Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, December 9, 1993 TAG: 9312090154
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
John Latina, an offensive lineman for Virginia Tech in the 1970s, and Texas Christian defensive coordinator Reggie Herring are the only appointments announced by West, who was named Nov. 29 to succeed Ken Hatfield.
Latina coached the offensive line and was the running-game "coordinator" at Kansas State, his home for the past five seasons. He was at Temple for six years before that.
West, who coached outside linebackers at Clemson from 1982-98, has retained defensive-line coach Les Herrin and quarterback coach Rick Stockstill. Herrin and Stockstill are working for their third Tigers' head coach since 1989.
It is not unusual for new coaches to assume command before a bowl game - in fact, Danny Ford succeeded Charley Pell at Clemson before the 1979 Gator Bowl - but Tiger researchers could not find a case when the new coach had not been an assistant with the team during the regular season.
"I will have to watch film on [Peach Bowl opponent] Kentucky Clemson in preparing for this game," said West, head coach this past season at Tennessee-Chattanooga. "I will obviously meet with coach Herrin and coach Stockstill."
The team does not resume practice until Dec. 20.
Bobby Johnson, defensive coordinator under Hatfield, was named head coach at Furman on Thursday. Offensive coordinator Whitey Jordan, who left North Carolina last year to return to his alma mater, has been promised a job at Clemson but will not be on the football staff.
West, who directed the Moccasins to a 4-7 mark, has a variety of offensive formations and quarterbacks from which to choose. Clemson began the season in a pro-set before switching to the flexbone, a variation of the wishbone, with converted cornerback Dexter McCleon at quarterback.
"At this time, I don't know what we will run in the bowl," West said. "We will not be a wishbone team next year. I cut my teeth offensively at Tennessee in 1990 and I like the spread formations."
\ DUBIOUS RECORD: Maryland, which finished last in the ACC in six defensive categories, became the first football team in Division I-A history to give up 6,000 yards in a season. The Terps yielded 6,083 yards and no other ACC team allowed as many as 5,000.
The most unheralded player in the ACC might have been Maryland junior Russ Weaver, a transfer from Division III John Carroll. Weaver led the conference in receptions with 69, including 14 against Wake Forest in the final game. He had four receptions for Maryland in 1992.
\ WACKER HAS SURGERY: Lou Wacker, head football coach at Emory & Henry College for the past 12 years, was resting comfortably after triple-bypass heart surgery Wednesday at Holston Valley Medical Center in Kingsport, Tenn.
Wacker suffered a heart attack July 5 and was placed on a restricted schedule until the start of preseason practice. An athletic department spokesman said Wacker experienced discomfort last week, at which point tests were scheduled.
Apparently there was some deliberation as to whether Wacker would have a bypass or undergo angioplasty, a non-surgical procedure used to clear blockages.
\ LIGHT IN THE TUNNEL: Washington and Lee, which finished 2-8, had the lead in the fourth quarter in six of its last seven football games and trailed 21-20 in the other. The Generals would like to convince 1,000-yard rusher Tom Mason, who missed the 1991 season with a herniated disc, to return for a fifth season of eligibility.
\ THE EARLY LINE: Virginia Tech is a 3-point favorite over Indiana in the Independence Bowl, Dec. 31, in Shreveport, La. . . . Virginia is a 5 1/2-point underdog to Boston College in the Carquest Bowl, Jan. 1, in Miami. It marks only the second time in the last 14 games that the Cavaliers have not been favored.
\ HIGHLANDER HARDSHIP: Eric Bowens, a sophomore forward at Radford, will undergo knee surgery later this month and will miss the rest of the basketball season. Bowens, who had played in three games, is likely to receive an extra year of eligibility based on a hardship appeal.
\ HIGHLANDER HAS-BEENS: Phil Hopkins, an assistant men's basketball coach at Radford in the mid-1980s, has surfaced on the staff of new Western Carolina coach Benny Dees. Hopkins, who once worked for Dees at Wyoming, has been an assistant for the past four years under Tates Locke at Indiana State.
\ LOCAL UPDATE: Former Northside High star Patti Fisher, who has had reconstructive surgery on both knees, scored more points (11) in Radford's 85-83 victory over Appalachian State than she had in her first two years as a Lady Highlander. Fisher, who won a hardship appeal after playing in three games as a freshman, is a sophomore in eligibility.
Bridgewater College point guard Christie Osborne, a junior from Lord Botetourt High School, was named women's basketball player of the week in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference after scoring 50 points in three games, including 22 Saturday against Lynchburg College.
Tim Basham from Roanoke is playing more than 17 minutes per game for East Carolina and has averaged 4.8 points and 4.3 rebounds, with a high of eight points against Columbia, including two 3-pointers. Basham played at Patrick Henry High School before transferring to St. John's in Hagerstown, Md.
\ WRESTLING: Walter Preston from Boones Mill and Franklin County High School is one of the tri-captains at William and Mary, where his teammates include Noah Tempkin from Cave Spring High in Roanoke.
Tempkin and Preston each had 12 victories last season at 142 and 190 pounds, respectively. Preston, a redshirt junior, finished third in the state championships.
by CNB