ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, March 16, 1996 TAG: 9603180031
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B2 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: EAST REGION NOTES
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK STAFF WRITER
Embattled North Carolina State coach Les Robinson - who apparently will stay another season - has to be watching the NCAA Tournament action at the sold-out Richmond Coliseum and wondering what if ...
The Wolfpack just finished its fifth straight losing season, and hasn't had a similar streak since 1911-16. No ACC program has had five sub-.500 years in a row since Virginia ended a 16-year skid in 1971.
Meanwhile, two State could-haves this season are playing in the East bracket.
Jason Sasser, a third-team All-America choice, is eighth-ranked Texas Tech's scoring leader. The Dallas native committed to State during the recruiting process, but the Wolfpack signed Marcus Wilson instead.
The 6-foot-7 Sasser is the Southwest Conference player of the year. Also, New Orleans starting forward Alvin Sims left the Wolfpack after averaging 8.4 points in 1993-94, then sat out last season in rookie coach Tic Price's program.
``I guess you could just say my dad and Coach Robinson just had bad communications at the end,'' Sasser said. ``I went to Tech. It worked out well.''
How true. Tech coach James Dickey said his new program's ability four years ago to sign Sasser was ``the key thing. Getting a national recruit in our state, that said something. Convincing him he could stay at home and make a name for himself got us started.''
LATE CALL: After Georgetown's thumping of Mississippi Valley State on Friday, Georgetown coach John Thompson was asked if he jogged his team's memory about the potential for an upset without mentioning Princeton's win over defending NCAA champion UCLA on Thursday night.
He smiled.
``Certainly, I used it, and I did mention it,'' Thompson said. ``I know plenty about Princeton. My son [John Jr.] is a Princeton assistant coach. He called me last night from [an Indianapolis] phone booth. As soon as the phone rang, I knew who it would be.
``Even if I hadn't said anything, you have to look at the tournament that way. One game and you could be gone.''
BLACK THURSDAY: When Duke and Clemson left the ACC 0-for-2 on the first day of the tournament, it was rather historic.
Those losses Thursday marked the first time the league had lost two first-round games in one year since 1987, when the league went 2-for-6 in the first round, with losses by Virginia, N.C. State, Clemson and Georgia Tech.
That had been the only time ACC teams had lost more than two first-rounders since the NCAA field was expanded to 64 teams in 1985.
That all changed with Maryland's loss to Santa Clara in a first-round game Friday, leaving the ACC 0-for-3. North Carolina, Georgia Tech and Wake Forest save the day Friday night as all recorded victories.
The most infamous first day for the ACC in NCAA Tournament history was ``Black Sunday'' in 1979, when North Carolina, a No. 1 seed, and Duke, a No. 2, lost their first games (second-rounders) after getting byes in a 48-team field.
In the first six NCAA Tournaments in the '90s, the ACC was 28-3 in the first round.
VCU BIDDING: Virginia Commonwealth is hosting its second East Region first- and second-round session this weekend at the Richmond Coliseum. The first was in 1990, and the school wants more.
VCU athletic director Dick Sander said the Rams were not successful in their bid for 1999, but will bid for 2000 and 2001 when the NCAA Basketball Committee opens those dates.
Next year's East early round sites are Joel Coliseum in Winston-Salem, N.C., and the Pittsburgh Civic Arena. USAir Arena in Landover, Md., and the Hartford (Conn.) Civic Center have the East in '98, with the new FleetCenter in Boston and Charlotte Coliseum getting the East openers in 1999.
Charlotte is a Southeast first-round site in 1997, giving the Tar Heels' State two bracket openers. The Greensboro Coliseum has the '98 ``Sweet Sixteen'' East Regional.
LONG ROAD: New Mexico coach Dave Bliss, whose team opened NCAA play Friday by beating Kansas State, has been critical of the NCAA Basketball Committee's geographical placement of teams in the 64-team bracket.
On Bliss' home floor, ``The Pit'' in Albuquerque, the NCAA sent seven teams from East of the Mississippi River and Montana State. The Lobos ended up in Richmond, $1,000 air fare away from home.
``It seems like it would make more sense to send Maryland [the No.7 West seed, playing in Tempe, Ariz.], to Richmond and send us [a No.7] seed to Tempe or Dallas,'' Bliss said. ``It's not just us. Texas Tech could be in Dallas instead of here. It seems like they're losing a lot of gate.''
True, but the NCAA committee tries to balance the four regional brackets, and it doesn't really worry about the gate, with CBS Sports paying $178.3 million for the exclusive rights to this year's tournament.
LENGTH: Medium: 90 linesby CNB