AUBURN, Ala. – Bob Starkey enrolled at Marshall University with plans to become a journalist.
Instead of reporting the news, he ended up creating it.
"I took a basketball coaching class," Starkey said. "I'm thinking plays. And he [then Marshall men's basketball coach Stu Aberdeen] spent a semester talking about the role of a coach in shaping young people, in changing communities and making the world a better place."
During that course, Starkey's career aspirations changed course.
"I love basketball and here's a chance that I can maybe impact some people," he said. "I went to school to be a journalist but took a class that changed my life."
Four decades later, including 30 years coaching in the Southeastern Conference, Starkey comes the Plains with a new title: hall of famer.
In March, Starkey was named to the A Step Up Assistant Coaches Hall of Fame Class of 2020.
"It's a little bit surreal," Starkey said. "When you're a lifetime assistant coach, you come to expect doing your job in obscurity. It's one of the reasons I've remained an assistant coach, I like the privacy that comes with it.
"There's not a lot of fanfare that comes with that. You get your enjoyment from the success of your team and making your head coach look good.
"For that organization a few years back to create something like that was really, really special. There's been a lot of people both on the men's side and the women's side that have put a lot of years into being an assistant coach."'A pleasant surprise': Bob Starkey embraces the opportunity to help Johnnie Harris rebuild Auburn's women's basketball program
Contributing to 780 collegiate victories, Starkey's teams at LSU and Texas A&M earned 24 NCAA Tournament bids and made five straight trips to the Women's Final Four from 2004-08.
"The best thing about coaching is, if you're into coaching for the X's and O's, it'll get very boring because the game really doesn't change that much," he said. "But each year you get a new group of young people, and with that a new group of challenges, and helping them grow as players and people. That's what keeps it fresh for me. Every year is new."
After nine seasons at Texas A&M, Starkey came to Auburn as the associate head coach under head coach Johnnie Harris.
"A pleasant surprise," said Starkey, whom Harris had told previously she would want to hire in the event she became a head coach. "I've known Johnnie a long time. She's somebody I have a great deal of respect for.
"When I am evaluating coaches, would I want my daughter to play for her? And it's unequivocally yes when it comes to Coach Harris. She will care deeply about the student-athlete and do the right thing by the student-athlete.
"She's very detail-oriented, very fundamentally sound. She believes in defense and toughness. Her teams and the players she's worked with have always been an extension of that."
A decade ago, Harris' departure from Texas A&M to Mississippi State created Starkey's opportunity to join the Aggies.
"We have a lot of shared values and principles," Starkey said. "It's very intriguing to come in and rebuild something. It's exciting.
"I know firsthand what can be done here. It's going to be exciting to build it from the ground up and get it back to where it needs to be."
A member of the Kay Yow Cancer Fund board of directors, Starkey will designate one game this season to donate one dollar to the charity for every Auburn student who attends.
"I'm going to be involved in the community here," he said. "There are some things that are close to my heart. My wife's a breast cancer survivor. We'll speak to student organizations about the importance of early detection and breast cancer awareness, and get them involved in the event. That's very important to me."
In that regard, Starkey has an ally in Bruce Pearl, who founded AUTLIVE, Auburn basketball's fight against cancer.
"I've got a lot of respect for what they've done," Starkey said. "As we rebuild this program and want to make it special, here's a guy who's done it. There's the blueprint. It's going to be a great synergy."
Starkey has worked with five coaches who've been inducted into halls of fame: Judy Southard (Marshall Athletics), Dale Brown (National Collegiate Basketball), Sue Gunter (Naismith, Women's Basketball Hall of Fame), Van Chancellor (Naismith, Women's Basketball) and Gary Blair (Women's).
Counting himself, that number becomes six. If Starkey can help Harris return the Tigers to SEC prominence, the one-time aspiring journalist and author will have quite a story to write.
"It's going to take time, but it's going to be enjoyable," he said. "And we're going to get there."
"Really, really special."
— Jeff Shearer (@jeff_shearer) May 5, 2021
Congratulations to @AuburnWBB AC @CoachBobStarkey, inducted this week in the @AStepUpFHA Assistant Coaches Hall of Fame Class of 2020.
"It's a little bit surreal."
📷: @shannalo pic.twitter.com/FeIPcHHUTf
'We're going to get there': Hall of fame coach Bob Starkey has contributed to 780 collegiate basketball victories
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer