Bimbo Coles

Bimbo Coles
	Coles at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay in 1995
Personal information
Born	April 22, 1968 (age 56); Covington, Virginia, U.S.
Listed height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Listed weight	180 lb (82 kg)
Career information
High school	Greenbrier East; (Lewisburg, West Virginia)
College	Virginia Tech (1986–1990)
NBA draft	1990: 2nd round, 40th overall pick
	Selected by the Sacramento Kings
Playing career	1990–2004
Position	Point guard
Number	12, 50
Career history
1990–1996	Miami Heat
1996–1999	Golden State Warriors
1999–2000	Atlanta Hawks
2000–2003	Cleveland Cavaliers
2003	Boston Celtics
2003–2004	Miami Heat
Career highlights and awards
	Metro Conference co-Player of the Year (1988); 3× First-team All-Metro Conference (1988–1990); No. 12 retired by Virginia Tech Hokies;
Career NBA statistics
Points	6,628 (7.8 ppg)
Assists	3,313 (3.9 apg)
Steals	735 (0.9 spg)
	Stats at NBA.com
	Stats at Basketball Reference
Men's basketball
Representing United States
Olympic Games

Vernell Eufaye "Bimbo" Coles (born April 22, 1968) is an American retired professional basketball player who played 14 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Virginia Tech Hokies and won an Olympic bronze medal as a member of the United States national team in 1988. He received his nickname from a cousin in reference to a country music song of the same name.^[1]

Coles was a standout at Greenbrier East High School in Lewisburg, West Virginia. At Greenbrier East, Coles played basketball, baseball and football. Coles was more heavily recruited to play college football than basketball before announcing his intent to play basketball in college.^[2] In football, he was twice named all-state^[3] and once named All-America.^[2] As a shortstop and outfielder, Coles claimed to be selected by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 1986 Major League Baseball draft.^[4] He was recruited to play college basketball at Virginia Tech, Maryland and West Virginia.^[2]

He played college basketball for the Virginia Tech Hokies for four seasons from 1986 to 1990. Coles set the school and Metro Conference records for career points and the school record for career assists. He was inducted into the Virginia Tech Sports Hall of Fame and West Virginia Sports Hall of Fame. He was a member of the United States national basketball team which won a bronze medal in the 1988 Summer Olympics.^[3] Despite not having played baseball since high school, Coles was drafted by the California Angels in the final round of the 1990 Major League Baseball draft.^[5]

His NBA career started when he was selected by the Sacramento Kings in the 1990 NBA draft, and immediately traded to the Miami Heat in exchange for veteran guard Rory Sparrow. After Coles' first of two stints with the Miami Heat, he was traded to the Golden State Warriors, and also played with the Atlanta Hawks, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Boston Celtics. He was utilized primarily as a backup point guard.^[6]

Coles' brother, Sidney, played basketball for two years at Memphis and for two years at Marshall, one of which was under head coach Billy Donovan. In 2000, Sidney was hired as an assistant coach at Wyoming under head coach Steve McClain.^[7] Until 2021, Coles coached at his alma mater of Greenbrier East High School in Lewisburg, West Virginia.^[8]

References