Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, September 30, 1993 TAG: 9309300044
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Doug Doughty
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Duke coach Barry Wilson, whose Blue Devils were involved in a brawl Saturday at Virginia, went so far as to send a copy of his policy to the conference's other eight coaches.
"In the future, any player who leaves our bench area for any reason other than playing in the game will be suspended," said Wilson, who said he personally would defend any opposing player attacked in the area of the Duke bench.
"Let's face it: The majority of players who run across the field are doing it for show anyway. They rarely do more than stand around or push and shove for a few seconds. It's really silly, though the herd or mob effect makes it dangerous and someone certainly could be hurt badly."
Virginia coach George Welsh said he was disturbed at comments that made his players sound almost gleeful.
"I told them they were wrong," Welsh said. "They said it. I'm sure they meant it. I think they need a little more education. That's not what the game is all about. I'm going to suspend players who leave the bench and have that threat for players who start fights."
Welsh said a couple of UVa players "came to mind" who would not have played this week against Ohio University if the new policy had been in place.
The ACC announced this week that it would reserve the right to suspend players for fighting. Dave Braine, Virginia Tech's athletic director, said the Big East is leaving discipline to individual programs, although he would not be opposed to an NCAA rule.
Dan Wooldridge, the Big East's supervisor of football officials, sees a problem with Wilson's rule. "In my estimation, more than 90 percent of these fights take place on a change of possession - on kickoffs, punts, after a touchdown, etc. - and you've got 44 people coming and going," Wooldridge said. "Who's to say who's coming off the bench?
"I've read comments from coach Welsh and [Tech] coach [Frank] Beamer about the officials needing to throw flags, but I've looked at tape of the Miami game [with Colorado] and I don't see where the officials could have done anything more."
The only situation where players did not leave the bench was at North Carolina State, where the Wolfpack already had a policy to deal with fighting.
"Any of our players who leave the bench [to fight] will not play again in the football game that day," said head coach Mike O'Cain. "If it happens late in the game, they would not play the next week, too."
\ IN THE ACC: O'Cain, a quarterback at Clemson from 1974-76, will return to his alma mater Saturday for the first time as a head coach. "When [the Clemson players] run down the hill, I'm sure it will send a chill down my back," said O'Cain, who rushed for 140 yards against N.C. State in 1976, setting a single-game Clemson record for quarterbacks.
At North Carolina, where both scholarship quarterbacks are nursing injuries, tailback Leon Johnson is getting practice time at quarterback.
\ AROUND THE STATE: Washington and Lee defensive tackle Robert Hull, a sophomore from Lexington, had 14 tackles and forced two fumbles - one of which he recovered - in the Generals' 21-15 loss to Centre on Saturday.
Hull, the first player from a Rockbridge County high school to receive extensive playing time for W & L since the early 1980s, is one of 11 sophomores in the Generals' starting lineup. There are 30 sophomores and freshmen in W & L's two-deep (top 44).
Rob Light, a fifth-year tackle from Salem, was chosen offensive player of the week for William and Mary in its 45-17 victory over Harvard. The Tribe coaching staff gave Light's blocking a grade of 1.9 on a 2.0 scale.
\ MEN'S BASKETBALL: Virginia Tech is one of the finalists for 6-foot-7, 235-pound Terrance Payne from Lake Clifton High School in Baltimore. Payne, who averaged 14 points and 12.8 rebounds as a junior, also has an interest in Virginia Commonwealth and Seton Hall.
Virginia will receive visits this weekend from 6-2 guard Curtis Staples from Roanoke and Oak Hill Academy and 6-8 power forward Norman Nolan from Dunbar High School in Baltimore. Both have been rated among the top 25 prospects in the country by recruiting analyst Bob Gibbons.
Gibbons reports that two players who ranked among his final 125 prospects last season, guard Nathan Langley from Washington, D.C., and forward Kevin Ward from St. John's of Frederick, Md., are paying their way at George Mason after failing to meet NCAA academic guidelines for freshman eligibility.
\ NON-REVENUE: Radford University senior Rachid Benjelloun from Casablanca, Morocco, won the East Tennessee State Fall Tennis Tournament for the third time. Benjelloun, a senior, has a 74-22 singles record in his career.
Radford senior Merrill Hausenfluck established himself as an early favorite for the Big South men's cross country championship with victories in the First Union Invitational at Winthrop and the Retriever Invitational at Maryland-Baltimore County.
by CNB