Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 3, 1995 TAG: 9503030088
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Will this weekend's Colonial Athletic Association Tournament bring the end of Lefty Driesell's coaching career? Asked if he would return after one of the most frustrating of his 33 seasons as a college hoops boss, the usually feisty Driesell has said only that he would think about it.
His James Madison team enters the tournament Saturday in Richmond with a five-game losing streak and a 14-12 record. It's the first time in six years the Dukes haven't won or shared the league's regular-season title, and they'll lose 48 percent of this season's scoring in Louis Rowe and Kent Culuko.
The grousing about Driesell's program has grown louder in Harrisonburg, and there is no question JMU President Ron Carrier, the man who brought Driesell out of coaching exile, doesn't have the clout he once did. The Dukes averaged fewer than 5,700 spectators at home this season, a year in which JMU should have prospered with some attractive home dates and a weakened CAA.
Driesell, 63 and sixth among active Division I coaches in victories with 655, has two years left on his contract. It's no secret he would like his son and assistant, Chuck, to succeed him. That wish obviously is very much in question now, too.
Atlantic 10 Commissioner Linda Bruno said Thursday the conference men's basketball tournament next season will include Virginia Tech and the other 11 teams at one site, might be played on the same weekend as the Big East and ACC tournaments, and might be moved from Philadelphia's Palestra.
Bruno said the tournament will stay at a neutral site, and the Providence Civic Center and Philadelphia's Spectrum have expressed interest. ESPN also has inquired about showing more than the championship game starting next season. This year's A-10 tournament plays Saturday through Monday at the Palestra, then delays the championship game until Thursday at the home of the highest remaining seed.
Bruno said it's likely the A-10 would play a Wednesday-through-Saturday or Thursday-through-Sunday format in the future. ``I think our athletic directors feel we've reached a point where we have to play the tournament at one neutral site and work more toward getting people in the building,'' she said.
Washington has signed one Cowboy and would like another. Following the signing of safety James Washington, a much-sought NFL free agent visited Redskin Park on Thursday - Dallas tight end Jay Novacek.
The Redskins didn't get a fullback they wanted, when New England's Kevin Turner opted for Philadelphia, but James Washington's signing was big, because safety has been a two-year weakness. Last season's free safety starter was rookie Darryl Morrison, alongside veteran Martin Bayless.
The Redskins really wanted Houston linebacker Lamar Lathon, who went to Carolina for five years and $13.75 million, the biggest deal for any free agent this off-season. There still are questions about which starting linebacker will exit following the move of Buffalo's Marvcus Patton to Washington for $6.8 million over four years.
It won't be Pro Bowl performer Ken Harvey. That leaves Tyronne Stowe and Andre Collins, the club's top draft pick in 1990 and leading tackler last season. Stowe plays the middle, which Patton might not be able to do in Washington's 4-3 alignment. He has played inside and outside in Buffalo's 3-4. Collins, with a $1.5 million salary in his final season under contract, also counts for $1 million more than Stowe under the Redskins' salary cap.
Laugh if you want, but struggling Duke, despite its close calls with ACC leader Maryland, will have a very difficult time getting past Clemson or N.C. State in Thursday's 8-9 game of the ACC Tournament.
The Wolfpack and Tigers present more problems for Duke than some superior ACC clubs because they spread the floor on offense. Duke has trouble sustaining defense in that situation, and fewer possessions reduce the young Blue Devils' margin for error.
Wake Forest's 30 ACC basketball victories in three years is the first time the school has posted three consecutive winning seasons in the league since 1962-64, an era in which Bones McKinney coached and Billy Packer played for the Deacons. That's one reason Wake's Dave Odom is likely to be the ACC's coach of the year for the second consecutive year and the third time in five seasons.
The coach of unbeaten Manchester in the NCAA Division III men's basketball tournament is more familiar for his hoops exploits in another Indiana town. It's former Hoosiers guard Steve Alford, who starred in Bloomington.
by CNB