Virginia AD speaks on Gillen's state
By Jerry Ratcliffe / Daily Progress sports editor
February 5, 2005

You don’t have to be Dick Tracy to figure out the scenario surrounding Virginia basketball these days.

The Cavaliers have lost seven of their last eight games and have won only twice in the New Year’s 10 outings. They’re dead last in the ACC standings, last in several of the league’s statistical categories and appear mired in a hoops quicksand with no one standing by to throw them a rope.

With rumors surfacing on a daily basis about what Virginia’s athletic administration intends to do about it the situation, it was worth asking the man who will make that decision, his opinion. Craig Littlepage went through all this before last season before the Cavaliers rallied to essentially save coach Pete Gillen’s job.

Littlepage’s thoughts

So, what is Littlepage, UVa’s director of athletics and a former head basketball coach himself, thinking as the Cavs continue in a frustrating tailspin?

He is displaying an impressive amount of patience and class throughout this entire thing as is Gillen himself.

“At a time when so much is questioned about intercollegiate athletics, I want to make sure the University treats our people [in this case the coaches and players, in particular], right,” Littlepage said this week. “Yes, we were all disappointed by what happened last week. Pete said he holds himself responsible for the team’s play.”

UVa’s athletics chief was referring to the North Carolina loss in University Hall. The Cavaliers had beaten the Tar Heels five straight years in Charlottesville, and if there was a chance to turn things around, it would have been as good a time as any to make a stand against arguably the best team in the country.

Instead, UVa got off to a horrible start, trailed by

50 points at one time and was obliterated 110-76, the third-worst loss ever in Charlottesville. The team played without heart and it showed.

Time running out

While Gillen still has six years remaining on his contract after this season, this clearly could be his last if he doesn’t get things turned around and the clock is ticking. Pete knows it, Littlepage knows it, the boosters who bankroll the program, the Joe-Bag-o-Donuts in the stands, you and I, all know it.

But, no, Littlepage will not fire Gillen or ask him for a resignation in the middle of the season and turn the program over to an assistant coach or, as one rumor today had it, to legendary Wahoo Barry Parkhill, to coach out the season. Heck, Parkhill is in Florida playing golf with Ronde Barber. Why would he want to coach basketball?

Clearly, Littlepage will have to make a decision at some point, but he said it won’t be until all is said and done with this season. He wants that to be as perfectly clear as are his goals for the UVa basketball program.

“Our goals are to be competitive in the ACC and to finish the year poised for strong consideration in the NCAA Tournament,” Littlepage said. “A year ago, Pete felt his team could do that and with half a conference schedule to play, we have some ground to make up.”

In case you don’t understand athletic director speak, both Gillen and Littlepage didn’t think it was out of the question when they had this discussion last March, that this year’s team had the potential to finish in the upper echelon of the ACC and at least get consideration for the NCAA.

Littlepage didn’t say it, but we believe that translates to a simple message: NCAA or bust.

“After the season, we will see how the program measures up to those expectations, priorities and goals,” Littlepage said. “It is a very difficult time since we have all been pulling for the program to turn the corner. Our fans and supporters have been great and their support is important to these players, especially. They deserve every chance for success.”

Littlepage’s desire is for fans to keep coming and keep encouraging the players, most of whom will return next season, regardless of whether Gillen returns to coach them or not.

“I don’t want people to read anything into comments that might be interpreted as we’ve already made a decision or we’re just waiting until the end to announce something they think is decided,” Littlepage said.

He insists no decision has been made, that he will patiently wait until the end and go from there.

However, he’s no dummy and he’s not about to get caught off guard, either.

A wise, old AD once told me, any athletic director worth his salt always carries around a short list of coaching candidates (for football and basketball), just in case something happens. Littlepage is no different.

You can speculate until the cows come home about who might be on that list, but only Littlepage and his inner circle really know.

If the Cavaliers come together, show some guts, some signs of life, and rally to make a strong run over the next five weeks, who knows what might happen. If they continue in the downward spiral, well, the handwriting is on the wall.

Unfriendly confines
Cavs have struggled mightily at RBC Center
By Andrew Joyner / Daily Progress staff writer
February 5, 2005

A house of horror could describe any number of ACC venues that the Virginia men’s basketball team visits annually.

When you are 10-42 in ACC road games over the past seven seasons, there are obviously few arenas that are houses of fun.

Yet, N.C. State’s RBC Center is statistically the one place the Cavaliers have really struggled. Since its opening in 1999, Virginia is 0-5 in the building and in only one of those instances was the margin less than 10 points. In their last three visits, the Cavaliers have lost by 17, 12 and 17 points, respectively.

Overall, Virginia has lost seven straight games at N.C. State. The Cavaliers have won at every other venue during that same time period except Cameron Indoor Stadium. Even at Cameron, however, it could be argued that the Cavaliers have played competitive games.

Sounds like the perfect venue for the Cavaliers at the moment.

Virginia is coming off a 98-79 loss at Providence on Wednesday night, which was its seventh loss in its last eight games. After an 8-1 start, Virginia has won only twice in 2005 with one coming in double-overtime and the other coming when a player did not know the score correctly and inadvertently shot a 3-pointer when he only needed two points to tie.

The freefall seemed to be its apex last Saturday in a 110-76 loss at North Carolina but that lasted only a few days. It got worse at Providence as again the Cavaliers crumbled in the second half and allowed the Friars to shoot at will against them.

Defense has always been a concern during the tenure of Pete Gillen, but during this current stretch it may have reached its worst.

In its last four games, Virginia has allowed opponents to convert 49 of their 95 attempts from behind the 3-point arc. The worst a team has shot overall against Virginia in the last three games is a 50.9 percent effort by Virginia Tech. North Carolina shot 60 percent against the Cavaliers and Providence shot 57.4 percent, including a 72-percent performance in the second half.

To punctuate their woes, especially from the perimeter, Providence’s Donnie McGrath connected on 9 of his 9 3-point attempts to tie a NCAA record set only twice before. Thus, Virginia’s defense could now be described as historically bad.

“It’s tough to go 9 for 9 but you have to contest them. We couldn’t stop anybody. … We went zone and they shot the ball great,” Gillen said. “We have to contest it better. To shoot 9 for 9, that’s tough to do with no one in the gym.”

Given the percentages in the last few games, Virginia’s defense is apparently not all that different from no one being in the gym.

N.C. State enters tonight’s game shooting 36 percent from beyond the arc and has shot well against the Cavaliers in winning seven of the last eight meetings. In the last 10 games, N.C. State has shot

52.6 percent against the Cavaliers and that includes a trio of performances in which the Wolfpack shot better than 60 percent. In the 2002 ACC Quarterfinals, the Wolfpack connected on 13 of their 18 attempts on 3-pointers.

When asked about the recent 3-point shooting, freshman point guard Sean Singletary struggled to find a theory.

“Maybe we are over aggressive or lazy. I’m not really sure,” Singletary said.

Plenty of rankings -- what do they mean?
Dukes clean up with mid-level prospects
By Doug Doughty
THE ROANOKE TIMES

In reading the various evaluations of Division I-A recruits, there is only conclusion that can be drawn:

Nobody really knows anything.

The so-called experts are split on which Virginia school had the best recruiting year, Tech or UVa, and it’s not just the Virginia schools. Who had the best year overall? Southern Cal, Tennessee, Nebraska, maybe Michigan? Take your pick.

Two of the websites that cover recruiting on a year-around basis are rivals.com and theinsiders.com, but that's not saying the websites are infallible. For many years, I’ve been the Virginia correspondent for SuperPrep magazine, whose publisher, Allen Wallace, does the rankings that appear on the insiders.com and cnnsi.com.

When I spoke to Wallace at 5:45 p.m. on signing day and asked where he had the Hokies and Cavaliers rated, he said he had UVa ahead of Tech but asked my opinion.

In our conversation, it surprised me to hear that Wallace either was unaware or had forgotten that two of his SuperPrep All-Americans, Lamont Robinson and Darryl Gresham, had committed elsewhere after decommitting to UVa. And, I’m not sure he knew that South Carolina signee Jonathan Hannah was a Virginia Tech decommit.

That’s a lot of information to process for two schools, much less 117. On signing day, everybody expects these services to put out a rating and correctness sometimes takes a back seat to timeliness.

FOR THE RECORD, Tech had the edge over UVa on rivals.com (Tech 15th, UVa 19th), in USA Today (Tech 10th, Virginia 23rd) and with Tom Lemming (Tech 10th, UVa 14th). Virginia had the edge in Insiders.com, scout.com and cnnsi.com, all services that rely on Wallace.

I would have given Tech the nod, but for a different reason than most. The 2005 signing class, with four of the top five prospects in Virginia according to The Roanoke Times list, confirmed the strength of Tech’s ties with a half-dozen or more of the state’s premier high school programs.

TEN OF TECH’S commitments came in December and January, but, the way recruiting is going (even the Hokies had 14 commitments by the end of September), the most heated recruiting competition in January is now taking place at the Division I-AA level and lower.

One of the main stories in Virginia this year concerns the new-found recruiting muscle flexed by recently crowned Division I-AA champion James Madison. The Dukes signed five players ranked among the top 60 prospects in the state by The Roanoke Times, including two top-40 picks, wide receiver Tommie Lawrence from Oscar Smith in Chesapeake and linebacker Trae Kenney from Hermitage in Richmond.

Lawrence was one of three first-team All-Tidewater selections to head to Harrisonburg, along with offensive lineman Vernon Eason from Norfolk (Granby) and linebacker Sam Daniels from Portsmouth (Wilson). The fifth top-50 choice was wide receiver Bosco Williams from Alleghany County.

ONE SURPRISE WAS the change of heart from Manassas Park quarterback Zach Terrell, the Group A player of the year. Terrell signed with Liberty. His size and statistics suggest a resemblance to Group AA player of the year and Virginia signee Vic Hall.

According to a report on virginiapreps.com, which hopes to post a list of 150 state commitments on its site today, Terrell picked Liberty after learning that his scholarship offer from James Madison was for a partial ride that could be upgraded to a full ride. Liberty offered him the total package and said he would be able to compete for the starting quarterback job as a freshman.

VMI LANDED A PAIR of in-state top-50 recruits. The biggest surprise to me was No. 50 Trahern Vinnie, a 5-11, 210-pound running back from Nandua on the Eastern shore. Vinnie rushed for nearly 5,000 yards in his career (4,998, actually) and was being touted as a Division I-A prospect at the end of his junior year.

The Hokies also landed All-Group offensive lineman Wes Lokey from Harrisonburg High School. Lokey had a visit scheduled for hometown James Madison when he toured VMI in mid-January, but he was so impressed by his visit to Lexington that the Keydets became his favorite at that point.

FORK UNION COACH and VMI alumnus John Shuman was delighted when the Keydets took his quarterback, Brandon Bunn, who will play defensive back at VMI. Bunn is the son of one-time Virginia Tech defensive back Gene Bunn.

Shuman was hopeful that Tech would take Danny Beasley, son of former Tech standout Tom Beasley and brother of ex-Hokie defensive tackle Chad Beasley, both of whom have played in the NFL. The younger Beasley, from Gate City, will go to Carson-Newman.

“If we’re not going to be the prep school for Virginia and Virginia Tech, I guess we’ll just have to look to Duke and Clemson from now on,” Shuman said.

OK, he was kidding. Kind of. When Fork Union’s 6-4, 245-pound Norman Gee signed with Duke, he became the first Fork Union player to sign with the Blue Devils since Dick Biddle in 1962. Biddle, a one-time Tech assistant, currently is the head coach at Colgate.

Two Fork Union players signed with Clemson, including tight end Phillip Merling, who had been placed at Fork Union by the Tigers but considered a late visit to Virginia Tech. Another player who thought about visiting Tech was Derrick McPhearson, who shocked Shuman when he signed with Illinois.

It makes sense when you consider that McPhearson signed with Florida in 2004 and was believed headed to Florida this year until Ron Zook was dismissed. When Zook went to Illinois and was later joined by Locksley, McPhearson added the Illini.

IT WAS LOCKSLEY who violated NCAA regulations by attending the Nike All-Star Camp in Charlottesville last spring. Virginia isn’t sure that the NCAA wouldn’t frown on Florida for taking William Fleming linebacker Darryl Greshman, a UVa decommit who was at that camp, but it wouldn’t have helped UVa keep Gresham if it had pursued the matter. Locklsey was still on the Florida staff when the Gators reopened the Gresham recruiting under new coach Urban Meyer.

ODDS ‘N’ ENDS: Northern Region defensive player of the year Cody Grimm from Oakton turned down Division I-AA offers to try I-A as a walk-on. Grimm, the son of Pittsburgh Steelers assistant coach Russ Grimm and the brother of walk-on Tech outside linebacker Chad Grimm, said he will go to either Pittsburgh or Tech. Russ Grimm is a Pitt alumnus. … Meadowbrook High School coach Bill Bowles said Tech and UVa already have made offers to 6-3, 250-pound junior defensive lineman John Graves. … William and Mary signed Matt Nickerson, a 5-9, 180-pound running back from Fairfax Station and Woodson High School, where he rushed for 2,281 yards and made second-team all-met. He was rated the 96th prospect in Virginia by The Roanoke Times. … Hampton High School coach Mike Smith said that uncommitted wide receiver Todd Nolen would take the SAT and visit Penn State this weekend, as planned. The common thinking is that Nolen won’t qualify academically for freshman eligibility, “but I wouldn’t bet on that,” Smith said. “He’s an intelligent kid.”

Former UNC coach ready to return to game
AARON BEARD
Associated Press

Matt Doherty is waiting for his moment.

The former North Carolina coach is enjoying work as a college basketball broadcaster and spending time with small business ventures, but he acknowledges it's getting harder to ignore the pull of the sidelines. Nearly two years after he went from one of the nation's hottest young coaches to a castoff, Doherty wants to coach again.

And, he says, he's ready to apply the lessons learned from three tumultuous seasons at his alma mater.

"I'm motivated," Doherty told The Associated Press in a phone interview Friday. "I've got the energy of a 42-year-old, but I've got the experience of a guy that's been around the block a few times.

"It's time. It's time for me to go back to work and do what I have a passion to do."

Doherty boasts a resume that features four years of Division I head coaching experience, a career marked by a rapid rise and even faster fall.

After leading Notre Dame to the 2000 NIT final, he took over at North Carolina, guiding the Tar Heels to a No. 1 ranking and becoming the AP national coach of the year in 2001.

But his second team at North Carolina went 8-20, the school's first losing record since Dean Smith's first season in 1962.

Then came an ugly public split between Doherty and the school in April 2003, which included reports that players and parents complained to athletic director Dick Baddour about Doherty's intense practices and drastic mood swings.

Doherty - who played for Smith and alongside Michael Jordan on the 1982 NCAA championship team - said he is not bitter, calling his time as coach of the Tar Heels "a positive experience."

He knows he made mistakes, including making drastic changes to the program from the start, and said the players should not have been blamed for his departure.

"It's all about how you handle situations and whether you're tough enough to bounce back," Doherty said. "And I'm tough enough to bounce back."

Both sides sound as though they've buried the past. Doherty said he has enjoyed watching successor Roy Williams lead his former players to the nation's No. 2 ranking.

"I have a lot of pride in what they're achieving," Doherty said.

"I prefer to look back on those times as, 'Wow, we did make a difference,'" he said. "That team is successful ... I feel I had a little to do with that, and it's satisfying."

Meanwhile, school spokesman Steve Kirschner said Baddour would support Doherty in his pursuit of another coaching job, while senior Jackie Manuel - a freshman on Doherty's losing team - said he didn't hold anything against his former coach.

"There's no harsh feelings or anything," Manuel said. "I'm pretty sure he feels the same."

Doherty has spent the past two seasons in broadcasting, which has given him the chance to talk with coaches across the country and observe them at practices.

He's tried to pick up pointers everywhere he goes, so much so that Davidson coach Bob McKillop - who coached Doherty in high school and gave him his first break in the business as an assistant in 1989 - likened Doherty to a sponge.

"I think he's clearly determined to get back into coaching, and I think he's going to have an opportunity down the road without a doubt," McKillop said. "People will be making a mistake if they don't do it. He's got a tremendous amount to offer."

Doherty, who talked with St. John's and James Madison about openings last year, said that he is looking for the right fit. Meanwhile, he stays busy by dabbling in commercial real estate in Mooresville, N.C., a NASCAR-crazy town north of Charlotte where he now lives.

He also started a marketing firm that does some NASCAR-related business, indulging his growing interest in the motor sport.

But he's ready to drop everything to start coaching again.

"I've done some things well and, of the things maybe I didn't do well, I've certainly learned from those experiences," he said. "I want to put those things to use. I want to think I'm more ready than most to take advantage of an opportunity."

A fine line at foul line
Despite heavy practice, usually sharp N.C. State has slumped badly at the line this season
By CHIP ALEXANDER, Staff Writer

Wake Forest recently hit 50 free throws in a row, an NCAA record.

Duke's J.J. Redick, meanwhile, missed three free throws in a half, a record for, well, Redick.

Opposing teams once steered clear of N.C. State's Julius Hodge at the end of games, not wanting to send a good free-throw shooter to the line. In games this season, some have all but lined up to foul him as his free-throw percentage tumbled.

It's a simple shot -- 15 feet, no defense, 10 seconds to clear the mind, go through a routine and shoot. But it hasn't been so simple this season. Some say free-throw shooting is becoming a lost art form, an anachronistic side of hoops much like the center jump in a sport obsessed with blurry fast-breaks, stylish slams and a barrage of 3-pointers.

"Whether you're in grade school, high school, college or the NBA, so many games are won or lost at the line," said Blake Ahearn, a sophomore guard at Southwest Missouri State. "Every year in the NCAA Tournament, free throws often determine who advances or goes home.

"They're free shots, free points. But a lot of players don't practice 'em. They don't put in the time."

Ahearn does. He set an NCAA record last season, hitting 117 of 120 free throws for 97.5 percent. Redick shot 95.3 percent last season -- 143 of 150 -- and never missed more than one in a game in college until Sunday.

In the first half against Virginia Tech at Cameron Indoor Stadium, Redick clanked a free throw. Then another. Then a third.

"My grandmother called and told me," Ahearn said of Redick's misses. "Three free throws? I didn't believe it until I saw it on SportsCenter."

Believe it. And there was company for Redick's misery: The Blue Devils were 30-of-49 at the line, the 19 misses easily their worst of the season.

The misses didn't hurt Duke, which won 100-65. But missed free throws have been costly for N.C. State this season.

The Pack led the NCAA and set a school record last season by shooting 79.9 percent at the line. In almost every victory, State nailed free throw after free throw in the last five minutes of the game.

"If we had a chance to extend the lead, we did," sophomore guard Engin Atsur said.

Not this season. The Pack has tailed off to 68.5 percent at the line, sixth in the ACC. Missed foul shots factored in one-point losses at Miami and Virginia Tech and a home-floor loss to Florida State last week.

The Pack no longer has Marcus Melvin and Scooter Sherrill, who, as seniors last season, shot 81.3 percent and 85.0 percent at the line, respectively. Senior Julius Hodge has dropped from 82.8 percent to 63.7 percent. Junior Ilian Evtimov, an 87.6 percent shooter last year, is at 68.3 percent.

Assistant head coach Larry Hunter said Evtimov hit 127 of 128 in a practice this week. Evtimov has the good form, the fluid stroke. But he has gone 3-for-8 at the line in State's past five games, with some critical misses.

Hunter said the players shoot a minimum of 50 free throws each practice, with those who are struggling shooting as many as 150. Sometimes, a player might be told he must hit 20 or 25 in a row.

"I can't imagine anyone in the country spending more time on free throws than we do on a consistent basis," Hunter said.

Pack assistant Larry Harris has worked with Hodge this season. Harris said Hodge's misses often come when his shot is too flat. Hodge also had a slight hitch in his shot earlier in the season, but that has been corrected.

"Everybody goes through a little tough stretch in their career and I'm no exception," Hodge said. "I feel more comfortable now. I'm back in my groove."

Hodge, who hit 12 straight free throws in a Jan. 16 win over Georgia Tech, is 47-of-67 (70.2 percent) over his past seven games.

"We've got good shooters," NCSU coach Herb Sendek said. "We haven't changed anything in practice. We just have to go to the line confident the next one will go."

Maryland and North Carolina have made the biggest improvements among ACC teams in free-throw accuracy. Neither Terrapins coach Gary Williams nor the Tar Heels' Roy Williams like to make much of it, though.

Gary Williams said the Terps had a number of freshmen and sophomores playing last season and that the pressure of ACC games factored in a lower percentage.

"You have to go through that for a year before you can handle those critical free throws," he said.

UNC's Williams noted his 1991 Kansas team ranked 64th among NCAA Tournament teams in free throws for the season, yet reached the title game. Research revealed Kansas' two best free-throw shooting teams in a 50-year period had losing records.

"So I said, 'What do you want, to win or look good at the line?' " he said.

Wake looked good in making the 50 consecutive foul shots, with 32 straight in a win over UNC. The streak ended on a Taron Downey miss against Florida State late in regulation. Given the reprieve, FSU won in overtime.

"Free-throw shooting is in direct proportion to the number of good shooters you have," Wake coach Skip Prosser said. "But 50 in a row was an aberration."

Former Demon Deacons star Charlie Davis was the ACC career leader in free-throw percentage (87.3) for more than 30 years -- until Redick came along.

"I watch some players and it's like, 'Let me go to the line and get it over with,' " Davis said.

Bowling Green finished third in the NCAA in free-throw shooting last year at 77.5 percent and again is among the national leaders at 75.3 percent. Coach Dan Dakich said the Falcons typically shoot only 40 to 50 free throws in practice, with more emphasis given to shooting form.

Dakich's basics: weight on the front foot, shoulders forward, hold the follow-through until the ball is in the net. Players can take a few dribbles before the shot but are not allowed to spin the ball or have it below waist level.

Redick spins the ball before the shot. So does Ahearn, who is 39-of-42 (92.9 percent) this season and has hit 172 in a row in practice.

Whatever method, it works.

"I never feel any pressure," Ahearn said. "Every time I step to the line, I expect to make it. I'm a shooter."

A great one from 15 feet.