HALL OF FAME FEATURE: Chad Ford '94

Originally, the idea of going to college, much less playing college basketball, wasn’t something Chad Ford ’94 really even considered in high school.

“Coming from a working-class family, I didn’t think much about it,” Ford said. “Coach Ed Hall showed interest in me, and I kind of got my wheels turned, so I pursued it.”

Taking advantage of the opportunity paid off for Ford, who put together a memorable playing career at Averett University where he won a championship, traveled internationally and made friends that have lasted a lifetime. And now, 30 years later, he will be inducted into the Averett Athletics Hall of Fame on Oct. 19 during Homecoming weekend.

Growing up near Martinsville, Virginia, Ford has fond memories of his family being involved in sports like basketball, football and baseball. 

“I’ve always loved playing basketball, the smell of the shoes, the sound, the squeaking, and the sound of the net,” Ford recalled.

It wasn’t always easy for him, as he was constantly facing adversity playing through his youth. 

“It’s how I figured out I could play, Ford said. "Everyone beat me up a whole lot, until middle school, ninth grade, then I started beating them, and believed I could do this.”

Ford and his fellow Magna Vista High School teammates won the state championship his senior year with Ford hitting a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to win the title. News of this spread, and one of the assistant coaches from Hall’s coaching staff at Averett caught wind of his talent. A few months later, Ford officially embarked on an experience that would change his life.

Ford hard garnered some interest for his skills on the hardwood, including from the likes of Ferrum College, Emory & Henry College and Lee University in Tennessee. However, it was his early attachment to Hall — Averett’s men’s basketball head coach at the time — and his new teammates at Averett that led him to Danville.

Ford’s overall transition to college basketball was humbling by itself. 

“I was a pretty good basketball player, and I thought I could shoot the ball very well, thought I could play pretty good,” Ford said. “I thought I was going to get to school and just do what I wanted to play, but I had to work twice as hard with great athletes.”

Coming to a small university, Ford didn’t expect to be shocked in the way that he was. The talent scope at Averett was very high. After playing as the sixth man through the team’s first few games, Ford slowly transitioned into the starting lineup after the holiday break. 

One player in particular, then-senior Kenny Sumner, took Ford under his wing in his freshman season. In Ford’s eyes, Sumner was a good player, a great mind and a better person. Sumner showed Ford — someone who was very close-knitted to home in his youth — the ways of how to acclimate to college life.

“He showed me the ropes of how to handle being away from home, and not having your parents with you,” Ford said. “We really hit it off that first year, had a great time and had a good season.”

The 1989-90 Averett men’s basketball team was talented as Ford came as the lone freshman. Hall of Famer James “Boo” Braxton ran the point, and along with Antonio Randolph and Hall of Famer Antonio Seay in the paint — all of which made Ford’s transition smoother.

“They accepted me, and they gave me a lot of confidence in what I could do,” Ford said. “The transition was fairly easy, surprisingly.”

The team finished with 20 wins — tied for most in program history — as part of a 20-9 overall with an 8-2 mark in conference play. The Cougars were regular season and tournament champions for the first time in program history and received a berth into the NCAA tournament, where they progressed all the way to the Sweet 16. 

“I had a good freshman year, shot the ball well, played good and had a great time,” Ford said. “It was just a really good experience, really good.”

Some of Ford’s fondest memories came from that season, even before the team began official play. Hall of Famer Vesa Hiltunen, who was director of athletics at the time, played a part in sending the basketball team on an international trip to Sweden and Finland to better their game as the season progressed. 

“He sent us up to places like Stockholm and Helsinki, and we actually played four games over there,” Ford remembered. “Two were against professional teams, one college team and one AAU team. I never would have had the chance to if I didn’t go to Averett, to do something like that.”

Although Hall departed as Averett’s head coach after Ford’s junior season, he was still one of the best influences on not just his basketball career, but his life. 

“He was a hard-nosed, strict kind of guy, had been in the Wake Forest program, a lot of Division I experience,” Ford recalled. “A very demanding guy, but a smart basketball mind, and even greater guy, and expected a lot out of all of us.”

Although the program didn’t achieve the same level of success as previous years, Ford’s senior season was certainly his personal best statistically. Ford averaged a career-high 14.8 points per game and totaled a career-high 90 made 3-pointers during the 1992-93 season. For his efforts, Ford was named USA South All-Conference Second Team. 

During his four seasons dawning the Cougar jersey, Ford finished with an average of 12.4 points per game, including 304 rebounds and 252 assists. His 1,323 career points places him fifth all-time in program history. He also holds program records for 3-pointers in a single game (nine), in a season (90) and in a career (268). Additionally, he holds records for 3-point field goal attempts in a season and a career. In 2014, he was recognized for his efforts, being named to the USA South Conference’s 50th Anniversary Team for men’s basketball. 

In his years after being a part of the Averett community, Ford attained his degree in education, and got a teaching job back at Magna Vista, where he coached for a few years. However, after getting married and having three kids, Ford returned to the construction business that he helped out his father with all those years before. He has been in nearby Martinsville ever since.

Although his former teammates Braxton and Seay had been inducted to the Averett Athletics Hall of Fame in years past, thoughts of his own induction had faded over time. When Ford got the phone call this past spring to let him know he had been selected for the Hall of Fame, he remembered it being both humbling and awesome. 

“I had a really great day after that phone call,” he said.

As Ford reflected on his career and where he is now, Averett is still and will always be with him for the rest of his life. 

“We had a lot of fun,” he said. “The basketball team, it was tight-knit — we did a lot of stuff together. I really enjoyed Danville and the Averett community.”