ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, January 30, 1997 TAG: 9701300004
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: COLLEGE NOTEBOOK
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY
Nobody was happier to see Virginia freshman Willie Dersch hit four clutch free throws Tuesday night than his ex-teammate in Floral Park, N.Y., Greg Lyons.
Lyons, who originally had planned to join Dersch at UVa this fall, is in town for the Cavaliers' three home games this week after taking a break in his treatment for a cancerous tumor.
``I'm never going to hear the end of this,'' Lyons told Virginia coach Jeff Jones after the Cavaliers' 56-50 victory over North Carolina State. ``Willie's never going to stop talking about those free throws.''
Lyons is close to several of UVa's freshmen, including post players Colin Ducharme and Craig McAndrew, who took official recruiting visits to UVa last spring with Lyons.
Jones had indicated that Lyons would have a spot on the roster, but that was before Lyons mysteriously started losing weight last summer. Doctors discovered a tumor in the area near Lyons' aorta, the artery leading from his heart.
Dersch did not mention his friend after the game, but Ducharme said Lyons, who has lost his hair, has made progress while undergoing chemotherapy and plans to enroll next fall and play for the Cavaliers if healthy.
Virginia has saved Lyons' jersey, No.11, and there is a stall reserved for him in UVa's locker room.
BURROUGH BACK: Junior Burrough, star of UVa's postseason run in 1995, was averaging 15.4 points before he suffered a season-ending injury for Olimpia Pistoia in the Italian League.
Burrough, who played for the Boston Celtics last season, is back in Charlottesville and has talked of completing work on his degree while rehabilitating his knee in hopes of a return to the NBA in 1997-98.
ACC CHANGES: Georgia Tech became the sixth ACC football program to undergo a major change in its offensive staff when Ralph Friedgen was named quarterbacks coach and assumed play-calling responsibility.
Pat Watson, the Yellow Jackets' respected line coach, will remain as Tech's offensive coordinator. Friedgen most recently was offensive coordinator of the San Diego Chargers, but did not follow head coach Bobby Ross to Detroit. Friedgen also worked under Ross at Georgia Tech and Maryland.
ACC teams that have lost or fired their offensive coordinators since the end of the season are Clemson, Virginia, North Carolina State and Wake Forest. At Maryland, where the entire staff is new, former Northwestern and VMI assistant Craig Johnson is the offensive coordinator.
TOUGH SLATE: The football schedule-maker has done little favors for Georgia Tech in 1997. The Yellow Jackets will play six road games, including trips to Notre Dame, Florida State and Virginia. Other non-conference games will be at Boston College and against Georgia in Atlanta.
STRONG DEBUT: Duke defensive end Chris Combs, a redshirt freshman from Patrick Henry High School, ranked fourth in the ACC in quarterback sacks with 71/2. Combs, who had 18 of his 51 tackles in the last two games, led the Blue Devils in tackles for loss with 11.
*North Carolina State defensive back Rodney Redd, a sophomore from Magna Vista High School, had a team-high seven pass breakups for the Wolfpack. Redd, who started all nine games in which he played, is still looking for his first college interception.
HASKINS HAILED: Highland Springs High School decided to retire the number of alumnus Thomas Haskins, who went on to break the Division I-AA career rushing record at VMI, but they had a problem deciding which of Haskins' numbers to select.
Haskins had three different numbers in three years at Highland Springs - Nos.22, 1 and 4. He wore No.10 at VMI, but it was finally decided that No.1 would be the best choice.
COMING ON STRONG: Ashley Moore, a junior from Lord Botetourt High School, is averaging 13.7 points and 4.6 rebounds and enjoying her best season for the women's basketball team at Campbell University.
Moore, who got off to a slow start when she suffered a separated shoulder in 1994-95, has a 4.0 grade-point average as an accounting major and is president of the university's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. Her younger sister, Sara, signed with Campbell this fall.
ALL-AROUND: Three state schools were among the top 25 after the fall season in competition for the Sears Directors' Cup, annually awarded to the Division I, II and III schools with the best all-around athletic programs.
William and Mary was ninth, Virginia tied for 18th, and George Mason was 21st. UVa is fourth among ACC schools behind No.4 North Carolina, No.8 Maryland and No.17 N.C. State.
LENGTH: Medium: 84 linesby CNB