Concord’s Cox hangs up whistle

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March 4, 2011

By JONATHAN GREENE Bluefield Daily Telegraph The Bluefield Daily Telegraph Fri Mar 04, 2011, 05:00 AM EST

ATHENS — Spending 33 years or half your life at one company used to be the norm.

However, spending 21 years coaching one team is far from the norm these days.

Steve Cox did both while at Concord University.

The men’s basketball coach and director of compliance announced on Thursday he would be retiring and spending more time with his family.

“It’s something I’ve been thinking about for while.” Cox said. “I’ve been here for 33 years and I’ll be 59 this summer. I’ve enjoyed my time coaching and being Concord. It’s something that everyone comes to at some point or another in their lifetime. I feel like it’s the right time for me.”

Cox wrapped up his 21st and final season on the bench for the Mountain Lions with a hard-fought 91-86 loss to Alderson-Broaddus in the opening round of the WVIAC tournament. Concord finished the season with an 11-16 record which included a six-game win streak early in the season.

Yet, it was not the loss at the end of the year that made him decide to hang up the clipboard. Cox made his decision much earlier, but waited until the season was finally over to make the announcement.

“I had made my decision back during the season,” Cox said. “I wanted to wait until the season was over before announcing. I didn’t want the players carrying a burden with them all year long. I wanted them to accomplish everything they could.

“The athletic director (Kevin Garrett) knew a while ago. I was going to announce it after the tournament ended and I wanted to tell the guys first. We played our last game Tuesday and had a meeting on Wednesday and talked to the team. (Assistant) coach Will Johnson will continue to work with the program to help with a smooth transition while the administration to looks for a new coach.”

Cox joined the Concord basketball program in 1978 as an assistant for Don Christie. He was part of the Mountain Lions' WVIAC championship seasons in 1979 and 1989 before becoming the head coach for the 1989-90 season.

Spending half his life on the hardwood, Cox acknowledge this was a difficult decision.

“It’s tough,” he said. “It’s a big decision to finally decide to retire from something. Although, a lot of other people have and they’ve survived it. I’m lucky. I have good health. I’m young enough to do other things. It was hard, but not too hard. It’s a natural progression. The big thing is when and it just came to me that this is time to do it.”

Cox left his mark on the program as he compiled a 336-297 record and won three WVIAC tournament championships in 1991, 1995, and 1997.

“I inherited a great team from coach Christie. We had Ron Ward, Julius Lockett and Todd Lusk who each scored over 2,000 points. I was able to get off to great start. Concord had never won a WVIAC conference tournament prior to coach Christie,” Cox said. “We won it in ‘91, ‘95 and ‘97. We were the first team in Concord history to win a playoff game. Those are good accomplishments. We finished in the Sweet 16 twice.

“I thought those were highlights. Once we moved to Division II, the league changed. I feel like we still had great success. We had a lot of great players. I’ve been blessed with the success overall and the kids we’ve had. I feel good about it. It’s been a good ride for me.”

A ride that included the most career victories (336), single-season wins (28 in 1990-91 season, and single-season WVIAC winning percentage (.842 in 1991-92) when the team went 16-3 in league play and 22-6 overall. Along the ride Cox has made many memories, but none sweeter than the many people from players to opposing coaches he has meet and built relationships with.

“It’ll be the people,” he said of what he will miss the most. “The times, the teams, the coaches — all the time we spent together. You spend hours on the road and in hotels and you build a great bond. You go through hardships, success and failures. It’s all special to me. That’s what I’ll remember the most and miss the most. That’s the special thing.”

Cox will look to finish up in May before settling into retirement. After that, he will hit the golf course with his buddies, and spend time with his grandchildren, mother and wife. He did not rule out returning to work saying “if the right opportunity presents itself, I might do that if it’s part-time.”

As for his replacement, Cox will leave that up to the administration. He will make his recommendation, but knows the university will “make the best decision for Concord.”

When he leaves, he will be leaving home.

“This places has become our home,” Cox said “It’s been a great time. I have nothing but a good feeling about it. Everyone should be so lucky to have a job like that. I’ve one of the few people to do their lifelong dream. Concord was a perfect place for me. The administration was always supportive and always behind me.

“All these jobs come down to the people and I was blessed to be with great people — my mentor Don Christie, Will Johnson, who I’ve worked with in some capacity since 1978 and Randy Jennings, my former assistant, the faculty and staff. It’s been a great run.”

— Contact Jonathan Greene

at jgreene@bdtonline.com

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Concord’s Cox hangs up whistle

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