Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 13, 1992 TAG: 9203130156
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SCOTT BLANCHARD SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: LOUISVILLE, KY. LENGTH: Medium
The Metro's longtime interest in Atlantic 10 schools West Virginia, Rutgers and Temple remains, and sources have said George Washington has been added to the list.
GWU is seen as a program on the rise and would put the Metro in the Washington, D.C., media market.
The Metro is actively courting those four, and the Great Midwest reportedly is interested in the same four.
The Atlantic 10, meanwhile, is trying to recover from the loss of Penn State and Duquesne to other leagues. The Atlantic 10 has another thought in the back of its mind: merging with the Metro.
Atlantic 10 commissioner Ron Bertovich said he believes Rutgers, West Virginia and Temple are committed to the Atlantic 10 because of the formation of the Big East Football Conference. Bertovich, whose league also has talked with the Midwestern Collegiate Conference about a merger, said heating up talks with the Metro isn't a priority, but . . .
"It's something that certainly has come up in our meetings," Bertovich said this week. "Likely, it would be considered down the road."
Metro commissioner Ralph McFillen said Thursday a complete merger would not be attractive. The Metro has other ideas.
Expect the league to investigate whether former members Memphis State and Cincinnati, are disenchanted enough with the Great Midwest to consider returning.
The Great Midwest's television package, a league source said, is not as lucrative as expected, and the league tournament at the 18,500-capacity Chicago Stadium has sold fewer than 5,000 tickets. In addition, the league has another four years to wait before it gets an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, which could lessen the amount of money it receives from the NCAA's distribution of television revenue.
McFillen said there are not "any hard feelings" between the Metro and the two defectors.
One Metro option discussed frequently, league sources say, is luring a combination of five schools - perhaps the Atlantic 10 four and Memphis State or the Atlantic 10 three (minus George Washington) and Memphis State and Cincinnati - to form a 12-team, two-division league that would not have a round-robin league schedule.
"We're open-minded to expansion that would go above [eight]," said Louisville athletic director Bill Olsen, whose school usually wants as few league games as possible.
The Metro has been interested in Xavier, Dayton, Creighton and Richmond but doesn't see those schools as likely league-switchers, Metro sources say.
One Metro athletic director said no firm plan of action has been set. The AD said it will be after the NCAA Tournament before the Metro can assess whether any schools want a new affiliation or whether it can raid another league, as it did last year by adding three Sun Belt Conference teams.
\ Southern Mississippi forward Clarence Weatherspoon on Thursday claimed his third straight Metro Conference player-of-the-year award, becoming the only player in the league's 16-year history to win the honor three times.
Weatherspoon led the league in scoring with 22 points per game and blocked shots (2.8 per game) and was second in rebounding (10.4 per game) to South Florida's Gary Alexander (11 per game).
Perry Clark, who led Tulane to its first 20-win season and its first Metro regular-season title, received his second straight Coach of the Year award Thursday.
Green Wave freshman point guard Pointer Williams, a key reserve who was third in the league in assists per game (4.4), was voted the league's freshman of the year.
Voting was done by the Metro Conference Sportswriters and Broadcasters' Association and league coaches.
\ South Florida coach Bobby Paschal, who had two years left on his contract, got a two-year extension through 1996, the school's athletic director, Paul Griffin, said.
Keywords:
BASKETBALL
by CNB