Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 14, 1991 TAG: 9103140080
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Bill Brill
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Terry Holland, he said, would be the Virginia Tech basketball coach within the week.
"It's a done deal," he said. "It's been done for some time."
Another Hokie faxed a letter to Scott Blanchard, who covers Virginia Tech for this newspaper.
He suggested Tech needs a new coach and wanted either Pete Gillen, Jim Valvano, Lefty Driesell or Don DeVoe.
This is the same attitude that brought Bill Dooley to Virginia Tech 13 years ago. Somebody should have learned since then.
Tech athletic director Dave Braine laughed when I told him the Holland story on Wednesday. Having made the anticipated move to change basketball coaches, it now will be Braine's task to find a replacement for Frankie Allen. He will not be any of the above.
"Maybe Virginia Tech is not the place to hire a big-time coach," Braine said.
Pointing out that Tech isn't in a big media market, that there are severe limitations on potential TV and radio deals, Braine said, "We can't pay as much as some [other schools in larger markets]."
The point must be made now, and Hokies everywhere need to take it to heart.
The best thing that ever happened to Tech athletics is Frank Beamer. An alumnus, Beamer wanted to coach at Tech. He had been successful in Division I-AA football, and he is on the way to making the Hokies as good as they can be.
Basketball is a different story. With a good recruit or two, Tech can have a winning team again. And soon. But we're not talking perennial top 20.
There are limitations. Tech is not in the ACC. It is not in the Big East. It is in what remains of the Metro Conference, which means a very good year would be what Southern Mississippi was this season.
In the revised Metro, it's reasonable for the Hokies to have the No. 2 program on occasion. Maybe, if Braine gets the right man, on a regular basis.
Don't forget that Louisville has the tradition, the location and 19,000 fannies in the seats at Freedom Hall for every game.
Tech should aspire to be as good as it can be, which is pretty darn good when it gets lucky in recruiting.
There were glory moments during the decade of Charlie Moir teams. And, dating to Howie Shannon and DeVoe and Bill Matthews and Chuck Noe, Virginia Tech has played some excellent basketball.
But this is the 1990s, and the span between the top and the rest is wider than ever, and, if anything, that gap will grow.
If there is less television, for example, who do you think won't be on? It won't be the ACC or Big East or Big Ten.
That said, there are a lot of solid candidates out there, people who have done well at smaller programs, or perhaps an assistant or two at some of the major schools.
Braine has had a long time to think about this move. He said Wednesday that "quite obviously last year when we didn't roll over [Allen's] contract" that a change was possible.
Could Allen have saved his job? Possibly, but I doubt it. Consider that Louisville and Memphis State, the Metro powers, had their worst teams in years and actually provided four of Tech's victories. Nobody could have anticipated that.
Tech has had a vacancy in its athletic administration ever since Tom Fletcher left last summer to become athletic director at Longwood. Allen now moves into that role.
For the last year of his five-year contract, Allen will be paid in full and Tech will have its first black athletic administrator.
If Allen decides he wants to leave coaching for good, he can remain at Tech. It is a fair and sensible decision for all parties.
Allen, a genuinely good person, has a job, and financially strapped Tech doesn't have to buy out a contract as does Old Dominion with Tom Young.
Food for thought for the Hokies fans (I'm not worried about Braine, he's a realist):
ODU, VCU and James Madison all hired big-name, high-priced coaches in Young, Sonny Smith and Driesell. How well has that worked for them?
Only Lefty has won, and he did it with transfers while being unable to out-coach even-older Dick Tarrant at Richmond.
Tech doesn't need somebody who already has made his reputation, and it probably can't get that person anyway. What the Hokies need is a bright, young coach on the way up, somebody who can inject needed enthusiasm into the program.
Is such a person available?
Frank Beamer was.
by CNB