Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, January 23, 1994 TAG: 9401230120
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Jack Bogaczyk
DATELINE: LEXINGTON LENGTH: Medium
Now, it's welcome to the pits.
The Keydets, forever rebuilding, lost for the 28th time in 29 games Saturday afternoon. A 78-60 Davidson win at Cameron Hall was VMI's 21st straight Southern Conference defeat.
The Keydets' 28-game skid against Division I opposition - they beat Bluefield to start this season - is three shy of the school record set during the 1981-82 and '82-83 seasons, when they finished a combined 3-50.
The second of those was Joe Cantafio's first year on the staff, as Marty Fletcher's four VMI seasons began 2-25. Cantafio succeeded his former boss, and his eighth season as VMI's head coach is nothing new.
"I've been through this before," Cantafio said after his too-young team lowered its shooting percentage to .366 for the year. "Believe it or not, this team really is a little more competitive and athletic than the first year I was here. It's not like we have a bunch of stiffs.
"The thing I don't want to do is make excuses, and so I won't. We're getting better, and we'll get even better. Right now, we're having growing pains."
Cantafio could use more of that. Not only does he start three freshmen and a sophomore, the center is 6-foot-7 senior Jonathan Goodman. Because of the attrition that so often diminishes returns at the military college, the Keydets' junior and senior classes count for little, and VMI has had more than its share of Southern Conference Freshmen of the Year in recent years.
Last year was supposed to be a decent one for VMI, but a team led by seniors Lewis Preston and Jonathan Penn - second-team all-conference picks as juniors - finished with 16 consecutive losses. And hardly any were close. Those defeats came by an average of 16.1 points. This season's 12 straight losses have been by a 15.7-point average.
VMI fired football coach Jim Shuck last month after a 1-10 season on the heels of a 3-8 finish. He had just signed a two-year contract extension three months earlier. Cantafio's team was 5-22 last season and finished badly, albeit with three freshman starters. The Keydets appear to have only one other sure win on the schedule - a visit by Division III Shenandoah.
At season's end, Cantafio also will have two years left on a contract that pays him almost $58,000 annually. So, will he be shown the same door as Shuck?
"It's certainly a legitimate question," Cantafio said. "My situation and Jim's situation are very similar. But I can't sit here and worry about it. VMI always has been good to me. They've always provided for our program when we've needed. I've tried to always represent the school well.
"The fact remains though, that we need to win more games. Nobody has to tell me that."
Talk to other coaches in and out of the Southern Conference about Cantafio, and you'll hear praise for his knowledge, his ability to teach and, not surprisingly, his patience and resiliency. He grew up in the blue-collar coal region of northeastern Pennsylvania. He's not big, but he's tough.
When VMI beat The Citadel 53 weeks ago, Cantafio got his 74th victory on the Keydets' bench. That left him two shy of becoming the winningest coach in school history. He's still trying to surpass Charlie Schmaus' record - although he did get W.C. Raferty's record for most losses last season.
Cantafio, 40, chews Pepto-Bismol pills and remains a good-humor man. His hair is graying, too.
"Getting gray? It's going to fall out pretty soon," he said.
He wishes winning basketball games was as easy as shooting in the 70s on the golf course, which he often does.
"I stay awake nights all the time, but not because I'm worried about my job," he said. "I'm sitting there trying to figure out how we can get better. The toughest thing is to lose over and over, but kids are very resilient. We're not going to cry about it."
Times have changed in hoops since VMI's NCAA Tournament glory of the mid-'70s. There were 235 Division I teams then; there are 301 now. There were 25 teams in the tournament; there are 64 now, and about half as many conferences. There was no Big East, Atlantic 10, Colonial or Sun Belt. And VMI has finished in the top half of the Southern Conference standings only once in 15 years.
Where does that leave Cantafio?
"Joe's done a very good job at VMI," said athletic director Davis Babb. "Last season was discouraging. We hoped for better things, but it didn't happen. Joe recruited some perimeter scorers, which we needed.
"We still feel positive about the program. We will have good teams again. Joe has a special understanding of what it takes here. He has institute-wide support. He's respected in the conference. He gets as much out of his kids as any coach anywhere. We look to the future with him in a very positive light."
So, the big question at VMI doesn't seem to be whether Cantafio will keep his job, but whether the Keydets can finally keep some promising players.
by CNB