Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 7, 1992 TAG: 9203070037
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SCOTT BLANCHARD SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Long
Carol Alfano has had time and, for the past four years, money.
Yet her Virginia Tech women's basketball program remains mired in mediocrity. In Alfano's 14 years as Tech's head coach, the Hokies have:
been 190-199 overall, 51-64 in the Metro Conference;
gone 8-18 against state teams since 1988-89, including 1-12 against Virginia, James Madison, Old Dominion and Richmond;
had consecutive winning seasons once and consecutive losing seasons once. The losing seasons were the past two;
finished at .500 or within three games of .500 eight times;
finished two games over or under .500 in the Metro seven of 11 years Tech has been in the league;
never been to postseason play.
Four years ago, Tech athletic director Dave Braine fattened Alfano's budget by about 60 percent, and Alfano said success was a "three- to four-year goal." It hasn't happened. In Tech's 1991-92 media guide, Alfano said this was to be the year because of veteran talent and what Alfano judged to be her best recruiting class.
"There'll be no excuses for us this season," she was quoted as saying.
Hold that thought. Injuries felled four of five starters for part or all of the season and the Hokies were 9-16 entering their last regular-season game today at UNC Charlotte.
How much longer can the Hokies lag behind other state schools? How much longer can Tech go without a postseason appearance? How much longer does Alfano have to lead Tech to a breakthrough season, especially as respect for and interest in women's basketball continues to increase?
Braine said he won't criticize Alfano this season because of the injuries. He said Alfano will be the coach next season, but won't discuss long-term plans.
"All of us expect to see improvement next year," Braine said.
Alfano said she thinks in the short-term. She said she believes next year's freshman class is as good as this year's and because of that, success - or her departure - is close at hand.
"I would think that Dave's going to be patient for about two more years," Alfano said. "If we're still .500 in two years, I'm going to run out of time with myself. If I'm not the one to do the job, within two years, I'll be the one who walks away. They won't have to give me the ax."
\ Weathering a storm
The ax could have fallen last spring, when at least six players got fed up with Alfano, went to Braine and threatened to transfer if Alfano remained as coach. Instead, Braine mediated, Alfano changed, the players relaxed and the result may have been a turning point in Alfano's career and, eventually, in Tech's basketball fortunes.
Former players Sarah Hillyer and Cyndi Justice agreed the team's problems with Alfano blocked its progress.
"Things have been real peachy [at Tech]," said Hillyer, who transferred to Liberty before the start of last season but still has friends on Tech's team. "[If that's so], they're going to be a top 20 team. There's some serious talent there."
Justice, who graduated last year, thought last year's team was good enough to win the Metro. But Tech lost its first six games, won 10 of its next 15, then ended the season by losing four of six. That's when the players rebelled.
"Something had to be done, and we did it," center Lisa Griffith said at the time.
The charges:
Alfano was too negative. Players said they felt there was a lack of communication and that Alfano was inaccessible.
"It was just day in and day out: `Why aren't you kids trying? You're not athletes,' " Hillyer said.
Added Justice:
"We used to joke: `Hot and cold. Hot and cold.' Either she'll talk to you or she won't talk to you. I've always felt I could go talk to her. Other players didn't feel like they could talk to her."
The players felt boxed in.
"We never communicated, didn't talk about anything," said one current player who asked not to be identified. "That was causing major, major problems. You couldn't go in and tell them what was wrong. If you'd tell the assistant coaches, they'd eventually go to Coach, so we couldn't really talk to anybody."
Alfano's explanation is simple: She needed a strong recruiting year, both for the program's future and hers. She got her recruiting class at the expense of neglecting the current players.
"From July through November, I just wore myself out trying to get recruits," she said. "Going into the season, I was flat, tired, and I didn't spend enough time with my kids off the court. . . . At the end of practice, I didn't have time to sit there [and talk to the players].
"I wasn't very complete last year as a coach."
Alfano was too harsh on the players for performance and training rules such as weight limits. Some players said they were bothered when Alfano swore at them.
"I think it was a matter of maybe being a little bit more short-tempered at them at times," Alfano said. "You've got to understand . . . I'm Italian. I'm not stoic.
"I tried hard not to strip them of their dignity."
The players said they felt they had to put up a front when hosting recruits.
"We feel like we have to lie to the recruits. You just totally snow people over," said Hillyer, adding that she thought Alfano's personality was more pleasant if recruits were watching practices.
Justice concurred.
"I know players on the team felt like they couldn't be honest [with recruits]," she said. "I always just tell them about the school. I just wanted them to see there's more to college or life than basketball."
Alfano said she's no different when recruits are around.
"In a two-hour practice, you forget that people are even there," she said.
Tech freshman Jenny Root said she didn't hear anything about team problems while she was being recruited and wished she had. But she is among many current Tech players who say last year's turmoil has left no residue.
"If there is, they haven't brought it up," Root said.
Guard Phyllis Tonkin, said to be one of the leaders of last year's uprising, appears to have had a complete conversion. Asked if the incident was a turning point for the players, Alfano, or the whole program, Tonkin denied there was a problem with the coaching staff.
"Everybody is just looking at it as `This is where we're going to stay,' " she said when asked about the players considering transferring. "We were recruited here, we're going to stay here and we're going to play under any circumstances, because if you love the game enough, you're going to play through it."
This year, Alfano said, the senior leadership is better; Tonkin is one of the team's three seniors.
"No one led last year," Alfano said. "If players don't lead, I've got to lead. And I don't want to lead either."
Alfano was asked how the incident affected her as a coach and how it affected the team. Several current players said this year the atmosphere is positive, everyone gets along and there are no gripes.
"I wouldn't say that was a turning point in my career," she said. "A turning point, no. A setback, maybe. I wish the players had come to me and said, `We've had it.' "
They went to Braine, who met both with Alfano and with the team last spring to work things out. He wouldn't discuss particulars of the situation. But he does have an opinion on the result.
"We're much better today because of it," he said. "First of all, I hope I never get to the point where I let players dictate to me what's going to happen in a program. At the same time, I think you have to have an open mind and listen and discuss things openly with both parties, and that's exactly what we did. It was good for the program. There's a better understanding now and a much closer relationship with everybody involved. I have not had one player in my office this year complaining about anything."
\ Success off the court
\ So, what's the future of Tech women's basketball?
Alfano points out that her program has succeeded everywhere but on the court: No drug or alcohol problems, few transfers, only four players academically ineligible, a growing booster club, an impressive where-are-they-now list of former players. And, according to information provided by Alfano, 31 of the 40 non-active players who were in the program at any time from 1980-81 through 1988-89 graduated from Tech.
The only thing left, Alfano says, is winning. Two intertwined reasons for Tech's struggles, she said, are losing assistant coaches because of low salaries and the problems with recruiting caused by the lack of staff stability. Alfano said these problems still exist despite the money boost four years ago.
When the program got more money in 1988-89, Alfano hired Bonnie Henrickson and Beth Dunkenberger. They're still there and, Alfano said, have had a direct impact on Tech's improved recruiting efforts.
"The program right now I think is in better shape than it's ever been, no question in my mind," Alfano said. "My big fear is that I want to keep my staff intact, and I need to do that by paying them."
However, salaries of state employees have been frozen and Braine said he can't approve raises for Alfano's aides. Tech's salaries already lag behind some other successful programs.
Alfano and her two full-time assistants make a combined $76,210 annually; the figure is $82,476 at Virginia Commonwealth, $121,191 at James Madison and $132,000 at Virginia, for example. Alfano makes $34,887, VCU coach Susan Walvius makes $35,784, JMU coach Shelia Moorman makes $55,000 and UVa's Debbie Ryan makes $70,000.
Tech does pay its coaches more than Louisville, the Metro's regular-season champion. Cardinals coach Bud Childers has $60,000 in salary money to spend as he wishes.
Alfano has one other thing on her wish-list: a contract instead of Tech's standard one-year renewable agreement that covers all coaches except in men's basketball and football. Childers is in the last year of a three-year deal and Moorman in the first year of a four-year deal. Walvius has a one-year renewable agreement. Ryan doesn't have a contract and doesn't want one because, she said, "Virginia's just different. They take good care of me here."
It's not likely Alfano will get a contract, Braine said, in part because he said he feels other non-revenue sports coaches would demand equal treatment.
Since the 60 percent budget boost in 1988-89, Alfano's budget has grown by just under $8,000, or about 4 percent of the 1988-89 figure. The recruiting budget hasn't grown from $20,000 since 1989-90. Alfano said more money would help, especially in recruiting and promotions.
An average of 271 fans attended Tech's home games; the Hokies' road attendance average was 583. The Hokies have had what Alfano calls "limited" promotions by the school. Tonkin said the players often tape signs to walls inside campus buildings announcing their next home games.
Despite the recently stalled budget growth, however, Alfano was able to lure five freshman with glossy credentials to Blacksburg: Root, Christi Osborne, Angela Donnell, Lisa Leftwich and Stephanie Carter. Three are among Tech's top four active scorers; only one does not average at least 18 minutes per game.
To Alfano, this year's freshman class is a beginning.
"It's like a breath of fresh air," Alfano said. "They respond to what we say, they're working hard."
The Hokies have signed forward Kelly Burrier of Louisville, whom one scouting service rated the 75th best player in the nation, and point guard Terri Garland of Pulaski County High School, a first-team all-Group AAA selection. Martinsville High School's Cynthia Lee, a first-team all-Group AA center, has orally committed to attend Tech.
"We've put together a good sophomore class, a good freshman class and now a good [incoming] class," Alfano said. "We've had four years of the same staff, and look at who we're signing."
\ Tough competition
\ Braine wants Tech to be competitive with No. 1 Virginia. Alfano wants to catch JMU, ODU and Richmond first, and wants to compete for the Metro Conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Alfano wouldn't schedule Virginia this year after a young Tech team was beaten 93-44 in 1990.
The two rivals will play next year, however.
"Sometimes, as an athletic director, you make decisions on your own, and that was a decision that was made," Braine said. "We felt we need to play them."
UVa's Ryan is acutely aware of how often Tech's program is measured by Virginia's, but she said money isn't necessarily the key.
"The No. 1 thing is to have an emotional commitment from the school and administration," Ryan said. "As long as you are being treated at a level equal to the men, that's when the athletes feel it.
"There's been a dramatic change in philosophy down there with Dave Braine coming in," continued Ryan, who worked with Braine when both were at UVa. "He saw the evolution of our program."
One school of thought holds that Alfano's job is harder simply because she's been there longer. After Moorman's JMU team beat Tech earlier this year, Moorman was quoted as saying, "I think if a coach has been in a place an extended period of time, it gets tougher to break over the hump."
Asked later to elaborate, Moorman wouldn't touch the quote. Ryan, however, disagreed. She was at Virginia for six seasons, compiling a 98-75 overall record and a 16-29 ACC mark, before UVa won its first ACC title.
"Anybody can break a pattern," Ryan said.
Alfano, 42, expects to find out within two years. Tech has begun signing better players, and the current players can sense an awakening around the corner. For Alfano, it's been a long journey from the non-funded program she took over in the late 1970s, when women's basketball was governed by the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women.
And, perhaps last spring's turmoil was the program's catharsis.
"I'm not going out without an argument, without a fight, without a struggle," Alfano said. "I wonder how many other coaches would've stayed through these bad times. I just believe now that we can get the job done. I look at my players and I don't see team dissension and I don't see them unhappy. I don't see the negative. That gives you renewed hope."
Keywords:
PROFILE
by CNB