Rufus Outland has distinguished himself as one of the finest coaches in Virginia for the past 49 years. The 1959 Atlantic Christian College graduate played basketball for the Bulldogs for three years, then coached the ACC JV basketball team to a 13-3 record his senior season, when he also served as an assistant varsity coach to 1987 BC Hall of Fame inductee Jack McComas. Outland and his wife, Janice, have lived in Portsmouth, Va., since 1961, and their three children, Perry, Wendy and Cindy, all live in the Tidewater area with their families.
Outland was raised in Kelford, N.C., and was a 1955 graduate of West Bertie High School and Edwards Military Institute. After leaving AC, he coached and taught at North Edgecombe High School, where he directed the boys’ basketball team to a first-ever County Tournament Championship. From 1961-1985, Outland developed a legendary post-graduate basketball program at Frederick Military Academy, where he was responsible for 61 players receiving full scholarships to NCAA Division I schools.
His teams won a phenomenal 260 games against D-I college freshman teams and junior college teams, along with 24 tournament titles. Some of his players included Bobby Cremins (South Carolina), Lee Dedmon (UNC) and Al Woodall (Duke). He was also Frederick’s director of athletics for 15 years. When the school shut down in 1985, he moved to Portsmouth Catholic School, where he served as A.D. until 1991. He also served two terms as president of the Tidewater Conference of Independent Schools.
Beginning in 1994, Outland coached the boys’ and girls’ basketball teams at Norfolk (Va.) Collegiate School to a combined 115-45 record. He served as a coach in the prestigious Portsmouth Invitational Basketball Tournament for 12 years, leading his teams to three championships in an event that involves the nation’s top 64 collegiate basketball players. Outland coached tennis at Norfolk Collegiate, where his teams have posted a 100-35 record. He directed Norfolk to the 2007 Virginia Independent School state tennis championship. The Virginia Hall of Fame nominee serves as chairman of the Deacon Board at Grove Park Baptist Church in Portsmouth.
