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

DATE: FRIDAY, April 5, 1991                   TAG: 9104050103
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: SCOTT BLANCHARD SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

KANSAS COACH WOULD HATE TO LOSE ASSISTANT TO HOKIES

Kansas assistant basketball coach Jerry Green was expected back in Lawrence, Kan., today after a two-day tour of Virginia Tech, which hopes to bring him back as its head basketball coach.

Although Tech officials won't comment on the coaching search and Green won't confirm that he and Tech are talking, the third-year Jayhawks aide is widely considered to be the front-runner for the Radford narrows search. B5 Hokies' job.

It could not be determined whether Tech has formally offered the job to Green.

"It would not surprise me if Virginia Tech offered him the job," Kansas coach Roy Williams said at a season-ending news conference, three days after the Jayhawks lost to Duke in the NCAA Tournament championship game. "[But] if they decide to offer him the job, it's not cut and dried that he'd accept it because he enjoys it very much here."

Some coaching sources indicate Green will take the job; others say they have heard he will turn it down. Green has said that if he leaves Kansas, it will be to take a position that is "sound and with good people," and he said he will not make a move that hurts him and his family financially.

Green could not be reached for comment Thursday. His son, Travis, said he expected Green to be arriving in Lawrence late Thursday.

"He's unbelievably good," Williams said of Green. "If [he takes the job], I'll be very, very sad because he's the most loyal friend I have in the whole world. But if he does accept it, he'll be doing what he thinks is best for him."

Two of the Hokies' returning players said Thursday afternoon that the team did not meet with Green during his visit.

The only other candidate that reportedly has interviewed for the job is former Clemson and Miami coach Bill Foster, although Foster has denied that he visited Tech's campus or has had a formal interview.

"Nobody's called me about going up there," Foster said Tuesday. "We've had dialogue. . . . They wanted to make sure there was interest on my part. Doing games [as a television color commentator] really gets you anxious again."

by CNB