madison County High School in North Carolina.
“It seems like I’ve come home,” Edwards said Thursday. “I’ve always wanted to get into college coaching, and I can’t thank Milligan College and coach Wallingford enough. It’s really an honor to work with coach Wallingford. His record speaks for itself.”
Edwards fills the void on the Milligan staff left by Donald Ensor and Richard Thomas, who returned to coaching at Unaka High School after one season with the Buffaloes. The two guided the Milligan program after Wallingford took a medical leave of absence in early January.
The Buffs ended up with a 10-20 record, including 4-17 in the Appalachian Atheltic Conference.
Wallingford, the program’s all-time winningest coach with 329 wins in 17 seasons, says he’s feeling much better these days and looks forward to being back on the bench and working with Edwards.
“We’re real happy to have him,” said Wallingford, who was headed to Kentucky on Thursday in his dual role as men’s golf coach. “I like Dustin’s energy for the game. He has a real passion for it as a coach, and he was an outstanding player at Carson-Newman. He wanted to get involved in the small-college game and get back in the men’s game. This was a good opportunity for him.”
Wallingford and Edwards will have their hands full just sorting out their personnel this fall. There are 19 players on the Milligan roster, some of whom will be playing a limited junior-varsity schedule.
“Dustin will head that up,” said Wallingford. “For us to have him, we had to initiate an abbreviated junior-varsity schedule, so we’ll see how that goes. It’s just the two of us and we gotta figure out how we can get it done. Right now I just can’t give Dustin enough things to do.”
Wallingford would surely like to put a uniform on his 6-foot-8 assistant and let him play. Edwards averaged over 20 points and 10 rebounds as a senior at Unicoi County and was a first-team All-Northeast Tennessee selection by the Johnson City Press in 1998.
He ended up going to Carson-Newman and then on to the California summer pro league.
When his playing days ended, Edwards focused on teaching the game. He says it’s been an adjustment coaching college men after a couple of years with high school girls.
“Basketball is basketball,” he said, “but the game is obviously quicker and more athletic with the guys at this level. We’ve been doing individual workouts and have a lot going on — recruiting, video exchange, running. We’re a month and a half from getting started, and I know it’s coming in a hurry.”
Milligan opens its season Nov. 4 at Rio Grande University in Ohio.
