In Dave Bliss’ four years as a center on the Georgia men’s basketball team from 2005 to 2008 he never backed down. He always displayed intensity, determination and focus that made him special and helped his team win the 2008 Southeastern Conference Championship in one of the most improbable Cinderella stories in college basketball history.

It is that same passion and drive that has Bliss working for another conference championship, albeit in a different role and at a brand new school, as a graduate assistant for the men’s basketball program at mid-major powerhouse Virginia Commonwealth University of the Colonial Athletic Conference.

Bliss was the epitome of a student-athlete during his time at Georgia, completing a degree in Political Science in just three years and graduating with honors. But with another full year of eligibility available, he enrolled in the Terry College of Business and majored in real estate, which he graduated from in December of 2008.

With his basketball eligibility expended, Bliss knew that he couldn’t be away from basketball for long. His passion for the game was just too great. So with the help and recommendations of his former Georgia coaches, Bliss began to search for opportunities to coach. And that is when what he saw as the perfect opportunity came available.

With Anthony Grant bolting from VCU to Alabama, VCU hired former Florida and Clemson assistant coach Shaka Smart to run its basketball program, and he had an opportunity available when completing his staff.

“I had a kind of familiarity with coach Smart because he was an assistant coach at Clemson and then at Florida, so those were teams we had played against,” Bliss said. “Some of the coaches that I had worked with at Georgia were a big help in calling around and recommending me for something like that because they knew I wanted to get into coaching and thought this was a good situation and a good fit for me.”

Little did Bliss know at the time that he was about to get a lot more familiar with the VCU coaching staff when coach Smart hired former Georgia assistant Mike Jones. Jones spent six years on the Bulldog coaching staff under Dennis Felton and Bliss had developed an excellent relationship with him over his four years in Athens.

“We kind of did things a little bit on a different time frame but yeah, I’m really happy he’s here. He’s been a big influence on me as a player,” Bliss said of his long-time friend, coach, and now, co-worker. “That’s a little bit of added comfort level and stability and I think he’s one of the best people that you could find and to have someone like that in your life is great.”

So what are Bliss’ roles as a graduate assistant?

“It has varied a lot. It’s basically a lot of stuff with player development, getting in the gym with those guys and getting shots up, trying to do a lot of the operational stuff, like working with film exchange, scheduling, a lot of that type of stuff,” Bliss said. “Pretty much anything that the assistants aren’t specifically working on.”

In addition to learning on the court from Smart, who he considers “one of the games brightest young coaches,” Bliss has taken his efforts to become a college coach to the classroom, enrolling in the Center for Sports Leadership at VCU.

While Bliss already has his own conference championship, which if you remember correctly, all started with his bank-shot, buzzer beater to down Ole Miss in the first round of that SEC Tournament, he believes chances are high of getting his first one as a coach this year.

“I think we have a great chance at contending for a conference championship,” Bliss said. “We have a lot of guys coming back, and they’ve had a lot of success here in the past, having won three straight conference championships, and hopefully we can keep that going and do some damage in the Big Dance.”

And while Bliss’ coaching dreams may have forced him to move away from The Classic City, his love of Athens and his alma mater haven’t left with him.

“I really enjoyed my time there and it will always be somewhere that is special to me and somewhere I look forward to being a big part of my life,” Bliss said.

And who knows, maybe, one day, you’ll see Bliss’ 6-foot-10 frame roaming the sidelines in Stegeman, coaching his teams with the same fervor that made him a fan favorite as a

player.