Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 7, 1990 TAG: 9003072024
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DAVID SMITH
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
As Bill Brill points out in his recent Roanoke Times & World-News column on the basketball program, "it is recruiting that has torn the program apart." Brill's column, "Rebuilding a big chore for Radford," provides the relevant facts, but it never links them to give clarity to the issue.
As discussed in Brill's column, Purnell's predecessor, Joe Davis, was a successful coach at Radford who had winning seasons in all but one of his 10 years. Yet, Radford was not satisfied. It wanted to take, as Brill puts it, "another step forward."
Thus, Radford hired Purnell, who has strong credentials, including "a reputation as an outstanding recruiter." As Brill puts it, "everything was first class." He cites, among other things, the Dedmon Center, Purnell's TV show and the hiring of Wes Durham to be the Highlanders' announcer.
Brill then points out that Radford has denied admittance to two players "Purnell desperately wanted." One was Sherron Mills, a 6-foot-8 All-American who was ranked as the 33rd best high school player in the nation,. Mills had committed to play for Radford. Now he attends Virginia Commonwealth.
The second was Ray Slater, another high school All-American.
Neither Mills nor Slater met Radford's academic standards. However, almost every school, including Radford's competitors, permits academic exceptions in support of athletic programs.
Faced with Radford's decision not to permit such exceptions, Purnell has responded gracefully, saying only that if "you don't have academic exceptions, it's going to take longer" to rebuild. This is logical. Purnell is facing a recruiting obstacle that his competition is not facing.
But why does Radford have to rebuild? Because as Brill has reported, before Joe Davis' final year at Radford, his "staff, budget and scholarship limits were slashed." In the year before Davis' final season and continuing into the 1987-88 postseason recruiting period, Radford made decisions that not only affected Davis but also had an impact on Radford's program for the next several seasons. Davis was recruiting with a handicap, and the effect of that handicap is clear to everyone who looks.
Thus, although Purnell politely demured when asked by Brill about what he "inherited," the answer to Brill's question is contained in a review of Radford's roster. For most of this season, Purnell has had only one senior who could play, Phil Young, a player Purnell recruited from junior college. Purnell also has had only one junior. The remainder of Purnell's squad consists of freshmen and sophomores. As Brill pointed out, those freshmen and sophomores "show considerable promise." Both Radford's leading scorer and leading rebounder are freshmen who are good students.
But where are the juniors and seniors - the experienced players who can provide leadership in a close game? Two of them are at VMI. Two seniors that are playing against Radford, instead of for it, are twin brothers Ramon and Damon Williams. They went to VMI in the wake of Radford's cuts in Davis' recruiting allotments.
Thus, the combination of Radford's decision to undermine Davis in his final two years as Radford's coach, and its current policy of not permitting academic exceptions has led to a need for a longer period to rebuild Radford's men's basketball program.
Purnell's request for an extension of his contract is reasonable. Indeed, not to extend it could only impair Radford's recruiting efforts. Radford's rivals no doubt already are telling prospective recruits that no decision has been made on extending Purnell's contract, thereby hoping to create concerns about coming to play for Purnell.
Yet, Purnell's boss, Chuck Taylor, seems uncertain. In his column, Brill quotes Taylor as posing the rhetorical question: "Four and 20, that doesn't sound very good, does it?" This is difficult to understand, given Taylor's prior experience as a coach, and his current job of promoting Radford's athletic programs. Indeed, as anyone with a modicum of education realizes, statistics, by themselves, can be deceiving.
Perhaps a review of some basketball history is in order. Four schools with very prominent basketball programs come to mind: Duke, Georgetown, Seton Hall, and North Carolina. At each of these schools, the current coach was criticized for a lack of instant success. A little patience worked wonders.
by CNB