The very first time Jim Yarbrough stepped on the Southeastern Louisiana campus, he was excited about the possibilities of its basketball program. Of course, that visit found him as part of the College of Charleston coaching staff in town to play Southeastern during the 1994-95 season. At that point the College was one of the biggest mid-major names of the decade. During his tenure, Yarbrough would be part of the unprecedented success – 153 wins and only 28 losses in six years, two trips to the NIT, three to the NCAA Tournament and historic battles against college basketball’s elite, with wins over UAB, Arizona State, Stanford, Maryland, UMass and North Carolina. But on a January night in 1995, standing in Southeastern's University Center, he thought, “Why not here?”
Yarbrough has viewed every coaching stop in the past 26 seasons as an opportunity. He brought his high energy level to his first position as the boys eighth grade coach and varsity assistant at The Bolles School in Jacksonville, Fla. (1987-93). His junior high team didn't fare as well as he would have liked, but the varsity team began a remarkable run, going to three state final fours in six years and winning a pair of state championships.
The passion and teaching ability Yarbrough would take from here led him to several great friendships important to his career. His first was Buddy Ward, head coach at Bolles, whom he credits with modeling the art of teaching the game of basketball.
“I've always been around great people who helped me arrive to another level, and Buddy was the first,” Yarbrough said.
Dr. Harvey Bernhardt was the second. Not just a friend, Bernhardt was just as passionate about hoops as Yarbrough.
“Harvey was looking for someone young and able who could help him realize his ambition of bringing basketball notoriety to players in the Jacksonville area via the AAU circuit,” Yarbrough said. “We had a ball, and I thank Doc for giving me the chance to apply my craft and coach on such a great stage.”
During Yarbrough's six-year stint at Bolles, which included four summers with Team Jacksonville AAU, he made important contacts at the next level. One was a young assistant at Davidson College named Don Hogan.
Don was recruiting several players from Bolles, allowing the pair to develop a relationship. When Hogan was named head coach at the University of West Florida (Pensacola, Fla.) he asked Yarbrough to help him get things started (1993-94).
“Don was starting a program from scratch and was looking for someone who knew Florida well,” Yarbrough said. “I am still very honored that he gave me the opportunity to become a college coach and help build a program from the onset. Don involved me in all aspects of this profession and helped accelerate my understanding of how the next level worked.”
Yarbrough was not destined to be in Pensacola long. In the summer of 1994, he bumped into a coaching acquaintance from his years on the high school and AAU scene – College of Charleston coach John Kresse. Back in the summer of 1989, while Yarbrough was coaching Team Jacksonville, Kresse sat in on several practices, watching future Cougar Rusty Palmer and admiring the young coach running practice.
Palmer would go from Team Jax to being one of the Cougar captains during their first NCAA appearance. In 1994, Yarbrough would be asked to join the College of Charleston coaching staff.
“It was literally a dream come true,” Yarbrough said. “To move to a Division I position, to join the staff of someone like John, with his stature and a program on the rise – it was an unreal moment. Being a part of John's staff was like being part of a Ph.D. program for basketball, night and day, the business of basketball. And John, like others I had worked for, gave me responsibility and room to be a part of every detail. He was a mentor and a friend, and he handed down a great blueprint for success.”
Indeed, Yarbrough learned Cougar-style basketball so well that Kresse named him associate head coach in 1998, the only one Kresse ever had.
At 36, Yarbrough, who had been maximizing his coaching and recruiting efforts in Charleston, was ready to put his own blueprint into motion. In 2000, Valdosta State was searching for a new head coach to reinvigorate and restore its program's sagging tradition. When Yarbrough arrived, the Division II school had not participated in the NCAA Tournament since 1978.
In only his second season, Yarbrough was able to establish his vision and traditions for success. The team was 24-8 and went all the way to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. For his efforts, Yarbrough was one of the eight finalists for national coach of the year and was named South Region Coach of the Year.
“After receiving the news of the honors, I came home to dinner and my son, Jack, whom I'm sure had coaching from his Mom to say something nice when I arrived home, very lovingly congratulated me for being named Coach of the 'Ear'! That cracked us all up and put it all into proper perspective.”
The Blazers kept winning, Yarbrough kept fine-tuning his blueprint and finished the 2003-04 campaign ranked third in the nation. VSU hosted the NCAA's South Regional, and the Blazers finished the year with a 25-4 record. Again, Yarbrough was named South Region and Gulf South Conference Coach of the Year.
In May of '05, the journey seemed to come full circle when Southeastern head coach Billy Kennedy left unexpectedly for the University of Miami.
“Suddenly a job I coveted was open, and with the help of former colleagues, the planets aligned just right to fulfill a lifelong ambition to coach on the great stage of Division I basketball and at an institution I really had been spiritually connected to for some time,” Yarbrough said.
During his eight-year tenure, Yarbrough has done an excellent job of keeping the program very competitive. His 121 career victories place him just out of second place on the school's all-time wins list, and a .508 winning percentage is the best of any coach in Southeastern history.
The program has taken on schools at the high-major level and competed remarkably well with the likes of Ole Miss, Minnesota and Alabama. More importantly, under his leadership the Lions have finished the job with victories over Mississippi State (in only his third game), Oregon State and Penn State (both in year two). Although the Lions have not recaptured the historic ride of the 2005 NCAA season, they have stayed in the upper echelon of the rugged Southland Conference.
“This is truly an exciting and unprecedented time of growth for our program and this university,” Yarbrough said. “We have work to do to bring all aspects of the program to a steady and reliable foundation, and put this program on the basketball map. But we get closer to the finished product each and every day. Our blueprint is defined by tremendous organization and energy to all the details that create a long term tradition – academic excellence, recruiting, personal relationships, player and team development and building ties to the greater community. Our staff and players are committed to these ideals.”
Interestingly, some of the coaching opportunities Yarbrough has been offered over the past 22 seasons have been questioned by colleagues and others.
“Someone might say, 'Can you win there?', “Is that the right level?' or 'That's not a whole lot of money,' and I always smile and begin to explain about the facilities and potential,” Yarbrough said.
Confident and a builder by nature, Yarbrough can't help but see the value in each player he coaches and each person he works with, and he realizes every 'big' win for the program, in conference or out, and every drop of sweat gets the Lions closer to their desire for ultimate respect and the joy it brings for everyone involved.
“My seasons of experience have shown me that we want to build a total philosophy here at Southeastern,” Yarbrough said. “Where our players stay close long after their experience here and they go back to their communities to be successful. That really is my goal.”
