The Citadel coach Duggar Baucom collapses on the court in Monday’s game at Duke
The Citadel head basketball coach Duggar Baucom collapsed near his team’s bench, causing a delay 63 seconds into his team’s game against No. 5 Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium Monday night.
In pain but able to maintain consciousness, Baucom was transported to Duke University Hospital for evaluation. Associate head coach Jack Castleberry, who assumed head coaching duties for the remainder of Duke’s 107-81 win, said medical reports for Baucom were positive.
“All things considered, as good as it can be,” Castleberry said. “We are hearing that things are positive. He’s in good spirits.”
Baucom is expected to travel home to Charleston, S.C., with the team on Tuesday.
Baucom, who has dealt with a serious heart condition for decades, fell to the floor near his team’s bench. The Citadel had just scored its first basket of the game at the opposite end of the court.
The 61-year-old Baucom was on the floor between the edge of the official scorer’s table and the first seat of The Citadel’s bench.
Castleberry described the situation as “terrifying.”
“He was coherent the entire time,” Castleberry said. “But he just said that he was in pain. You could tell by the look in his eyes that was genuine and that’s the toughest dude that I’ve been around.”
Medical personnel immediately surrounded Baucom while the sold-out crowd sat silently.
Walking but unsteady on his feet, Baucom was helped off the court by medical staff to a standing ovation from the 9,314 in attendance.
A Charlotte native, Baucom graduated from North Mecklenburg High School. According to a 2009 Sports Illustrated story, Baucom worked as a police officer, including a stint as an N.C. state trooper, before suffering a heart attack in 1990. He had a pacemaker inserted in his chest and, in 2006, an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) replaced the pacemaker.
After his recovery from his heart attack, he graduated from UNC Charlotte in 1995. He coached the AAU Charlotte Royals for three seasons and spent one season on Davidson’s staff.
Baucom had stints as an assistant coach at Mars Hill and Western Carolina before becoming head coach at Division II Tusculum in Greeneville, Tennessee. From there he became head coach at Virginia Military Institute, where his 151 wins in 10 years is an all-time record at the school.
The Citadel hired him as its head coach on March 30, 2015.
This story was originally published November 22, 2021 at 9:23 PM.