Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 14, 1990 TAG: 9003142510
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SCOTT BLANCHARD SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Allen wants to tone down the schedule, including cutting the number of state teams appearing annually on the schedule and limiting the number of powerhouse teams the Hokies must face.
"Regardless of what other people think of the Metro Conference, I think it's damn good," Allen said. "Our league is tough. When you're playing the kind of schedule we're playing outside of the league, it's damn tough.
"I think we were over-scheduled [last year]."
In 1989-90, Tech played four non-conference opponents who reached the NCAA Tournament: eighth-ranked Georgetown, 23rd-ranked Alabama, Richmond and Virginia. Four of Tech's foes are in the National Invitation Tournament: James Madison, Maryland, Rutgers and Creighton. From the Metro, Louisville and Southern Mississippi are in the NCAA and Cincinnati and Memphis State are in the NIT.
Next year, Georgetown, Alabama, North Carolina-Asheville and Liberty are off the schedule. Three of those games will be replaced by the Hokies' two games at the Richmond Times-Dispatch Invitational Tournament and by a season-opener in Blacksburg against VMI. Tech still has one game left to schedule.
Allen, however, had agreed with Richmond coach Dick Tarrant and JMU coach Lefty Driesell to propose that the T-D tournament be shortened from a two-day, two-game tournament to a one-day doubleheader. That way, Allen said, Tech would avoid playing the other three teams in next winter's T-D field - Virginia Commonwealth, Richmond and JMU - twice in the same year. But Scott Leath, a controller with the Times-Dispatch who is the tournament's coordinator, said there's no chance of that.
"We have contracts for a two-night tournament, and that's what we're going to play," said Leath, adding that the format might be changed if the NCAA doesn't overturn a proposal to shorten the basketball season by three games at its convention next January.
The T-D field for 1991 is set with Old Dominion, Virginia, VCU and Richmond. But Leath said Virginia has told him it isn't interested in playing in the tourney every other year anymore, and said JMU has said it will not play in the tourney after this year's edition. Tech does not have a contract with the T-D beyond this year.
"That will be something we'll have to look at in the future," Tech associate athletic director Danny Monk said when asked if it was possible Tech would withdraw from the tourney. "A year from now [because of the shortened season], a lot of tourneys won't be in existence."
Allen's idea is to replace some of the state teams and the national powerhouses with lesser-known opponents, presumably ones that Tech has a good chance of beating and that wouldn't mind a trip to Blacksburg.
"You're going up there to play Georgetown, and consistently they're never going to return the game to your place," Allen said. "Money or no money, that's not good scheduling."
Monk said Tech received a total of $80,000 in guarantees from Georgetown for the three-year deal, which has not been renewed. The T-D usually pays between $40,000 and $50,000 according to Monk, depending on the attendance.
Part of the Hokies' philosophy is to schedule games in Northern Virginia, where they have a large number of alumni. But Allen said the Hokies can find opponents other than Georgetown and Maryland to play in the Northern Virginia area, such as Colonial Athletic Association member George Mason or Atlantic 10 member George Washington.
"I'd like for my early season schedule to be a schedule you can build from," Allen said, adding that he may try to get teams into Blacksburg without the promise of a home-and-home series. He said Northwestern of the Big Ten, Vanderbilt of the Southeastern Conference and independent Davidson have been contacted about future games with Tech.
"I don't think it's good to play all the state schools," said Allen, whose team played six of the nine other Virginia Division I schools last year. "After a while, your fans are going to get tired of playing the state schools. You could play one [state] school home-and-home one year, then have them drop off the schedule for a couple of years."
***Correction Published Mar. 15, 1990*** Clarification
Virginia Tech basketball coach Frankie Allen, Richmond coach Dick Tarrant and James Madison coach Lefty Driesell have agreed to propose that next winter's Richmond Times-Dispatch Invitational Tournament format be changed from a two-day tournament to a two-day doubleheader with preset games.
Allen said coaches do not want to make the tournament a one-day doubleheader, as reported in Wednesday's editions.
Allen said Tech would play James Madison and Virginia Commonwealth would play Richmond on the first day, with second-day games being Tech-Richmond and JMU-VCU. The point, Allen said, is to prevent the Hokies from the possibility of playing at VCU twice next season, and to prevent JMU and Richmond from playing each other. The Dukes and Spiders already play twice each year in the Colonial Athletic Association.
Memo: correction