Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 6, 1990 TAG: 9003061871
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Bill Brill
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
Lefty Driesell is 58; Dick Tarrant is a couple of years older.
In their profession, college basketball coaching, they are dinosaurs.
And giants in different ways.
Driesell, the master recruiter, is a man who has won more games than anybody else in the game today except Dean Smith.
But the tag that followed Lefty during his reign at Maryland remains with him even now as he rapidly builds James Madison into a force.
Lefty wins a lot of games, but the big ones continue to elude him.
Driesell still is seeking his first Colonial championship after his Dukes were done in, 77-72, by Tarrant's Richmond club Monday night in a spectacular title game. (See game story on B5.)
The strategist got the best of the recruiter.
In the Colonial, Lefty's time is sure to come. He started five juniors against the Spiders. His first team at JMU returned this season, only now it sits on the bench.
The 1989 Colonial rookie of the year, William Davis, rides the pines. He didn't play against the Spiders.
Lefty has a big-time shooter in Steve Hood and a big-time point guard in Fess Irvin. He also has a big-time transfer, Chancellor Nichols, waiting to suit up next season.
Eventually, talent will win out.
For now, pass the kudos to silver-haired Tarrant, who was past 50 when he got this job, his first as a head coach in the college ranks.
In nine seasons, Tarrant has won 180 games, exactly 20 per year. (In 28 years, Lefty has won 560, exactly 20 per year). Tarrant's team will now go to its fourth NCAA Tournament. It also has been in three NITs. No other Spiders team ever went anywhere.
Tarrant doesn't play, but the guys on the floor did just what he wanted.
His coach on the floor, Kenny Atkinson, was marvelous.
Atkinson is a tough cookie, a no-nonsense New Yorker who's 50 percent ability and 50 percent guts.
He simply wouldn't let Richmond lose. After JMU had taken a 59-54 lead, Atkinson hit a jumper and a 3-pointer and the Spiders never trailed again.
And it was the one time he didn't get the ball that Richmond won it.
With 1:10 left, JMU took a timeout after an Irvin jumper that cut the margin to 72-70.
Then, Driesell did a strange thing. He went into a passive 1-2-2 zone after playing man-to-man all night.
"It was against my better judgment," said the left-hander, a most generous loser with his compliments. "But we had beaten them so easily [at JMU] with a zone."
This time, Tarrant called for the spread offense. "I run the baseline," Atkinson said. "Then I flashed out, Scott [Stapleton] ball-faked to me and they came running out. That left the middle wide open."
There, alone, was 6-foot-5 Terry Connolly, one of the Spiders' two "big" men. Connolly got a layup and was fouled by Barry Brown. He completed the three-point play with 34 seconds left, and Richmond was going back to the NCAAs.
At this level, a step below the national TV cameras, it was a rare video appearance that sparked the Spiders.
In "midnight madness" at JMU, a 12:14 a.m. Saturday tip-off, the Dukes did the unthinkable. They crunched Richmond 77-43.
"It was the most devastating loss since I've been here," Atkinson said. "Even when we lose, it's usually close."
Tarrant called it a "rare opportunity. It's not often that it comes along, that a team has the opportunity to vindicate itself."
Driesell agreed. "I wish we had won by two points in that game."
The Spiders had their motivation. And Tarrant had his game plan.
Late in the season, Tarrant switched to his present lineup, with nobody taller than Connolly. "To be honest with you, I wasn't sure it was going to work," Atkinson said.
It worked perfectly. JMU shot 56 percent, owned the boards (31-17), had just 11 turnovers and lost.
Of course, Richmond shot 60.8 percent and had just nine turnovers.
And the Spiders had another edge. In this coaching battle, they had their coach on the floor.
Atkinson.
by CNB