Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 19, 1993 TAG: 9303190113
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK and DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
CLARK, EVERHART IN SPECULATION CHAIN
Speculation on one subject echoes that of last weekend at the ACC Tournament.The rumor, growing louder, has coach Bobby Cremins leaving ACC tourney champ Georgia Tech to return to his alma mater, South Carolina. The footsteps theory has Tulane coach Perry Clark moving to Tech, where he was a Cremins assistant for six seasons, until he took the Green Wave job in 1988.
Clark's comment on the speculation?
"I only deal in realities," he said from Orlando, Fla., where one half of the Southeast Regional is being played.
If it happens, one of the leading candidates for the Tulane vacancy would be assistant Ron Everhart, the former Virginia Tech guard and VMI assistant coach.
Should Clark exit for Georgia Tech or another job in a power conference, Everhart, 31, would be the in-house prospect. New Orleans media is speculating that Everhart's chances for the job would be solid, because of his strong relationship with Wave alumni. He's also reportedly well-liked by Tulane's athletic director, Dr. Kevin White.
Of course, Clark's work in reconstructing Tulane hoops after the program was dropped for four years has made it one of the better mid-major jobs. The potential for the Green Wave to change conferences - if the Southeastern or Southwest expand - could also have an impact on Everhart's chances to succeed Clark.
If the Wave is able to leave the Metro for a higher-profile league, the school might be inclined to seek a name coach should Clark depart.
\ GOOD MEMORY: Although Thursday's Southeast Region appearance was the first Division I tournament date for Tennessee State, Tigers' coach Frankie Allen vividly remembers the last time he saw the Nashville school in the NCAA.
It was in 1972 in Evansville, when Roanoke college won the small-college national championship. Allen, still the top career scorer in Virginia college hoops history, had graduated from Maroons coach Charlie Moir's program the year before.
"I was coaching and teaching in Charlottesville, and [Roanoke Valley banker] John Clarke called and invited me to go out there with him, as his guest, to see Roanoke play. John is a big buddy of Coach Moir's.
"It was nice that they thought enough of Frankie Allen that they thought I should be there. Akron beat Tennessee State in the semifinals, then Roanoke beat Akron for the championship.
"The players, guys who were my teammates the year before, came up and hugged me like I was one of them, even though I wasn't part of the championship team. They felt like I had played a part in helping them establish the program.
"That was a great experience. Then we went to the NCAA four times when I was an assistant with Coach Moir at [Virginia] Tech. That was fun, but I can't think of anything that would top this for me, getting to the NCAA for the first time as a head coach."
\ DIGGIN' HOKIES: ESPN studio host John Saunders and analyst Dick Vitale got in a dig at Virginia Tech in discussing Allen's success at Tennessee State.
"They've got to be eating their hearts out at Virginia Tech," Vitale said.
"Yeah, [they] ran him off campus," Saunders said.
\ HEAD GAMES: Cory Alexander and Ted Jeffries, two of the Virginia players who shaved their heads before the Cavaliers' first NIT game last year, said not to expect a repeat at the East Region in Syracuse, N.Y.
"We were thinking of that on the ride over here," Jeffries said, "but I don't think we need any gimmicks for motivation this year."
Alexander, smiling mischievously, added, "He might have a bald head when he wakes up tomorrow."
\ NO BILLY PACKER: First-year Manhattan coach Fran Fraschilla said he tried to get his team to focus on the NCAA Tournament starting with the first meeting of the preseason.
"I didn't feel that was [premature] because making the NCAA Tournament was a byproduct of winning the conference champion," Fraschilla said. "We knew we had to be conference champion to go.
"I'd been to the NCAA Tournament [as an assistant] at Ohio University and Providence. I tried to paint a picture to the players of practicing in front of 10,000 people and maybe meeting [commentator] Billy Packer."
So much for the painting. The crowd at Thursday's practice in Syracuse, N.Y., session was closer to 500 and, instead of Packer, CBS sent Dan Bonner, an ex-Virginia player.
Keywords:
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