Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 14, 1995 TAG: 9501160043
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Long
When Dave Braine returned this week from the NCAA Convention in San Diego, the Virginia Tech athletic director was red in the face.
And it wasn't a result of too much fun in the California sun.
``To say the least,'' Braine said Thursday, ``I'm not real happy right now.''
When Braine arrived in San Diego last Friday, he had hopes that the continuing saga regarding the future of the Metro Conference finally would be solved. But when he returned home Wednesday night, the Metro still was a murky mess.
Tech and Virginia Commonwealth, which play basketball today at noon at Cassell Coliseum, remain Metro orphans still wondering what league they will call home in 1995-96.
Tech and VCU remain on hold because the other five Metro members - Louisville, South Florida, Southern Mississippi, Tulane and UNC Charlotte - refuse to officially declare their intentions for next season.
``In the form of a motion I made,'' Braine said, ``[Tech and VCU] were asking Louisville, Southern Miss and Tulane - and as soon as South Florida and UNC Charlotte knew what they were going to do - to tell Virginia Tech and VCU what the plans were so we can make plans for next year.''
``The motion was defeated 5-2, meaning that the other five voted against it. That was it, end of discussion.''
Louisville, Southern Miss and Tulane already have accepted invitations to join a new all-sports conference for '95-96. South Florida and UNC Charlotte met with the other 10 schools of Great Midwest/Metro combine in San Diego but haven't been accepted yet.
VCU also made a membership pitch to the new league but got no answer.
There has been some question whether the schools leaving the Metro would pay their exit fee of $500,000 each. VCU president Eugene Trani has warned the Metro defectors that the Richmond school will take them to court if they didn't live up to their obligations as required by the Metro constitution.
Funny what a possible lawsuit can do. As the NCAA Convention convened, stories broke that the Metro may remain intact for another year, keeping the new league on hold until '96-97.
One of those stories appeared in Friday's Dayton Daily News and said the merger of several Great Midwest and Metro schools might not happen next season. The newspaper quoted Memphis University president V. Lane Rawlins as saying the league has no commissioner and might not be able to solve its organizational problems in time to start next season.
``I think Louisville, Southern Miss and Tulane are now saying this might cost us more money that we thought ... so maybe we'd better go about this the right way, pay our $500,000 fee and disband the conference,'' Braine said.
``I think they were probably given some poor legal advice. When they found out what was happening with Dayton in the Great Midwest Conference [they thought] that they'd better relook at what was going to happen, because if a lawsuit was filed it could cost them a bunch of money.''
Dayton, which is being left out of the new conference equation, is settling its damages out of court with the Great Midwest schools.
Braine said Tech has refused to join VCU in legal action because ``our feeling here is why should we file a lawsuit against those schools when we were trying to do the same thing last year'' when a possible bid to the Big East Conference lurked.
``The only difference,'' Braine said, ``was we were ready to pay the $500,000 fine and leave the conference. We did it it up front. We told 'em all along we were going Big East when we could.''
Braine isn't ready to buy the notion that the Metro will play again in its present form next year.
``The new league is scheduling, putting together their package and hiring a commissioner,'' he said. ``I don't know why you would do that now if you're not starting until '96-97.''
Metro sources say Tech has a ticket into the Atlantic 10 anytime it wants to punch it. The Hokies had hoped the path would be cleared in San Diego for them to head north next winter.
If the Metro somehow stays together for next season, Tech would have to pay the $500,000 exit fee to flee to the A-10 for '95-96.
Do the Hokies post up and leave now when the A-10 offer is on the table? Or do they keep their hands in their pockets, ride out the Metro storm and keep their fingers crossed that the A-10 still will want them a year from now?
Well, don't count on the Hokies paying the ransom. A source said Tech already has been guaranteed by the A-10 that its offer will stand 12 months from now.
So where will Tech basketball play next season? The Metro? The Atlantic 10? Or how about the Colonial Athletic Association?
The Colonial is talking expansion, with its principle targets being stealing Massachusetts and Rhode Island from the A-10. UMass and Rhode Island, both state schools, aren't exactly enamored with their private-school brethren in the A-10, a source said.
``If that happened,'' said Braine, ``it would make the Colonial much more attractive to us.''
For now, though, who knows what's going to happen.
``This thing seems to change daily,'' Braine said. ``I've been going through this for three years [when Tech was accepted to the Big East for only football].
``Like everybody else, I'll be glad when it's all over.''
by CNB