By Zach Cooley
Tony Dunford seems to have been born dribbling a basketball. As a freshman at Pulaski County High School, he was a member of the first ninth-grade district tournament championship team and was voted “Most Valuable Player” in the tournament. As a sophomore, he maintained a 14-6 record under junior varsity head coach Mark Hanks. By his junior year, the tides turned a bit.
“For the first time in my career, I wasn’t good enough to start or play,” Dunford recalled. “So, I learned a lot about what it meant to be a truly good teammate.”
By his senior year, he was back on top, being voted his team’s “Defensive Player of the Year.”
“We were a middle of the pack team in a loaded Roanoke Valley District,” Dunford remembered. “There were four seniors on that team including myself.” Under the leadership of future Bluefield College all-star forward Mark Mills, Dunford and his team were solid, despite an undesirable estimated season finish of 12-14.
“We defeated both E.C. Glass and Patrick Henry of Roanoke twice that year,” he pointed out. “That was a rare accomplishment.”
The team to beat, however, was William Fleming with its sophomore, Joe Fitzgerald, who was universally regarded as one of the most dominant players in Virginia basketball history.
A bright future was already being predicted for Fitzgerald in the NBA. Another team to be feared was Cave Spring, led by junior guard Mike Fayed, who went on to a four-year starting career at Winthrop University.
“We finished above them in the league standings,” Dunford remembered. “So, competition was fierce.”
After Dunford expressed an interest in coaching, assistant basketball coach at Roanoke College, Paul Barnard, facilitated a meeting with head coach Page Moir. They developed an immediate connection and Dunford was offered a volunteer assistant coach position. There, he would learn his greatest lessons about coaching and building relationships. He considers Moir and Barnard to be ideal mentors.
“I was a sponge,” Dunford recalled. “It was a very enjoyable experience that I wouldn’t trade for the world.”
Despite other assistant coaching opportunities at Bridgewater, Lynchburg, and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Dunford remained loyal to his mentor and stayed at Roanoke College until Moir retired in 2016.
Immediately upon graduating from Pulaski County High School in 1990, he was offered a job as head coach of the freshmen team at his alma mater, turning down an opportunity to play at Bluefield College. He was only 18 years old.
“I had to grow up really fast,” Dunford said. “I was expected to lead kids just a few years younger than me.”
Quickly climbing the ladder to junior varsity head coach followed by head assistant coach, Dunford accepted a job as head coach in 1998 at Brookville High School in Lynchburg at the age of 26. Having worked under Pat Burns, who moved to George Wythe as head coach, Dunford was offered a job as his assistant in 2016. He accepted, declining a position with Carroll County.
“George Wythe was already good, led by Malik Johnson,” he recollected. “So, I knew it was an opportunity to be a part of something special.”
In his inaugural year with the Maroons, a team he had always wanted to coach, they suffered a 2A state championship loss to Radford, under the direction of Pat Burns.
“If we get a call on a goaltending at the end of the game,” he contended. “I think we win that game.”
More important than being a good athlete, Dunford always encourages his players to be good human beings by searching for opportunities to help others. He says his ultimate goal is helping his players become mature, productive members of society.
“I have a great resource in coaching basketball that allows me to have substantial influence and I hope I make a difference,” Dunford said. “I believe when you become a selfless player and work to become the ultimate teammate, it teaches life lessons.”
That being said, Dunford has nothing but praise for his group of young Wytheville men.
“These are simply a great bunch of kids who I wouldn’t trade for the world,” he noted. “We spend a lot of time together working over the spring, summer and fall and are a huge family.”
Dunford acknowledges the hard work he and his team have jointly invested, but notes it has been a labor of love.
“It’s been a great ride but we aren’t finished,” he stated. “I look forward to watching these players further develop and accomplish their goals.”
Whereas coaches are inclined to measure success by wins and losses, Dunford defines his success via improvement, progress and growth as success.
“I have great desire and passion to give kids opportunities to be successful and create lifelong memories,” he offered in closing. “I simply want to give back what the game has given me. It’s what I know best and I hope, through basketball and with God’s guidance, I can have a positive impact on kids’ lives.”
