Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 11, 1993 TAG: 9303110120
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Doug Doughty
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
NORTON GIVES UP DUAL ROLE
Hank Norton resigned Wednesday as Ferrum college athletic director and you know what that means?Norton will coach football next season and, probably, longer than that.
"I really never made my mind up," Norton said, "but I've been recruiting my butt off, buddy. I've got a lot of energy for an old man and I want to put whatever energy I have into football."
It's possible that Norton, 64, could coach the players he is recruiting for the duration of their careers.
"What am I going to do? I'm not going to sit around and wait on the 6 o'clock news," Norton said. "I'm not going to wait on your paper either. I really enjoy [coaching], so, as long as I'm healthy, why not coach?"
Administration was another matter. Norton has served as athletic director for 23 of the 33 years he has been football coach, giving up the dual responsibilities from 1985-91, partly at the suggestion of school officials. This time it was his call.
"I'm not sure I'm smart enough to do either job, much less both," said Norton in typical, self-effacing fashion. "It was a headache. Men, women, transportation, insurance . . . it was more than one person could do."
It was hard enough running the department day-to-day, much less lobbying for football conference affiliation, an area that Norton would like to see the new athletic director emphasize.
"We've made a lot of strides in the last four years [since becoming a four-year program]," Norton said. "I'd like for people to take a look at how we've upgraded."
\ FIRST TIME: Frankie Allen made four trips to the NCAA basketball tournament as an assistant with Virginia Tech, but none in four years as the Hokies' head coach.
"It's been my dream to get to the NCAA as a head coach," said Allen, who did so Sunday when Tennessee State won the Ohio Valley Conference tournament. "I was tired, really.
"We had stayed up late preparing; I didn't sleep well, because you're nervous. [But] we kind of won going away. I was just very thankful and very pleased. Two years ago, you didn't know you'd have the opportunity to coach again."
\ ANOTHER EX-HOKIE: Former Allen recruit Dirk Williams transferred from Virginia Tech to Alabama A&M, which begins play this week in the Division II tournament. Williams, a junior, became eligible at mid-season and averaged 7.1 points and 2.5 rebounds for Alabama A&M, ranked fifth in Division II with a 27-2 record.
\ COACHING TALK: Coach Jeff Meyer does not appear to be in trouble at Liberty University, which awarded him a two-year contract after a 22-7 season in 1991-92. That was unusual at a school where most contracts are for one year.
The Flames finished 16-14 this year after a 73-69 loss to Radford in the first round of the Big South tournament, "[but] if you had told me that we'd win 16 games after going 5-23 two years ago," athletic director Chuck Burch said, "I would have thought that was pretty good."
One basketball coach certain to be mentioned in connection with vacancies at Richmond and George Mason is Marty Fletcher. Fletcher, a former VMI head coach, has averaged more than 19 victories in the past five seasons at Southwestern Louisiana and in 1992 took the Ragin' Cajuns to the NCAA Tournament.
One-time Christiansburg High coach Bob Burton has resigned to enter private business after seven years at Elon College, where he was 112-83. Burton, a former assistant under Don DeVoe at Tennessee, made the decision before the season but held off on an announcement until the end of February.
\ MORE LEFTY BASHING: Basketball writer Ian Connor of the New York Daily News has given the Colonial Athletic Association and James Madison coach Lefty Driesell his "Wish-I-Could-Strip-You-Of-Your-Bid Award" because East Carolina became the first team in seven years to make the NCAA Tournament with a losing record.
\ UNDERRATED? Louisville rose from No. 22 to 16 in the latest Associated Press poll, but coach Denny Crum said the Cardinals are in better shape in the Ratings Percentage Index, which play a major role in determining seedings in the NCAA Tournament. Crum said the Cardinals, favored to win the Metro Conference tournament this weekend, are 12th in the RPI, meaning they could earn a No. 3 seed if the bracket were done today.
\ WOULD-BE HIGHLANDER: Virginia Commonwealth senior center Sherron Mills, who committed to Radford before attending Chowan College, has filled part of the void left when the Rams' Kendrick Warren was injured last month. Mills was Metro Conference player of the week for the last week of the regular season.
"The biggest change is he is now willing to talk to the press and talk to the electronic media, which is something he would never do before," VCU coach Sonny Smith said. "He had trouble passing one of the required classes because he had to get up in front of the class and make a presentation."
\ POSTCARDS HOME: Darren Morton of Blacksburg, a freshman guard at Clinch Valley, has been named to the Tennessee-Virginia Athletic Conference all-conference team and was a recent player of the week. He leads the team in scoring with 15.7 points per games and is shooting 38 percent from from 3-point range. Morton, averaging 4.9 assists after 30 games, has a shot at freshman of the year in the league.
\ MOVER AND SHAKER: Old Dominion Athletic Conference commissioner Dan Wooldridge from Roanoke has been named to the NCAA Basketball Officiating Committee, getting a new position representing Division III.
\ A GOOD DEAL: For the second year in a row, Virginia would not have to leave the state to reach the women's final four. The Cavaliers can expect a first-round bye, followed by a second-round home game. The East Region finals are at the Richmond Coliseum and women's basketball has not reached the stage where drawing cards can be sent out of their region, coach Debbie Ryan said.
\ CAN'T BELIEVE IT: VMI basketball coach Joe Cantafio was surprised to learn that former Keydets' star Jeff Gausepohl is the father of Virginia women's player Jeffra Gausepohl. "Just my luck he had to have a 6-foot-6 daughter and not a 6-8 son who wanted to follow in his father's footsteps," Cantafio said.
Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.