Baskett's coaching legacy lives on through protege
Nov. 30—ROXBORO — Before the men's basketball game between Vance County and Person High tipped off Saturday, the public address announcer asked the packed gym for a moment of silence to honor longtime Northern Vance coach Wilton Baskett, who passed away earlier this year.
Wearing black patches on their uniforms this season reading "Coach Baskett," the Viper players dropped their heads to remember Baskett, who became Vance County's first men's basketball coach when Northern and Southern Vance merged.
Baskett used to bring his Northern Vance teams every season to what had been known as the Courier-Times Thanksgiving Classic, which started in the 2007-08 school year and wasn't played last year. This year's version of the showcase was limited to just Vance County and Person.
"Him and Coach [Ronnie] Russell were real good friends and that kind of spilled over to me," said Person coach Charles Dacus. "Most every year, it was always [Northern Vance and Person] in the finals. He was a great guy. He helped me a lot when I first became the head coach, helping me navigate through being a head coach."
Dacus remembers when Vance County coach Chad Wilson played under Baskett at Northern Vance, graduating in 2005. So it was fitting that a former Vikings player was leading a Vance County team in its first Thanksgiving clash at Person without Baskett.
"That's good that the torch kind of got passed to him," Dacus said.
"Coming out here every year is always something special," Wilson said. "Over the holidays, the kids and their families come to the game. Coach [Baskett] was good friends with the coach here, as well as the previous coach, so he's got a little history down here playing against Person, for a long time, even back when I was a player.
"We used to come down here and either scrimmage or have a real game. But we always had that connection to Person County."
Dacus recounted Baskett's glory days with the Vikings between 2000-10, when Northern Vance waded deep into the state playoffs, with at least one legitimate championship contender in 2009.
Baskett finished with more than 400 career wins and led Vance County to a 24-6 campaign in its inaugural season, earning conference Coach of the Year honors.
Much of what Baskett sought to implement in his program lives on with Wilson, who said he learned almost everything he knows about hoops from Baskett.
Wilson uses some of the same schematics, including Baskett's patented 1-3-1 zone defense, and preaches discipline, much as his mentor always did.
"Of course I have my own style," Wilson said. "But he raised me, basically. The whole reason I wanted to be a coach was because of him. So his legacy definitely lives on through me."
