 Don Burgess, begins his seventh season as head coach of theBridgewater College Eagles men's basketball team.
This past season, Burgess led the Eagles to a 14-12 overallrecord. Bridgewater defeated Shenandoah, 93-87, in the openinground of the ODAC tournament before losing to Virginia Wesleyan inthe conference quarterfinals at the Salem Civic Center. Prior to arriving at Bridgewater, Burgess was an assistant coachat Division I High Point. His duties included on-court instruction,player development, recruiting, and scouting of opponents alongwith other assigned duties. Burgess was also responsible foroverseeing the development of the team's post players. He wasinstrumental in the development of 2006 Big South Defensive Playerof the Year Issa Konare and two-time Big South Player of the YearArizona Reid. Reid is the only player in Big South history and justthe 97th player in NCAA Division I history to finish his careerwith at least 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds.
Burgess began his coaching career at Radford University as astudent assistant following a stellar playing career with theHighlanders.
He then took an assistant's job at the University of CentralFlorida where he coached from 1996-2000. Burgess coached at CoastalCarolina University for two years before returning to his nativestate as an assistant at Virginia Military Institute where hecoached three seasons before taking the position at High Point.
Throughout his 13-year career as a Division I assistant, Burgesswas well known as a top-notch recruiter. While at VMI, he helpedlure Reggie Williams to the Institute. Williams went on to become atwo-time NCAA Division I scoring champion and is now playing in theNBA. At Coastal Carolina Burgess coached Torrey Butler, 2001 BigSouth Player of the Year and recruited Pele Paelay, 2004-05 BigSouth Player of the Year. While at Central Florida, Burgess coachedMark Jones, who later played in the NBA with the Orlando Magic.
Burgess was a four-year letterman during his playing career atRadford University. He served as team captain as a junior andsenior and was an All-Big South first-team performer during hissenior season. He averaged 12.4 points and 5.2 rebounds while atRadford. He finished his career ranked among Radford's all-timeleaders in points (1,452), rebounds (614), steals (162) and blocks(84). In October of 2013, Burgess was inducted in the the RadfordAthletics Hall of Fame.
He earned his bachelor's degree in business management from Radfordin 1994.
Burgess is married to the former Stephanie Riddlebarger. They havea daughter, Kaley and son, Jadon.
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