Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, December 15, 1994 TAG: 9412150046
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
``I'll be glad to give them whatever help I can to get a good person,'' said Schultz, who was UVa's athletic director from 1981-87. ``I'm really honored that people would think of me in that way, but, no, I probably would not return.
``I really enjoy what I'm doing now, and it's very rewarding financially. It gives me a little better control of my life than I've had in years.''
Schultz has not slowed appreciably since May 1993, when he resigned after six years as executive director of the NCAA. He serves as a consultant to two marketing firms, including Global Sports Enterprises, which he founded.
Schultz has 18 clients, ranging from baseball's Kansas City Royals to the Alamo Bowl to the University of Minnesota, which recently enlisted his services to determine why it hasn't been able to field a consistent winner in football in the past 25 years.
The demand has been a pleasant surprise to Schultz, whose last two years at the NCAA were filled with questions about his knowledge - or lack of knowledge - of illegal loans to student athletes while he was at UVa.
``I had an opportunity when I left the NCAA to move into some high-visibility jobs,'' Schultz said. ``But, after being on the road 215, 225 days a year, I said, `Hey, wait a minute. I'm 65 years old. Maybe I ought to think about controlling my life a little bit.'
``I wasn't sure what was going to happen, so I put together a letter that I was going to send out to a number of places. I haven't sent the letter out yet. All I've done is answer the phone about one project or another.''
ANNOUNCEMENT DUE: Sources say UVa president John Casteen may name an interim athletic director as early as today. Craig Littlepage, an associate athletic director, is the likely choice to take over at least temporarily for Copeland, who resigned Friday to take a similar position at Southern Methodist.
PANTHER BECOMES BOBCAT: Jim Grobe, the new head football coach at Ohio University, played linebacker at Ferrum when it was a two-year school. Grobe, who lettered at UVa in 1973-74, has been an assistant coach at Air Force for the past 10 years.
James Madison coach Rip Scherer reportedly inquired about the Ohio U. opening before removing his name from consideration. Scherer also has been mentioned among the early possibilities for the opening at Vanderbilt.
HOKIES INTEREST TAYLOR: Former All-Group AAA quarterback Shannon Taylor, who made an oral commitment to Virginia last winter, is in the process of setting up a campus visit to Virginia Tech.
Taylor, a football and basketball star at Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, has been enrolled since the fall at Fork Union Military Academy. He never signed with UVa but remains interested in the Cavaliers.
``We'll probably let him visit one other school [besides UVa],'' said John Shuman, Fork Union's coach. ``I know he has talked with Virginia Tech. Mississippi has told us, `We've got to have him,' but Shannon has to concentrate on getting into school first.''
Taylor is one of two UVa recruits at Fork Union, along with 6-4, 265-pound defensive tackle Tony Dingle from Hope Mills, N.C. Shuman said Dingle will commit to UVa as soon as he visits.
UVA-BOUND: Kevin Hillerich, a 6-foot-4, 250-pound defensive tackle from DeSales High School in Louisville, Ky., has become at least the seventh player - counting Dingle - to make an oral commitment to Virginia.
Hillerich, a second-team all-state selection, canceled a trip to Vanderbilt when coach Gerry DiNardo resigned to go to LSU. ``The worst they'll get out of him is three years [as a starter],'' said Harold Joyce, DeSales' coach.
West Potomac defensive end Mike Willetts, a preseason All-American, said he will meet today with a Virginia assistant coach and may drive to Charlottesville as a courtesy, even though he is committed to Boston College.
``It was like [UVa] was the last school to get in on me,'' Willetts said. ``My coach [Dale Eaton] had to call them. I definitely would have looked at them harder if they'd been more interested earlier. I'm set now. I'm going to Boston College.''
COMMITMENTS: Wake Forest has received a commitment from 6-7, 310-pound Todd Hollowell from Western Branch High School in Chesapeake. Coach Lewis Johnston said lukewarm interest from the other Division I-A programs in the region prompted Hollowell to jump at Wake's offer.
RECORD-BREAKER: VMI forward Lester Johnson set a Southern Conference record when he made all 11 of his field-goal attempts Saturday in a 99-93 loss to Radford. Johnson, a fourth-year junior from Richmond, went to VMI without a scholarship and did not play basketball until his second year.
RIP JOB: Coach Eddie Fogler, on his South Carolina basketball team's performance in an 83-59 loss to Clemson on Dec.8: ``I didn't get outhustled out there tonight, and neither did anybody on our [coaching] staff. ... That's the worst performance by far since I've been here, and I'm not going to take the rap for it. Our guys are babies. They bag it. They played a hell of a lot worse than we prepared them.''
FORMER RAIDERS HONORED: Former North Cross School teammates Tres Moore from Roanoke College and Andy McDonald from Mary Washington have been named to the All-South Region men's soccer team.
Second-team all-region choices included Roanoke senior Rick Wells on the men's team and Maroons sophomore Meredith Arnott on the women's team. Moore, a four-year starter, was a first-team All-Old Dominion Athletic Conference choice.
NON-REVENUE: Roanoke College is second to Hampden-Sydney in the first NCAA Division III South Region men's basketball poll. A third ODAC team, Bridgewater, is fifth.
by CNB