ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, December 31, 1996 TAG: 9612310082
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
THE LOCAL girls' basketball scene is losing its third coach this school year.
One of Timesland's coaching icons, Northside High School's Marilyn Bussey, has resigned after 16 years running the Vikings' girls' basketball program.
Bussey, whose teams dominated the Group AAA Roanoke Valley District before Northside moved to the Group AA Blue Ridge District in 1989, becomes the third big name in Timesland girls' basketball to retire after this fall's season, following the resignations of Glenvar's Dennis Layman and Lord Botetourt's David Wheat.
Only Martinsville's Carla Giles and James River's Sheila Proffitt have been at their Timesland high school posts longer than Bussey has been at Northside. Counting her years as the junior high coach, Bussey has been at Northside for 24 years. Bussey will continue to teach physical education Northside.
``There were a lot of different factors,'' said Bussey of her retirement. ``One, I needed to simplify my life. Schedules are getting longer. When I started, you didn't have a junior varsity team, so unless you played at Pulaski County, you were always home by 9 or 9:30. Now you don't get home until 11.
``Don't misunderstand, junior varsity teams have been a good addition. Maybe this was the right time. I have good kids coming back. A lot of people say get out when it's not fun anymore. I wanted it to be fun and it is. We had a good year, this was a good group of kids and I felt good about the situation.''
Bussey's team beat Christiansburg 43-32 in October for her 200th victory. Bussey's final record at Northside was 204-144. The Vikings' best years under Bussey came when the school played in the RVD and it was the first school from that league to win a game at Northwest Region power Gar-Field.
The Vikings took two trips to the Group AAA tournament, a rarity for RVD teams from the 1970s to the mid-1980s. The 1987 team had to come back from a loss in the finals of the Roanoke Valley District tournament to play three games in five days for a trip to the state. The Vikings beat Salem 51-40 that year to make the state.
Bussey said burnout also is a factor in dealing with the different focus of high school athletics in the last few years.
``I've had some real concern about some of the changes I've seen in athletics and their emphasis,'' she said. ``I'm from the old school where there's a sense of loyalty about what you do and there is a sense of trust. Some coaches might not be deserving of trust and respect, but I can say our program has always operated on the up-and-up.''
The 200th victory, while important, didn't faze Bussey.
``I feel good about it. The last 100 [victories] took longer than the first 100. When I got the 200th victory, we had struggled and played so badly at Christiansburg. We were in a battle to win and afterwards someone asked, `Wasn't that you're 200th?' I hadn't even thought about it.''
Jim Robinson, Bussey's chief assistant, is likely to be one of the candidates as a replacement.
LENGTH: Medium: 60 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Bussey (headshot)by CNB