Ted Bacalis was one of the top athletes for both the baseball and basketball programs at Old Dominion. For basketball he was the high schoring center that helped lead the team to a 21-8 record in the 1947-48 season. He also was the leading scorer in the Tidewater Invitational Tournament Championship where he joined three of his teammates on the All-Tournament squad.

Bacalis played baseball in 1948 at shortstop and third base.

Bacalis later had a stellar career at Virginia Tech, and became one of Hampton Roads top high school basketball coaches at Maury from 1959-1977 where he collected a 295-97 record.