Gillen looks for elusive tourney win
By Jerry Ratcliffe / Daily Progress sports columnist
March 10, 2004

Scattershooting around the ACC, while thinking that Pete Gillen can get one monkey off his back by winning Thursday night’s “play-in” game against Clemson ...

The Cavaliers have lost nine straight opening round games in the ACC tournament, four under former coach Jeff Jones, and the last five under Gillen.

“I’ll be honest, we’re frustrated that we’re not doing a better job in the ACC tournament,” the Virginia coach said during Monday’s ACC teleconference. “We’d like to get that hurdle off our back.”

Head of the class

Guess who heads into the ACC tournament with the league’s longest winning streak.

It’s Georgia Tech at three.

The Yellow Jackets are fresh off wins against Florida State and the big one at Duke, snapping the Blue Devils’ 41-game winning streak at Cameron Indoor Asylum.

More than 300 Tech students and the band showed up in the wee hours of Thursday morning at Tech’s Alexander Memorial Coliseum to welcome the Jackets home after the stunning upset. Coach Paul Hewitt received more than 30 phone calls that day alone to congratulate him on the win.

Duke had not lost a home game in 1,100 days.

Double standard

It was obvious to anyone who watched the Tech stunner over Duke that there is a double standard in the ACC when it comes to officials and Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski.

Krzyzewski went bananas on ACC refs Ray Natilli and Karl Hess. His language was deplorable even after Hess nailed Coach K with a technical foul. The Duke coach had to be restrained by an assistant as Krzyzewski ran down the sideline to protest a non-call.

The Blue Devils’ coach was so upset that he lost his white shirt and tie at halftime and returned for the second half in a black shirt and black sports coat. He never let up on the two officials the second half and stormed off the court after the game.

Would any other ACC coach get the same treatment by the officials? We think not. Anyone else would have been tossed. Krzyzewski deserved to be tossed and if wasn’t tossed, then there is no logical excuse that any ACC coach should ever be ejected in a game.

Maryland’s Gary Williams and N.C. State’s Herb Sendek have questioned the double-standard for years, just as Krzyzewski used to question the same standard for former UNC coach Dean Smith.

It’s time the officials got their act together and treat every coach the same. It’s the Atlantic Coast Conference, not the Mike Krzyzewski Conference.

Big Seminole

Florida State has landed its first basketball commitment for the Class of 2005 in 6-foot-11, 200-pound Magnum Rolle, who hails from the Bahamas.

Rolle will spend his senior season beginning in August at Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham.

Miami, Arkansas and Memphis had all visited Rolle, while UNC, Kentucky and Kansas had started to show interest. Sounds like a good move on Leonard Hamilton’s part to land Rolle before the others had a chance to move in.

Next time, though, I want that recruiting assignment to the Bahamas.

Free throws. ... ABC and ESPN are about to announce a deal to televise the ACC football championship game through 2010, while ESPN will also double the ACC’s appearances on Thursday night football from three to six games.

... Raycom will be using the new “Shot Tracker” in the ACC tournament this week, which will give the network the use of a variety of new graphics to enhance the coverage.

... Clemson head football coach Tommy Bowden received a raise of $18,948 as stipulated in his contract that calls for a 10 percent increase when the Tigers win eight or more games, but new offensive coordinator Mike O’Cain received the largest bump of 12 percent to $133,000. ... Mike Farrell’s Wagononline.com reported that Phoebus running back Elan Lewis has already received five scholarship offers from UVa, Virginia Tech, Maryland, Syracuse and West Virginia. Who does he like best? Lewis said, the Hoos, the Hokies and the Terps.
 

Cavaliers knock off No. 3 Terrapins
From staff reports / Charlottesville Daily Progress
March 10, 2004

COLLEGE PARK, MD. - It is safe to say that recently Maryland women’s lacrosse coach Cindy Timchal has not liked seeing Virginia on her schedule.

For the second straight time, Virginia knocked off Maryland, winning a 10-8 contest Tuesday night at the Terps’ Lacrosse Complex. Maryland entered the game ranked No. 3 in the country and the loss prevented Timchal from becoming the first women’s coach in NCAA history to win her 300th game.

“I thought our team played [well] but we weren’t good enough tonight,” Timchal said. “I thought Virginia played really well and that they dominated in a couple of areas that we struggled in. … We weren’t sharp tonight and we need to be to beat a team like Virginia.”

The win is a huge notch in the Cavaliers’ belt and the final result came from a big night from the Virginia defense, which allowed the Terps’ offense to score just six goals in the opening 58 minutes of the game.

On defense, Nikki Lieb led the way for the Cavaliers with five groundballs and three caused turnovers. In goal, Andrea Pfeiffer made 12 saves for Virginia.

But even with the outstanding play of the defense, the win did not come easy for the Cavaliers.

UVa (3-1, 1-0 ACC) trailed 2-0 after 19 minutes of play, before it rallied to tie the score at 3-3 by halftime.

In the second half, Virginia jumped out to a 5-3 lead on goals from Caitlin Banks and Ashleigh Haas. Maryland responded with a 3-1 run to tie the game at 6-6.

Virginia then exploded for four unanswered goals - the final one coming as Julie Hauser fed a wide-open Haas in the arc. Haas, a junior, delivered her third goal of the game to seal the win with 3:05 remaining in the game.

Virginia continues its road trip with a contest on Friday at Penn State and a contest at top-ranked Princeton on Sunday.

 

Virginia outplays Fla. State
UVa grabs first place in league
By Jerry Miller / Daily Progress correspondent
March 10, 2004

Out of the gates, the Virginia tennis team stumbled and crumbled, but they rumbled right back.
The Cavaliers corrected an early tailspin and sent a cantankerous Florida State team tumbling home as 4-3 losers.
With the victory, Virginia (12-1, 2-0 ACC) set a new record for best start in school history. The Cavaliers, the No. 19 ranked team in the nation, snapped a three-match losing skid against FSU (7-5, 1-1) and have sole possession of first place in the ACC.
“Anytime you win an ACC game you feel good about it,” Virginia coach Brian Boland said. “It is a tough league, probably one of the top two in the country.”
The Cavaliers struggled early in the dual match. Virginia lost the doubles point, two matches to one, for only the fourth time this year.
Florida State’s doubles tandem of Jeff Groslimond/Chris Westerhof, No. 22 in the nation, dropped Virginia’s Nick Meythaler/Rylan Rizza, No. 17 in the nation, 8-2, in an entertaining match.
“I don’t know if we lost our focus, but their antics might have thrown us off our game,” said Rizza of Florida State’s taunting and jumping around during serves. “We have had some bad blood in the past. They beat us 4-3 last year and their fans were really rude. They are a tough team though.”
Because the Cavaliers lost the doubles point, they were then forced to win four of six singles matchups.
Virginia did just that.
The Seminoles took the top two seeds, but UVa dominated the last four.
Rizza, the No. 3 seed, made quick work of Groslimond 6-2, 6-2. Virginia’s No. 4 seed, Marko Miklo, dominated Chip Webb 6-1, 6-3.
Meythaler, the No. 5 seed, scrapped out a dogfight, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2, and outworked a tired Westerhof. With a full gas tank, Meythaler kept the pressure on Westerhof and ran him from sideline to sideline.
“I love to battle. I like winning those games,” said Meythaler of his long, lasting fight.
“Nick played poorly against Texas,” said Boland of Virginia’s last match, a 5-2 clipping of the Longhorns. “And he lost his doubles match tonight. He came out with a lot of enthusiasm and really showed his character. He’s a winner, that’s why there is a spot for him.”
Virginia’s No. 6 seed, Darrin Cohen, cruised in straight sets, 6-3, 6-1, and dropped Florida State’s J.P. Bounassar.
“Losing the doubles point makes things a lot tougher,” Boland said. “We did not come out with intensity tonight. But we did a good job winning the singles. It was great to see us deal with adversity like we did.”
Virginia’s Doug Stewart, the No. 24 ranked player in the nation, lost in three sets, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2, to Mat Cloer, the reigning ACC Player of the Year and the No. 20 ranked player in the nation.
Stewart often overpowered Cloer with a dynamite forehand, but was inconsistent from the baseline and committed a good amount of unforced errors.

“Stewart didn’t play particularly well,” Boland said. “He’s not hitting the ball well of late. Doug needs to learn to hang onto leads. He needs to maintain his focus the entire match and not let up.”

The Cavaliers travel to Georgia Tech, ranked
No. 39 in the nation, on Sunday at 1 p.m. for another ACC showdown.

Notes. The Seminoles hold a 10-8 edge in the all-time series. …The Cavs have beaten two teams in the top 20: No. 15 Minnesota and No. 17 Texas. …Virginia is the only school in the country to defeat four or more (the Cavs have beaten five) ranked opponents on the road.
 

Reynolds named to ACC All-Freshman team

J.R. Reynolds, a 6-foot-2 guard from Roanoke, is the first University of Virginia basketball player in four years to make the ACC All-Freshman team.
Reynolds was joined on the freshman team by Duke’s Luol Deng, Wake Forest’s Chris Paul, North Carolina State’s Engin Atsur and Florida State’s Alexander Johnson. Deng and Paul were named on all 93 ballots. Reynolds had 40 votes and finished six votes ahead of sixth-leading vote-getter D.J. Strawberry from Maryland.

Reynolds, who spent four years at Roanoke Catholic before graduating from Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, has started 14 of 25 games for the Cavaliers and his 8.4-point average is fourth on the team.

Reynolds, who is averaging 9.3 points in ACC games, follows in the footsteps of one-time Patrick Henry High School and Oak Hill star Curtis Staples as an ACC All-Freshman choice for Virginia.

--Doug Doughty

 

What impact will the new additions have on the ACC?
By AL FEATHERSTON : The Herald-Sun
Mar 9, 2004 : 11:30 pm ET

DURHAM -- Imagine for a moment that the ACC is a pot of stew.

Since we're in North Carolina, let's make it Brunswick Stew.

It's the best Brunswick Stew you've ever tasted -- a succulent blend of chicken, beef and pork, complemented by just the right amount of potatoes, butterbeans and corn ... all swimming in a thick, savory tomato broth and simmered to perfection.

Now pour in two cups of cold water.

That's what expansion will do to the ACC next season.

It's not that the addition of Virginia Tech and Miami will spoil ACC basketball so much as it will dilute it.

At the moment, all nine ACC members are among the nation's top 75 teams in the RPI. Virginia Tech is No. 128 and has a 3-9 record against top-100 teams. Miami is No. 161 and has a 1-12 record against the top 100. Neither looks like it will be much better a year from now. The Hokies lose senior Bryant Matthews, the Big East's leading scorer and the team's leading rebounder. Miami also loses its leading scorer and rebounder -- senior Darius Rice -- to graduation.

In order to add games with those two losers, the ACC has given up its round-robin schedule. Remember that triple-overtime game between Wake Forest and UNC in December? Or last week's N.C. State upset of Duke?

Well, next season UNC and Wake probably will play just once. And in the future, Duke will visit the RBC Center once every four years.

"It's sad we've had this great way of doing it and now we're no longer going to have it," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "To me, this is the last time the regular-season champ will be the true champion, because this is the last time there will be an equitable schedule in the league."

As a result, Krzyzewski suggests that the ACC Tournament -- which produces the official champion, anyway -- will be a better barometer of the league's best team than the regular season.

But with 11 teams in the league next season, even the tournament will change. The most likely scenario would be to give five teams a bye into Friday's quarterfinals and have the bottom six play three first-round games on Thursday.

That's more basketball ... but will it be better basketball?

"I think you have to give credit to the fans for making the tournament what it is," Maryland coach Gary Williams said. "There are other leagues that have been good and have good fans. But the hard-core fans we have in this league are just unbelievable when it comes to the ACC Tournament.

"It would be interesting to listen to them -- the fans and not the coaches or the administrators."

Krzyzewski isn't looking forward to the changed ACC Tournament.

"It's going to lose a lot," he said. "Let's enjoy the last one because it's going to be bloody Friday. You're going to have four of the most intense games on that Friday that have ever been played in this conference."

 

Tigers packing for four-day tournament trip
By JON SOLOMON
Staff Writer

CLEMSON — In the ACC Tournament quarterfinal round Friday,five of the eight teams will be ranked in the top 25, and three others could be fighting for NCAA Tournament bids.

“That might be the greatest day ever in the history of the ACC Tournament,” Maryland coach Gary Williams said.

Clemson, the only team without real postseason chances, is fighting to be included.

And, yes, coach Oliver Purnell said, the Tigers are packing for four games in Greensboro, N.C., even though conventional wisdom has them driving home by Friday afternoon.

“Every year there’s three or four teams that people in the media label Cinderella or the surprise team, a magic team,” Purnell said. “I’ve been a part of that situation before in a program, so I know from a personal situation that it can happen. So why not us?”

Clemson opens in the play-in game at 7 p.m. Thursday against Virginia. The winner turns around 15 hours later and plays top-seeded Duke at noon Friday.

“Whoever wins our game, that’s certainly a monster’s challenge to beat Duke,” Virginia coach Pete Gillen said. “You’ve got about a half-hour sleep, you change your underwear, and bam, you’re back on the bus.”

There were some happy Clemson players when Maryland defeated Virginia on Sunday night, securing the play-in game spot for the Cavaliers.

Clemson forward Olu Babalola said he was rooting for Maryland while watching on TV because he wanted another shot at Virginia. The Cavaliers swept the season series in two close games, 61-50 on Jan. 20 and 58-55 on Feb. 21.

“I was happy, like I was on the Maryland team when they won. ... It’s get-back time,” Babalola said.

Virginia (16-11, 6-10 ACC) is coming off a disappointing defeat after losing an 11-point lead in the second half to Maryland. The Cavaliers might need two ACC Tournament victories to reach the NCAA Tournament. They have lost eight consecutive conference tournament games, including all five under Gillen.

“There is pressure,” Gillen said. “You’d like to get that hurdle off your back.”

The Tigers (10-17, 3-13) will have been off eight days by Thursday’s game. Following its other lengthy layoffs this season, Clemson defeated Boston College and stayed close for a half at Duke before losing by 26 points.

The players had time off to re-energize during the past week. Purnell held a 6 a.m. practice on Friday that, coupled with Saturday’s day off, gave players the feel they had two free days.

Purnell could not scout for Clemson’s play-in game opponent until Sunday night after Maryland’s victory. Entering the weekend, there were three possible opponents.

Clemson players and coaches have been frustrated about the Virginia losses for most of the season.

In the first meeting, a sloppy contest with more turnovers than field goals, Virginia outscored Clemson 18-7 in the final 5:17 after the score was tied. That was the last start for point guard Vernon Hamilton, who had nine turnovers and no assists in his return to his home state.

Last month, Todd Billet made the winning 3-pointer with 16 seconds left and Virginia trailing by two points. Clemson kicked away its last chance when Chey Christie dribbled the ball off his leg. Babalola said afterward that he had never felt more upset in his life following a game.

“We feel like we should have beaten Virginia twice,” Purnell said. “They earned it. But that’s going to be a tough game for them. I think we’re hungry.”

Purnell is excited about his first ACC Tournament as a head coach — the tournament he has dreamed of winning and calls “the granddaddy of them all.”

While trying to scout the Maryland-Virginia game, Purnell said he ended up watching like a fan.

“It is kind of a strange thing watching it back and forth in a scouting mode,” he said. “And then the ACC fan takes over because you can feel the tension for both teams and you can certainly empathize.”

Although Clemson will not make the postseason without an ACC championship, Purnell said such a run is possible.

“We play the toughest schedule in the country, and we’ve won some ballgames,” he said. “That kind of situation can steel you for this type of situation. ... In some ways, it’s kind of set up for that kind of thing. Now having said that, it’s going to be difficult.”
 

Exit signs still hanging over Gillen
Despite recent victories, Virginia basketball coach's job status remains shaky
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Mar 10, 2004

CHARLOTTESVILLE The once-mighty Georgetown men's basketball team finished the regular season with a losing record for the first time in 31 years, and the Hoyas' Big East record is their worst in the conference's 25-year history.

Attendance has plummeted at MCI Center, and many - if not most - Georgetown fans want a new coach. Yet university officials have expressed confidence in Craig Esherick, whose team hasn't won since Feb. 7. The Hoyas' athletic director, for example, recently told The Washington Post, "We will win, and we will win with Coach Esherick."

At the University of Virginia, Pete Gillen undoubtedly would appreciate such public support from his superiors. But it hasn't been forthcoming, not even as Gillen's team has surged in the past few weeks.

The reason, sources said, is simple: U.Va. officials decided last month that a coaching change was needed, and they have not yet reversed their stance.

The Cavaliers (16-11) enter the ACC tournament in Greensboro, N.C., having won four of their past six games. Three of those victories came against ranked opponents. That run has bolstered Gillen's case for returning in 2004-05, but his position remains precarious.

"A number of key individuals [at U.Va.] seem to have reached the conclusion that . . . Gillen is no longer a good fit for the program," a source said Monday.

Given a chance last week to say that Gillen would return in 2004-05, Athletic Director Craig Littlepage declined to do so. Gillen's contract pays him about $900,000 annually and runs through June 2011. Most of the money is guaranteed, sources said, but U.Va. will not balk at buying out Gillen's contract if officials conclude the program's health requires such action.

Virginia, the ACC tourney's No. 8 seed, meets No. 9 seed Clemson (10-17) in tomorrow night's play-in game. Should the Cavaliers lose, sources said, Gillen almost certainly would be dismissed after the season.

On his radio show Monday night, Gillen said Virginia's goal "is still to make the NCAA tournament." That goal would have been within reach had the Cavs won Sunday night at Maryland. But they blew an 11-point second-half lead and lost 70-61.

"It's a game we should have won," Gillen said.

The loss means Virginia is probably headed to the NIT for the third straight year. A strong run in that tournament, sources said, might persuade U.Va. to retain Gillen, who has a strong recruiting class coming in and whose rotation includes only one senior. Still, a win at Comcast Center might have helped him more than a string of NIT victories.

Had they beaten the Terrapins, the Cavs probably have needed only one ACC tourney victory to have earned an at-large bid to the NCAAs - a feat that would have assured Gillen of returning next season. Now, they must win at least two games in Greensboro, which means getting past not only Clemson but top-seeded Duke. And, as U.Va. fans know all too well, Gillen's recent postseason record offers little cause for optimism.

It hasn't always been thus for Gillen. In his nine seasons at Xavier, he led the Musketeers to five conference tournament titles and compiled a 5-7 record in the NCAAs. In each of Gillen's three seasons at Providence, he won at least one game in the Big East tourney. Under Gillen, the Friars were 3-1 in the NCAAs and 2-2 in the NIT.

U.Va., in fact, chose him to succeed Jeff Jones in part because of Gillen's history of postseason success. At Virginia, however, Gillen seems to have lost his touch. His postseason mark with the Cavs is 1-9: 0-5 in the ACC tourney, 0-1 in the NCAAs and 1-3 in the NIT.

Gillen's overall record is 102-76, and U.Va. will finish .500 or better for the fifth straight season. With only six healthy scholarship players, the Cavs went 14-16 in 1998-99.

Littlepage said last month that he'll evaluate the "full body" of Gillen's work. That includes not only wins and losses but graduation rates, players' on-court demeanor and off-court behavior, retention of players and the program's long-term prospects.

In 1999-2000, Virginia tied for third in the conference. The Cavaliers finished fourth in 2000-01, tied for fifth in 2001-02 and tied for sixth in 2002-03. They tied Florida State for seventh this season.

Off-court issues marred Virginia's 2002-03 season and cost Gillen considerable support among the school's fans and administration. Player attrition has been high under Gillen, and sellouts at University Hall are no longer routine.

Meanwhile, across the road from 8,392-seat U-Hall, construction continues on John Paul Jones Arena, for which tens of millions of dollars still must be raised. The Cavaliers are set to move into the 15,000-seat arena in 2006-07. The prospect of thousands of empty seats at home games scares U.Va. officials.

"The fans are not fired up right now, and that's killing us," a source said.