Bari Nixon isn’t back. She’s been here for a while, actually, though now her office isn’t in Hendricks with the rest of the Institutional Advancement crew. Now she reports to the second floor of the Alumni Gym with the basketball people, her people. This couldn’t be more appropriate. Not only is Bari Nixon the new assistant basketball coach, she’s also an exceptional Guilford alum.

She scored a total of 1,119 points in her three years as a Guilford player, ranking her 7th among all-time leading scorers. Nixon received All-Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) honors in 1995 and 1997. Of the Quaker women’s basketball records, she holds 5th in rebounds, 7th in assists, 2nd in steals, and 5th in blocked shots.

In 1997, Nixon’s senior year, Guilford’s women’s basketball team, won the conference championship. Furthermore, she received the English Award her senior year for outstanding athletic ability and leadership.

After taking some time off after graduation, Nixon returned to Guilford and worked for two years at the Institutional Advancement office. All the while she coached an Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) girl’s basketball team, who are “kinda like a family,” she says. Her twelve-and-under team placed 17th at the 2001 AAU National Tournament.

In between breaths, Nixon would even stop by the gym to play pick-up with the Guilford women’s team.

“I’ve always had coaching in my goals,” said Nixon. “[Basketball] gave me a lot growing up. Now I want to help females succeed athletically, in competition and in friendships.”

Having someone like Bari Nixon as an assistant coach is what happens when Lady Luck sneezes on a basketball team. There’s no earth-shattering adjustment periods. “[The team] already knows her as a person. They already respect her game,” said head coach Barbara Bausch.

As for working with Nixon, Coach Bausch said, “She knows my system. She knows my style. There aren’t as many questions. I’ve been waiting for an opportunity like this.”

Nixon is handy for other reasons too. Now, having worked in both the athletic and Institutional Advancement offices, she can act as a go-between and offer each department insight into the other. Ultimately she wants to see that the Guilford community is more supportive of all sports.

She is optimistic that on-campus outreach-type programs, like the “Meet the Athletic Staff” open house scheduled for Nov. 5, will bridge the gap between athletics and the rest of Guilford.

Nixon isn’t back. She’s giving back.