Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 3, 1991 TAG: 9104030159
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAY COX SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Ron Bradley, Purnell's top assistant, met with Radford athletic director Chuck Taylor on Tuesday to discuss the program.
Although the meeting was described as informal, it was certainly more than a casual chat.
"It was a good meeting," Taylor said.
More talks are expected, further indication that the 38-year-old Bradley is the front-runner for the position vacated by Purnell when he was hired last week as coach at Old Dominion University.
The level of competition for Purnell's job is escalating. That is obvious from some of the names that have been emerging. A source close to the search said officials have become increasingly interested in some current or former Division I head coaches.
Among the names mentioned: Joe Cantafio of VMI; Marty Fletcher of Southwestern Louisiana; former Virginia Tech, Tennessee, and Florida boss Don DeVoe; and former VCU and Tulsa coach J.D. Barnett.
Now that Purnell is gone, Bradley is the de facto head of the basketball program at Radford, further indication of the advantages of his insider's track.
"We talked about a lot of things, mostly internal issues," Taylor said. "Kind of housekeeping work. We're meeting [later Tuesday] with the team to make sure they're keeping up with their academic tasks and that they are informed of the situation pertaining to the coaching transition."
The meeting lasted about 45 minutes.
"You really can't call it an interview," Taylor said.
"I just wanted to reiterate my interest in the job," Bradley said. "There will be no title of interim coach, though. . . . [Taylor] told me he thought I was a viable candidate [for head coach] and that's about it."
Bradley said his primary duties, until further notice, will be to administer the team weight program that starts today and to make sure the players were keeping their academic affairs in order. He said he also was spending time with individual players.
"I want to assure them that whoever the new coach will be [that person] will do a good job," Bradley said.
Cantafio has gone 59-84 in five years at VMI but is considered an expert tactician and an excellent recruiter. VMI, a military school with rigorous academic standards, is perceived as a difficult program for which to recruit.
Fletcher, a former coach at VMI, has been at Southwestern Louisiana the past five years, the past two of which the team posted 20-win records. Fletcher is in the final year of his contract.
DeVoe was last involved with coaching in the 1989-90 season when he served as an interim head coach at Florida after Norm Sloan resigned. DeVoe campaigned for the job at the then-troubled program but did not get it.
Barnett came from VCU to win 17 or more games five of his six years at Tulsa and had the Golden Hurricane in the NIT this season. Tulsa finished 18-12 and Barnett was fired. The university said in a release that Barnett was let go because of a lack of fan support and a high rate of turnover among players and assistant coaches.
Sources familiar with the Tulsa situation said that Barnett's half-court pattern offense/hard-nosed defense system did not sell well with Hurricane fans accustomed to the run-and-stun tactics of the teams of Nolan Richardson, Barnett's predecessor.
Furthermore, Barnett's old-fashioned taskmaster approach to his players was not well thought of. Too, Barnett appears to have become the odd man out in an administration change at Tulsa.
Barnett, who was involved with the opening at Texas A&M, said he had not heard from Radford. Did he want to hear from Radford?
"I hope so," he said.
Radford has gotten all this interest for a position that has yet to be advertised. That will change April 10 when the next edition of the NCAA News comes out. The job also will be in the April 17 edition of the Chronicle of Higher Education.
Radford is not expected to hire anybody until after those publications become available.
by CNB