Coach K fine with depth perception
By Jerry Ratcliffe / Daily Progress sports editor
January 8, 2004

Scattershooting around the ACC, while noting that Virginia quarterback Matt Schaub’s collegiate career will be extended by one more game, the Hula Bowl all-star game in Maui on Jan. 17.
Developing depth?
While UVa basketball coach Pete Gillen’s team enjoys a five-day break from game action in preparation for Sunday’s home game against No. 2-ranked Duke, don’t think for a minute that Blue Devils’ coach Mike Krzyzewski is worried about the Cavaliers’ depth advantage.
Gillen has been using 10 players off his roster and now has an 11th, Jason Clark, available for the ACC season. Coach K has been using seven for the most part and was recently ruffled by sportswriters asking why he hasn’t developed more depth.
“You all [sports reporters] sometimes really don’t understand completely what goes on,” said Krzyzewski, who often lectures media when irritated. “That’s why I guess you ask questions. This is a good question and I’ll take the opportunity to explain something.”
Please feel free, Mike, to teach us all about depth.
“People talk about developing depth, developing rotations and whatever,” K said. “The main thing you do is develop a team. And if you assume that you have a team from the outset, you’re an idiot because a team has to be developed.
“So before you start doing any other thing, you develop the main people on your team and get them comfortable in the roles where they do the most damage. That’s the most important thing in any sport.”
Krzyzewski makes good points, things he said he learned from people like Bobby Knight, Hank Iba and Pete Newell, people who really know the game of basketball.
“That’s the way I’ve coached for 29 years,” K said. “First you’ve got to develop your key guys and you don’t develop your key guys until you get to know them after they play together. We’ve had seven kids playing like starters. We’d like to see our reserves play. That doesn’t mean they’re going to play more but that they should be ready to play.”

Dex in the fold
It would certainly make sense if Virginia coach Al Groh promotes graduate assistant Anthony Poindexter to a full-time assistant coach now that running backs coach Kevin Ross has left the program to become his father, Bobby Ross’s, offensive coordinator at Army.
Poindexter, an All-American safety at Virginia and perhaps the most vicious hitter on some strong Cavalier defenses, worked with wide receivers last season. It isn’t certain that “Dex” would coach UVa’s running backs, as Groh could shuffle some responsibilities. Secondary coach Bob Price worked with Virginia running backs his first three years
here, coaching All-American Thomas Jones.
Bobby Ross said that his son Kevin was one of the first people that he turned to after accepting the Army job but held off on the announcement until after Virginia’s season concluded at the request of Groh.

The Gold List. Recruiting junkies can now keep track of where the Top 50 football prospects in the state will sign on The Daily Progress web site: www.dailyprogress.com
When you reach the page, look for the block featuring the Gold List and our Silver List. We will continue to update the commitments list until the national signing period begins on Feb. 4, when we will feature our entire recruiting package.

Pushing Roy’s buttons. All hasn’t been as rosy in Chapel Hill as new coach Roy Williams expected.
Williams was fuming after the Heels lost at Kentucky last Saturday, twice benching four starters beause of poor defense and not following orders.
During one break, Williams said he diagramed a defensive formation on his clipboard, particularly one position so vigorously that he nearly rubbed a hole in the board. Still, that particular player, whom Williams declined to identify, still lined up in the wrong place.
“I was frustrated,” said Williams. “I’ve been very fortunate and spoiled rotten for the last several years. Coaching’s been an easy gig. Right now it’s as frustrating as I’ve ever been in my life.
“Sometimes we act like things are supposed to be given to us. I want teams that want to win, not just hope to win, but get down to where you can make something happen,” the UNC coach said. “I get tired of hoping the other team’s going to screw it up. That’s the most frustrating thing that I’ve ever been around ... just hoping somebody else will screw it up.”

Trouble with Herb. N.C. State coach Herb Sendek has taken the Wolfpack to the NCAA Tournament the past two seasons and has his team winning again, but he just can’t seem to win over the fans in Raleigh.
State hasn’t come close to selling out a home game this season and some State fans have started their own “fire the coach” web site. Some don’t like his low-key style, which isn’t helped in contrast by Pack football coach Chuck Amato, sunglasses, chest and all. Some simply don’t believe Sendek is the man to lead State to ACC championships or deep into the NCAA Tournament.
But Sendek said he isn’t losing any sleep over his unpopularity.
“You obviously don’t have any control over what somebody on the outside wants or thinks,” Sendek said.

Withoutus Danelius. Wake Forest has been surprisingly good this season, especially considering the Deacons have been missing 6-9 junior Vytas Danelius, slowed by sickness and an ankle injury.
Deacs coach Skip Prosser has gone mostly with a three-guard lineup, freshman Chris Paul along with Justin Gray and Taron Downey.
“He has yet to practice since he was injured,” Prosser said of his big man and the team’s best rebounder. “The charge is to continue to do well until we get him back.”

Free throws ... Look for Virginia to add Texas-El Paso to its nonconference football schedule for the 2004 and 2005 season. The Cavs will likely travel to El Paso next season and host the Miners in 2005. UTEP recently hired Mike Price, who left Alabama because of “Stripper-Gate” last summer before he ever coached a game there. ...The Hoos already have home dates in ’04 with Syracuse and Akron to go along with eight conference games. Like most teams, UVa will play an 11-game regular season this fall. ...Watch out for Roanoke native J.J. Redick when Duke comes to town. He has rediscovered his shooting touch with 59 points in his last three games and as noted by teammate Chris Duhon: “Now you can see J.J.’s getting cocky again ... he’s now the 3-point shooter that we know he is. He’s doing it every day in practice and it’s carrying over.”

... Rumorville: Steve Spurrier will elect to sit out next season before picking his next job, which many predict will be at North Carolina if Tar Heels coach John Bunting fails to turn the program around. ...Clemson sophomore Julian Betko has announced he will transfer within the next 10 days or after the spring semester, citing lack of playing time as the reason for leaving (he has played two minutes this season). ...Florida State is leading the ACC in 3-point shooting after ranking last in that statistic last season. The difference? Perhaps freshman center Alexander Johnson, who has been such a threat in the paint that other teams have had to collapse on him, leaving shooters like Tim Pickett open on the perimeter.
 

UVa's '04 docket likely to include UTEP
Doug Doughty

Just as Virginia was putting the finishing touches on a home-and-home football series with Texas-El Paso, an intriguing possibility presented itself for the Cavaliers.

The Cavaliers have been looking to add a road game to balance their 2004 schedule, but athletic director Craig Littlepage said Monday that a pitch had been made to have the Cavaliers play at a neutral site.

"What I had heard involved a game at FedEx Field [in Landover, Md.] against a team not in the top five or top 10," Littlepage said.

The negotiations with UTEP enable UVa to fill a hole in its 2005 schedule as well. Virginia needs a road nonconference game next year because it wants to make sure it has a home nonconference opponent in 2005, when the Cavaliers must go to Syracuse.

Ideally, UVa would not want a road game in which it would be an overwhelming underdog, which is why Texas El-Paso fills the bill. The Miners were 2-11 last season but should receive considerable offseason attention with the hiring of ex-Washington State and Alabama head coach Mike Price.

Roanoke coal broker and influential University of Mississippi alumnus Gene McBurney reports that the Rebels are near agreement on a home-and-home football series with Virginia that would involve games in 2006 and 2008.

Holding their own

First-year Penn State basketball coach Ed DeChellis, faced with an 11-man roster that includes two walk-ons, has been using assistant coaches James Johnson and Hillary Scott to help the team scrimmage during practice.

"Coach Scott and I always joke a bit," Johnson said. "We say we're in a league. We're getting paid and we're playing. We didn't think we'd be doing this much court time, but it's been fun."

Johnson, 32, was a three-time choice as Ferrum College's best defensive player and has been nicknamed "the glove" by the team at Penn State. Scott was a two-time All-American at Roanoke College and averaged 25 points while playing professionally for three years in Ireland.

Recruiting

Wake Forest has received a commitment from Eric Berry, an All-Tidewater linebacker from Nansemond River High School who was rated the No.51 prospect in Virginia.

Of the state's top 100 prospects, as rated by The Roanoke Times, 27 have committed to Division I-A programs and two to Division I-AA schools, including No.39 Michael Wood, an All-Group AAA offensive lineman from Western Branch who committed to Hofstra.

Personnel matters

Florida State continues to fight for the eligibility of 6-foot-10 Diego Romero, rated one of the top 10 men's basketball prospects in junior college last year. Romero signed two professional contracts two years ago in Argentina, but FSU said he did not receive more than $2,400 in living expenses.
 

Young Cavaliers hard to figure
By Dave Johnson
Daily Press
Published January 8, 2004

In spinning the positive, Virginia is 10-2 and looked pretty good in victories against Minnesota and Iowa State. The Cavaliers have shown improvement on both ends of the floor and a sense of togetherness that was nowhere to be seen the past two seasons.

In spinning the negative, Virginia was barely competitive in its toughest tests to date, losing to N.C. State and Providence by a combined 32 points. The Cavs led William and Mary by one at the game's 71/2-minute mark and were pushed to the limit by Mount St. Mary's and James Madison, who are a combined 5-18.

So as it begins a stretch of 15 consecutive ACC games Sunday night against second-ranked Duke, Virginia is a hard group to define.

"We're a young team," said coach Pete Gillen, who at one point against W&M had five freshmen on the floor. "But we do have potential."

No doubt. Twenty-five pounds lighter than last year, Elton Brown could become the Cavaliers' best scoring threat in the post since Junior Burrough. None other than Mike Krzyzewski called Devin Smith one of the best scorers in the league. And all five freshmen - led by Gary Forbes, the most gifted player on the roster - have shown promise.

The Cavs are averaging 80 points a game, up from last year's 73.9, and holding opponents to 42 percent shooting.

Five players are averaging in double figures and Virginia, trying to get back to its up-tempo style, leads the ACC in assist-to-turnover ratio.

But, of course, you have to throw an asterisk by all that. Of the 11 teams on U.Va.'s non-conference schedule, none made the NCAA Tournament last year. CollegeRPI.com ranked the Cavaliers' non-league slate No. 137 among the 326 Division I teams.

Even with the soft schedule, there have been signs of trouble. Virginia is being outrebounded by 2.2 boards per game. Among those to have beaten the Cavs under the glass: Mount St. Mary's, Virginia Tech and William and Mary.

Smith has a herniated disc in his back, which limits his practice time, which limits his effectiveness on the floor. Brown, though in far better shape, still has lapses that land him next to Gillen on the bench. And Todd Billet, though doing an admirable job out of position at the point, is getting only nine shots a game.

While the Cavs may be better than they were in either of the past two years, the results might not show it. Mediocre by its standards the last couple seasons, the ACC is clearly the nation's best conference.

Duke, Wake Forest, Georgia Tech and North Carolina are among the top dozen in the polls. Maryland and Florida State, a combined 21-5, are among others receiving votes.

Given the remainder of its schedule this month - Duke, at Georgia Tech, Florida State, Clemson, at North Carolina, at Wake Forest - it's hard to imagine Virginia going into February any better than 2-4. Yet all Gillen can do is press on.

"We have a chance to beat anybody we play, I really believe that," he said. "But we can also lose any game we play."

OLD STORY. Only 11 games into his coaching career at North Carolina, Roy Williams has discovered what Matt Doherty could have told him - Rashad McCants, while talented, can be a headache.

Three times this season, Williams has benched McCants for long stretches, once even sending him to the locker room prior to halftime. Though he's the conference's third-leading scorer at 17.5 points a game, McCants played only 21 points and scored four points in UNC's 61-56 loss at Kentucky.

"If you want to stay in the game, play better," Williams said. "It's an easy deal."

McCants hasn't been Williams' only target. Four minutes into the Kentucky game, he benched all five starters.
 

Realignment on Agenda
By Barry Svrluga
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, January 8, 2004; Page D04

This weekend, in a Nashville hotel room, the leaders of the three conferences at the heart of college sports' conference alignment upheaval will sit down to discuss when, exactly, that upheaval will take place, beginning with the timing of Boston College's move from the Big East to the ACC. That move, and the trickle-down effect that will encompass 22 schools, almost certainly will come in 2005.

Commissioners John Swofford of the ACC, Mike Tranghese of the Big East and Britton Banowsky of Conference USA will meet at the NCAA Convention in an effort to sort out the shifting of schools from conference to conference. A decision, officials at several conferences said, should come in the next week -- perhaps two, at most.

"Obviously, there are a number of transitions that will be taking place either sooner or later," Swofford said. "I think, philosophically, most people would rather not have a lame-duck kind of situation. It may be necessary in this particular instance, but in a perfect world, I think all of us will agree the sooner the movement and the cleaner the movement, the better for everybody."

The shifting involves 15 schools moving either into or out of those three conferences alone, beginning with Miami and Virginia Tech's impending move from the Big East to the ACC, which will take place July 1. Because Boston College didn't accept the ACC's invitation until October, the Eagles are obligated to remain in their old conference unless the Big East releases them. But the Big East's new look involves the addition of five schools from Conference USA, so several officials in different conferences said the weekend's negotiating session likely won't free the Eagles to move on this fall.

"If we could work it out, and everyone could do this, then fine," Tranghese said. "But honestly, I think the roadblock is too significant."

The roadblocks involve Conference USA's desire to keep revenue shares from the NCAA tournament in men's basketball generated by its outgoing schools, particularly Louisville and Cincinnati, which will join Marquette, DePaul and South Florida in leaving for the Big East. Revenue from the tournament is issued to conferences based on how far their teams advance in a particular year, earning more money for each round. With the Cardinals and the Bearcats potentially powerful next season, Conference USA wants to keep that money before letting the schools depart.

"Our analysis of how we transition our organization was built on future revenue models," Banowsky said. "There were several components, and obviously one of those components was revenue generated from the men's basketball tournament. That's important."

"Let me put it this way," Rutgers Athletic Director Robert Mulcahy said. "I think there's very, very little chance that [BC] could move for the next academic year."

Complicating matters are two lawsuits, one in which four Big East schools -- Connecticut, Pittsburgh, Rutgers and West Virginia -- are suing Boston College and Miami for leaving. BC is, in turn, asking for a judgment in Massachusetts Superior Court as to whether it owes the Big East $1 million or $5 million in exit fees.

Though BC Athletic Director Gene DeFilippo said "it would probably be best for everyone if this happens quickly," he said there's at least one positive in the Eagles waiting to leave until 2005.

"With Miami and Virginia Tech gone, you have to look at Boston College as one of those schools that would have a chance to play in either the [Bowl Championship Series] or the Gator Bowl on New Year's Day," DeFilippo said.

Thus, the ACC is left with several uncertainties, the most significant of which is whether it will be able to stage a conference championship football game following the 2004 season. NCAA rules mandate that a conference must have 12 members in order to stage such a game. Faced with the probability of being an 11-team league this season, the ACC is pushing for a change in that legislation.

Should the NCAA lower the threshold, Swofford said the ACC would hold a football championship game this fall. The NCAA's management council will consider such a change when it meets next week. That group could recommend a change to the board of directors, which has final say.
 

Lamp's routine lit up Cavaliers
Virginia guard Jeff Lamp called his free-throw routine "ridiculous," but no one in the ACC has made more in a row.
Record Setters: Jeff Lamp / He set an ACC mark by making 48 straight free throws during the 1979-80 season.
By A.J. CARR, Staff Writer

When a basketball game was on the line, Virginia's Cavaliers liked to see Jeff Lamp at the line. The two-time All-America set an ACC record during the 1979-80 season by making 48 consecutive free throws, a mark Duke guard J.J. Redick tied on Tuesday night.
"I'm surprised it hasn't been broken before now,'' Lamp said. "People are shooting free throws better than they used to."

But not much better than Lamp, who lit it up from the line and the field by averaging 18.8 points over his career.

The 6-foot-6 guard said he learned the proper shooting mechanics early, "practiced a lot," and developed a routine that he applied on every free throw.

The routine went this way: Find the nail at the mid-point at the foul line and move two inches to the right. Look at the rim. Dribble three times. Roll the ball back into a shooting position. Pause and refocus on the rim. Shoot and follow through.

"I had a ridiculous routine, [but] when you get in pressure situations or fatigued, it helps to have a pattern,'' he said. "You rely on muscle memory."

Lamp had the touch from the field as well, and especially in the clutch. He won or tied 14 games for coach Terry Holland's team with shots in the final minute.

Today, Lamp lives with his wife and two children in San Diego, and works for the NBA, helping players prepare for a career after basketball.

He also could give a few pointers on free-throw shooting.