Bimbo Coles

{{Short description|American basketball player (born 1968)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}

{{Infobox basketball biography

| name = Bimbo Coles

| image = Bimbo Coles (cropped).jpg

| width =

| caption = Coles at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay in 1995

| height_ft = 6

| height_in = 1

| weight_lb = 180

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1968|04|22}}

| birth_place = Covington, Virginia, U.S.

| high_school = Greenbrier East
(Lewisburg, West Virginia)

| college = Virginia Tech (1986–1990)

| draft_year = 1990

| draft_round = 2

| draft_pick = 40

| draft_team = Sacramento Kings

| career_start = 1990

| career_end = 2004

| career_number = 12, 50

| career_position = Point guard

| years1 = {{nbay|1990|start}}–{{nbay|1995|end}}

| team1 = Miami Heat

| years2 = {{nbay|1995|end}}–{{nbay|1998|end}}

| team2 = Golden State Warriors

| years3 = {{nbay|1999|full=y}}

| team3 = Atlanta Hawks

| years4 = {{nbay|2000|start}}–{{nbay|2002|end}}

| team4 = Cleveland Cavaliers

| years5 = {{nbay|2002|end}}

| team5 = Boston Celtics

| years6 = {{nbay|2003|full=y}}

| team6 = Miami Heat

| highlights =

• Metro Conference co-Player of the Year (1988)
• 3× First-team All-Metro Conference (1988–1990)
• No. 12 retired by Virginia Tech Hokies

| stats_league = NBA

| stat1label = Points

| stat1value = 6,628 (7.8 ppg)

| stat2label = Assists

| stat2value = 3,313 (3.9 apg)

| stat3label = Steals

| stat3value = 735 (0.9 spg)

| medal_templates =

{{MedalSport | Men's basketball }}

{{MedalCountry | {{Bk|USA}} }}

{{MedalCompetition | Olympic Games }}

{{MedalBronze | 1988 Seoul | United States }}

}}

Vernell Eufaye "Bimbo" Coles (born April 22, 1968) is an American former 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.[http://www.celticslife.com/2010/08/what-hell-happened-tobimbo-coles.html What the Hell Happened to Bimbo Coles?], Boston Celtics, Retrieved 2014-10-3

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.{{cite news |last1=Johnson |first1=Dave |title=Bimbo May Be a Real Celebrity But Tech Star Doesn't Play Role |url=https://www.dailypress.com/news/dp-xpm-19900307-1990-03-07-9003060540-story.html |access-date=19 December 2019 |work=Daily Press |date=March 7, 1990}} In football, he was twice named all-state and once named All-America. As a shortstop and outfielder, Coles claimed to be selected by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 1986 Major League Baseball draft.{{cite news |last1=Winderman |first1=Ira |title=Heat's Coles No Angel, But Could've Been |url=https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-1993-04-04-9302040080-story.html |access-date=19 December 2019 |work=Sun-Sentinel |date=April 4, 1993}} He was recruited to play college basketball at Virginia Tech, Maryland and West Virginia.

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.{{cite news |last1=Huff |first1=Doug |title=Coles to be inducted into W.Va. Sports Hall |url=https://www.register-herald.com/gallery/sports/coles-to-be-inducted-into-w-va-sports-hall/article_7b22a19b-ef4f-5f20-bc89-7789ac10736a.html |access-date=19 December 2019 |work=The Register-Herald |date=February 27, 2011 |language=en}} 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.{{cite news |last1=Cotte |first1=Greg |title=Coles Gave Thought to Playing Baseball |url=https://www.dailypress.com/news/dp-xpm-19900628-1990-06-28-9006290020-story.html |access-date=19 December 2019 |work=Daily Press |date=June 28, 1990}}

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.[http://www.nba.com/heat/news/drawntoheat_050408.html Drawn to the HEAT], 8 April 2005

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.{{cite news |title=Sidney Coles Elevated To Assistant Coaching Position With Wyoming Basketball Program |url=https://gowyo.com/news/2016/6/29/5773f181e4b0bdd131ac045c_131478118458451607.aspx |access-date=19 December 2019 |publisher=University of Wyoming Athletics |date=August 4, 2000 |language=en}} Until 2021, Coles coached at his alma mater of Greenbrier East High School in Lewisburg, West Virginia.{{cite news |last1=Knowles |first1=Hannah |title=West Virginia's governor is furious he didn't get a job coaching high school basketball |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/09/22/jim-justice-basketball-coach/ |access-date=23 September 2021 |newspaper=Washington Post|date=September 22, 2021 |language=en}}