Lavon Driskell has been a staple on the campus of Blue Mountain College for 18 years, but this week the longtime Lady Topper head basketball coach decided to resign his position from BMC.
Driskell, a native of Union, Miss. was first hired at Blue Mountain by the late Johnnie Armstrong, Blue Mountain's first Athletic Director, in 1985. He coached at BMC until 1989 and then moved to the head coaching spot at Mississippi University for Women.
He returned to Blue Mountain in 2006 for his second stint where he would eventually become the Athletic Director in 2007.
Driskell's wife Chris, who served as his assistant, will be following her husband to their next endeavor.
“Chris and I made the decision to resign from BMC because we have felt for some time that God has been leading us in a different direction. We have had a great run where God has blessed us so much, but we want to stay in His will.”
In 2012-13, Driskell and the Lady Toppers won 17 games competing in the Trans-South where he was named the conference's Coach of the Year.
During the 2014-15 season, his Lady Topper team won 15 games and knocked off one of the top programs in the nation at the time during the SSAC Championship tournament, Auburn Montgomery.
His teams have also been recognized by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) as one of the brightest academic programs in America, being named to its Top 25 Academic Honor Roll 10 out of 12 years.
Driskell, who has earned respect throughout the NAIA, Trans-South and Southern States Athletic conferences for his demeanor, Christian values, loyalty, work ethic and basketball knowledge, never compromised on his belief of preparing young players for their futures. His players never rolled the elastic band down on their shorts or pulled them up high on the thighs, fashion statements made by collegiate players today in some leagues. According to many, his teams always looked the part of a basketball program.
On the day he announced his resignation to his team, he used the opportunity to witness for Christ one more time; explaining the “Roman Road” way of salvation just in case his team didn't hear it clearly the many times he presented it before.
“A special thank you to all of those players, managers and coaches who believed in us, BMC and our women's basketball program enough to come and be a part of our program. We thank them for their commitment to make BMC Women's Basketball a team that exhibited excellence in all that we did, from the classroom, on the court and all the people we came in contact with, on campus and on road trips. We had the opportunity to coach some really great people who understood how to 'chase greatness'. Those people made our job rewarding and satisfying.”
The longtime coach, who is known for using the phrase, “Leave it better than you found it,” said that retirement is not in his vocabulary right now.
“We are not retiring but waiting to see where God leads next.”
He continued, “Thank you to President (Harold) Fisher and the late Miss Johnnie Armstrong for taking a chance on us when we first came to Blue Mountain College in 1985, and then Dr. (Bettye) Coward for being willing to give us a second opportunity to coach, work and teach at BMC when we came back in 2006. When Dr. (Barbara) McMillin became president, she gave us the opportunity to have a long tenure of 14 years. I thank all three of them for the opportunity to achieve and live my lifelong goal to be a head women's college basketball coach.
Thank you to the faculty and staff for their assistance and support throughout our tenure. To the coaching staff for their support of me during my tenure as athletic director and for the friendship and support we have for each other as coaches. It is a very special bond.
I would like to extend a special thanks to Commissioner Mike Hall and the SSAC, along with my fellow coaches for their friendship and support over the years.
Thank you to Brett Fowler, sports information director, who has gone above and beyond his job to help and support us. He is a special friend who exhibits friendship and loyalty on a daily basis.”
Current BMC athletic director Will Lowrey commented, “The BMC athletic department and women's basketball program has been fortunate to have been led by a man with such strong character and leadership as that of Lavon Driskell. He has dedicated decades of service in representing Christ through education and athletics. He and his wife Chris have given all of themselves to the betterment of this college. We wish them the best of luck in what God has in store for them in the next chapter of their lives. The Topper family will all miss them greatly.”
BMC President Dr. Barbara McMillin commented, “Only rarely does an institution find an individual who embodies its values and believes in its mission with the commitment, integrity, and loyalty displayed consistently by Coach Lavon Driskell throughout his tenure at Blue Mountain College. On behalf of the administrators whom he has served alongside, the coaches for whom he has modeled excellence, and the many players and fans who have been privileged to call him “Coach,” I offer a heartfelt thanks for his selfless and tireless service to BMC. We pray for God's favor to rest on Lavon and Chris as they embark on a new journey.”
Driskell finished by saying, “Thank you to our fans for your support over the years. We know you could have spent your money somewhere else and we thank you for choosing us and cheering us on through the wins and the losses.
A special thank you to my wife, Chris, who has been alongside me for 35 years. She has done tireless work to assist me in caring for our teams, keeping game statistics, the banquets and awards ceremonies and Meet the Topper days when I was the athletic director, and then who became a volunteer assistant coach on our staff and worked so diligently to give us every opportunity to win.”
