Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 17, 1993 TAG: 9303170051
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By SCOTT BLANCHARD STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LOUISVILLE, KY. LENGTH: Long
LATE IMPROVEMENTS GIVE HOKIES PROMISE FOR NEXT SEASON
Bill Foster is used to putting the gas in tapped-out basketball programs, but usually his rebuilt jalopies accelerate faster than the Virginia Tech model.Despite two years with the pedal down, Foster may find the Hokies still short of highway speed next season.
The reason, mostly, is personnel uncertainty. The Hokies showed genuine though unspectacular improvement over this season's last half-dozen games, seeming to overcome a season-long divide between the upperclassmen and freshmen as well as some problems with Foster's preferred style of play.
The Hokies know they lose inconsistent seniors Thomas Elliott and Steve Hall. Less certain is who will return. Even if Tech doesn't lose another player, it will enter next season as one of the Metro Conference's youngest teams - not a prescription for a breakthrough season.
"I think [the improvement] will be very lasting," said Foster, emphasizing that Tech played eight of its last nine games away from home, six against teams that reached postseason tournaments. "We intend to do a lot of work on video to make it lasting."
He said the coaches will do a personal scouting report on each player, pointing out "what the kids are doing well and not doing well, and accentuating the positive."
Here's more of what to look for in the off-season:
Will Jimmy Carruth, Corey Jackson and Don Corker return for their senior years? Some people close to the team have said the players have been urged to try to graduate or, at least, not return to the team. Foster said he will meet with every player in a couple of weeks, at which time he will "candidly" discuss their futures.
"Everyone's going to have to be on board, or they're not going to be on board," Foster said.
Jackson and Carruth each said he planned to be back next year, and each said he hadn't been asked not to.
"I think they want me back," Jackson said Sunday. "I believe so. We're just going to do what we need to do, all three of us."
Carruth, at 6 feet 10, seems the most likely to be in Foster's on-the-court plans.
"My teammates are going to welcome me back," Carruth said. "Whether Coach Foster does or not, that's up to him. I'm going to work hard to be better."
Will all of Foster's freshmen return?
Every Tech rookie who played - Shawn Smith, Jim Jackson, Shawn Good, Damon Watlington and Travis Jackson - received at least one vote for Metro all-rookie team honors. All showed promise in various areas, and the coaching staff is especially high on two of the three players who redshirted - Ace Custis and Delwyn Dillard.
Yet many have had rough academic years. One, Smith, admitted his first semester was shaky but said his second semester has been better, and said he thought he would return next winter.
"There's nobody here that numerically can't make it," Foster said.
One indication Tech's coaching staff is preparing for turnover: At present, the Hokies have no scholarships available, yet assistants Bobby Hussey and Chris Ferguson missed several Tech games late in the season while on recruiting trips.
Another mid-season rumbling within the team was that Good, dissatisfied with Tech's style of play, was considering transferring. But the Hokies ran opportunistically near the end of the season - especially during their upset of 23rd-ranked Tulane in the Metro Tournament's first round Friday.
After that game, Good said he plays better in a quicker-paced game. He dismissed notions of leaving and said the style-of-play conflict between players and coaches was a "misinterpretation" on the players' part.
Foster said Good's role changed as he was asked to play more shooting guard. And, Foster said, he doesn't want a slowdown game anyway.
"I think they figured it out," Foster said.
If the players and coaches are on the same page, if problems over playing time don't arise and if Tech returns everyone, next year should be Foster's best in Blacksburg. How good it will be is another question, because five Metro teams return either three or four starters. Tulane brings back two, four if you count sometime-starter Carlin Hartman and injured Kim Lewis.
Here's what else could contribute to Hokies improvement next year:
Harmony: Foster admitted this season was "not an easy chemistry mix." The players seemed to come together during the Metro Tournament. If that progress holds, Tech may be a more consistent team.
Playing style: Foster, a 26-year coaching veteran, said recently he hoped he wasn't too inflexible to fiddle with his offensive strategy if doing so would better use his players' abilities. Tech was most effective this year when it played a mix of half-court and run-when-you-can basketball. If Tech can rebound well enough to start some fast breaks next year, its shooting percentage should improve and so should its win total.
Rebounding: Here's where Ace Custis comes in. Foster raved about the 6-7 freshman's inside skills before a knee injury ended Custis' season. If Custis can overcome the injury, Tech will have a legitimate if slightly undersized body in the paint to go along with short-but-wide Smith.
Maturing youth: Good showed he can be an athletic combination guard with a respectable jump shot; Smith can score and rebound; Jim Jackson is versatile and can produce defensively in addition to his off-and-on 3-point threat; Damon Watlington can penetrate and create his own shot as well as hit the spot-up 3-pointer; and Travis Jackson will rebound and has a soft outside shooting touch.
None did anything with regularity last season. If consistency comes with their sophomore years, those five could be the core that pushes Tech toward a .500 season against a schedule that includes West Virginia, Richmond, Coastal Carolina, VMI, Liberty, East Carolina, Florida Atlantic and Florida International. Breaking even would be a significant step for a young team.