Every Day is Different, Every Day is Fun

By: D. Scott Fritchen

The blessing, Bailey Bachamp says, is that the job is demanding but also flexible. She tying up loose ends for the Jerome Tang basketball camps, she's about to slip into a staff meeting, and they'll discuss recruiting and the summer practice schedule. She's coordinating the June schedule with strength and conditioning coach Phil Baier, getting incoming players into their apartments, finalizing team dinner plans. Basically, she's doing a lot of different things today, down to registering for passports for international travel.

"And then," she says, "we'll take care of anything else that might pop up along the way."

Bachamp enters her 12^th season working with the Kansas State men's basketball program, including her second as Director of Men's Basketball Operations. She handles the day-to-day operations of the program. Tang calls her the best in the industry. One of an estimated 24 women in positions of leadership on Division I men's basketball coaching staffs, the Manhattan native feels at home in her role, while expertly balancing work with family (she and husband Cole – a former K-State football player – have two-year-old twin boys Dylan and Brooks).

"Every day is different," she says.

But every day is a great day to be a Wildcat.

"I mean, just seeing everything that we worked hard for come together in a short amount of time, the things you prayed for, and God sending us the right guys, and seeing that hard work translate to success on the basketball court," she says, "I could keep going on."

She adds: "I'm really excited about what next season will bring."

Bailey Bachamp sat down with K-State Sports Extra's D. Scott Fritchen to discuss the innards of being Director of Operations, being a role model, and working with head coach Jerome Tang and his coaching staff:

D. SCOTT FRITCHEN: It's been a year now. What do you like most about working with Coach Tang and this staff?

BAILEY BACHAMP: Coach Tang empowers us to operate this basketball program like each one of us is the head coach. He wants everybody to have ownership in the program. I love coming to work. I don't think a lot of people can say that. Every day is different. We operate on a cycle: Season, end of season, recruiting, summer recruiting, basketball camps, and then football season and official visits. Like I said, every day is different. We all love each other. We spend time outside of the office. My husband, Cole, texts with different people on staff all the time. I can text the coach's wives. We're all a big family. Coach preaches that if we love each other and care about each other, we're going to get the right kids, and the right things are going to happen for us on the basketball court.

FRITCHEN: When was the first time you met Coach Tang, and what were your first impressions of the man?

BACHAMP: I knew who Coach Tang was because Alvin Brooks III, one of our former assistants under Bruce Weber, went to coach at Baylor, so I paid attention to the Baylor coaching staff. Everybody always talked about Coach Tang. He was always someone I paid attention to on the Baylor bench along with Alvin Brooks and head coach Scott Drew. The first time I spoke with Coach Tang, he called me on the phone from Chick-Fil-A. Then my first in-person meeting was when he and his family flew up for his introductory news conference, his first visit on the K-State campus. We met right outside the lobby. Big hugs. It was like it was a natural fit for him to be here.

FRITCHEN: Can you take me through the emotions of moving from one coaching staff to another? What was that period of time like for you?

BACHAMP: It was hard. Coach Weber's staff was very close, and we all loved each other and got along great. When you spend 10 years with somebody you know, you want them to be successful and you see how hard they work. I was treated great and always felt like I was a part of the staff. When a change happens, you wonder who's going to fill that role. Coach Tang's name kept popping up. When K-State hired Coach Tang, the question for me was: Are you going to get to stay on the staff? Are you going to move to a different department? Well, Coach Tang asked me to be Director of Operations. I was shocked. Coach Tang said that Alvin Brooks gave me a good recommendation, and that K-State Athletic Director Gene Taylor and Executive Associate AD Casey Scott believed that I would be a good fit. Associate head coach Ulric Maligi and assistant coach Jareem Dowling and Chief of Staff Marco Borne and I sat down, and I shared my story and it felt like God had brought us all together.

I think the hardest part of the transition wasn't necessarily the program operations part as much as learning each other's personalities and how everybody fit together, like who's supposed to do what. At the same time, you have these players going into the portal and you're building a staff and a team and upgrading facilities and getting new gear and bringing in other staff members. It was a lot to take on at the same time, but I liked the challenge of my job and the new staff. I love coming here. Coach Tang has always made it feel really comfortable and he made what could've been a really hard period a really fun time.

Then the season began, and there's the excitement of the season, and then it ends, and you're sad and thankful for all that's happened in less than a year. I'm really excited about what next season will bring.

FRITCHEN: People might see the title "Director of Operations" and wonder what that specifically entails. What all does that position entail?

BACHAMP: I'm responsible for the day-to-day operations of our office. During the season, that also includes the coordination and execution of all our team travel. I make sure everybody is moving in the same direction at the same time, and I try to foresee any issues before they might arise. I keep as much off of Coach Tang's plate as possible so that he can focus on recruiting and coaching.

FRITCHEN: What's on the schedule today?

BACHAMP: The blessing in this job is while it's demanding it's also somewhat flexible. We'll talk later this morning. I need to tie up a few loose ends for our basketball camps these upcoming weeks. Anthony Winchester and I are in charge of our basketball camps. Then we'll have a meeting at 11:30 a.m. and talk about recruiting, our summer schedule for practice, and basketball camps. I put together with strength and conditioning coordinator Phil Baier the schedule for June, which includes onboarding the guys and bringing in the speakers, dinner for the group afterward, and then how we're going to plug in the guys for workouts and basketball camps. We have to get the new players' passports so they can go on our foreign tour. We're doing all the little things right now to make sure we're not scrambling in the fall. It's a lot of pre-planning and trying to be organized. And then we'll take care of anything else that might pop up along the way.

FRITCHEN: You have two-year-old twin boys and your husband, Cole. What's it like balancing family and career and travel and everything that encompasses it?

BACHAMP: There are times when things feel weighted one direction. When we're in the thick of the basketball season it's definitely weighted more toward basketball. Over the past few weeks, when we've had guys off campus, it's been weighted toward our family. I'm lucky that if I need to stay home with the boys, Coach Tang never says, "Can you come in for this?'" or "No, you can't stay home." He's always operated off the philosophy that if things are right at home, you're going to be OK here. That's the most important thing to him. I'm really lucky for that. I know a lot of people in this industry don't operate like that. Coach Tang's philosophy makes it easy as a wife and a mom to give everything that I can here, and then give everything that I can at home. I couldn't do it without Cole. Our families live in Manhattan, too, which makes a massive difference.

FRITCHEN: You're one of an estimated 24 women in Division I men's basketball in a position of leadership. How does that feel?

BACHAMP: That's actually really humbling. I'm fortunate to work with someone that doesn't see me as "we need to hire a woman," but rather who sees me for my value and what I bring to our staff. I do know a couple of the other female director of operations. We all have a good relationship, and we'll text each other every once in a while. Younger women in the industry will contact us and ask, "What can I do? How can I get in?" I appreciate, regardless of being a female, that Coach Tang has trust in me. I think it shows progression in our industry. It makes me feel proud for the time and effort that I put in. It puts a big smile on my face and motivates me to work hard and influence other ladies in the industry.

There was a young lady that I talked with. She and I actually met up in New York City. She was earning her undergraduate degree and she just got hired on at Nevada. I didn't view it as a mentorship at the time. We talked a couple times over the phone and then she called to tell me she got hired. That phone call made my summer, just hearing how happy she was, and she said, "I hope I can call with questions." Absolutely. She can call anytime. I'm sure she's going through all the excitement of a new job and a new staff. I know she'll be successful. She grew up in a basketball family. She'll do great.

FRITCHEN: Do you believe yourself to be a role model?

BACHAMP: I never thought of it that way. I look to Kacey Feldkamp, the Director of Operations for K-State Football, in a lot of ways. I hope I can be a role model. I hope I can show that you can balance a family and a demanding career in athletics, and have a social life and time for your own faith and time for outside activities and hobbies. I hope others can look at me and see that you can, with help, do what you set your mind to, but you can't do it by yourself.

FRITCHEN: Were sports always a part of your life growing up in Manhattan?

BACHAMP: It was Manhattan High School football games on Friday, K-State football games on Saturday, and watching the Chiefs on Sunday. When I was young, fall weekends were taken up by soccer tournaments. There are a couple K-State events that always stick out in your mind like when we beat Nebraska and it was snowing and Willie was on top of the press box. It was always, "What K-State event are we going to next?" I never pictured myself working in athletics, though. Then Lon Floyd, one of the longtime mainstays of the K-State Catbackers, directed me to then-Athletic Director Tim Weiser, who directed me to the football program. As a student worker for the football program between 2007 and 2011, I helped with recruiting weekends. I thought I had the best job in town. We got to be on the field for football pregame and travel for bowl games.

Working under Sean Snyder and Kacey Feldkamp and Inge Seiler, I witnessed the operations role within a football program, and you didn't have to be a coach. Sean was a coach, but Kacey and Inge also had their hands on pretty much everything. The longer I was around, the more I understood this was a way to stay involved with athletics. Then Reid Sigmon, who was the Senior Associate AD, informed me that there was an opening for the men's basketball administrative assistant position. I was lucky. Coach Weber hired me on, and I was a quick study. I knew that I wanted more out of the position. He gave me the title of recruiting coordinator to better reflect my duties at the time, which entailed a lot of work in the recruiting arena. I also managed Coach Weber's calendar and aided with operations. I tried to find a niche for myself in the program. I'm so thankful I got the opportunity.

FRITCHEN: Have you ever lived anywhere outside of Manhattan?

BACHAMP: I did. I interned with the Chiefs in the summer of 2010 before my December graduation. I reached out and the Chiefs offered me a cheer internship, which entailed scheduling and handling a budget. The cheerleaders made appearances and had camps. So I managed that for a summer and it was a great experience. The NFL operates like a true business, and it was very intense. I had a great boss and I've come to her so many times with questions and she's still their cheer director. She rocks it. It was a really good experience to see how another team operated. I set my sights on going back to the Chiefs, and then the K-State men's basketball job opened, and here we are.

FRITCHEN: What was the most fun part of this past year?

BACHAMP: I'd say just being around our staff. I love them. Jareem and I call each other "Famo" and that's exclusive to us. I think of all the little nuances on the team bus. I think the players always wondered what we were laughing about in the front of the bus. I don't listen to headphones; I want to talk with the staff. I love being with them. What was most fun? I mean, just seeing everything that we worked hard for come together in a short amount of time, the things you prayed for, and God sending us the right guys, and seeing that hard work translate to success on the basketball court — I could keep going on.

New York was amazing. Beating Kentucky in Greensboro, North Carolina, was amazing. Going to get dessert after road wins was amazing. Going to the Cayman Islands was amazing. The weeklong road trip in Texas when we played at Texas and then at Baylor, I think, was a turning point for our team, because it was the closest we all felt to that point. It was a great bonding experience to stay down there all week instead of flying back and forth. Coach Tang earning National Coach of the Year — that was special. He keeps saying the award is "Staff of the Year" and he's always so humble. He preaches servant leadership, and we all preach and operate under that philosophy. We want to serve each other. Sorry, I cannot pick one most fun moment.

FRITCHEN: What have you learned most about yourself in the past year?

BACHAMP: Winning is hard and winning is fun. I learned that I do what I set my mind to with help and am able to balance everything. You can do what you set your mind to.

Kansas State University Athletics

Related Videos