A new era is about to dawn in the William Fleming High School boys basketball program.

Mickey Hardy, whose tenure at the Roanoke city school that included a VHSL Group AA Championship in 2007 and a Group AAA runner-up finish in 2009, has retired after 21 seasons as Head Coach and 31 overall.

Moreover, longtime Fleming assistant Marshall Ashford, who served as Hardy's right-hand man for the entire run, also is retiring following 35 years in the High School ranks.

The two former Virginia Tech guards often stated that they would exit together and that is ultimately what happened.

Ashford informed Hardy prior to the 2023-24 season that it would be his last year on the bench. Hardy said Thursday he made his decision in February after the Colonels ended an 18-7 season with a 74-47 loss to eventual Class 5 state runner-up L.C. Bird in the Region 5D Tournament.

"Everything has a season," Hardy said. "You do the best you can in your season. When your season's up, you have to move on."

Hardy, a 1978 William Byrd High graduate, came to Fleming in the early 1990's and spent 10 years as the Colonels' freshman team coach before replacing Rick Hall in the top job in 2003-04.

William Fleming had just one losing season under Hardy, whose career was highlighted in 2007 when a team led by future NBA guard Troy Daniels and center Jamelle Hagins posted 66-57 victory over Brunswick in the Group AA championship game at VCU's Siegel Center.

Two years later when Daniels and Hagins were seniors, Fleming nearly won the Group AAA crown before falling 49-47 to King's Fork.

Hardy finished his career with 381 victories, including the seven most recent games in the Roanoke rivalry with crosstown rival Patrick Henry.

"Basketball has a rich tradition at William Fleming," Hardy said. "I was just fortunate to be in the right place at the right time, to so to speak, carry the torch. We were able to do some great things.

"The title was a highlight, but the biggest thing I got from all this was trying to develop these young kids into becoming young men.

"It boils down to just being a big team. It starts from the central office all the way down to the custodian. Everybody has to be on the same page."

Hardy and Ashford were bookends on the Fleming bench, making the partnership work.

"The chemistry just was there," Ashford said. "When you come in as a freshman coach, the kids as they go through the program had a good feel for him.

"As he continued, it was just a matter of how he related to the players. Even though he didn't go to Fleming, a lot of kids knew him. He basically has always been part of our program at Fleming."

Hardy worked fulltime as a supervisor at Coyner Springs Juvenile Detention Center until he retired from that job in 2013. Ashford, who plans to retire as a Health and Physical Education teacher at Fleming after the 2024-25 season, was Hardy's point man at school if a problem ever arose.

Disciplinary duties were divided, with the roles sometimes reversed.

"It was always a good-cop, bad-cop situation, and I think that's on any [coaching] staff," Ashford said, who was the head coach at Floyd County from 1986-90. "When I would jump on the kids because they're not working hard in practice, Mickey would build them up at the end. We'd do little things to try to bring everything back to normal.

"The kids we had were really good kids and that's one thing attributed to him. If you kept a whole lot of foolishness going on in school, you weren't going to be a part of our program."

William Fleming players were kept aware of the program's past success. Former Fleming and VMI stars Damon Williams and Ramon Williams operate their annual Twins Camp, while Daniels has conducted his Dream Big basketball camp on campus for the last six years.

Colonels players also have been aware their two coaches were outstanding players at Virginia Tech.

Ashford, a Durham, North Carolina native, scored 1,058 career points and as a senior led Tech to the 1979 Metro Conference tournament championship and a second-round berth in the NCAA Tournament where the Hokies lost to an Indiana State team that featured Larry Bird.

Hardy played two seasons at Ferrum before completing his career at Tech in 1981-82, averaging 7.5 points and starting two games as a senior.

Hardy said he first came to Fleming largely because his son, Keith Hampton, was playing for the Colonels at the time. Hampton served his father as a varsity assistant last season.

"I wanted to be around him a little bit," Hardy said. "One thing led to another. Once I got my feet involved in it, it was hard to get away from it."

Fleming graduated six seniors, including all five starters from last year's team, possibly signifying a rebuilding year.

"We don't have any points coming back on the books," Hardy said. "It's going to be a challenge. Whoever the coach is, I hope the community is patient with them."