Spreading it out may bode well for Cavs
By Jerry Ratcliffe / Daily Progress sports editor
February 9, 2005

Scattershooting around the ACC, while wondering if Pete Gillen will keep his spread offense for tonight’s home game against FSU ...
Certainly the strategy worked well against N.C. State and might be just as effective against the Seminoles. A win by the Cavs could tie them with FSU and N.C. State for eighth-place in the 11-team league.
While freshman point guard Sean Singletary and backup sophomore T.J. Bannister both started and so did sophomore center Jason Cain, all performing beyond expectations, lost in the shuffle was the defensive performance sophomore J.R. Reynolds turned in against N.C. State’s Julius Hodge.
Reynolds held the reigning ACC Player of the Year to only five shots from the field as Hodge finished with a season-low six points.

Heels and Devils
While Virginia and FSU battle it out tonight, there will be another lead game drawing a little more attention in Durham. It is the first clash this season between Duke and North Carolina.
Do you think that the Blue Devils have gotten into Carolina’s collective heads a little in recent years? Duke has owned the Tar Heels since Dean Smith retired, having won nine of the last 10 and 14 of the last 16.
UNC coach Roy Williams might be a little irritated when the subject comes up. Even a mention of the Duke game immediately after Carolina’s win over Florida State on Sunday drew some fire.
“From my viewpoint, I haven’t spent one second thinking about Duke,” Williams barked when the question arose. “If we win, are they [Duke] going to cancel the rest of the freaking season? They’re not going to cancel the season. I hope to coach a lot more games at Cameron. You know what, we play someone else after that game’s over with. And that’s exactly the way I look at it.”

Down goes Krzyzewski
It almost looked like Muhammad Ali had punched out Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski the way the Blue Devils’ coach hit the floor at Cameron Indoor Stadium during Georgia Tech’s game last Saturday.
In fact, Coach K likened his dizzy spell to being hit unexpectedly as he fell to the floor during a timeout but never lost consciousness.
“It was like a sucker punch,” K said. “A mystery punch. Like somebody hit me and I fell.”
Doctors checked him out at halftime, took his blood pressure and asked him what he had recently eaten.
“I’m Polish. I eat,” said Krzyzewski, who coached the rest of the game. “There’s not a Polack who doesn’t eat. We always eat.”

On stopping Caner-Medley
Quick, ACC coaches, get out your notebook. Here’s the inside scoop on how to shut down Maryland scorer Nik Caner-Medley, who is averaging 16.6 points per game, but can light up most any defense.
Any except Clemson’s that is.
Tigers freshman Sam Perry held the Terp shooter to nine points on a 4-of-14 shooting night last week.
“Make [Caner-Medley] go right. I felt like I was quicker than him and I felt like I could beat him to the spot. And on offense, I felt like I could take him off the dribble because he’s a little slower than me.”
Of course, we later learned that Caner-Medley had also suffered from food poisoning. Did Perry have anything to do with that, too? Just kidding.
Perry and freshman teammate James Mays have replaced Cheyenne Moore (also a freshman) and senior Olu Babalola in Clemson’s starting lineup. The two rookies have been dubbed the “Energy Brothers” due to their active play.

Quote of the week
ACC coaches donned white sneakers to show unity on Coaches vs. Cancer Day last Saturday, which was a good day for Virginia coach Pete Gillen. His Cavaliers stopped a three-game slide and beat N.C. State in Raleigh for the first time in eight years.
Asked if he would continue to wear the sneakers for good luck, Gillen had delivered a one-liner on cue.
“My luck? My luck is buzzard’s luck ... I’m not Irish, I’m Welsh and Panamanian,” said Gillen, who claims he has been plagued with another Irish tradition this season: Murphy’s Law.

Free throws
Did you know that Virginia’s schedule is ranked as the seventh-toughest in the country thus far (by CollegeRPI.com). ... Duke has played the eighth most difficult and Clemson ranks 10th in that department. ... North Carolina’s next win will give the Heels their first 20-win season since 2001 when Matt Doherty was coach. ... What ever happened to Doherty? He lives north of Charlotte, does some TV analyst work to keep his hand in hoops, and says he is anxious to get back into coaching. ... When Clemson upset Maryland last week, it ended a 13-game losing streak to the Terps, the second-longest active losing streak in an ACC series. Clemson also owns the longest: 18 straight losses to Duke. ... Georgia Tech was the only ACC team without a conference road win before last night’s win at Clemson. ... Other than the Yellow Jackets, Maryland would have to rate as the ACC’s most underachieving team as the Terps returned largely the same team that won the ACC Tournament last March with the exception of center Jamar Smith. ... Jamar who? ... According to ACC beat writers, Miami has now replaced Atlanta as the best conference road trip and Miami’s dance team now ranks ahead of UNC as the best attraction.
... When Wake’s Chris Paul boarded a bus outside of Virginia Tech’s Cassell Coliseum last weekend, a Hokies fan shouted out, “Number one pick in the draft,” to which Paul answered, “Nah, not me ... Maybe in 2007.” ... Remember last Saturday night when N.C. State’s Cedric Simmons tried to slam on Virginia and missed? “If I had the play back ...” Simmons said later. “I saw Jason Cain jump, so I just tried to punish him, and it bounced off the rim. It’s one of those things you can’t believe it hurt so bad.” ... Maryland plans to increase the seating capacity of Byrd Stadium from 51,000 to 65,000 by 2008 and is looking for a donor willing to dish out $15 million for naming rights. Any takers? ... And how about that Jimmy Casella, who has been named ACC Spotter of the Year for the eighth time in the last nine years, as he assists in the booth for the Virginia football broadcast crew.
... Clemson has the most starts by freshman of any ACC school this season with 39. ... Duke’s J.J. Redick knows how to bounce back. After scoring a season-low eight points against N.C. State on Jan. 13, the Roanoke native has popped in an average of 26.9 points per game over the last seven outings. ... Speaking of points, Virginia senior Devin Smith heads into tonight’s game against Florida State needing only five points to reach the 1,000-point plateau for his career. ... And, FSU’s Von Wafer has put up double figures in 10 of his last 11 games, boosting his scoring average from 8.9 to a Seminole-leading 14.3 in the process. ... Wake Forest knows about points. The Deacs have scored no less than 81 points in every ACC game this season. ... Julius Hodge could become only the fifth player in ACC history to lead his team in the triple crown of scoring, rebounding and assists. Can you name the other four to have accomplished the feat? Answer below.

Trivia Answer. None of the four previous to lead their team in all three statistical categories played at the same school. They were: Duke’s Danny Ferry, Florida State’s Bob Sura, Wake’s Tim Duncan and N.C. State’s Anthony Grundy.

Gillen mum on strategy
Offensive changes may continue against Seminoles
By Andrew Joyner / Daily Progress staff writer
February 9, 2005

The guy coaching Virginia on Saturday against N.C. State was named Pete. Whether the last name was Gillen or Carril remains a little fuzzy.

Of course, it was Gillen but the patient and methodical offense he implemented looked much more like Carril’s at Princeton than anything that Gillen has done before.

In their 64-62 win over the Wolfpack, the Cavaliers exhausted the shot clock frequently and used a spread offense. Most would agree that it is the antithesis of the manner Gillen prefers to coach.

“No, I can’t remember using a strategy like that in the past. … We just wanted to give us the best chance to win,” Gillen said.

Will he continue with this offense tonight against Florida State? Gillen isn’t saying and that certainly alters FSU coach Leonard Hamilton’s preparation.

“We know it will be a tremendous challenge going to Charlottesville. … I’ve known Pete for a long time and he always has something up his sleeve. He is one of the more innovative coaches around,” Hamilton said. “When you prepare to play Pete Gillen, you have to prepare for a lot of things. I thought he gave his kids a chance to win. Sometimes you have to change your system and style in order to win.”

That tricky Gillen has not revealed if he will stick with the spread offense against the Seminoles, nor has he said what he will do with senior center Elton Brown. Gillen, though he did his best to deny it later, essentially benched Brown on Saturday. He played just five minutes and was visibly stewing and venting about his plight on the bench. After the game, Gillen claimed it a situational decision based on the smaller and quicker Wolfpack.

If that indeed was Gillen’s reasoning, he’s sticking to that but admitted Monday that he and his staff will have a conversation with Brown before tonight’s game.

“We will talk with him. Once again, we’re doing what we feel will help our team win. Elton is a very important part of our team and a very good player,” Gillen said. “He could be in the starting lineup Wednesday. We will see.”

In place of Brown, Gillen started sophomore Jason Cain and received seven points and nine rebounds from the 6-foot-9 forward.

Again, Gillen is tight-lipped on whether the lineup or system used Saturday will remain in place this evening.

“We have to see. It might be a one-time thing but we have to evaluate everything each day in practice. We have to see who is healthy and who isn’t and who is playing well and who isn’t. We just have to go day by day,” Gillen said. “We want to give our players a chance to win and that is what we are focused on.”

Hewitt denies book's charge of $250,000 offer to recruit
By RANA L. CASH
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 02/08/05

Georgia Tech basketball coach Paul Hewitt, responding to a new book about former New York City high school phenom Sebastian Telfair, denies any knowledge of a $250,000 payment offered to Telfair to attend Tech.

In "The Jump," written by suburban New York newspaper columnist Ian O'Connor, Telfair says he got a $250,000 offer while attending a college basketball game, and a person close to Telfair says the man making the offer claimed to represent the interests of Georgia Tech. Telfair identifies the man only as middle-aged and white and does not identify the school. Telfair's brother and best friend both say Telfair attended a Tech game.

"He was never here," Hewitt said. "If he were at a game, he bought his own ticket. If it was [at Alexander Memorial Coliseum], he could not have bought a ticket because tickets were sold out. If it was at Philips Arena, he wasn't on our [guest] list.

"If some mysterious man who fits no description, or the very generic old white guy description, walked up to him and offered him $250,000, he didn't represent Georgia Tech or its athletic interests."

Telfair, the cousin of former Tech point guard Stephon Marbury, was drafted 13th overall in June by Portland. He originally committed to play at Louisville and, Hewitt said, never took a recruiting visit to Tech.

O'Connor, who followed Telfair for a year, said Wednesday he's "a very believable kid." He also said the person who identified Tech -- "someone very close" to Telfair -- was credible.

"In the culture we're in right now, we just had a booster convicted of paying $150,000 for a defensive tackle," O'Connor said, referring to the case of Alabama booster Logan Young. "I don't think it's out of the question that someone approached Sebastian."

Hewitt said Tech did show interest in Telfair his junior year. Hewitt met Telfair while recruiting his Lincoln High teammate, Elliah "Karron" Clark. When former Tech player Clarence Moore sat out the 2002-03 season, making a scholarship available, Hewitt said he went after Clark and visited the player in Brooklyn, N.Y. Clark went to prep school at The Winchendon School and later signed with Miami.

It was on that visit, Hewitt said, that he met Telfair, then a sophomore, in the school's athletics department office. He saw Telfair play in the New York City Public School Athletic League playoffs that year at Madison Square Garden. Tech assistant Willie Reese continued the dialogue from that point on with Lincoln coach Dwayne "Tiny" Morton, and Reese also contacted Marbury.

"Willie asked me to go up and see him, but I felt all along that the kid was so talented, that he was going to go pro," Hewitt said. "I wasn't going to go up there and see him because I didn't think there was any chance that he'd show up in college."

In the book, Hewitt rejects the idea that Telfair could have attended a Tech game without Hewitt's knowledge.

"There's no way Telfair came to a game on our campus and didn't come into our locker room," Hewitt said. "If that happened, one of my assistants would've been fired. If he came to one of our games, it was an Elvis-like appearance. If he was down here, I didn't know it. I think somebody's trying to sex up the story."

Hewitt said this week that he does know Telfair's brother, Jamel Thomas, who played at Providence, but said he has never spoken to Thomas about Telfair, a 6-foot point guard who surpassed Kenny Anderson as New York state's all-time leading preps scorer.

"The only person related to, or remotely related to Sebastian that we spoke to was Willie speaking to Stephon," Hewitt said. "I think it's something that makes good copy. I'm disappointed, but what are you going to do?"

Man Accused of Stalking Anna Kournikova

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. — A homeless man was charged with stalking and burglary after swimming nude across Biscayne Bay in search of tennis star Anna Kournikova's waterfront residence and getting caught near her neighbor's home.

Police said William Lepeska screamed, "Anna! Save me!" as he was taken away Jan. 30. He is scheduled to make a court appearance Wednesday.
(enlarge photo)
Anna Kournikova returns a serve during a doubles match at the Australian Open, Jan. 16, 2003, in Melbourne. (AP Photo/David Callow)

Lepeska, 40, who sports an "Anna" tattoo on his right biceps, was found near the swimming pool of a house three doors from Kournikova's $5 million home.

"He thought he was at Anna Kournikova's home," Officer Dennis White wrote in a police report.

Police said Lepeska acknowledged that he spent several months searching for her address on the Internet and swam nude 200 yards after locating it.

Lepeska sent Kournikova "numerous letters and posted e-mails to her Web page" and "made several alarming statements indicating that he believed Ms. Kournikova had left a door unlocked for him to enter her residence and left clothing for him to wear as if she was expecting his arrival," police said.

Ivy Mollenkamp, the tennis player's Los Angeles publicist, said in a statement that what happened "has caused Anna to be very concerned and fearful for her safety," calling the allegations "extremely alarming and threatening." Kournikova was cooperating with prosecutors and "consulting with her personal security team."

At Miami Beach police headquarters, Lepeska "refused to stand for a photograph" and demanded a psychiatric evaluation. He became "hostile and belligerent," assumed a "boxer's fighting stance ... and began throwing punches," police said.

He allegedly bit an officer's left thumb, drawing blood, and hit White in the chest. Police used pepper spray and an expandable baton to subdue him. Police charged him with aggravated battery, battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest with violence.

Lepeska was also charged with exposing himself in the presence of a child after the 3-year-old daughter of Kournikova's neighbor saw him "laid out spread eagle in a very lewd manner" on a lawn chair by the pool.

Miami-Dade County Court Judge Gerald Klein issued a restraining order against Lepeska on Friday. Lepeska is currently being held in the county jail on a $26,000 bail.

Kournikova's attorneys, Dan Gelber and Steve Chaykin, did not immediately return phone messages Tuesday.

Struggling FSU, Virginia see NIT in future
Column by Jack Corcoran
DEMOCRAT STAFF WRITER

Florida State and Virginia had hoped to challenge for a spot in the NCAA tournament this season.

That's not happening.

Instead, Wednesday's game in Charlottesville has nothing but NIT implications. The Seminoles dropped back to .500 with their 21-point loss to No.2 North Carolina on Sunday at the Civic Center. The Cavaliers, just two wins above water themselves, had lost seven of eight before drastically changing their style Saturday to pull off a surprising victory at North Carolina State.

FSU (11-11, 3-6 ACC) and Virginia (11-9, 2-7) will also meet in Tallahassee on March 6 to close out the regular season. The series will go a long way in determining the postseason fate of both teams. A minimum .500 record is required for an invitation into the NIT.

The Seminoles open a three-game road trip against Virginia. They visit No.6 Wake Forest on Saturday and don't come home until after they take on Massachusetts on Feb.15.

FSU had to settle for the NIT last season after coming up a win short of the NCAA tournament. Virginia has wound up in the NIT in four of the past five seasons. That's why the heat is once again on Pete Gillen, who has six years remaining on his contract but doesn't appear to be at all safe. The Cavaliers have had their share of turmoil again. They lost athletic forward Jason Clark to academics last month. Bruising big man Elton Brown is still enigmatic. He's averaging 14.6 points and 9.0 rebounds but with spotty effort.

Gillen benched Brown at N.C. State, playing him only four minutes in the 64-62 victory. The Cavaliers survived by spreading the floor and slowing the tempo. That's not like Gillen.

"It was probably a one-time thing," Gillen said Monday. "We just have to evaluate each day how our guys are practicing - who's healthy and who's not, who's playing well and then see. We just go day by day. We certainly just have to give our kids a chance to win. Whatever we think we have a chance to win (with), that's how we're going to play.

"But that's not the style I like. I'd rather chuck and duck."

So what's FSU going to prepare for? Everything.

"I've known Pete for a long time," FSU coach Leonard Hamilton said. "Pete has a lot of things up his sleeve. He's one of the more innovative coaches around."

FSU did a commendable job handling North Carolina's transition attack. But that didn't matter. The Seminoles still wilted down the stretch in the 81-60 loss. Too many turnovers again.

They're not the only ones who dropped the ball.

FSU students picked up only about half of their 4,000 allotted tickets for Sunday's game against North Carolina.

FSU's reserved tickets sold out, but the rows and rows of empty seats in the upper bowl were allotted for students who never showed up. Club seats, which are sold independently through the Civic Center, were also disappointing. So FSU was left with an announced crowd of 8,681 against the nation's highest-scoring team.

If the students aren't going to come out to support their own team, you'd expect them to be mildly interested in seeing an exciting opponent filled with future NBA first-round picks. Nope. The Super Bowl pre-game show was apparently more appealing.

Role still uncertain for benched Cavs star
Gillen doesn't know if or when Brown will return to starting spot
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
Feb 9, 2005
FLA. STATE AT VIRGINIA
TODAY: 7:30 p.m. RADIO: WRVA (1140), 7

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- The ACC's third-leading rebounder -- a 6-9, 250-pound senior who also ranks among the conference's top 20 scorers -- played only four minutes in his team's most recent game, and not because he was injured.

So what will Virginia center Elton Brown's role be against Florida State? His coach, Pete Gillen, was noncommital when asked that question Monday. U.Va. (2-7, 11-9) entertains FSU (3-6, 11-11) tonight at University Hall.

"He's a very good player, but we're trying to give ourselves the best chance to win," Gillen said of Brown, who averages 14.6 points and nine rebounds but is prone to defensive breakdowns.

"He's certainly a big part of our plans, and he could be in the starting lineup [tonight]. We'll see."

After a string of abysmal defensive efforts by his team, including a Feb. 2 loss in which Providence shot 57.4 percent from the floor, Gillen took drastic measures Saturday night in Raleigh, N.C. He benched Brown, who has struggled defensively during his career against N.C. State's version of the Princeton offense, and started the more athletic Jason Cain at center.

"We just thought, after the Providence game, we've got to do better defensively. . . . We weren't going in the right direction," Gillen said on his radio show Monday.

The Cavaliers' seventh-year coach moved 6-5, 242-pound Devin Smith from the wing to power forward and installed a spread offense, which slowed the game's pace and confused the Wolfpack.

The result? U.Va.'s first victory in Raleigh since 1997. In a career-high 34 minutes, Cain, a 6-10, 205-pound sophomore, contributed seven points, a career-best nine rebounds, one assist, one steal and one blocked shot.

"It seems like Virginia has come up with a system and a scheme that gives them a chance," FSU coach Leonard Hamilton said.

Gillen said his unorthodox lineup was "probably a one-time thing. . . . We certainly have to give our kids a chance to win, but that's not the style I like. I'd rather chuck and duck."

Maybe so, but Hamilton is taking nothing for granted.

"I've known Pete for a long time," he said, "and Pete has a lot of things up his sleeve. He's one of the more innovative coaches around."

Smith, a senior who transferred to U.Va. after his freshman year at Coffeyville Community College in Kansas, is on the brink of a milestone. He needs three points to become the 39th player in U.Va. history to score 1,000 in his career.

Starting tonight, Virginia plays three of its next four games at University Hall. The victory over N.C. State ended a three-game skid and boosted the Cavs' hopes of making a late-season surge, as they did in 2003-04.

"Our challenge is to build on it," Gillen said Monday night. "Let's not be a shooting star and then collapse into the constellation."

Return to U.Va.? Carlisle loves NBA
JOHN MARKON
POINT OF VIEW
Feb 8, 2005
John Markon

WASHINGTON University of Virginia basketball fans who envision Rick Carlisle riding back into Charlottesville one day on a white charger to reclaim the Cavaliers' hoops destiny should know one thing:

They're almost certainly betting on a horse that's not in the race.

Carlisle and his Indiana Pacers were last night's visitors at MCI Center, and the 1984 U.Va. graduate wouldn't take the first step toward the current court crisis at his alma mater, where coach Pete Gillen remains afloat but under fire.

"U.Va. has an excellent coach," Carlisle said, "and I have a job I really like, which about sums it up.

"I will say, though, that my heart has always been in the pro game. Even back when I was a kid, my interest was always in the NBA. I don't see my feelings changing. Right now, college basketball isn't even on my radar screen."

Carlisle's preference for the game as it's played in the NBA shouldn't be questioned. It's already been well-tested.

His first coaching appointment in the pros, a two-year hitch in Detroit, ended when Carlisle failed to survive a palace coup. He was NBA coach of the year in 2002 but dropped like a hot rock one year later when management cut him loose to pursue Larry Brown, the perennial coaching free agent.

Brown won a title with the Pistons, but Carlisle wasn't far behind him, posting the NBA's best regular-season record (61-21) in his first season with the Pacers and extending Detroit to six bitterly contested games in the Eastern Conference finals.

A rematch this spring seemed likely until the night of Nov. 19, when the Pacers were wrapping up a comfortable win at Detroit and Carlisle watched 60 percent of his starting lineup disappear.

NBA fans have come up with several colorful nicknames for the player-fan brawl that marked the end of the game, but the incident is still too painful for Carlisle and his players to call it anything but "the incident."

By the time all the suspensions, appeals and appeals of appeals were filed and completed, Carlisle lost Jermaine O'Neal for 15 games, Stephen Jackson for 30 games and NBA defensive player of the year Ron Artest for 73 games, i.e., the rest of the regular season.

"It's been a challenge for a lot more people than just the head coach," is the way Carlisle looked at it last night. "Our players have been adjusting to new roles and new teammates all year long. We've really tested the loyalty of our fans. It's not like I'm . . . a victim or anything."

Since his roster was gutted, Carlisle's been a navigator without a road map. He and Indiana team President Larry Bird tend not to answer questions about where the Pacers ought to be at this point in the season because neither really knows. Since "the incident," any and all preseason expectations are inoperative.

"Right now, we're under .500 [22-25] and ninth in the East, which is out of the playoffs," Carlisle said. "I don't know where we should be, but I do know we're unhappy with where we are."

He wasn't any happier after the game. Washington's Gilbert Arenas, just the kind of player Artest specializes in defending, went off for 43 points as the Wizards won a 108-104 shootout.

The tease, of course, is that, if the Pacers can somehow reach the playoffs, they'll regain Artest. Last night, they also played without starting point guard Jamaal Tinsley and 7-footer Jonathan Bender.

On the plus side, Jackson, slow to get back in game shape since returning Jan. 26, showed a definite pulse with 29 points.

"Even with everything that's happened," said Jackson, "with two good weeks, we're right in the middle of the playoff picture."

To Carlisle's credit, the Pacers haven't backed off an iota from the grinding, physical style of play that probably will be associated with every team coached by Carlisle. The fact that this style of play might not transition into a college environment may be another reason Carlisle's heart remains in the NBA.

"The Pacers will be in the playoffs," said Washington coach Eddie Jordan. "Even without their full roster, they're still one of the top four, five or six teams in the East. They're very well-coached. They're . . . a playoff team."

Just as Rick Carlisle is . . . an NBA coach.

"If I have the choice," he said, "that's how I want it."

USC signee irks Beamer
Posted Saturday, February 5, 2005 - 12:00 am
By Rick Scoppe
COLUMBIA BUREAU
rscoppe@greenvillenews.com

COLUMBIA — It didn't take coach Steve Spurrier long to ruffle a few feathers as the University of South Carolina's new football coach.

Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer was upset when the Gamecocks landed Jonathan Hannah, a highly regarded tight end/defensive end from Hope Mills, N.C., who committed to the Hokies on Jan. 24 but signed a national letter of intent with USC when the national signing period began Wednesday.

"I don't think once kids commit, other people should try and keep recruiting them," Beamer said when asked about Hannah during a teleconference Wednesday. "I don't think we as football coaches should go around trying to make kids break their word."

Beamer said it was "one thing" if a player commits then calls a school telling it he'd made a mistake. But, Beamer said, it's another "if he commits, and people keep recruiting him and bashing the school they committed to. It's wrong."

Ironically, Virginia Tech signed a player — 6-foot-3, 300-pound offensive lineman Sergio Render of Newnan, Ga. — who committed to Florida State on July 12 but changed his mind in December.

Spurrier responded to Beamer's comments Friday, saying he was "dead wrong," noting USC also lost a player who committed — wide receiver Eric Sledge — to the University of Florida.

"We wished him the best and moved on and didn't call him back," Spurrier said. "It's just part of the game of recruiting. I'm surprised that Beamer, who's really a good person, tried to make an issue of it. He shouldn't be complaining over there because a kid changes his mind. They change their minds all the time. For him to get mad about it when he loses a guy is sort of sour grapes.

"I think it's sad that college coaches make young men try to feel bad that 'you gave us your word and that you're lying and your word's no good,' " Spurrier said. "If that was the case, every person in America who's divorced, their word's no good ... because obviously 'til death do us part' doesn't hold up."

Spurrier said Hannah never told him or recruiting coordinator Rick Stockstill that he was firmly committed to Virginia Tech. Hannah had a basketball game Friday night and couldn't be reached for comment.

"We just stayed in touch," Spurrier said. "Two or three days before (signing day) he just felt like he had made a mistake and this was the best opportunity for him, simple as that."

Beamer was en route Friday to Key West, Fla., for NCAA rules committee meetings and couldn't be reached for comment, Virginia Tech sports information director Dave Smith said. Smith said Beamer's comments were nothing new.

"When he's said it in past years it's just been kind of dismissed because it hadn't really happened to him," Smith said. "So when he said it this year, it wasn't like this came out of the blue as far as his philosophy. It's going to be taken as if it's intended for Coach Spurrier because we lost a guy (to USC), but it's a general thing he's been saying for awhile."

Spurrier said his recruiting philosophy is that once a player says he's "made a firm commitment," he and his staff back off. Spurrier said after he was hired by USC, the father of quarterback Jonathan Crompton of Waynesville, N.C., called him about his son, to whom Spurrier talked.

"He seemed interested. Then the next day I called him back and he said, 'Coach, I just want you to know I'm firmly committed to Tennessee,' " Spurrier said. "I said, 'Well, if you're firmly committed, we don't need to go any farther, do we?' He said, 'No sir.'

"I said, 'I wish you the best except when we play you.' So that finished that recruiting right there."

Crompton's father, Davis, said Spurrier was "really professional and respected Jonathan's feelings to the utmost. ... The only thing was when we were in Texas for the (U.S. Army National) all-star game he left a message on the telephone and said, 'If you change your mind,' and that was it."

Also, Spurrier took exception to any "bashing" of Virginia Tech by USC coaches. "The good recruiters, the guys that I think are most successful are guys that don't bash other schools," Spurrier said. "You go around bashing other schools and then you're hiding something that you don't have at your school."