Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, April 3, 1990 TAG: 9004030102
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
There was no indication that Montgomery had been offered the job, although it is believed he is the first prospect to have visited the school.
There were two reports, possibly emanating from the same source, that Providence coach Rick Barnes would visit later in the week.
"I have not heard that, and that is a truism," said Jim West, the school's associate athletic director. "I think I would know."
Nobody at Virginia offered any confirmation, either.
Pete Gillen, the coach at Xavier, met with Virginia athletic director Jim Copeland last week but declined an invitation to visit the school.
Montgomery, 42, reportedly met with UVa assistant coach Jeff Jones and players John Crotty and Bryant Stith. Head coach Terry Holland, who is leaving to become athletic director at Davidson, and assistant Craig Littlepage had not returned to Charlottesville from the Final Four in Denver.
Crotty, recruited in high school by Montgomery, has declined to comment on the coaching prospects.
Copeland has said that he would like to have a leading candidate by the end of the week, although the school has made no announcement concerning a news conference.
West, chairman of the search committee, was entrusted with the task of screening the applicants. However, the school received only four responses to an advertisement in the NCAA News. One of the four responses was submitted on a postcard.
"I did not expect any responses because we were after the type of candidate who would not apply for the job," West said. "We would contact the AD because most of the applicants would have secure positions and would not feel it appropriate to reply."
The Barnes rumors refuse to die, possibly because Barnes is telling reporters one thing - that he isn't interested - but is not saying the same thing privately to coaching colleagues. Barnes is in an awkward position because he has been at Providence for only two years.
"I'm not sure Virginia would be given permission to speak with him," said a coaching source. "Barnes is treading on thin ice, the way he has jumped around."
The only prospects to be interviewed by Copeland on campus are Jones and Littlepage, both described as long shots by Copeland in his conversations with the UVa players. Penn State coach Bruce Parkhill, mentioned prominently since Holland announced his resignation in June 1989, said at the Final Four that he had not heard from Copeland in more than a week.
Obviously, Copeland is further along in his talks with Montgomery than with any other candidate, but Stanford athletic director Andy Geiger has said he does not know if Montgomery would take the job if it were offered.
"I don't know if he wants it," said a coach who spoke with Montgomery during the weekend. "I think the fantasy of [the ACC] is an attraction, but he's in a league [the Pacific 10 Conference] where he's never going to finish worse than fourth or fifth and never be hassled."
by CNB