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D O N
DEVOE
V I R G I N I A T E C H H E A D C O A C H , 1 9 7 1 - 1 9 7 6
H O K I E
G R E A T S
In 1973, the Hokies shocked the basketball world by
defeating New Mexico, Fairfield, Alabama and Notre
Dame to win the NIT. The win over the Irish in the finals
was capped by a buzzer-beating jumper by Bobby
Stevens to win in overtime, 92-91. To many Hokie fans,
it will remain the most important event in Virginia Tech
basketball history.
The coach of the Hokies was Don DeVoe, in just his
second season in Blacksburg. DeVoe took a group of
experienced players in his first season, built upon that
foundation by teaching strong fundamentals and put the
Hokies on the basketball map.
“I was fortunate at the age of 29 to be named the head
coach at Virginia Tech,” DeVoe said. “I was lucky to
inherit five outstanding seniors. I give credit to those five
seniors in being able to grasp what we were teaching
and believing in what we were teaching. That first team
laid the foundation for what we were to accomplish in
the future.”
DeVoe was fortunate to work with an outstanding
staff, including future head coaches Sonny Smith
(VCU, Auburn) and Jim Hallihan (East Tennessee
State). A graduate assistant on those teams was
Kevin O’Connor, currently the senior vice president of
basketball operations of the NBA’s Utah Jazz and father
of former Tech women’s assistant basketball coach and
player, Katie O’Connor. That group was able to recruit
an outstanding group of players that brought a lot of
excitement to Blacksburg.
“My first staff, Sonny Smith and Jim Hallihan, were great
at finding the type of kids we wanted in our program.
They helped us establish the success that we had and
we were fortunate to have them here,” DeVoe said.
DeVoe coached the Hokies for five seasons, compiling
an 88-45 overall record. He is the fifth-winningest coach
in Tech history and is remembered for being the coach
that started the Hokies on the most prolonged and
successful streak in the school’s basketball history.
“When we left, we were able to leave behind an
outstanding group of players and I know that Charlie
Moir took those outstanding players and was able to
continue the success at Virginia Tech,” DeVoe said.
DeVoe retired following the 2003-04 season as the
head coach at Navy.
It was really exciting to see what was happening
at Virginia Tech. It was exciting to see the people
in the state get excited about Virginia Tech
basketball and football. We enjoyed tremendous
support from the students and the community. The
NIT season, just about every gamewas a full house.
It was an exciting time in Virginia Tech athletics.
- Don DeVoe
Don DeVoe coahed Hokie great Allan Bristow at Virginia Tech.
The Hokies were 52-6 under Don DeVoe in Cassell Coliseum.
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