Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, July 15, 1993 TAG: 9307150023
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Doug Doughty
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
The pep band will retain its "scramble" format and perform music at football and basketball games, but no longer will its football halftime show revolve around a comedy script.
"They won't be on the mike," said UVa athletic director Jim Copeland, who made the decision. "It was no one specific thing - just the culmination of our experience over a number of years."
The pep band, formed more than 15 years ago by then-athletic director Gene Corrigan, gained a reputation for its irreverent humor, but many took offense when the band lampooned former Maryland governor Marvin Mandel, plumbing in the state of West Virginia and ex-Virginia Tech basketball standout Bimbo Coles.
Coincidentally, less furor surfaced about the band in 1992 than in most years.
"I think it just became harder and harder for them to be humorous and not offend people," Copeland said. "Part of that was the temperament of their audience, the political climate and our review system."
The band traditionally was student-run, with supervision provided by a member of the athletic department.
"The emphasis now will be on music," Copeland said. "We have a person who's going to act as a coordinator of [the band's] music."
Copeland said he had received letters from band members, past band members and parents asking him to reconsider, but "to this point, the reaction has not been overwhelming," he said.
\ ON THE RISE: Recruiting analyst Bob Gibbons rated Curtis Staples from Roanoke as the No. 21 college basketball prospect in the country before the Nike All-American Basketball Festival. Afterwards, Gibbons said Staples and future teammate Alex Sanders from Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson were among the top eight seniors at the camp.
\ MAKING THE SCORE: Oak Hill teammates Makhtar Ndiaye and Jermaine Smith met NCAA academic requirements on the last Scholastic Assessment Test date. Ndiaye's eligibility at Wake Forest could hinge on a report that Wake has not yet furnished to the NCAA on the involvement of interpreter James Davies in Ndiaye's recruitment.
\ MORE RATINGS: Virginia had two players on Gibbons' list of the top 100 seniors: No. 31 Jamal Robinson from Queens, N.Y., and No. 100 Michael Powell from Washington. Harold Deane Jr. from Fork Union Military Academy was eighth among "other" signees - fifth-year seniors, foreign players, etc. . . . Virginia Tech's lone signee, 6-foot-9 Brandon Price from Floresville, Texas, was 175th on Gibbons' list.
\ TRANSFERS: Rich Mount, who played sparingly at Virginia Commonwealth after transferring from Purdue, will pass up his final year of eligibility and transfer to a school closer to his home in Lebanon, Ind. Mount, who never lived up to the standards set by his father, Rick, wants to become a state trooper.
Keith Legree, who started at point guard for Louisville the past two seasons, was not happy with his role in the offense and will transfer to Florida State. . . . Seldom-used North Carolina State reserve forward Victor Newman is headed to North Carolina-Asheville. . . . The University of Washington's best player, 6-9 Mark Pope, is going to Kentucky.
\ RECRUITING: First-team All-Group AAA quarterback Shannon Taylor from Patrick Henry says Virginia heads the list of schools he currently is considering. The 6-6 Taylor is playing with the Roanoke Hawks basketball team that will compete in the AAU 17-and-under national championship next week in Winston-Salem, N.C. He says he's down to 225 after losing seven pounds.
Darryl Gilliam, a 6-6, 300-pound defensive lineman who was rejected by UVa's admissions office after committing to the Cavaliers, did not meet Proposition 48 academic guidelines. Gilliam signed with Maryland but may not receive a scholarship or play for the Terrapins next year because none of the ACC football programs accept partial qualifiers.
\ ANOTHER DOOLEY: Former college football coach Bill Dooley and his wife, Marie, are expecting their second child and his fourth. Dooley, 58, with two sons in their 20s, recently was named to head the North Carolina state sports development office after head-coaching stints at North Carolina, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest.
\ OUT OF THE PICTURE: Virginia Tech won't have East Carolina quarterback Michael Anderson to worry about next year. Anderson, who led the Pirates to a 30-27 comeback victory over the Hokies this past season, was held out of spring drills for academic reasons and will miss the 1993 season, coach Steve Logan said.
\ BRAINE RECOGNIZED: The Mercer County (Pa.) Hall of Fame, which bills itself as the "oldest local hall of fame in the world," has inducted Virginia Tech athletic director Dave Braine.
Braine, a native of Grove City, Pa., was noted for his "combination of athletic and administrative abilities." Recent inductees include former New England Patriots executive Sam Jankovich (1992) and former Virginia football coach Dick Bestwick (1991).
\ NON-REVENUE: Radford University continues to attract promising golfers to its third-year women's program. The newest recruit is Jennifer Harvison from Potomac, Md., who finished sixth in the North-South Junior Championship. She joins Olivia Faison of Virginia Beach and Tennesseean Jennifer Lord in this year's recruiting class.
by CNB