April 07, 2019 at 03:23AM
MLB Opening Day Sale
60% off - for the WHOLE season
"Coach, we only have four."
"You got four players — total."
"Yeah."
"Hey, D-Long. Call up Nell Holmes."
It's Dec. 11, 2011 and Chris Beard has just told David Long, the assistant coach of the South Carolina Warriors, to call a player who didn't make the team so that he could be the fifth player on the Fayetteville Flight, the team the Warriors are supposed to play.
"Hey Nell," Long says to the voice on the other line. "Can you come to the Myrtle Beach Convention Center?"
When Holmes arrives, he puts on a Fayetteville Flight uniform and plays the whole game. The Warriors get the win.
Such was the life for Chris Beard less than eight years ago. Look at the history of coaches and their rise through the ranks and you won't find any story as great as Beard's. His journey to this year's Final Four with Texas Tech is nothing short of amazing, with stints that included Arkansas-Little Rock, Angelo State, McMurry, and, yes, the South Carolina Warriors, a Myrtle Beach-based team in the ABA, all since 2011.
Dispatched from Lubbock after 10 years as an assistant at Texas Tech, Chris Beard needed to continue to coach. So he took the job, at $300 a game, to coach the Warriors and a roster full of a bunch of hangers on, who at best, had a chance to be a bit player in Europe.
The stories from that season are so outrageous that they're frankly hard to believe. The team began playing that season in the Myrtle Beach Convention Center, but after two games the owners couldn't afford the lease, so they moved to a local rec center, which immediately turned the team into a glorified YMCA group.
Courtesy: Jack Leasure"Our cheerleaders were, well let's just say they weren't in their prime," said Colin Stevens, one of Beard's players. "My wife was concerned."
"One time right before a win, Beard says to us, 'Let's get this one, then you can kiss a 40-year-old cheerleader and get your Bojangles.'"
Neither was a joke. With guys making $50 to $200 a game, getting a food deal was key.
Assistant coach David Long sold a sponsorship to a local Bojangles and in return got the players' names on the 50% off list at three local restaurants.
"We were there almost every day," Long said.
Beard, who later would go on to espouse his love for Whataburger, would try to convince the team to eat the Chicken Rice Bowls. With the team discount, it was less than $2.50 each. Beard put six packets of hot sauce on it, something Long remembers eight years later.
"Bojangles lost money on that deal for sure because guys would eat there several times a day because it was better than ramen noodles," said Corey Haffner, who was part of the ownership group.
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MLB Opening Day Sale
60% off - for the WHOLE season
"Coach, we only have four."
"You got four players — total."
"Yeah."
"Hey, D-Long. Call up Nell Holmes."
It's Dec. 11, 2011 and Chris Beard has just told David Long, the assistant coach of the South Carolina Warriors, to call a player who didn't make the team so that he could be the fifth player on the Fayetteville Flight, the team the Warriors are supposed to play.
"Hey Nell," Long says to the voice on the other line. "Can you come to the Myrtle Beach Convention Center?"
When Holmes arrives, he puts on a Fayetteville Flight uniform and plays the whole game. The Warriors get the win.
Such was the life for Chris Beard less than eight years ago. Look at the history of coaches and their rise through the ranks and you won't find any story as great as Beard's. His journey to this year's Final Four with Texas Tech is nothing short of amazing, with stints that included Arkansas-Little Rock, Angelo State, McMurry, and, yes, the South Carolina Warriors, a Myrtle Beach-based team in the ABA, all since 2011.
Dispatched from Lubbock after 10 years as an assistant at Texas Tech, Chris Beard needed to continue to coach. So he took the job, at $300 a game, to coach the Warriors and a roster full of a bunch of hangers on, who at best, had a chance to be a bit player in Europe.
The stories from that season are so outrageous that they're frankly hard to believe. The team began playing that season in the Myrtle Beach Convention Center, but after two games the owners couldn't afford the lease, so they moved to a local rec center, which immediately turned the team into a glorified YMCA group.
Courtesy: Jack Leasure"Our cheerleaders were, well let's just say they weren't in their prime," said Colin Stevens, one of Beard's players. "My wife was concerned."
"One time right before a win, Beard says to us, 'Let's get this one, then you can kiss a 40-year-old cheerleader and get your Bojangles.'"
Neither was a joke. With guys making $50 to $200 a game, getting a food deal was key.
Assistant coach David Long sold a sponsorship to a local Bojangles and in return got the players' names on the 50% off list at three local restaurants.
"We were there almost every day," Long said.
Beard, who later would go on to espouse his love for Whataburger, would try to convince the team to eat the Chicken Rice Bowls. With the team discount, it was less than $2.50 each. Beard put six packets of hot sauce on it, something Long remembers eight years later.
"Bojangles lost money on that deal for sure because guys would eat there several times a day because it was better than ramen noodles," said Corey Haffner, who was part of the ownership group.
Read the rest of this article for FREE in our app
Or EDGE subscribers can enjoy all articles anytime, anywhere
Already an EDGE member? Sign In
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