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

DATE: FRIDAY, March 29, 1991                   TAG: 9103290165
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: C1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: SCOTT BLANCHARD SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG                                 LENGTH: Medium

METRO PICTURE COULD INCLUDE VCU

The Metro Conference appears ready to push ahead with a three-school additionthat would allow it to keep its membership at six - the minimum necessary for anautomatic bid to the NCAA Tournament - if Tulane leaves in search of a Southwest Conference affiliation.

The Metro, which has had commitments from Sun Belt Conference schools UNC Charlotte and South Florida for some time, is expected to add those two and Sun Belt member Virginia Commonwealth next week, a league source said. That would bring Metro membership to seven, giving it a cushion in case Tulane decides to leave.

An athletic directors' conference call Thursday apparently resulted in the expansion plan.

"Things will come to a focus the middle of next week," South Florida athletic director Paul Griffin said. "We had a productive discussion, [and] some issues were clarified."

The Tulane issue remains unresolved, a league source said. The school continues to investigate the SWC option and apparently has not agreed to the Metro's $500,000 penalty, to be paid by a school if it leaves the league in the next five years. The other six schools - Virginia Tech, Louisville, Southern Mississippi, UNCC, South Florida and VCU - have agreed to the financial commitment, league sources said.

Metro commissioner Ralph McFillen has not answered telephone messages left for him the past week, and Tulane athletic director Tom Peters and president Eamon Kelly also have not responded to several phone messages.

Griffin would not comment directly on the Metro's expansion plans or on Tulane's options. An SWC committee is scheduled to meet Tulane administrators on the school's New Orleans campus in April.

"The Metro people, Virginia Tech included, have made some very, very strong commitments and signals for commitments to the long-term welfare of the league," Griffin said. "This is not an interim decision. I'm sure they want the same level [of commitment] from everyone involved.

"Six [schools] is your magic base; it isn't your cap at all. Six would only be a temporary step. Seven, eight, maybe more is certainly in the cards."

VCU athletic director Dick Sander said Wednesday that he expected McFillen to call him by the end of this week with word on the Metro's plans.

VCU President Eugene Trani said without UNCC, South Florida and Colonial Athletic Association-bound Old Dominion in the Sun Belt, that league has lost much of its attractiveness to VCU.

The Metro's instability also has the potential to affect Virginia Tech's search for a new basketball coach because of questions about whether the league will survive and about what its makeup will be. Tech athletic director Dave Braine, however, brushed aside such worries Thursday.

"No, not one bit," he said when asked if the Metro's problems would hamper Tech's efforts.

by CNB