
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, March 19, 1991                   TAG: 9103190112
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: SCOTT BLANCHARD SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

KANSAS COACH'S NAME SURFACES IN TECH SEARCH

Virginia Tech basketball fans might want to watch closely when Kansas meets Indiana in Thursday's Southeast Regional semifinal game in the NCAA Tournament.

That's because third-year Kansas assistant Jerry Green's name has surfaced as a possible candidate to become Tech's new coach. Green, however, didn't want to discuss his interest in the opening on Monday, saying he'd rather wait until the Jayhawks' season is over.

"It would just not be good to talk about that right now," Green said from his office in Lawrence, Kan. "It's distracting to say anything at all about it. Saying anything would not be a good thing right now."

Green would not say whether he had been contacted by Virginia Tech athletic director Dave Braine, or whether he would talk with Tech before Kansas' season ends.

Green, 47, is a native of Startex, S.C. and former head coach of North Carolina-Asheville, a program he guided from NAIA to Division I status from 1979-1988 while going 150-108.

Braine has refused comment on the coaching search. But sources familiar with Tech's search say the Hokies' new coach could come from the following group: Green, Tennessee-Chattanooga head coach Mack McCarthy, Bowling Green head coach Jim Larranaga, Murray State head coach Steve Newton, Furman head coach Butch Estes and VMI head coach Joe Cantafio. Head coach Dave Robbins of Division II Virginia Union has said he has received unofficial inquiries about his interest in the job from what he said were "people in the know."

There are rumors circulating that two prominent names - Terry Holland and Allan Bristow - either are pursuing the job or are being pursued by Tech. Recently, Holland dismissed the rumor linking him with Tech, saying, "I know there's nothing to it."

Bristow, a Tech graduate, former NBA player and current vice president of basketball operations for the Charlotte Hornets, said Monday that he had not talked to Braine.

"I'm not going to discuss anything unless they contact me," Bristow said. "That's not to say I would be interested in the job or would not be interested in the job. I don't speculate."

by CNB