Analysis: ENMU basketball coach a trailblazer

Outsiders of college basketball's insulated world may hear about Daven Võ's current gig – first-year head coach of Eastern New Mexico University men's basketball – and wonder: Why is this your dream job?

During recruiting season, he trades warm dinners with his wife, Laura, and three kids, for sprawling rural highways filled with unfamiliar faces for players who may commit elsewhere. What's more, his dream job takes place in Portales; a close knit, but isolated town where flies from local dairies can feel inescapable. Take the one that buzzed about in Võ's office last July, repeatedly landing on his tan, sculpted face. 

"I've been together with him for almost 20 years," recalled Laura Võ. "And I remember when I first met him asking, like, 'What's your dream job in coaching?' And it was Division II head coach – that was his ultimate goal."

But for Võ, 40, the significance goes beyond achieving his "ultimate goal."

He enters the 2024-25 season as one of the only Asian head coaches in college basketball. When ENMU's season begins Friday in the 2024 BKB South Central Region Crossover, Võ has an opportunity to become a trailblazer. 

"The coaching profession is hard already. Being Vietnamese makes it a lot harder," said Võ, a first-generation Asian American. 

Though the number of Asian head coaches has grown in Division I and II since the summer of 2020, there's still less than 1%. 

Research shows that the miniscule numbers could be a byproduct of hiring bias and pressure from family members to pursue a more traditional and lucrative career. For example, in 2022-23, Võ's third and final season as a lead assistant at ENMU, he made $44,000, records show.

By continuing ENMU's unprecedented upswing, Võ – who now makes $90,000 – can increase representation by inspiring younger generations while opening opportunities for others. Building a dynasty could lead to Division I opportunities, giving Asian coaches a bigger platform. 

This, of course, is no guarantee. 

Despite last year's conference championship, the Greyhounds were slated to finish seventh in the 16-team Lone Star Conference preseason poll. This could be a result of four of the Greyhounds' top-five scorers from last year graduating. 

Even if the team excels, ENMU's best players can leverage a stellar season in the robust Lone Star Conference into a Division I opportunity via the transfer portal. 

But as Võ said on a recent October afternoon, "The more resistance I get, the more I want to do something."

Born in 1984 in Little Saigon – a section of Oklahoma City populated by Vietnam War refugees – Võ was an outsider in both worlds he occupied. 

As a Vietnamese hooper in the Midwest, he said he "grew up with a lot of adversity with culture."

At home, his parents, The and Huong, struggled to understand why their fifth and final child wanted to become a basketball coach. After a celebrated career at Westmoore High School, they didn't want him to attend the now defunct St. Gregory's University in Shawnee, Okla. on a basketball scholarship. 

"I said, 'Look, I'm not paying for school, and you guys aren't either ...'" Võ said. 

So, he attended SGU, and after he graduated in 2006 with all-academic, all-conference selection honors, they asked him: "Are you ready to go to law school? Are you ready to get your master's?" 

Võ's response?

Using their plight as Vietnam War refugees as a blueprint to achieve his own dreams. A journey other aspiring Asian coaches can see and follow. 

"They were going to keep going after what they wanted no matter what," Võ said. 

In 1979, Võ's parents and three older siblings were sponsored by a foundation to immigrate to Oklahoma City after the Vietnam War upended their lives. While it was better than living in a jungle, they left behind their college degrees, respected jobs and cultural familiarity.

"I can't imagine my wife and I moving to a country where we don't look like anybody, we don't speak the language and then having to start over," said Võ, who recalled his dad entered the country with less than $10 in a wallet he still keeps.

While growing up on food stamps, Võ watched each of his parents work multiple jobs and open private businesses that either shuttered or barely broke even. Eventually, Võ said his parents found financial success when he was in high school because of a nail store and the fact he was the only child living at home. Though difficult, they ensured their children had all their needs fulfilled and helped them get to college. 

"Their hard work was definitely instilled in me, and I channeled that to basketball," Võ said.  

After a graduate assistant role at Oklahoma University in 2006, Võ was an assistant at South Mountain Community College in Arizona for one year. Following this, he became an assistant coach at Grand Canyon from 2008-09. He returned to SMCC in 2009, later becoming head coach in 2011, producing a slew of all-Americans. Come 2017, Võ was a lead assistant at Butler Community College in Kansas, one of the premier community colleges in the nation. 

"One big reason why I worked at community colleges for 11 years ... was because my family ... went to community college and that's how they built the foundation for all of us to grow up and live in a house and get educated ourselves," Võ said. 

In 2020, Võ joined ENMU's newly minted head coach Brent Owen as lead assistant. At that time, ENMU had eclipsed a .500 record just once since the 2012-13 season and hadn't won a conference championship since Bill Clinton's first presidential term. 

Võ immediately began helping resuscitate ENMU by recruiting and developing and maximizing players' potential. 

After ENMU endured a seven-win 2021-22 campaign, the Greyhounds notched their most conference wins in school history (12) and the most wins since 2004 (17) in 2022-23. 

Following the season, Võ became an associate head coach at the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs. 

While learning from UCCS head coach Jeff Culver, Võ watched from afar as ENMU won its first conference championship since 1993 on a buzzer beater. The Greyhounds made the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 20 years. 

Then Owen departed for Division II Lenoir-Rhyne University. And finally, after years of weathering rejections, Võ was tabbed to continue the rebuild he helped catalyze. 

Considering the program's upswing, maybe ENMU had the cache to hire someone who has Division II head coaching experience.

Then again, someone like Võ, who is familiar with ENMU and has overcome obstacles few coaches can relate to, may make him the ideal candidate.

"I've always had a chip on my shoulder ever since I was playing basketball. It just comes from being a minority in a minority sport," Võ said. 

Last April, shortly after signing on to ENMU in Portales, Võ darted over to junior forward Jose Murillo's house. Retaining Murillo, a 2022-23 all-LSC freshman team, was vital. 

"The dog in my house started barking and I was like 'Why is he barking?' I go outside and Coach Võ was outside of my door saying, 'I got a job as a head coach here,'" recounted Murillo, who said this led him to remain in Portales and is expected to be a difference maker this year. 

Võ even retained senior power forward Mario Whitley, a skillful scorer, who entered the transfer portal after Owen left. He took visits to Division II's Arkansas Tech, UT-Tyler and Texas A&M International. 

Asked how Võ retained him, Whitley said, "A coach can sit there and type out a paragraph every day but is a coach taking time out of his day to talk to you and see how your day is going?"

Instead of recruiting virtually to fill the other 12 spots, Võ hopped in his White Hyundai Palisade and traveled throughout the United States. Zoom calls may have been easier, but Võ believes in genuine, in-person conversation to show players he's invested in their growth. 

"I don't know how he does it sometimes," Laura Võ said. "But I think that's where his success comes from is the connections and relationships that he's kept throughout the 20 years of his coaching."

But Daven Võ's high-stress balancing act never stops. There's simply too much at stake to leave anything on the table. 

So, on Oct. 5, he attended ENMU football's homecoming game, glad handed important folks and left at halftime for a recruiting trip. He hit the road at 9 p.m. into an abyss of darkness for five hours to recruit in Oklahoma. 

It's the state where he found his life calling – and – was reminded of the difficulties in achieving it.

Depending on how this season goes, maybe – just maybe – it'll be easier for future Asian coaches to achieve their own, too.