Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, February 4, 1991 TAG: 9102040016
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Bill Brill
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
I believe that Allen, now in his fourth year with one more year on his contract, will be removed as a coach and reassigned to administration as an assistant athletic director.
There remains a slim opportunity that Allen's team will win enough games the rest of the year to force his remaining on the job, but that appears unlikely.
The worst possible thing has occurred with Tech's basketball program. It is being killed by apathy. Nobody cares.
The largest crowd at any home game has been 7,451 for William and Mary, approximately three-fourths capacity. James Madison and Lefty Driesell drew 7,100 in early December. But Cassell Coliseum was only two-thirds filled for Southern Mississippi, the Metro Conference leader, once-beaten at the time.
Attendance has slumped badly. Three years ago, when Allen's first team got off to a fast start, the Hokies had three sellouts and four other crowds more than 9,000. In '88-89, there were five home sellouts. Last season, there was one full house, against Memphis State for Bimbo Coles' final game.
Tech fans have not responded to the Metro tourney, and although the Roanoke Civic Center is the smallest building ever used by the league, it embarrassingly doesn't figure to be full.
Braine has never fired a coach before, but this time he has little choice, although Allen is certain to be offered a reasonable alternative. Everybody is sensitive to Allen's dedication; he has spent 15 years in Blacksburg, 11 as an assistant coach. He is personally popular, and there also is the fact that he was the first black head coach in Division I in Virginia and remains one of two - Oliver Purnell of Radford is the other.
But, since getting off to a 19-6 start after replacing Charles Moir in October 1987, Allen's teams have gone 32-49. Unless the Hokies, who already have lost three Metro home games, do a complete about-face, this will be Tech's third consecutive losing season. That hasn't happened since the early '50s.
Allen got the job under unusual circumstances. He inherited a team coming off a losing year and was named the interim coach when Moir resigned just before the '87-88 season. But when that team, led by Coles and Wally Lancaster, played spectacularly, Braine had no choice but to make the move permanent.
If the team just had an average season, Braine likely would have tried to hire Lefty Driesell, who eventually wound up at James Madison.
But that Allen team lost its final four games, and there has been no significant improvement since.
While Allen has had to operate under duress, hindered by an NCAA probation and stiffer academic requirements for athletes, the same also is true of football coach Frank Beamer. After two years, Beamer turned the football program around. The Hokies ended last season with a crushing victory over Virginia and have continued to enjoy significant recruiting success.
In basketball, the Hokies haven't signed any top-notch recruits and rarely have been in the running for Top 40 types. By contrast, Virginia not only is having a splendid season under first-year coach Jeff Jones, but the 30-year-old rookie has put together a dynamite recruiting campaign that figures to keep the Cavaliers competitive in the ACC for years to come.
The success of Beamer and Jones are just two of the factors that will make it difficult for Allen to keep his current position.
Typical of the attitude about Allen are comments from presidents of regional Hokie Clubs:
Asked what his club members think about the basketball program, one president said, "They feel like we need a coach. It's an awkward situation. I'm not into basketball like I am football. I don't know if [Allen's] had enough time. Seldom do I go to any ballgames. We just don't have it. I don't know if it's talent or coaching or what.
"Basketball is a weak link. Everyone's sold on Beamer. The basketball program is the weak sister. They [fans] don't talk about it, don't go to the games, don't buy season tickets. If they get a good-name coach, it would turn around in a year."
According to another club leader, "I love Frankie to death, but I think he's got to go. If East Tennessee can be in the Top 25 with no really [good] conference affiliation, there's no reason we can't have a better team than we [do]. I love him to death, I really do, but the fact of the matter is, I think we've got to clean house."
Asked what Allen could do to save his job, he said win the Metro tourney. Asked what he thought about Tech buying out Allen's contract, he said:
"So what? $75,000, that's nothing. The question is not can we do it, the question is will it be done? I was in a meeting [at Blacksburg] all last weekend. The opinions I heard expressed from those that would provide the pressure for that kind of decision were negative [that Frankie must go]."
Another club leader was critical of Allen as a coach. "People are tired of the style of run-and-gun play and poor fundamentals. It'd be hard to get rid of him with a winning record. Playground basketball is fine . . . but they don't know what defense is in Blacksburg. Watch Duke and Virginia and some of them. The team [Hokies] doesn't carry much respect."
Harsh criticism of Allen is unusual, however. In Blacksburg, the coach doesn't get booed, the players do.
But there has been little or no support for Allen. Indications are that most Hokies aren't insisting that he be replaced; they assume that Braine will do precisely that.
The response of one alumnus was typical. "I want us to win, but not too many games. Allen seems to be a very nice man. But we've got to get a new coach. I've never seen this little interest in the basketball team."
by CNB