ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, March 27, 1997 TAG: 9703270070
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: COLLEGE BASKETBALL NOTES
SOURCE: FROM ASSOCIATED PRESS REPORTS
Lefty Driesell, the 10th-winningest coach in NCAA Division I history, took over the game's least successful program Wednesday when he was hired by Georgia State.
Driesell, 17 victories short of 700 for his career, will guide a team that has had three winning seasons in the program's 34-year existence.
``Hiring Lefty Driesell signals a big step for our entire athletics de-partment,'' athletic director Orby Moss said in a statement. ``We are all looking forward to working with Coach Driesell as we elevate this program to its rightful place among other large, urban universities in the nation. It's long overdue.''
Driesell, whose career record is 683-335 in 36 seasons, was forced out March 5 by James Madison, a day after he announced that the 1997-98 season would be his last - whether he reached 700 victories or not. Officials at the Virginia school said the announcement caught them by surprise and they felt the program had deteriorated in the past three seasons.
During that period, Driesell's teams went 16-13 twice and 10-20 in 1996, his first losing season since the 1961 season, his initial year as a college coach.
Driesell, 65, spent 17 seasons at Maryland (348-159), which made eight trips to the NCAA Tournament and reached the regional finals in 1973 and 1975. He began his college career at Davidson, where he coached for nine seasons (176-65) and reached the NCAA Tournament three times.
Driesell left Maryland in 1986 after the cocaine-related death of player Len Bias. The former Terps star's death prompted a university inquiry that found academic deficiencies in the basketball program and drug use among athletes.
In nine years at James Madison, Driesell was 159-111, winning the Colonial Athletic Association regular-season title five times. Only once, however, did the Dukes win the conference tournament to receive an NCAA bid.
Georgia State, a 25,000-student university in downtown Atlanta, is the least successful Division I program in the country with a 34-season record of 252-626 (.287).
In other college basketball news:
Texas: Tom Penders turned down a lucrative offer to become coach at Rutgers and will stay at Texas.
Penders spent all day Tuesday touring Rutgers with school president Francis Lawrence and was offered a financial package that could have reached nearly $700,000 a year. But Penders said his decision did not hinge on money.
``I was offered the Rutgers job,'' Penders said. ``It was an offer that I wouldn't have had to work another day in my life if I had taken it. But I love the University of Texas, and I'm staying.''
Drexel coach Bill Herrion becomes the front-runner to replace Bob Wenzel, who was fired as the Scarlet Knights' coach.
Tennessee: Volunteers officials were waiting to see if Illinois State's Kevin Stallings, one of the first coaches they have interviewed, would accept an offer to replace Kevin O'Neill, who left to coach Northwestern.
The Nashville Banner reported Tennessee offered the job to Stallings during a visit Tuesday and that an announcement was expected today.
Southwest Missouri State: Bears coach Steve Alford agreed to a four-year contract, but that did not put an end to persistent rumors he would accept a job elsewhere.
Alford, 32, who has guided Southwest Missouri State to a 40-21 record in two years, said he took his name off the short list of candidates at Tennessee. But, ``I can't close the door'' on the vacancy at Ohio State, he said.
UC Irvine: Pat Douglass, who led Cal State Bakersfield to three NCAA Division II titles in five years, was hired as coach at UC Irvine. He replaces Rod Baker, who was fired after six years. The Anteaters were 1-25 under Baker this season.
Duncan, Starbird honored: Tim Duncan of Wake Forest was named college basketball's player of the year by The Sporting News. The St. Louis-based publication also named Kansas' Roy Williams coach of the year and Tim Thomas of Villanova as freshman of the year.
Among women's players, The Sporting News picked Kate Starbird of Stanford as player of the year, Wendy Larry of Old Dominion as coach of the year and Shea Ralph of Connecticut as the top freshman.
Wooden All-America team: Senior Jacque Vaughn of Kansas, sophomore Ron Mercer of Kentucky and senior Keith Van Horn of Utah lead the John Wooden All-America team as selected by the media. Joining them on the 10-player squad are senior Tim Duncan of Wake Forest, junior Danny Fortson of Cincinnati, senior Bobby Jackson of Minnesota, sophomore Antawn Jamison of North Carolina, senior Brevin Knight of Stanford, junior Raef LaFrentz of Kansas and senior Charles O'Bannon of UCLA.
LENGTH: Medium: 89 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshot) Driesellby CNB