Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 16, 1994 TAG: 9403160072
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SCOTT BLANCHARD STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Braine has worked under a series of one-year letters of appointment.
Braine said it is a "rollover" deal, meaning if the school is satisfied with his performance, it will renew the contract annually for another year. Tech president Paul E. Torgersen said Tuesday the contract will not include an increase in Braine's $106,775 salary.
Both Braine and Torgersen stressed that the contract was in the works before the Big East Conference's decision last week to snub the Hokies for full membership, and said that won't affect the deal.
Braine's lack of a contract became an issue last spring when he was Iowa State's target to fill its athletic director's job.
Torgersen said his research indicated other athletic directors have long-term deals. Those include Virginia's Jim Copeland, who received a five-year reappointment in 1992. Braine, 50, said he's pleased with the security of his contract, which will take effect this summer.
"I think Dave's done an excellent job here," Torgersen said, adding that Braine had done "everything he can" to try to get Tech in an all-sports conference. "We were talking about this before what happened with the Big East. I thought it was a good idea then, and because of what has happened, I think it's an even better idea now."
Braine took the job when Tech was serving two years of NCAA probation for violations committed in the football and men's basketball programs. Among other accomplishments, he helped Tech join the Big East in football; hired men's basketball coach Bill Foster, who this year led the team to its first winning season since 1987-88; expanded the academic advising office, a move that has led to better graduation rates among athletes; and increased funding for non-revenue sports.
Tech won the Metro Conference's "all-sports" championship last year, an award that measures the performance of non-revenue teams, and the Hokies' women's basketball team makes its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance tonight.
"We have decided this is where we want to be," said Braine, who has interviewed for at least two other jobs (Iowa State and Miami).
Braine said the Big East's exclusion of Tech for all sports would not sour him on trying to lead the Hokies' program to a higher level.
"It's going to make it harder, no doubt about it," said Braine, who said his mood has been boosted by support shown by Hokies fans in recent days. "I'm not going to let that deter what we had originally set out to do, or take away from what we have accomplished.
"You're mad, you're upset, you're hurt, you're angry. Then, all of a sudden, you just snap out of it and say, `OK, it's time to get it done.' "
After being shocked by the Big East, Braine said, he has no illusions about Tech riding anyone's coattails to athletic achievement.
He noted the football team's 1993 bowl victory to cap a 9-3 season after going 2-8-1 the year before.
"If you want something done, you're going to have to do it yourself," he said. "That's what we're going to do. Football has shown us the way. Women's basketball has shown us the way."
by CNB