Adrian "Ace" Custis

Adrian "Ace" Custis enters his fifth season as an assistant coach for the Hawks. Prior to his arrival, Custis coached at Virginia State in 2013-14 and played professionally in the NBA, CBA, USBL and overseas for a total of 15 seasons. Custis graduated from Virginia Tech where he played all four years and was named one of the top 10 players in VT's history of men's basketball.

During his professional playing career, Custis was originally signed to a free-agent deal by the Dallas Mavericks in 1997 before signing with the Grand Rapid Hoops of the Central Basketball Association (CBA) in 1999. Following one season with the Hoops, he signed with the Tampa Bay ThunderDawgs of the United States Basketball League (USBL). With Tampa Bay, he led the team to the 2001 USBL Championship and was named co-MVP of the entire league.

The 6'8 forward then proceeded to take his talents overseas, making the OSG Phoenix of the Japanese Basketball League his home for three seasons. In his first year with the club, he led the team and was second in the league in both scoring (27.8 ppg) and rebounding (13.1 rpg). In 2005-06, Custis led the league in scoring (27.7 ppg) and assists (5.1 asg). He was also third in rebounding (13.5 rpg).

Following the 2006 season, Custis joined the Panasonic Trains (Japanese Basketball League). Ace was a standout with Panasonic for five seasons until 2012. His professional career spanned across numerous countries including the Philippines, Qatar, Lebanon, Syria and Indonesia. He retired from professional basketball in 2012.

Custis was a four-year basketball standout at Virginia Tech, where he was one of the most popular student-athletes in the history of the program. He was the third player (fourth overall) in VT men's basketball history to score 1,000 points and bring down 1,000 rebounds. He had his No. 20 jersey retired in 1997, just the third player in the history of the program to achieve such a number. Ace was named one of the top-10 players in the history of Virginia Tech men's basketball bytechhoops.com.

The Northampton High School graduate was named to the All-Freshman Team in the Metro Conference in 1994, before leading the Metro Conference in rebounds in 1995 and claiming First Team All-Metro Conference that year. He finished second on the ballot for Player of the Year that season. Ace was a First Team All-Atlantic 10 pick in both 1996 and 1997. Custis is the only player to average more than 10 rpg for an entire season in over 40 years after he posted 10.5 rpg in 1995.

Ace graduated from VT in 1997 with a degree in marketing. His personal best sports moment is winning the 1995 NIT Championship game over Marquette at Madison Square Garden and lists his mother as his role model. His professional coaching goal is to win the MEAC Championship and advance to the NCAA Tournament. Ace's favorite movie is Friday and favorite book is Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki. He resides in Fruitland, Md., with his wife Denedra and their three sons Charles Mapp, Adrian Custis II and Evan Custis.