Barksdale ‘can’t wait’ for return to Beckley basketball as assistant

BECKLEY, W.Va. — Legendary Beckley boys basketball coach Dave Barksdale is returning to the Flying Eagles’ bench, joining head coach Ron Kidd’s staff as an assistant.

“When you’ve done something for 47 years like I did – and then to be without it, it’s been awful hard on me. I miss (coaching) and I still love it,” Barksdale said on ‘Radio Roundtable’ with Fred Persinger II on WJLS in Beckley. “I’ve tried to do all I good, doing camps and helping with 2nd and 3rd graders, AAU. Anything I can do in basketball, I enjoy.”

Dave Barksdale

When assistant coach Steve Kidd opted to step down, that opened up the door for Barksdale to return.

“It just worked out to where I had a chance to come back as an assistant,” Barksdale said. “I can’t wait to get in the gym. I still love it.

“People talk about getting burned out or retiring, but I don’t want to retire,” he continued. “If you love something, I don’t see how you ever get burned out on it – and I love basketball. I’m as enthused about it right now as when I first got a job out of college.”

Barksdale spent 17 seasons at the helm with Beckley, leading the Flying Eagles to 11 straight state tournament appearances and five state championships.

He went 335-93 overall during that span, eventually stepping down prior to the 2000-2001 season when then-assistant Kidd took over the program.

It’s a coaching combination between the two that Barksdale is anxious to get back to.

“Coach Kidd does a tremendous job,” Barksdale said. “If you would go one afternoon and watch practice, you wouldn’t think anything but as high as possible of Coach Kidd.”





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