
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, April 15, 1994                   TAG: 9404150022
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

VIRGINIA ASSISTANTS MOVING UP AND OUT

Jeff Jones, who was able to retain the same staff for his first four seasons as head basketball coach at Virginia, is feeling a bit lonely all of a sudden.

Jones was left without any full-time assistants Thursday after Brian Ellerbe was introduced as the new head coach at Loyola, Md.

The departure of Ellerbe comes one week after UVa's other full-time assistant, Dennis Wolff, became the head coach at Boston University.

"It's a good thing we essentially had finished recruiting," Jones said. "If we hadn't, this really would have hurt."

It is a foregone conclusion that Tom Perrin, who has served in a variety of low-paying roles as an assistant for the past 12 years, will move up to full-time status.

"I can't say we've done that officially," Jones said, "but it's only a matter of days."

Anthony Solomon, a Richmond assistant who played at Virginia from 1983-87, is a strong candidate for the other spot.

Solomon also has worked at Delaware, Bowling Green and Manhattan.

"We've got to advertise one full-time position and the restricted-earnings position," Jones said. "My big desire is that we go ahead and fill the positions as soon as possible so everybody is on the same page and we, as a staff, can develop some chemistry."

The jobs must be posted for at least a month before they are filled, however.

Jones said the program is at a critical stage, "but I thought that anyway, based on the players we have coming back. That doesn't change."

Ellerbe, 30, is a respected recruiter who was UVa's principal contact with Cory Alexander, Curtis Staples and Norman Nolan.

"He has been very instrumental in our success," Jones said.

by CNB