Tech nearly joined ACC 50 years ago
By DOUG DOUGHTY
THE ROANOKE TIMES
There's no telling how ACC history would have been rewritten if not for a simple procedural matter in December 1953.
On the same day that Virginia was welcomed officially as the ACC's eighth member, then-North Carolina chancellor Robert House moved to admit Virginia Tech and West Virginia.
According to wire reports, there was no vote because ACC president J.T. Penney from Clemson "ruled the motion out of order because it was not on the agenda."
At a later, closed-door session, the presidents voted not to expand for the indefinite future.
The ACC had been formed May 8, 1953, in a development that was as acrimonious - for that time - as the ACC's recent raid on the Big East. Seven schools broke loose from the Southern Conference at a meeting in Greensboro, N.C. Gus Tebell, who was the athletic director at then-independent Virginia, boycotted that meeting.
"I want it understood clearly that Virginia had absolutely no part in breaking up the Southern Conference," Tebell said then in an Associated Press story. "I had heard that such a breakup might occur and I wanted to keep Virginia clear."
In the same story, UVa and West Virginia were mentioned as possible eighth teams for the ACC. UVa had dropped out of the Southern Conference in the 1930s, but there had been talk in 1951-52 that it might seek reinstatement.
In an accompanying story written by then-Roanoke Times sports editor Harold Wimmer, Virginia Tech football coach Frank Moseley was described as interested in joining the breakaway schools.
According to Wimmer's second-day column, "Moseley said that Tech would never go big-time in football but made no bones about his desire to produce a winning team at Blacksburg."
MORGAN MOVES: One-time Salem High School and Virginia basketball star Richard Morgan is beginning his second stint on the men's basketball staff at Hampton University, where he will be the associate head coach under Bobby Collins.
Morgan most recently was an assistant coach for five seasons under Bill Herrion at East Carolina. Morgan began his coaching career at Salem High School under his brother, Charlie, before going to Hampton and working for Steve Merfeld from 1996-98.
STAYING IN STATE: Mark Cline, who left the Old Dominion men's basketball staff to join then-new Virginia Tech coach Ricky Stokes in 1999, has rebounded from the recent coaching change in Blacksburg and taken a position at Virginia Commonwealth.
At VCU, Cline will be working for second-year coach Jeff Capel Jr., whose father and namesake coached Cline at Wake Forest and later was his boss at Fayetteville State and ODU. A spot opened for Cline when former Roanoke College guard Ben Betts resigned to become the head coach at South Carolina State.
HARGRAVE-BOUND: Hargrave Military Academy football coach Bob Prunty said Wednesday that Virginia signee James Terry will spend the 2003-04 school year at Hargrave, where he will join fellow Cavaliers recruit Phillip Brown.
Terry, a 6-foot-2, 215-pound running back and linebacker from Woodbridge High School, did not meet NCAA guidelines for freshman eligibility. Brown, a cornerback from Phoebus High School, was rated the No.2 prospect in Virginia by The Roanoke Times. Terry was No.11.
Prunty said he was skeptical about taking Brown, who spent part of the second semester at Fork Union Military Academy, before talking to UVa coach Al Groh. Prunty hopes Brown, a gifted athlete, realizes that Hargrave is his last chance to prove he is college material off the field.
Alot of what was wrong with Virginia’s basketball team last season
stemmed from leadership, or rather the lack thereof in this humble opinion.
Todd Billet is already working hard to make sure that doesn’t happen again
this coming season.
This team will belong to Billet and Majestic Mapp and it should. Both are
experienced veterans, both have been through the bad times, both know what it
takes to win and both are leaders. Maybe it’s July and basketball is a distant
thought to most college sports fans during the dog days of summer, but Billet
is doing everything he can to prepare himself and his teammates for the
challenge that lies ahead.
Most of UVa’s basketball players are in summer school, taking morning classes,
then hitting the weights, running and playing pick-up games against one
another in the afternoons and early evenings.
This is where team chemistry is built. This is where seasons are won or lost.
So far, so good.
“Four of the five new kids are already here and the other one [Philadelphia’s
Jason Cain] will be here soon,” Billet said. “They’re doing a really good job
for kids who just graduated high school.
“They’re going to class and summer school is difficult because you’re in class
every day for numerous hours,” said Billet. “Everybody’s lifting hard, running
hard and then playing hard. It’s a full day and I’m really excited about our
potential.”
Going the extra mile
The hard work has all the players enthused about the season, particularly
coming off back-to-back years when every phase of the program was put under a
magnifying glass.
Why aren’t these guys in shape? Why are they getting tired and playing their
way out of games late in the contests? Why are they complaining and not doing
what they’re told?
On and on, every critic was delivering blows to UVa’s bow.
Billet doesn’t want that to happen again.
“Being around the guys the past several weeks and seeing everyone’s attitude
and how hard they’re working gets me excited about playing this year,” said
the product of Christian Brothers Academy in Middletown, N.J. “I think the
whole team is excited.
“There’s been nothing but positive things,” Billet said. “No distractions. No one has been late. No one has missed a tutor session or a class. Those are the things that I think are really important. If guys are taking care of business in the classroom, then you’re going to be able to trust them when the season comes. You’ll be able to trust them when they come off the bench to run a play.”
Finishing in style
Billet is also working hard on his game so that he can finish his college
career the way he had envisioned when he signed with Rutgers a few years back.
He lit up the scoreboard for the Scarlet Knights, rewrote some of the school’s
3-point shooting records and tore up the Big East for two seasons prior to
transferring to Virginia.
He didn’t back off last season for the Cavaliers as he led the ACC in two
categories: 3-point
field goal percentage (.418) and 3-point field goals made per game (2.9). He
also hit 86 percent of his free throws. All that garnered him All-ACC
honorable mention and tons of respect from his teammates and coaches.
Pete Gillen especially appreciated Billet’s efforts.
The coach often said that he had asked Billet to be Superman, splitting the
guard’s time between the point and the shooting guard positions.
In a perfect world. Ideally, Gillen would keep Billet at the off guard
where he can turn games around in a heartbeat with his outside shooting. But
when troubled point guard Keith Jenifer was booted from the team last season
and Mapp, coming back from serious knee injuries, showed signs of rust, it was
up to Billet to play both roles.
“I thought Todd had a terrific year,” Gillen said. “When he plays the point,
he doesn’t get as many shots. He did a good job at the point at times, but
he’s not a jet who is going to get into the lane every time.”
Often, Billet’s scoring success at the point boiled down to what kind of night
the Cavaliers’ shooting guard and small forward were having.
When Devin Smith, Derrick Byars and Jermaine Harper were on with their shots,
things opened up for Billet to do even more damage. But when their shooting
touch betrayed them, it was difficult for Billet to get his customary shots
from the point guard spot.
Opponents were smart enough to put 6-foot-3 or 6-4 defenders against the
smaller Billet, further complicating the matter.
Taking all that into account, Billet isn’t going to sit back and let that
happen all over again. He is working hard to correct those situations just in
case he sees the same strategy this season.
“I like playing both shooting guard and point guard,” Billet said. “Whatever
it takes to make the team work better. “Last year I thought I could have been
more aggressive and gotten to the basket a little bit more and gotten more two
point shots,” he said. “I’m going to be in more of an attacking mode this
year.”
He has been working on point guard skills, more ballhandling, more passing,
more court awareness.
“This summer I’m really concentrating on penetrating more and looking to score
with the ball,” Billet said.
“It’s a little more difficult to find shots when you are at point guard, but
I’m working on getting shots off the dribble and the more reps I get at that
in summer ball, the more comfortable I’m going to be taking those shots.”
Gillen believes that returning to a faster tempo, run-and-press style of
basketball that more opportunities will be created for Billet off the break.
The combo guard isn’t about to shy away from opportunities.
In 30 starts last season, 68 percent of Billet’s shots (225 of 329) were from
bonusphere as he averaged 13.5 points per game. If you add up his 3-pointers
over his three-year career, he has made 252 of 617 of his bombs, or 40.3
percent for those of you who don’t want to do the math.
That’s the second-most career 3-pointers ever made by a Wahoo (Curtis Staples
had 413).
“I’m still going to shoot a decent amount of them,” Billet said. “To be able
to shoot above 40 percent is equivalent to shooting over 60 percent on
two-point shots in terms of points.”
He’s working on a quicker release as well, in order to pull up on a dime off
the break and to get shots off quicker in a set against bigger defenders. But
shooting comes second when he’s playing the point.
A team without a solid point guard is like a football team without a solid
quarterback.
Things don’t run smoothly, opponents can take advantage of the situation.
“When you play the point, you can’t just concentrate on scoring,” Billet
explained. “There are so many other things you have to do. You have to play
defense on the other team’s quickest player. You’re in constant communication
with the coaching staff. You have to bring the ball up court against pressure.
You have to be ready for anything.”
That’s why Billet is busting his hump every day this summer. He wants to be
ready for everything.
Louisville might be on ACC's wish list
If league wants 12th team, Cardinals willing to bolt
By Christian Ewell
Sun Staff
Originally published July 10, 2003
If the Atlantic Coast Conference is still looking for a 12th team to round out
its expansion, Louisville could be the best immediate fit and seems to be there
for the taking.
But will the ACC choose to stand pat?
The need to expand to a dozen schools depends on who's talking. After the league
introduced Miami and Virginia Tech as its newest members, Georgia Tech president
G. Wayne Clough said: "We're not in any rush at any point. We need a little time
to bring them into the fold."
But after the league passed on Big East schools Boston College and Syracuse last
month, Florida State athletic director Dave Hart seemed urgent about the matter
when talking to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. "We still have one team to go,
and we shouldn't waste a lot of time getting there," he said.
Part of the urgency might come from the dearth of options for a major conference
looking to grow, and Louisville has the most attractive available program east
of the Mississippi River, thanks to five straight football bowl appearances and
a men's basketball resurgence under coach Rick Pitino.
The western Kentucky school is more than willing to leave Conference USA.
"We will follow all proper protocol," said Louisville athletic director Tom
Jurich, "as we do not want anyone to be blindsided by any steps that may be
taken. If an opportunity does exist to better the position of our university or
improve the experiences of our student-athletes, we want to be in position to
explore those options.
"I have been up-front ... about our goals at this university. I have made it
very clear that we will be aggressive and very ambitious about our future."
Conference USA has several programs of that mind-set, such as South Florida,
Cincinnati, East Carolina and Southern Mississippi.
But the best of them would be Louisville, a school with two national
championships in men's basketball and a continually improving football program
that ranked in the top 40 over the past four years. The Cardinals football team
plays in a 6-year-old stadium that has 42,000 seats.
Arkansas athletic director Frank Broyles said that the school would be
attractive because it sits in the nation's 50th media market.
"Louisville would be viable [for the ACC] because it brings in Kentucky,"
Broyles said. "If it's the same markets, it's not what you want. You want a new
set of TV sets."
To this point, the university's ambitions have been directed toward the Big
East, the league that lost Miami and Virginia Tech to the ACC. The ACC would get
a late start; the Big East has begun discussions with Conference USA over its
members, including Louisville.
The Cardinals would need to pay an exit fee of $500,000 if their programs left
Conference USA before 2005.
For the ACC, the introduction of a commuter school of 22,000 students to a
league that is largely built on large research universities might not be the
best fit. Louisville, however, has been examining costs of constructing
fraternity and sorority houses to help create a traditional campus feel.
The ACC can afford to be picky. ACC basketball might be the best in the nation,
and the league will leap to guaranteed football respectability when Miami and
Virginia Tech join this time in 2004. And as soon as 2005, the NCAA could change
the rule that requires 12 schools for conferences to stage championship games,
which inflate a television contract by several million dollars.
That move would be needless if the ACC finds a way to add a 12th school. There's
symmetry in dividing a league of a dozen, instead of a 11-team format that could
become unwieldy should a title game be allowed.
"That will be the trickiest part, you know, if we end up with that situation,"
league commissioner John Swofford said. "I'm sure it's doable. That will be a
challenge we'll meet one way or another."
Notre Dame has also been discussed as a possible addition, though every league
would like to have it. The South Bend, Ind., school has the most visible
football program in the country and an academic reputation that would fit in
most leagues. The university is independent in football, but most of its other
programs are in the Big East.
Not surprisingly, Florida State president T.K. Wetherall called for the league
to approach the Fighting Irish. "As far as I'm concerned, it ought to be No. 1
on the agenda," he said.
Remaining independent in football, however, allows the school to maintain its
traditions, collect every penny from its bowl trips and an exclusive television
deal with NBC. If the ACC wanted to make a run at Notre Dame, it wouldn't be the
first. The Big Ten was rebuffed in 1999.
"It [staying independent] has had a lot to do with the whole profile of our
program," Notre Dame associate athletic director John Heisler told the
Indianapolis Star. "There is not a sense that the university wants to change
that."
Otherwise, any number of Southeastern Conference schools would be attractive,
headed by South Carolina, Florida and Kentucky, a trio of large state
universities with profiles similar to ACC schools.
South Carolina and Florida also have two of the nation's top 20 athletic
programs, and the Kentucky's men's basketball program is among the best in the
country. The prospect of any school departing would seem to contradict the SEC's
reputation as the nation's top athletic conference, but Broyles said that it
should be a target for any other major league looking to expand.
"I don't think they'd leave, but anything's possible," said Broyles, citing the
league's lack of a stiff exit fee for schools that leave. "We have no
restrictions, but that will probably change."
MILWAUKEE - (KRT) - The Conference USA Board of Directors met by teleconference on Wednesday to discuss the topic of realignment, brought about following the Atlantic Coast Conference's decision to expand by adding both Miami and Virginia Tech from the Big East late last month.
In simple terms the board, consisting mostly of university presidents, discussed how to proceed with talks with the Big East as the two leagues mull the possibility of joining forces.
"I am very pleased with the support and the direction that we have received from our membership and their desire to make sure we address these issues in a strategic and responsible way," Conference USA commissioner Britton Banowsky said in a statement. "While there may be changes on the horizon, we are comfortable knowing that any future changes will not be effective prior to the 2005-2006 academic year.
"Obviously, we will continue to explore ways to strengthen the conference and serve the collective best interests of our members."
A report Wednesday in the New York Times suggested Big East schools that play football could merge with several Conference USA schools that play football to form a new conference. Syracuse, Boston College, Rutgers, West Virginia, Pittsburgh and Temple all take part in football in the Big East, with Connecticut expected to join in 2005 in place of Temple.
Conference USA schools that feature football programs are Louisville, Cincinnati, East Carolina, Texas Christian, South Florida, Southern Mississippi, Alabama-Birmingham, Houston, Memphis, Tulane and Army.
At the same time, the Times report said some Big East colleges that play basketball but do not play Division I football would then merge with Conference USA non-football colleges to form another conference. St. John's, Seton Hall, Notre Dame, Villanova and Georgetown of the Big East could join Marquette, DePaul, Saint Louis and Charlotte of Conference USA.
Senior vice president Greg Kliebhan represented Marquette on the conference call, taking the place of university president Father Robert Wild, who is out of town. Kliebhan declined to comment on the teleconference. University spokesman Ben Tracy said simply, "In the end we are committed to Conference USA and our goal is to make Conference USA better."
Athletic director Bill Cords, who didn't take part in the teleconference but has been involved in the ongoing realignment talks, didn't shed much light on the matter, either.
"I don't really think there's anything more to say other than we're committed to Conference USA and there's a lot of speculation going on right now about what's going to happen," he said. "I do think that what happened with the Big East and the ACC was unfortunate, but at the same time I think it's raised the level of awareness of all the conferences across the country."
The board also reaffirmed its commitment to adhering to the existing Conference USA bylaws, which prohibit any member from withdrawing prior to June 30, 2005. Still, plans for realignment could be finalized in the next few months.