Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, January 30, 1992 TAG: 9201300037
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Doug Doughty
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
TECH SIGNEES EXPERIENCING BANG-UP YEARS
It has not been the safest of winters for the four basketball players Virginia Tech has signed, two of whom have been lost for the season and a third who is playing with a splint.The latest to be sidelined was 6-foot-7 Anthony "Ace" Custis, who totaled his car Friday night on the way home from Northampton's game with York.
Northampton coach Jim Conrow said Custis suffered a broken jaw and nose in the accident, which occurred about 1 a.m., when Custis fell asleep at the wheel. He will not play again this season.
Custis, not widely known before he signed with the Hokies, was having a banner year before the accident. He was averaging 28.2 points after nine games, scoring 42 points twice in a three-game span, and was shooting 73.2 percent from the floor.
Another player who signed with Tech in November, 6-9 Dwayne Archbold from Staten Island, N.Y., suffered a fractured middle finger on his left (non-shooting) hand during the preseason, although he played four games before the extent of the injury became evident.
"If he had not already received a scholarship, he probably would have come back," said John Carroll, who coached Archbold at Curtis High.
Tech signee Delwyn Dillard of Sussex Central had 46 points against Brunswick High earlier this season, but he has been playing with a splint on his left (non-shooting) hand to protect a dislocated finger. Dillard, a 6-6 swingman, is averaging 20.5 points and 13.5 rebounds.
The only able-bodied Tech signee is 6-8 1/2 Travis Jackson, averaging 18.5 points and 13.5 rebounds for Peterstown (W.Va.) High School. Jackson played tight end for Peterstown's Class A championship football team after playing on football and basketball state runners-up in 1990-91.
Liberty University, which finished 5-23 in 1990-91, has a good chance to be the most improved team in Division I men's basketball this season. The Flames, in their first season as members of the Big South Conference, carry a 13-3 record into tonight's game at Winthrop College.
George Mason senior Byron Tucker, second in the Colonial Athletic Association in scoring and first in rebounding, has been suspended by coach Ernie Nestor for the remainder of the season because of a violation of team policy.
Tucker reportedly slugged a teammate in practice and suffered a broken hand, which would have kept him out of action for two weeks, regardless of the suspension. The Patriots won their first two games in his absence.
Mike Fayed, a freshman guard from Cave Spring High in Roanoke, has started 11 of the 12 games in which he has played for Winthrop and leads the team in assists with 52. Fayed, fourth on the team in scoring with 7.8 points per game, has made 30 of 35 free throws.
Washington and Lee (5-11) has placed increased emphasis on the 3-point shot in hopes of a turnaround. The Generals have made 32 3-pointers in the past three games, twice hitting 12 3-pointers in a game, one short of the school record.
Pat Watson, offensive coordinator at Virginia Tech for nine years under former coach Bill Dooley, has joined the staff of new Texas football coach John Mackovic as the offensive-line coach.
Watson has coached the offensive line for the past five years at Georgia Tech, which lost head coach Bobby Ross to the San Diego Chargers of the National Football League. Mackovic had been the head coach at Illinois, where he was succeeded by former Hokies defensive coordinator Lou Tepper.
Mackovic's offensive-line coach did not follow him to Texas; however, he was joined by secondary coach Steve Bernstein, another former Virginia Tech assistant.
In a related move, one-time Hokies linebacker Chris Cosh joined the Illinois coaching staff.
Max Lowe, 37, an assistant coach at Brookville High School in Lynchburg and a former college assistant, is expected to be announced as head coach at Bridgewater College today.
Lowe, who was an offensive lineman at Bridgewater from 1973-76, coached at North Carolina under Dick Crum and later served as an assistant at Ohio University for five years and Bowling Green for one.
One-time Virginia Tech football signee Kwamie Lassiter has enrolled at the University of Kansas and likely will start in the secondary for the Jayhawks in 1992.
Lassiter, brother of Tech freshman quarterback Fred Lassiter, signed with Tech in 1991 but did not graduate from junior college in time to enroll in the fall, thus invalidating his letter-of-intent. He returned to Butler County (Kan.) Junior College to complete his degree requirements in the fall.
If there is an attendance record for the state's Division I football programs in one week, it could be broken on Oct. 31, when Virginia Tech plays host to Miami in Blacksburg and Virginia entertains Florida State for the first time in Charlottesville.
Joe Pickens, a Parade All-America quarterback in 1990, has transferred from Ohio State to Duke. Pickens played sparingly for the Buckeyes as a redshirt freshman this past season, completing one of three passes. He picked Duke because of its commitment to a drop-back passing offense.
The women's basketball team at Ferrum College already has won more games than it did in 1990-91, when the Panthers were 9-18. Coach Donna Doonan's team was 10-6 before Wednesday night's game at Averett.
Antonette Veloso of Vinton had a 12-3 record in singles this fall for the women's tennis team at Rice University in Houston. Veloso, who alternates between the Nos. 2-4 positions on the team, is ranked 23rd in the Southwest Region.
The United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association has created a media award in honor of Doyle Smith, the longtime assistant sports information director at Virginia who also serves as information officer for the USILA.