Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 3, 1991 TAG: 9103030125
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Bill Brill
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: Medium
That meant that more than 10 percent of the contributors who pay dearly to sit in the 2,190 theatre seats in the oval building were absent.
Forget that Virginia had won 20 games and needed another victory for a good ACC and NCAA seeding.
Forget that this was Senior Day, and the Cavaliers were bidding goodbye to five players, including one of their finest ever, John Crotty.
Realize that, the Sampson years notwithstanding, there still is something missing in UVa basketball.
(The student section also was notably vacant at Saturday's tipoff against Maryland, although it filled decently later on).
UVa has had, for better than a decade, a solid basketball program, not only the best in the state, but competitive in the nation's best league.
The task for coach Jeff Jones, as he begins his second season minus Crotty and Kenny Turner, will be to put some fire in the Wahoo bellies.
That may take some doing.
Virginia didn't lose its home finale for the second straight year because of crowd apathy. The 78-74 overtime loss to Maryland can be traced directly to a session in brick throwing.
The Cavaliers led by 12 at halftime despite a dozen turnovers. They had only two more floor errors in the last 25 minutes, but shot 10-for-41, including 1-for-14 on 3-point attempts.
Virginia now limps into the ACC Tournament with six losses in its last nine games, and almost surely it will fall out of the polls for the first time.
Faced with playing surging Wake Forest in the first round of the ACC Tournament and the certainty of a tough first-round NCAA Tournament game, the Cavaliers don't figure to play deep into March.
Next season will be Jones' first with any of his own players, and the incoming freshmen certainly will have to play. At guard, particularly, the Cavaliers were wanting when Crotty wasn't on the floor.
As Jones makes his own presence felt - any way you figure it, this was still Terry Holland's team - he also needs to find a way to generate some enthusiasm.
It is possible to do that in Mr. Jefferson's town. One week before this debacle, U-Hall was filled to capacity with happy, interested spectators. They were there to see the No. 1 UVa women.
But it wasn't the top ranking by Debbie Ryan's team that made the difference. It was who was in the stands. Most of them can't see a men's game.
People were begging for tickets Saturday. Technically, it was a sellout. But too many ticket-holders stay home, or go elsewhere, and this one can't be blamed on television.
Good seats go to the financial providers every place in the league except at Duke, where the students crowd the court. Guess who has the best homecourt advantage in the league?
Jones is aware of the problem, but it must be said - to be fair - that all of the hand-sitting isn't provided by the fat cats. The students don't get with it much, either.
There is no sense of tension when you attend a game at U-Hall, with the possible exception of a visit by North Carolina or Duke.
The joint should have been rollicking Saturday, and it wasn't. Does it make a difference? Who knows?
But if you don't think the fans have helped Rick Pitino take charge at Kentucky or won some of those 61 straight games at Arizona or benefited Syracuse in the Carrier Dome, then you don't understand basketball.
The fans can't shoot, that's for sure. But they don't have to stream for the exit with 28 seconds left and their team with the ball, down four points.
It certainly wasn't fear of traffic jams that created that flow.
Jones not only needs new players, but an answer to the apathy that plagues a program that deserves much better.
by CNB