In Austin, a summit meeting of top coaches
Column by The Post's Lonnie Wheeler

AUSTIN, Texas -- It isn't quite the same without the oversized sweater -- the only kind Rick Majerus could possibly wear -- but there's a nationally televised coaching clinic going on here this weekend, featuring a full 30 percent of the active gentlemen who have won NCAA championships.

This, thanks to them, is the regional of champions. "You have four outstanding basketball programs here," said Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski. "Not coaches, but programs."

And coaches, if we may, the foremost being he who has the Blue Devils in their eighth consecutive Sweet Sixteen, who has masterminded his way to 10 Final Fours (including five in a row at one point), whose teams have been ranked No. 1 at some time or another of seven seasons, and actually finished that way on three occasions.

The unassailable Coach K -- whose typically top-seeded ACCers take on Michigan State tonight before Kentucky resumes its one-sided rivalry with Utah -- has set a coaching standard that nobody is about to overtake and only Bob Knight and Rick Pitino, among those still going, can reasonably challenge (even Pitino being a bit of a stretch there). Of the 10 current coaches who have won national titles, only Gary Williams and Steve Fisher were excluded from this year's tournament. Jim Boeheim and Jim Calhoun have been prematurely excused from it. Knight, Pitino and Olson are off in other regionals. Tubby Smith and Tom Izzo, meanwhile, have joined their fraternity president deep in the humidity of Texas.

So has Utah's first-year fellow, Ray Giacoletti, whom Majerus, his predecessor, had never heard of when the Utes hired their new guy out of Eastern Washington. "I'm probably the odd man out in the whole mess," Giacoletti said.

That won't necessarily make him the odd man out after tonight, but the head Ute is at a distinct disadvantage here. If he can do what Majerus never could -- beat UK in the tournament -- and move along to the final Eight, it will be the first time the term Elite has ever been associated with his difficult name.

Not all coaches were created elite, and some, it seems, are a little eliter than others. The description fits the other three here like a dusty boot, Smith and Izzo filling in just under Krzyzewski's class.

The local paper in this burnt-orange town, ranking the visiting coaches for a Sweet Sixteen preview, made a point of noting how peculiar it seemed to place Izzo third out of four. In 10 years at Michigan State, Izzo has fostered three Final Four teams and five (Tom Crean, Brian Gregory, Stan Heath, Mike Garland and Stan Joplin) Division I head coaches; current assistant Doug Wojcik is headed to Tulsa next year as the sixth. Most of all, he has accomplished the very thing that is sure to guarantee a coach a reputation: He has elevated the status of the program.

Following Pitino in a program made famous by Adolph Rupp, Smith never had the chance to do that. Perhaps it is why his due seems so elusive.

Perhaps it is why the notion of Smith at Virginia may not be so preposterous.

Kentucky's man -- and it is a deep tribute that Smith, by sticking to his task and meeting it in a manner that is beyond reasonable reproach, has become that in practically every sense -- is a coach's coach. Coaches don't measure their peers in sound bites. They are not swayed by charisma.

What Smith has done, Izzo said, "is what I hope to do in the future."

The country man from Maryland has done it, nevertheless, without aplomb. A stage like this, in fact, reveals him as a coach dispossessed of even a single, solitary plomb. It shows, as he handles the media demands with respectful disinterest, that neither print nor television will ever make Tubby Smith a superstar.

Rupp became a Kentucky icon by building an institution that spoke for the state in a way that nothing else did. Pitino built a raging regional fame by restoring Wildcat basketball to its lofty, cherished, desperately sought station. Smith was handed the possibility of neither.

He won a national championship in his first season at UK, and people pointed out that he did it with Pitino's players. He has dominated the Southeastern Conference, but Kentucky basketball is expected to be bigger than that. His first 14 years in the business have been the third-winningest in NCAA history, and even so (unlike Krzyzewski), he has no American Express commercials.

"Coach K and his program get a lot of attention," said Kentucky senior Chuck Hayes, "but we also have a great coach over here in Lexington."

It appears that the only way Smith can assume his fair share of the public imagination is to win not one more national championship, most likely, but at least two. That would put him in a pantheon occupied only by Krzyzewski, Knight, John Wooden and Rupp, who of course got there first and will for-ever remain first in the consciousness of the Commonwealth.

Smith has coped ably with the hard-pressing precedents of Kentucky, making certain, in his understated way, that the program doesn't slip a bit. And yet those who knew him at Georgia attest that he was a more engaging, easier-going guy back then. Perhaps he longs to be that way again, perhaps at a place like Virginia.

Perhaps, on the other hand, Kentucky will play Duke for a trip to the Final Four, and he will realize that college basketball doesn't get any better than that.

Poll workers, take your places
Coaching colleague, native Kentuckian, doesn’t see Tubby leaving
By Doug Doughty
THE ROANOKE TIMES

If I have any understanding of the principles behind a “google” listing, apparently last Thursday’s UVa Insider received relatively wide readership, which is why I found one number so puzzling.

In the past, we have run polls in connection with the UVa Insider and had as many as 500-600 respondents. Last week, when we asked readers for their preference for UVa’s next men’s basketball coach, only 80 people responded.
Who do you favor for Virginia's next men's basketball coach? Vote

As a result, we are re-running the poll, this time with better display. If you voted last week, vote again. But don't stuff the ballot box.

Another reason for re-running the poll is the absence last week of West Virginia coach John Beilein.

"Virginia should have hired Beilein two weeks ago,” said Howard Garfinkel, one of the most recognizable names in the basketball business.

Garfinkel is the longtime operator of the Five Star Basketball Camps, the launching pad for such illustrious coaches as Hubie Brown, Rick Pitino, Chuck Daly, Mike Fratello, John Calipari and Dave Odom.

Here’s Garfinkel earlier this week on Beilein: “He’s the best coach in America today, except for maybe Coach K and Pitino. He’s definitely in the top five.”

I shared that quote with Charleston Daily Mail columnist Pops Bogaczyk and, when Bogaczyk used it and Garfinkel got wind of it, he said he never said it.

"Of course, you did,” I told him earlier today (Thursday).

"What I should have said was, he’s the best coach in the country that nobody’s heard of,” Garfinkel said today. “I shouldn’t have mentioned any names. What about Bobby Knight?”

Garfinkel is famous for touting his own, but he has an even greater motivation, agent Dan Tobin said.

"Above all, Garf likes to be right,” Tobin said.

"You know anybody who likes to be wrong?” Garfinkel asked.

I’m not sure why I left Beilein, a 51-year-old former University of Richmond coach, out of the poll choices last week. After all, the Mountaineers already had been selected for the NCAA Tournament. A second-round upset of second-seeded Wake Forest only served to reinforce what WVU had done during the regular season.

Last week, in this space, I wrote that, for the first time, I thought Kentucky coach Tubby Smith might take the Virginia job. Certainly, Smith is the Cavaliers’ first choice and I suspect they will need to get a “no” from him before shifting into high gear on any other candidates.

I have heard from a number of Kentucky fans who think it’s insane to consider that Smith might leave Lexington for Charlottesville. However, many of those same e-mailers concede that a second-round loss to Cincinnati or, worse yet, a first-round loss to Eastern Kentucky, would have prompted calls for his head.

I don’t profess to be an expert on the subject of UK basketball, so I turned to longtime and increasingly legendary Oak Hill Academy coach Steve Smith, who grew up in Wilmore, Ky., which is located 12 miles from Lexington and 14 miles from Rupp Arena.

“My dad had season tickets from 1970,” Smith said. “When Rupp Arena opened, he got his tickets. He couldn’t get them when they were in the coliseum. The first Kentucky game I ever saw, Pat Riley jumped center.”

A handful of Steve Smith’s players have gone to Kentucky, including current Wildcats’ point guard Rajon Rondo. Smith spoke at a coaching clinic conducted by Kentucky earlier this year.

It has been my contention that the only reason Tubby Smith would go to Virginia was if he were unhappy at Kentucky.

“I don’t think Tubby’s unhappy,” Steve Smith said. “I think he’s very happy. I would be shocked [if he left]. Maybe there’s something behind the scenes or something that we don’t know about. Maybe some things were said when [son] Saul was playing there, but that’s been a couple of years. People aren’t still harping on that.

“I asked him once about coaching here and he said, ‘I don’t read the Lexington Herald. I don’t listen to talk shows and I don’t really watch sports on TV. I just never have, so I don’t hear any of that stuff.’ When the novices ask crazy questions on his call-in show, that doesn’t bother him. He’s got a thick skin.”

Oak Hill was on Easter break this week, so Steve Smith was visiting family in the Lexington area.

“Over here, they’re unrealistic,” he said. “They want you to go to the Final Four every year. He’s won 80 percent of his games -- slightly more than [Rick] Pitino did -- but I’d heard it said, ‘If they lose early [in the NCAA] Tournament, people are going to be all over him.’”

There’s no question in Steve Smith’s mind that Tubby Smith -- no relation, obviously -- would be the No. 1 coach on most schools’ wish list.

“If a high school coach wants to teach half-court man-to-man defense, he needs to go watch Tubby practice,” Steve Smith said. “He won’t press and do all that stuff like Pitino did. That upset some folks here, but he also didn’t get beat 150-95 by Kansas. He’s one of the best I’ve ever seen.”

Virginia has talked about raising the kind of money that would make it feasible for Tubby Smith to come to Virginia, and “it’s less pressure, I think,” Steve Smith said. “But if he goes to Virginia for what they’re going to pay him [or] what they’d have to pay him, there’s going to be some expectations there, too.”

Byington sticking around for now
The Cavs' director of basketball operations minds the program until a new coach is hired.
By Doug Doughty
981-3129
The Roanoke Times

Not long after he accepted a position on the Virginia men's basketball staff, 28-year-old Mark Byington bought a home in the Charlottesville suburb of Crozet.

He hasn't put up a "for sale" sign yet.

Byington, named director of men's basketball operations last June, has been asked to oversee the program during the Cavaliers' search for a successor to Pete Gillen.

"I've got to try and create other options for myself," said Byington, an all-state basketball player and the 1994 Timesland Athlete of the Year as a senior at Salem High School, "but what I would like to do is stay here."

Byington met Tuesday with athletic director Craig Littlepage, who, as a member of the NCAA Men's Basketball Committee, will be an observer this weekend at the Chicago Regional.

"He asked me to stick around for a couple of weeks - he didn't give me an exact time frame - and hold the fort down," Byington said. "I haven't spoken to all of the other coaches, but I'm not sure he has them doing the same thing."

Academics and weightlifting are a top priority at this time of year.

"I'd like to think that I have a really good pulse on the guys," said Byington, whose job description allows him to play in pick-up games with the players but not conduct individual workouts. "The organization of their schedules and their days is something I've been involved with all year."

Byington, who worked at the College of Charleston before going to UVa, also owns a home in Charleston for which he has renters. He could do the same thing in Charlottesville.

"That's the least of my worries," Byington said, "but I won't be working at the Roanoke Wiener Stand next week. They were fair to me [in a severance package] I knew there was some risk involved when I came up here."

In the 11 days since Virginia announced that Gillen would be stepping down, there has been little news on the coaching front. Virginia did not form a search committee, leaving Littlepage as a committee of one.

"Things get bogged down dealing with committees," Littlepage wrote in response to an e-mail. "The most important thing is getting broad-based input from industry leaders and institutional reps that can make a difference.

"I have had excellent resources at my disposal and will get great advice from people that know the league, know UVa, and that know college basketball. Being the 'committee,' I know there will be consistency in how info is processed and I don't worry about leaks."

Standard procedure would call for Littlepage to speak to a college coach after requesting permission from that coach's athletic directors. Among the coaches whose athletic directors say they have not been contacted by Littlepage are Rick Barnes (Texas), Dave Leitao (DePaul), Mark Few (Gonzaga) and Mike Anderson (Alabama-Birmingham).

It would be common courtesy for Littlepage not to contact a coach whose team was still playing, such as Kentucky's Tubby Smith, who may be familiar with Virginia basketball from his days as an assistant at Virginia Commonwealth.

Oak Hill Academy coach Steve Smith has known Tubby Smith for close to 20 years and spoke at a clinic earlier this year. Kentucky has recruited a number of Oak Hill players, including current Wildcats' point guard Rajon Rondo.

Steve Smith said he would be "shocked" if Tubby Smith left Lexington, Ky., for Charlottesville.

"Maybe there's something behind the scenes or something that we don't know about," said Steve Smith, on spring break Thursday at his boyhood home outside Lexington, "but I don't think he's unhappy. I think he's very happy.

"I asked him once about coaching here and he said, 'I don't read the Lexington Herald. I don't listen to talk shows and I don't really watch sports on TV.' He's got a thick skin."

Clemson releases athletics’ grades
By JON SOLOMON
Staff Writer

CLEMSON — The Clemson men’s basketball team scored a 1.86 grade-point ratio during the fall semester, according to figures released Thursday by the athletics department.

Football scored a 2.15, and baseball was at a semester-record 2.95. The women’s basketball team made a 2.39 under former coach Jim Davis.

Clemson’s highest-scoring team was women’s swimming (3.36). Women’s soccer (3.27), women’s tennis (3.07), men’s swimming (3.04) and volleyball (3.0) all scored 3.0 or better.

Phil Grayson, the director of Clemson’s student-athlete enrichment program, said he is concerned any time a team scores below 2.0.

“Men’s basketball had a lot of issues last semester with people being distracted by the off-the-court incidents and then the number of students being acclimated to college,” Grayson said. “I think they’ll be fine this semester.”

Nine basketball players were involved in a fight last September, causing them to participate in up to 100 community hours per person. Five freshmen are on the team.

This marked the first semester Clemson used a ratio, rather than a straight average, to compile the team scores.

A weighted average was compiled by dividing the sum of credit hours attempted into semester grade points earned. In previous years, the sum of the athletes’ grade-point average was divided into the number of athletes in that sport.

Last spring, the men’s basketball team scored a 2.24 GPA, the football team made a 2.52, baseball was at 2.83 and the women’s basketball team scored a 2.34.

The low scores for the men’s basketball team could become problematic. The NCAA’s new Academic Progress Rate scores, which count in 2005-06, could lead to scholarship reductions for teams that don’t keep enough players eligible and at the school.

In a trial report last month, Clemson scored a 905 APR in men’s basketball with a “confidence boundary” that would allow the team to avoid penalties. The Tigers were below the 925 cutoff score and ranked in the 30th-40th percentile nationally within its sport.

“That’s not too much of an issue with these grades, but it’s something to watch,” Grayson said.

Men’s basketball coach Oliver Purnell declined to comment Thursday through a team spokesperson.

The football team received a 942 APR score, meaning it is not currently in danger of being penalized.

Offer Rick Barnes another shot? U.Va. could do worse
Published March 25 2005
David Teel

AUSTIN, TEXAS -- Fifteen years ago, Rick Barnes jilted the University of Virginia. He agreed to become the school's basketball coach one day and reneged the next to remain at Providence.

With the Cavaliers prowling again for a coach, sources say that 1990 snub could cost Barnes any chance at the job.

Advice to Virginia: Get over it.

Barnes was a pup then, 36 with three years' head-coaching experience. Today he's among the best in the biz, making basketball matter like never before here at the University of Texas.

Barnes' home arena, the Erwin Center, hosts the NCAA Austin Regional semifinals tonight and, much to his disappointment, he'll be able to watch in person. His Longhorns lost to Nevada in the tournament's first round, ending a streak of three consecutive Sweet 16 appearances.

Imagine that, Virginia fans. A 20-11 finish, first-round NCAA exit and 9-7 Big 12 record represent a down year for Texas under Barnes. Had Pete Gillen produced similar down years, Virginia would have immortalized him with a statue instead of forcing him to resign.

Really, presuming Virginia athletic director Craig

Littlepage cannot pry Tubby Smith and his national-title résumé from Kentucky, Barnes should top his hit list.

The man won consistently at Clemson, for heaven's sake. Moreover, Barnes went nose-to-nose, literally, with North Carolina's Dean Smith at the 1995 ACC tournament when Smith accused Clemson's Iker Iturbe of dirty play.

Standing up to a legend: Think Virginia basketball could use that kind of spice against coaches such as Mike Krzyzewski, Gary Williams and Roy Williams?

Barnes coached Clemson to a school-record three consecutive NCAA tournaments from 1996-98 before leaving for Texas, and since his departure, the Tigers haven't been back. He's 7-for-7 at Texas, including a Final Four in 2003, joining Arizona's Lute Olson, UNC's Roy Williams, Cincinnati's Bob Huggins and Kentucky's Smith as the only coaches to compete in the last 10 NCAAs.

Texas, Duke, Pittsburgh, Kansas and Connecticut were the only schools to reach the Sweet 16 from 2002-04, and among Big 12 programs, the Longhorns trail only Kansas.

Of course, it's easier to win in the Big 12 at Texas than in the ACC at Virginia. The Longhorns have first dibs on most prospects in a talent-rich state, and the intraconference competition isn't as grueling.

And that's the crux for most coaches: Where do I have the best chance to win?

So why in the name of LBJ might Rick Barnes consider leaving Texas for Virginia?

Barnes could not be reached Thursday, but several weeks ago, when media reports and Internet postings had him all but packed for Charlottesville, he told the Austin American-Statesman that "we still have work to do here and we want to finish it. I fully expect to be the coach at Texas next year."

Sure he does. But that doesn't mean he wouldn't listen if Littlepage called.

First, Barnes is an ACC guy. He was born, raised and attended college (Lenoir-Rhyne) in North Carolina, and he wept at the news conference announcing his decision to remain at Providence rather than move to Virginia (the Cavaliers then hired Jeff Jones).

And if the Virginia job was enticing then, what about now with a $130 million, 15,000-seat arena set to open for the 2006-07 season? Then there's the gorilla that is Texas football. The Longhorns fill their 80,000-seat stadium and pay coach Mack Brown more than $2 million a year, hardly unexpected for a state that gave us Earl Campbell, Ricky Williams and "Friday Night Lights."

But the gorilla tramples basketball. Even during their Final Four season, Barnes' Longhorns averaged only 11,170 fans per home game at the 16,775-seat Erwin Center.

If Barnes feels unappreciated, and if Virginia offers to bump his pay from the $1.15 million he earns annually at Texas, why not?

Yes, Barnes was a nomad early in his career. But his seven years at Texas prove he can settle. His seven consecutive NCAAs prove he can consistently win.

The Cavaliers could do worse. Much worse.

No. 1 ranking at stake in showdown
Virginia takes on Johns Hopkins in battle of undefeated teams; Cavs have won three straight games against the Blue Jays
Kyle O'Connor, Cavalier Daily Senior Writer

After the dust settles in Baltimore Saturday afternoon, the men's lacrosse world will have crowned a definitive front-runner.

In a clash of two national titans, the second-ranked Virginia Cavaliers will make the 150-mile journey north to take on No. 1 Johns Hopkins at Homewood Field for bragging rights and the top ranking in the nation.

The two undefeated teams face off at 1 p.m. in what has become a yearly battle for supremacy in the elite realm of Division I lacrosse. In 2003, the Cavaliers defeated Hopkins in front of almost 38,000 fans to win the NCAA championship and avenge a single-goal loss to Hopkins earlier in the season. One year later, Virginia scratched out a 9-8 overtime win against the Jays in Charlottesville.

"Anytime one versus two or Hopkins and Virginia play, it's always going to be an exciting game," senior Jack deVilliers said.

Heading into the showdown, both Hopkins and Virginia seem to be at full strength. The Blue Jays pulled out an astonishing one-goal overtime victory against defending national champion Syracuse March 18, erasing a six-goal deficit to overtake the Orange down the stretch. Hopkins also boasts a 29-game home winning streak -– a mark the Cavaliers have their sights on ending this weekend.

"It's always crazy at Homewood," midfielder Kyle Dixon said. "They've added four rows of seating for our game on the track, so it'll be a packed place, but it's always fun playing at Hopkins with fans screaming at you all the time."

Virginia's season has been equally impressive. The 6-0 Cavaliers blew out a nationally-ranked Towson team 14-3, adding to their impressive credentials this season, including solid victories over perennial powers Syracuse and Princeton.

Virginia's powerful starting attack line of Matt Ward, John Christmas and Ben Rubeor has combined for 33 goals this season but will have to stay sharp to keep up with its Hopkins counterparts. Blue Jay attackmen Kyle Barrie, Peter LeSueur and Jake Byrne have helped drive Hopkins' offense, taking the load off of star midfielders Kyle Harrison and Greg Peyser.

Pyser and Harrison also are dangerous in the face-off circle, something deVilliers is eager to challenge.

"They're going to throw everybody out there, and by the end of the day, we'll hopefully be victorious," deVilliers said. "They try and use different people with different moves to try and get me off my game and make me think more about what they do than what I do."

One sure thing is that the game will not go unwatched. Hopkins has capped attendance at 10,000 and is expecting the game to sell out very quickly. In the lacrosse-crazed Baltimore area, the Cavalier-Blue Jay showdown has the making of a classic.

At this point in the season, three teams remain undefeated in Division I lacrosse. Saturday's match-up between two of those three teams will ensure that only one will emerge on top of the standings with a perfect record. Although they will need to play a flawless game, Virginia hopes to topple the Hopkins giant and arrive back in Charlottesville untouched.

Cavs host Tigers in title game rematch
Princeton will be looking for revenge in the first meeting between the two squads since last May
Chris Insolera, Cavalier Daily Staff Writer

It may not have the history of Yankees-Red Sox or Lakers-Celtics, but over the last decade the heated women's lacrosse rivalry between Virginia and Princeton has been almost as intense.

In 1993, the Cavaliers downed the Tigers 8-6 in overtime to win their second national title in three years and deny Princeton its first. Last year, Virginia again got the best of the Tigers, who this time entered the final undefeated but exited empty-handed as the Cavaliers ended an 11-year national championship drought with a 10-4 victory. Virginia's ascension back to the top of the women's lacrosse world was especially sweet considering who they dethroned to take the crown --- Princeton entered the 2004 game as the defending national champion thanks to their defeat of the Cavaliers in the 2003 final.

Saturday will mark the latest chapter in this storied rivalry, as No. 3 Princeton travels to Klöckner Stadium to take on the 2005 version of the Virginia women's lacrosse team, currently ranked No. 4 in the country. Despite their high rankings, both teams enter the game with chips on their shoulders: Virginia lost its No. 1 spot two weeks ago when it was upset by Penn State 10-7, while Princeton suffered the same fate a week later, losing 3-1 to the Nittany Lions and relinquishing the No. 1 ranking it had obtained as a result of the Cavaliers' earlier loss. With both teams looking to rebound from their Penn State losses and reestablish themselves as forces in the hunt for the national championship, Saturday's match up figures to rival the intensity of the postseason slugfests that preceded it.

"We've played them in the national championship game two years now," Virginia star attacker Tyler Leachman said. "It's always a huge game when we play them. It's always a tough game."

Virginia coach Julie Myers expressed a similar sentiment and stressed that her team will be prepared to battle the Tigers.

"I think it's an important match up, clearly," Myers said. "A lot of our rust is gone, so I think we'll be sharp. There's a little more focus and intensity to our practices now."

One thing Virginia has to its advantage is the presence of senior All-Everything midfielder Amy Appelt, the consensus Player of the Year in 2004 and Lacrosse Magazine's Preseason Player of the Year for 2005. Last year, Applet scored four of Virginia's 10 goals against Princeton in the final, and recently notched the 300th point of her career in a game earlier this season. With the Cavaliers aiming to penetrate the stingy Tiger defense and win Saturday's showdown, look for Appelt to be right in the center of things.

Princeton "has probably been on our minds since the last time we played them," Applet said. "We always get fired up to play them. They're a great, competitive team. It's really fun to play them, so we're all really excited to do well against them."

An excited and focused Cavalier team battling it out with one of their biggest, most talented and bitter postseason rivals: like Yankees-Red Sox and Lakers-Celtics, this is not one to miss. Game time is 1 p.m.