Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 27, 1990 TAG: 9003272285
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: STEVE CARLSON LANDMARK NEWS SERVICE
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Long
When Donovan played, fans packed the Old Dominion University Field House virtually every game, the team received strong local media coverage and, come March, the national spotlight always focused on Norfolk. The Lady Monarchs were recognized as the premier program of their day. During Donovan's college career, Old Dominion won a national championship and made the national semifinals two other years.
Most of all, Donovan remembers the fans.
"There was no better following," she said. "There may have been bigger crowds, but there were no better fans who were more close-knit than that.
"We'd finish a game, and it would take 20 minutes to get to the locker room because we'd meet every Tom, Dick and Harry who just wanted to come up and talk to us and be a part of it. Teams hated to come to Norfolk to play."
Times change.
Old Dominion's home attendance has dropped off considerably since the mid-1980s. The program often receives cursory attention from the local media. Instead of being the nation's top program, Old Dominion now is probably one of the nation's top 30, a status it might struggle to retain next season based on the players it has returning.
In seven seasons from 1978-79 to 1984-85, Old Dominion advanced to the national semifinals five times, won three national titles and compiled a 206-29 record (.877). In the five seasons since, the Lady Monarchs have not gotten past the NCAA Tournament's second round in four tries and have an overall record of 93-57 (.620).
"I think we all realize we've slipped a notch or two," Donovan said.
That campus gym has lost some of its mystique, too. Old Dominion lost five home games this season, and teams feel differently about playing at Old Dominion than they used to.
"There's a big difference," said Virginia coach Debbie Ryan, whose team defeated Tennessee 79-75 at the field house Saturday in the NCAA East Region championship game. "The difference is that you don't walk in here knowing you're going to have to leave with a 30-point loss. You have a chance to win."
Old Dominion undoubtedly took on the task of playing host to the regional semifinals and final in the hope that it would get to play in front of its home fans. However, the Monarchs were eliminated in the second round by Tennessee 87-68.
So how did Old Dominion, the leader of the pack for so long, fall back into the pack?
The primary reason seems to be that the competition intensified. Women's athletics have been governed by the NCAA only since the 1981-82 basketball season. Before that, the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women was the governing body for collegiate women's sports, and at most schools women's athletics received little funding and attention in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Except, that is, at Old Dominion and a handful of other schools.
"In the mid to late '70s, when we made a big emphasis on women's basketball, there were probably five or six schools making a push for women's basketball," Old Dominion athletic director Jim Jarrett said.
Today the situation is different.
"There's an awful lot of schools placing an emphasis on women's basketball now," said Wendy Larry, who just completed her third season as the Lady Monarchs' coach. "And it's the large schools with the large budgets. There are 250 programs now versus five who in the late '70s or early '80s made a commitment to women's basketball."
Virginia and Tennessee are two of those big schools from major conferences that have pushed their way to the forefront. The Lady Vols, who had their string of four consecutive Final Four trips snapped by the loss to Virginia, and Louisiana Tech are to women's basketball today what Old Dominion was 10 years ago.
"I think people like Old Dominion forced a lot of other people to get better," Tennessee coach Pat Summitt said. "They've created monsters."
A high school girl who is proficient at dribbling and shooting a basketball now has as many colleges courting her as the top high school boys do. The choices are plentiful for a top player who wants to go to a winning program that receives national attention.
For the nation's best high-school players who wanted to play with the other top players in the country, there used to be one clear-cut choice: Old Dominion.
With more competition, the talent pool has become diluted. Among ODU's disadvantages: the school is a relatively small commuter school; it is not affiliated with a major conference; it lacks a strong academic reputation; the field house pales in comparison to the large arenas at many schools; the fan support and media coverage - like the team - have gone from exceptional to marginal.
Though the program has remained successful by most standards - it has missed only one of nine NCAA tournaments - the Lady Monarchs would seem to be headed for a rough season in 1990-91. Three senior starters will be gone, including forward Kelly Lyons and guard Angela Jackson, whose averages totaled more than 40 points a game.
With the parity in the game today, Old Dominion may not dominate women's basketball again as it did before. Jarrett said he does not expect the Monarchs always to be among the nation's top programs and make the Final Four.
"Some year we'll be there again, but we're not going to be there every year," he said.
Ryan and Summitt agreed that Old Dominion has the coaching staff and university support to make a run at another national title, if it is able to recruit successfully. But Ryan, whose program has supplanted Old Dominion's as the best in Virginia, said it is unrealistic to measure today's Monarchs against their heyday.
"Those expectations were set a long time ago, and people keep referring to that," Ryan said. "That's yesteryear. Back then, they weren't competing against 250 schools that had the same thing that they've got or better."
by CNB