UVa coaching field looking a little thinner
By Jerry Ratcliffe / Daily Progress sports editor
March 18, 2005

Virginia’s search for a new head basketball coach is five days old and already the field appears to have narrowed.

While Kentucky fans are sure to flood my email address with nasty messages as they have a few times already, I am still convinced that UVa has a small chance to lure Tubby Smith away from the storied Wildcats’ program.

Note to Kentucky fans: spare yourself the effort of telling me I’m an idiot or delusional. There is no question that Smith is Virginia’s No. 1 target as far-fetched as it may seem to basketball fans.

Yes, I know all about Kentucky’s tradition and why would anyone leave that situation, where you’re king of the SEC to battle with the Duke’s, North Carolina’s and Wake Forest’s of the world for supremacy. Yes, I know that Virginia has had little time in the hoop world’s spotlight over the past 50 years.

But there is a strong feeling that the 53-year-old Smith could change all of that. He would bring instant national recognition to the program and most of all to the recruiting world. He could also match wits with the ACC’s lineup of Hall of Fame coaches on a nightly basis.

Other options

So, what if Virginia strikes out in its bid to get Smith? Where does Craig Littlepage go then?

Apparently the UVa camp is divided over Texas’ Rick Barnes, who took an early exit from the NCAA with a loss to Nevada on Thursday. Most Longhorns fans consider this Barnes’ best coaching job after losing one of his best players to injury and another to academics.

If you listen closely to the grapevine, Barnes has lost favor, Texas Tech’s Bobby Knight is too old (64) and too unpredictable, VCU’s Jeff Capel is too young, Notre Dame’s Mike Brey is just right but his Irish couldn’t beat Patriot League champ Holy Cross on ND’s own floor in the opening round of the NIT.

Like Barnes, Brey has said he is happy at his school and isn’t planning on leaving. Of course, from both coaches that could be perceived as a Clinton-like non-denial, denial.

The NBA’s Rick Carlisle, a UVa grad, has said no thank you.

So, what does that leave Littlepage to choose from?

Montgomery interested?

We’ve heard that Mike Montgomery, the former Stanford coach who is in his first year with the NBA’s Golden State Warriors, has shown no interest in the job, but we haven’t confirmed that yet. Certainly, Montgomery would be a prime candidate with his Stanford background. He was a candidate in 1990 and even toured University Hall before withdrawing his name from contention.

There is reason to believe that if Smith decides to stay at his old Kentucky home, and Montgomery elects to say with his new NBA one, then DePaul’s Dave Leitao slips into the No. 1 candidate’s spot. You’ve got GW’s Karl Hobbs, ODU’s Blaine Taylor, West Virginia’s John Beilein and former UVa player Marc Iavaroni, who has done a terrific job as an assistant coach for the Phoenix Suns.

The 44-year-old Leitao emphasizes defense, although that wasn’t evident in the Blue Demons’ win over Missouri in the NIT on Wednesday night. He has an impressive resume, but is that enough?

What Littlepage and UVa president John T. Casteen III must understand, and certainly they do, is that this is clearly the biggest athletic hire in Cavalier history.

Virginia’s basketball program is at a crossroads. The next hire will either elevate Cavalier basketball to new competitive heights or, well, remain mediocre at best.

If Virginia is to re-energize its program, unclog the stalled fundraising for the new 15,000-seat John Paul Jones Arena and excite twice as many fans to show up to fill the facility, then it is crucial that Littlepage and Casteen hire the perfect coach who can get fans and potential fans excited.

Only a few names from the list above are capable of pulling that off.

Free throws ... Now that Terry Holland has hired Ricky Stokes to take over the East Carolina basketball program, our spies tell us that it won’t be long before another former UVa great, Ralph Sampson, joins Stokes’ staff as an assistant coach. ... According to sources in Miami, Hurricanes’ sophomore guard Guillermo Diaz may test the NBA Draft waters, which allow collegians to work out for GMs on the condition that if there’s no guarantee of a first round selection, the player may return to school without penalty. ... Miami coach Frank Haith said he is encouraging Diaz to return for another year to improve his ball-handling and leadership skills before going pro.

... A reader, noting that J.R. Reynolds’ 32 points against Miami in the ACC Tournament first round last week tied for the third-highest output by a Cavalier in the 52-year-old event, asked who the other players were. A little research by my crack statistician son, Scott, revealed the top three: Buzzy Wilkinson, 42 vs. Duke in 1954; Junior Burrough 36 vs. Georgia Tech in 1995’s first round; Wilkinson 32 vs. Duke in 1955; Bryant Stith 32 vs. North Carolina in 1990 and Reynolds.

... Former Virginia football coach Ben Martin passed away last July in a Colorado nursing home but most Cavalier fans are only now learning of his passing. He was 82. Martin, who coached the Wahoos in 1956 and 1957 (7-12-1 record), went from Charlottesville to the Air Force Academy where he became known as “The Father of Air Force Football.” Martin coached the Falcons to a 96-103-9 record for 20 seasons, including an unbeaten record (9-0-2) in his first year there (1958) when Air Force fought TCU to a 0-0 tie in the Cotton Bowl.

Cavs' coaching search in holding pattern
By Andrew Joyner / Daily Progress staff writer
March 18, 2005

Virginia’s search for a replacement to Pete Gillen is a wait-and-see operation for the moment and that’s because of pure semantics.

The search is expected to pick up in earnest next week and that’s for obvious reasons: As of today, many potential candidates still have their teams playing in the NCAA and

NIT Tournaments and possibly even the NBA.

Virginia Athletics Director Craig Littlepage, reached Thursday in Cleveland where he his attending first and second round NCAA games as part of his role on the NCAA Men’s Basketball Committee, confirmed such thinking via e-mail.

“Some potential candidates could be playing for weeks. No set time table and the list is fluid,” Littlepage said.

At least two potential candidates - Texas’ Rick Barnes and Notre Dame’s Mike Brey - are no longer playing as their seasons are over.

Brey and Notre Dame lost to Holy Cross in the first round of the NIT on Tuesday night. Barnes and the Longhorns fell to Nevada in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday night.

Both Barnes and Brey have been asked this week about the Virginia vacancy and both dismissed the possibility publicly.

“I don’t get caught up in it because there’s nothing to it,” said Barnes in a press conference Wednesday in advance of his team’s game against Nevada on Thursday. “I said before, I fully intend to be at Texas for a long time and I love my job here. I think it’s a great opportunity. I still think we’ve got work to do.”

Barnes states intention to stay with Longhorns
Associated Press

INDIANAPOLIS -- Texas coach Rick Barnes said Wednesday there's no basis to the speculation he might be a candidate for the Virginia coaching job vacated this week by Pete Gillen.

The Longhorns (20-10) are in Indianapolis for a first-round NCAA Tournament game on Thursday against Nevada.

Gillen resigned on Monday with just one NCAA appearance in seven years at Virginia, and Barnes was one of several coaches mentioned prominently as a possible successor.

"I don't get caught up in it because there's nothing to it," Barnes said.

"I said before, I fully intend to be at Texas for a long time and I love my job here. I think it's a great opportunity. I still think we've got work to do."

He said the speculation has not been a distraction as the Longhorns prepare for their seventh straight NCAA Tournament under Barnes.

"I'm not going to get into the rumors going with it, but it hasn't been a problem because I just don't take it very seriously," he said.

A little love may keep Barnes around
Football-crazy UT trying to create a scene at basketball games
08:38 PM CST on Tuesday, March 15, 2005

Rick Barnes has Texas in the NCAAs again, and he'll win one game, maybe even two, and then it's Augie Garrido's turn at bat.

Not a bad wrap to the basketball season unless you know it could have been better.

Barnes knew. He figured the Longhorns might have been a top-10 team. But his best player flunked out, and his biggest talent got hurt, and he's left with the compromise that this was one of his better coaching jobs.

Still, it's probably frustrating. Especially at Texas, where even in the best of basketball times, you're always No. 2.

This hardly comes as a shock. You couldn't name a major university in the state that wouldn't trade its hoops hall of fame for a football title or two.

Football is king here, as guaranteed by framers of the Texas constitution. But it doesn't mean we won't tolerate an occasional basketball coup.

For Barnes, the assurance may not be enough. Might even make him listen to Virginia, which once tried to hire him and may soon try again.

Pete Gillen resigned Monday. He was a good coach, especially at Xavier and Providence, but he only went to the NCAAs once in seven years at Virginia.

And the kids went nuts when he did. Camped out for a week just to get tickets to games in that 2000-01 season.

Barnes would love that. He's big on kids. They make a lot of noise and can be very intimidating, and not just when you're pulling up to the drive-through.

One of Barnes' first major efforts at Texas was to reconfigure seating at the Erwin Center, putting 1,500 students closer to the ear canals of opponents.

But it's not enough. Not when you're trying to convince recruits that Texas is wild about its hoops, too, and they look around and see all those holes in the crowd.

The Erwin Center is a great big ol' palace that seats 16,000 when the ticket-holders are in town.

But they're usually not. Many of the 9,200 season-ticket holders are from Houston and Dallas, a tough commute.

They might make it for big games or on the weekends. And even when they do, they rarely paint their faces or raise their hands, except to order another beverage.

Or worse, their seats sit empty. Barnes wants those tickets. He wants color and excitement and a clamoring for something more.

Bottom line: He wants unconditional love for his basketball team.

But he's not getting it, and here's the irony: Many season-ticket holders won the right to premier seating by virtue of their donations to the football program, and DeLoss Dodds isn't about to displace them.

Once again, football wins. But it doesn't have to be unconditional surrender if a program now in place actually works.

Season-ticket holders unwilling or unable to make games will be able to go to their computers, punch a few keys and return them. They'll then be credited with a donation to the Longhorn Foundation in the amount of the ticket.

Dodds isn't sure what they'll do with the returns. Maybe resell them or just give them away to students.

You'd think it'd work with 50,000 students on campus and any misplaced basketball fans living in Austin.

"Rick's got the product," Dodds said. "In my mind, we're a top-10 program, and he's done his part.

"Everybody else has just got to do their little part now."

Dodds may have to do more, too. Barnes is reportedly on Virginia's short list, along with Kentucky's Tubby Smith and Mike Montgomery of the Golden State Warriors.

And what if Virginia offers $2 million, as some reports have indicated the university might be willing to do?

Mack Brown money. Might be too rich for Texas when it comes to a basketball coach.

But let's say Barnes considers a call from Virginia if it comes. In the ACC, he'd be no better than fourth in the pecking order. And Virginia officials have promised to bring in a headline coach who would not only revive the program but help raise funds to pay for the school's new $129 million arena.

You think that's not pressure? For that matter, what kind of pressure does Barnes feel now?

Ask Mack Brown what it's like when you don't win the big one in the state's official sport. Come to think of it, No. 2 never seemed so good.

Yes, Virginia, Barnes expects to stay at UT
09:53 AM CST on Tuesday, March 15, 2005
By CHIP BROWN / The Dallas Morning News

AUSTIN – Virginia basketball coach Pete Gillen resigned Monday after a last-place finish in the Atlantic Coast Conference and a seven-year tenure marked by just one trip to the NCAA Tournament. Texas basketball coach Rick Barnes has been mentioned in published reports out of Virginia as a leading candidate to replace Gillen.

Barnes said Monday night he's happy at Texas and isn't looking to leave.

"I expect to be coaching at Texas next year," said Barnes, whose eighth-seeded Longhorns play a first-round NCAA Tournament game Thursday against ninth-seeded Nevada in Indianapolis.

Barnes, who nearly accepted the Virginia job in 1990 but reconsidered and stayed at Providence, said he hasn't been contacted about the job. Texas athletic director DeLoss Dodds said Monday he hadn't been contacted by Virginia for permission to talk to Barnes.

"If Rick really wanted to leave, there's probably not anything we could do to stop him," Dodds said. "But it's our hope and belief that Rick wants to stay at Texas. We appreciate what he's done. He's happy here. His wife loves Austin. The fans love him."

Some published reports have indicated Virginia might be willing to offer close to $2 million per year to its new coach because the Cavaliers have just built a new basketball arena and are determined to rebuild their program. Barnes earns $1.1 million annually at Texas.

Dodds said Texas will always try to keep its basketball coach "among the top five or 10 paid coaches in the country." He declined to speculate whether UT would be prepared to match such an offer.

Barnes has groused about the atmosphere at home games and about season-ticket holders who don't show up to games on a regular basis. He has pushed for more students sitting closer to the floor. Students have a total of 1,500 seats behind the baskets on either end of the court.

Dodds said Monday that UT has a new program that will give season-ticket holders an incentive to turn in their tickets if they're not going to use them. Season-ticket holders will be credited with giving a donation to the Longhorn Foundation in a dollar amount equal to the value of the tickets. The tickets would then be resold or given to students, Dodds said.

Dodds said the school has also spent $13,750 to hire Game Face Inc., a Portland, Ore.-based firm that specializes in increasing ticket sales to sporting events.

Barnes has indicated there are things Texas could do to get more people in seats, such as greatly discounting tickets in the mezzanine level of the Erwin Center.

Dodds said one thing that won't be considered is relocating the 9,200 season-ticket holders with seats in the lower bowl of the Erwin Center. Many of those season-ticket holders earned the right to those seats by being top donors to the football program.

"Those are people who have been sitting in those seats for years," Dodds said. "We're not going to move people. That's something we've never done."

Tournament leads to information overload
Published March 17 2005
David Teel

A co-worker explains her chronic intestinal issues. The neighbor details his kid's cello recital. The boss recounts his getaway in Belize.

As the kids like to say: too much information. TMI.

With the first round of the NCAA basketball tournament tipping off today, I have a serious case of TMI. Television, radio and online. At the office, grocery store and gym. Jay Bilas, Clark Kellogg, and Mary in the mailroom.

How's a guy supposed to fill out the bracket amid all the noise?

No one can handle Illinois' guards off the dribble.

Ronny Turiaf is SO adorable. Gonzaga to win it all.

Syracuse rides its 2-3 zone to the Final Four.

Red is my ex's favorite color. So Wisconsin, Louisville and N.C. State go down in the first round. Oh, speaking of Mailroom Mary, 40 days in the hole with Dick Vitale to the next knucklehead who suggests that the tournament include only "the 64 best teams."

Look, the only reason Mary and millions of other non-hoopheads care about the tournament is the presence of schools such as Utah State, Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Old Dominion. They went there, or know someone who knows someone who did. And the mere possibility that a Chattanooga might upset Wake Forest fascinates those folks.

Notre Dame, Indiana and Maryland didn't make the field? Who cares? They weren't good enough to win the tournament anyway. Take away Southeastern Louisiana, Delaware State and Oakland, and Mailroom Mary tunes out.

At the risk of adding to your information overload, here are some nuggets on teams capable of winning the national title:

Among the field, Illinois commits the fewest turnovers, 11.1 per game. Defending champion Connecticut leads Division I in rebounding margin (11.4) and blocked shots (9.1 per game).

The nation's best 3-point shooting team is Oklahoma State at 42.1 percent. Better yet in taut games, the Cowboys make 78 percent of their free throws. Only Texas-El Paso, Arizona and Michigan State are more accurate.

North Carolina, Washington and Wake Forest rank first, second and fourth in scoring, at 85-90 points per game.

For the rotisserie addicts in the audience: The tournament's top scorers are Vermont's Taylor Coppenrath (25.7), Niagara's Juan Mendez (23.6) and Duke's J.J. Redick (22.8). Coincidentally, all are in the Austin Regional.

The only 20-point, 10-rebound players are Utah's Andrew Bogut and Kansas' Wayne Simien. The only 90-percent or better free-throw shooters are Redick, Arizona's Salim Stoudamire and Gonzaga's Derek Raivio.

Now, on to the bracket. Last season double-digit seeds won a record-low three first-round games. This year will be different. Guaranteed. Wisconsin-Milwaukee, St. Mary's, George Washington, UAB, UCLA, Louisiana-Lafayette, Creighton, New Mexico, Ohio, North Carolina State, Vermont, UTEP and Iowa, to name a baker's dozen, are quality teams.

I know, I know. You want stone-cold locks. OK, here goes: Iowa beats Cincinnati, Ohio beats Florida, and New Mexico beats Villanova.

ACC partisans have cause for concern. North Carolina is in its worst shooting funk of the season - three consecutive games of 40 percent or lower; Wake Forest's Chris Paul must confront the first crisis of his college career as he returns from a suspension for sucker-punching N.C. State's Julius Hodge; Georgia Tech point guard Jarrett Jack (shoulder and ankle) emerged from the conference tournament more battered than usual.

Two second-round games leap off the bracket sheet: Syracuse-Michigan State and Georgia Tech-Louisville. Few teams are tougher or better coached than the Orange and Spartans. Few teams have better perimeter talent than the Yellow Jackets and Cardinals.

The national championship game is April 4 in St. Louis, but the real title contest will be March 26 when Illinois and Oklahoma State meet in the Chicago Regional final. Upon arriving in St. Louis, Oklahoma State will find Oklahoma, Louisville and UConn.

Hey, did I ever tell you about that rash on my ... ?