Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 25, 1993 TAG: 9302250040
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
W&L FOOTBALL TEAM TO MAKE BERMUDA RUN NEXT SEASON
When you've ridden 10 hours on a bus to Sewanee, Tenn., what's one more trip?Especially when the destination is Bermuda.
Washington and Lee athletic director Mike Walsh didn't have to twist football coach Gary Fallon's arm when presented with the opportunity to play in the first Bermuda Bowl on Nov. 19.
"I asked him, `When are we leaving?' " Fallon said. "It would eliminate us from any tournament consideration [the Division III playoffs start that day], but even if we were 9-0, I think the kids would vote for the trip to Bermuda."
W&L will meet Georgetown, its season-ending opponent 13 times since 1975. In addition to the game, representatives of the football teams will debate the question: "Colleges that depend on revenues from athletic departments - Does this affect the school's educational mission?"
"I think they'd eventually like to bring in a couple of good I-AA teams," Walsh said. "This is kind of a trial run."
W&L was chosen as a participant because of the school's academic reputation and strong alumni base. Also, Walsh had a friend, Dan Doyle at the University of Rhode Island, who works with the board of tourism in Bermuda.
"We're not paying anything that wouldn't normally come out of our budget," Walsh said.
Alumni, parents and other supporters already are making arrangements through Robustelli Travel out of Samford, Conn., which is offering three- and five-day packages. Walsh said Fallon already has put in his request for a five-day package.
"That's not exactly true," said Fallon, who has used the trip as a selling point in recruiting. "I was interested in a 15-day package, but they didn't have one."
\ PASSING THE BUCK: The men's lacrosse game between Washington and Lee and Roanoke College frequently decides the Old Dominion Athletic Conference championship, but the teams insist on playing the game in mid-March, this year in conflict with the NCAA Basketball Tournament.
Both athletic directors, Walsh and Roanoke's Scott Allison, say they would like to play the game in April. However, conflicting exams and spring breaks result in a shortage of dates. As a result, the game attracts negligible media attention, the weather is usually lousy and at least one school is out of session.
\ PONDERING: J.T. Morris, a former high-school All-America football player from Lynchburg, is investigating the possibility of transferring from Penn State to a Division I-AA school, where he would benefit from recent NCAA legislation and have instant eligibility.
Morris, who left Penn State before the end of the first semester, has some academic matters to resolve before he would be eligible for a I-AA program. He has not ruled out a transfer to a Division I-A program, which would require that he sit out a year and get a release from Penn State.
\ RECRUITING: Shelly Ellison, a running back for Group AAA power Hampton, has announced he will attend Virginia Tech with hopes of making the football team as a walk-on. Ellison was rated one of the top 35 prospects in Virginia before the season.
Laurel Park coach John Kovack said linebacker Sidney Cutchin, a Roanoke Times & World-News Top 25 pick, is considering several options. Cutchin, who visited Virginia but was not offered a scholarship, has talked with several Division II programs.
Ed Martin, the coach at George Washington High in Danville, said he lodged a complaint with the ACC office over Wake Forest's recruiting of Eagles' place-kicker Rafael Garcia. It was Martin's contention that new Wake Forest coach Jim Caldwell withdrew a scholarship offer made by one of his assistants.
\ COACHING TURNABOUT: Virginia football coach George Welsh might replace departed assistant Mike Archer with the man Archer succeeded as defensive coordinator at the University of Kentucky, Larry New. New, 48, confirmed Wednesday that he has talked with Welsh about the vacancy.
New, relieved after three seasons as the Wildcats' defensive coordinator, was a defensive line coach in earlier stops at Missouri, Arkansas, South Carolina, Georgia Tech and Alabama. He also has an extensive background in special teams, an area in which Welsh's teams have been especially weak.
Welsh earlier had interviewed James Madison assistant David Turner, but Turner went to Kentucky as defensive ends coach when he could no longer wait on Virginia, which has had a vacancy since Archer left Dec. 12.
An Archer-New switch would not be unprecedented in college football this year. Former Virginia Tech quarterback and Temple head coach Bruce Arians is the new offensive coordinator at Mississippi State, where he replaces Watson Brown, who succeeded Arians as offensive coordinator at Oklahoma.
\ DEVOE UPDATE: Navy (8-16) has won more games under new coach Don DeVoe than it did all last season, when the Midshipmen were 6-22.
DeVoe, once the head coach at Virginia Tech, has started as many as four players from Virginia high schools: Chuck Robinson from Manassas, Wes Cooper from Woodbridge, Larry Green from Charlottesville and Victor Mickel from Newport News.
Chuck Robinson is the brother of ex-Navy and San Antonio Spurs star David Robinson, and Mickel is the younger brother of Marcus Mickel, who played football at Virginia Tech.
\ NON-REVENUE: Golfer Curtis Deal, a former Group AAA and Virginia state junior champion, plans to transfer from Virginia to Virginia Tech. Deal, a redshirt freshman at UVa, will have three years of eligibility after sitting out the 1993-94 school year.
UVa coach Mike Moraghan said he will not stand in Deal's way. The Cavaliers, ranked as high as 12th in the country, took five underclassmen to most of their fall meets and it seemed unlikely Deal would receive ample playing time.