Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 21, 1991 TAG: 9103210004
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SCOTT BLANCHARD SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"I did not and have not talked to Steve Newton," Braine said.
Tuesday's editions of the Roanoke Times & World-News reported that a source familiar with Tech's coaching search said Newton had spoken to Braine.
Braine was asked if he planned to talk with Newton, who has had a successful six-year run at the Ohio Valley Conference school, about the Tech job.
"I can't say that because I don't know," Braine said.
Neither Newton nor Murray State athletic director Michael Strickland could be reached for comment Wednesday.
Tech on Wednesday announced members of the four-person screening committee that will review candidates for the opening at Tech, created when fourth-year coach Frankie Allen was reassigned to an administrative post last week.
Braine will be chairman of the committee, which includes Larry Killough, chairman of the university's committee on athletics and an accounting professor at Tech; Joe Thomas Sr., a Salem businessman who is chairman of Tech's athletic fund; and Melissa Byrne, president-elect of the Student Government Association.
Braine said the committee must approve his and the university's selection of the next head basketball coach.
Braine has contacted Kansas assistant Jerry Green about the job, having traveled to Louisville last week where Kansas was playing in the NCAA Tournament. The Jayhawks play in the NCAA Tournament Southeast Regional in Charlotte, N.C., today.
Sources familiar with the search indicate Newton, Furman coach Butch Estes, Tennessee-Chattanooga coach Mack McCarthy, Bowling Green coach Jim Larranaga and VMI coach Joe Cantafio also may be Tech targets.
Estes said he has not been contacted by Braine but has said he is interested in the job. He was asked if he has spoken informally with Tech associate athletic director Danny Monk, a former assistant athletic director at Furman.
"I have talked to a lot of people [about the job]," Estes said. "I've just got a lot of friends [in that area], and it's not all Virginia Tech people, either."
McCarthy and Cantafio each said Wednesday that he hadn't heard from Braine.
by CNB