Bart Lundy grew up in Galax, where his parents, older brother and in-laws still live.

As the men's basketball coach at Big South member High Point, he now resides less than two hours away.

"It's still too far for baby-sitting," Lundy, who has three children, said with a laugh. "I wish it was a little closer."

Lundy, 35, moved with his family from Galax to North Carolina after finishing eighth grade. But his parents moved back to Galax while Lundy was in college. Lundy was home from college one summer when he met his future wife, Lori, a Galax High School graduate who was also home from college.

Lundy, whose uncle is College of Charleston men's soccer coach Ralph Lundy, has wanted to be a coach since he was a kid. He played basketball for UNC Pembroke and Lenoir-Rhyne before quitting so he could spend his senior year as a student assistant coach at Winthrop. The Winthrop coach at the time had been Lundy's coach at Pembroke.

"It was a tough decision, and I wondered at the time if I made a mistake," Lundy said of sacrificing his senior season. "But it helped me get into the profession a little earlier.

"I got such a quick start into coaching -- that, and I lost my hair early. I think I fooled people with my age. Those are the two things that really helped me," he said with a laugh.

Lundy became the coach at Queens University in 1998. He led the Charlotte school to two trips to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Division II tournament in his five seasons there.

Another North Carolina school, High Point, gave Lundy his Division I head-coaching break in 2003.

"I'm just very fortunate. A lot of great D-II coaches never get a shot," said Lundy, whose team visits Radford tonight. "I don't think the actual basketball is a huge transition; there's not much difference in the level. But the recruiting and the management of the program is on a much bigger scale."

Lundy inherited a High Point team coming off six straight losing seasons and led the Panthers to a 19-11 mark in his first season. This year, the Panthers (15-7, 6-1) are in second place in the Big South. Their lone league loss was by one point to defending champ Winthrop last week,

"We're not overly talented. We just have a group of guys who will sacrifice and commit, and they play together," he said.

Lundy's staff includes former Radford standout and ex-VMI assistant Don Burgess.

Paging Dr. Neck

Virginia Tech men's basketball coach Seth Greenberg has gotten an assist from a Tech management professor.

Greenberg has brought in Chris Neck to speak to his players a handful of times this season. He has also given his players copies of one of Neck's books, "Medicine for the Mind." Neck, who teaches the psychology of management, sent him the book after his son attended Greenberg's summer camp.

Neck, 42, talks to the Hokies about leadership, teamwork and negative thinking.

"Part of my research is looking at teams in the work force that succeed and teams that don't," Neck said. "What are some lessons that we can derive from that for a basketball team?"

Greenberg meets with Neck to come up with a theme for each of Neck's speeches to the squad, such as team chemistry.

"You're always trying to find different ways to reach your team," Greenberg said. "He's a very positive, upbeat person with a unique style.

"If our players hear the same [coach's] voice over and over again, it's human nature to tune it out."

Guard Zabian Dowdell, one of Neck's former pupils, said the players like Neck's speeches.

"He talks a lot about ... motivation and purpose," Dowdell said. "It's been very helpful to me, and a lot of the guys have been saying it's been very helpful to them too."

Lacey changes focus

Clifton Forge native Trudi Lacey is focusing on her business, LifeCoachDesigns, now that she is -- for now -- out of basketball.

The former North Carolina State standout lost her job as general manager of the Charlotte Sting when the WNBA team folded in early January.

Lacey had been with the Sting since being hired as an assistant coach in 2001. She was the team's head coach for two-plus seasons; she was replaced by Mugsy Bogues in August 2005 but remained the GM.

"I was very sad, very disappointed," Lacey said of the Sting's demise. "I loved my time in the WNBA. The WNBA is a wonderful empowerment tool for girls and women. I know that the city of Charlotte will miss having the women as role models and having them in the community."

The former South Florida coach isn't interested in returning to college basketball but is open to rejoining the WNBA as a coach or executive. Meanwhile, she is presiding over the Charlotte consulting firm she founded in 1999. The firm teaches athletes and executives about personal development.