Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, May 24, 1990 TAG: 9005240513
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
The five newcomers all started at one point during the season, and all played at least 300 minutes. And they provided three of Tech's four leading scorers.
Senior Bimbo Coles led the team in scoring with 25.3 points per game, followed by freshmen Dirk Williams (9.8), Rod Wheeler (8.8) and J.J. Burton (7.6). The other freshman, Thomas Elliott, was 10th on the team in scoring with 2.5 points per game.
Tech's recruits, including junior-college transfer Ibraheem Olatodun, accounted for 41.9 percent of the team's minutes and 40.6 percent of the team's scoring, which was a greater percentage than all but one of the recruiting classes ranked among the top five in the country by recruiting analyst Bob Gibbons.
Indiana's recruits, ranked No. 1 by Gibbons, accounted for more than 50 percent of the Hoosiers' playing time and scoring. (See accompanying chart).
At Indiana, as well as Tech, there was ample playing time available for freshmen. At Duke, on the other hand, freshman Billy McCaffrey wasn't about to supplant Phil Henderson at shooting guard, although freshman Bobby Hurley did play more than 1,200 minutes.
"It's tough to play freshmen, even blue-chippers," said Tech coach Frankie Allen, whose Hokies finished 13-18. "I think, if you take a look at Indiana, Coach [Bobby] Knight took some lumps comparatively speaking [at 18-11]. That's probably not what you would consider an Indiana-type year."
Georgia Tech, Villanova and UCLA all redshirted one freshman. Two of Tech's newcomers - center Jimmy Carruth and swingman Corey Jackson - were redshirted.
"If we had known Greg Brink would go down [in late January], I don't think we would have redshirted Jimmy Carruth," Tech coach Frankie Allen said. "If we had decided to use Carruth, I think he would have been another one to play 300 minutes."
Gibbons said he would reserve judgment on whether Tech's class was underrated.
"It was better than billed, but the proof is in the pudding," Gibbons said. "Is that class going to put them on a level with Louisville and Memphis State? "Dirk Williams is a good example of a kid, who, when given the opportunity, made the most of it. Now, is he going to sustain it?"
James Madison basketball coach Lefty Driesell, quoted by the Richmond Times-Dispatch, on possible expansion of the Colonial Athletic Association:
"The team that I want to see join the league is Virginia Tech. It's ridiculous for them to be in the Metro. They've got to travel all over the world. I can't even tell you who's in the Metro. If Tech was in our conference, they'd save a fortune in travel and draw bigger crowds to their arena."
Pat Mengel, coach of the women's basketball team at William and Mary, withdrew his resignation after it was reported that the school might drop the sport for budgetary reasons. "There are two reasons I decided to come back: to protect my players and because my players want to prove they can win here," Mengel said.
Associate athletic director Millie West said, "We have to make a decision on which way to go with it. Either we have to go full force or cut back completely. It isn't a sport where you can go halfway. The Joneses in this sport spend a lot more money than the Joneses in track or soccer."
Tara VanDerVeer, coach of Division I women's basketball champion Stanford, is the latest to sound off on the absence of women in men's basketball coaching.
"Unfortunately, college coaching is the last bastion of chauvinism and sexism and racism, and it's alive and well," VanDerVeer said. "I'm open [to coaching a men's team]. I love the job I have now . . . but if someone offered me a job [coaching men] that would double my salary in a place where I would want to live, I would definitely be interested."
Radford's last men's basketball signee is Chris Horton, a 6-foot point guard from Aurora, Colo. Horton played for the state runners-up in Colorado's highest classification. He is considered a pure point guard. . . . Liberty signed 6-2 Matthew Hildebrand from Sturgis, Mich., where he averaged 25 points as a senior.
Ferrum College has received commitments from a pair of all-region guards - 6-1 Aaron Burrell from Gloucester and 6-foot Mike Ransome from Middlesex. Ransome averaged 21.7 points and six assists as a senior, with 58 3-point field goals. Burrell averaged 20 points and seven rebounds and was selected York District player of the year.
Ever notice how every VMI basketball recruit is billed as an "excellent catch" by his high school coach? "Yeah," said Keydets' coach Joe Cantafio. "Next thing you know I'll be hosting that fishing show Saturday mornings on ESPN."
Virginia Tech linebacker Randy Cockrell has signed a free-agent contract with the Miami Dolphins. . . . Former Hokies defensive tackle Horacio Moronta, who transferred to Wagner before his senior year, will try out for the Philadelphia Eagles. . . . Tech offensive guard Skip Pavlik earlier had signed a free-agent contract with Pittsburgh.
Emory & Henry has announced that three Roanoke Valley products plan to play football for the Wasps next season: fullback and nose guard Greg Smith from Salem, offensive tackle-defensive end Travis Jones from Northside and offensive guard-linebacker Chris Mitchell from Patrick Henry.
CONTRIBUTION BY RECRUITS (As rated by Bob Gibbons)\ Rank\ TeamMin.Pts. 1. Indiana.561.578 2. Ga. Tech.333.328 3. Villanova.328.301 (tie) UCLA.242.242 5. Duke.289.207 x-Va. Tech.419.406 ranked
by CNB