Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 12, 1995 TAG: 9503130082
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: E-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: GREENSBORO, N.C. LENGTH: Medium
When the media finished asking him questions Thursday, Odom raised a few issues of his own, including the trend toward underclassmen jumping to the NBA.
``I don't think any of them are ready to go,'' said Odom, speaking of the four sophomores who were named first-team All-ACC. ``I think, if you polled the NBA general managers, they'd prefer to have them stay in college.''
Odom recently lost an underclassmen, Rodney Rogers, who turned pro after the 1992-93 season. Nobody expects the Deacons' Tim Duncan to go pro this year, but Duncan often gets lumped with fellow sophomores Joe Smith of Maryland and Rasheed Wallace and Jerry Stackhouse of North Carolina.
``If you want to go and be rich, then that's one reason to go,'' Odom said, ``but, if they think they're going to go and mop up the NBA, they're mistaken.
``Besides, how much money can you spend in a lifetime? What's the difference between $90 million and 45 million? You're being bought because you're not ready to play. You sit in hotel rooms, and you're just eaten up socially.''
A SET-UP?: Odom couldn't have known he would meet North Carolina in the ACC final - or could he? - when he told the media Thursday that ``Dean Smith is the greatest coach to coach at the college level.''
That wasn't exactly a revelation, considering that Smith has won 826 games, second to Adolph Rupp on the all-time list, has posted 25 straight 20-win seasons and has not finished lower than third in the ACC in 31 years.
Nevertheless, Odom felt it was important to inform a group of writers that ``nobody comes close when you consider longevity and ability to teach the game.''
``He's a tactician, a late-game coach and an innovator [with] the ability to insulate himself from the temptation to self-destruct.''
SHOULD BE OK: Wake Forest guard Randolph Childress underwent X-rays Saturday afternoon that showed there was no fracture in the little finger on his right hand.
``If you're right-handed, every time the ball hits your hand, it hurts,'' said Childress, who first hurt his finger in the first half of Wake's 77-68 victory over Virginia.
Wake's doctor pushed the dislocated finger back into place, and Childress was back on the floor after 15 seconds. He hurt his finger again in the closing seconds, after the outcome was no longer in doubt.
ON DUNCAN: Most coaches like their post players to attack the basket, but not Virginia coach Jeff Jones against Wake Forest and Duncan.
``On post plays where you think you have layups, [Duncan] says, `No you don't,''' Jones said. ``If you're not careful with your shots, all you're doing is serving up another Tim Duncan block.''
The ACC frowns on coaches who question officials, so Jones played diplomat when it was pointed out that Duncan had one foul in the first 37 minutes.
``It was interesting to me that we were called for nine fouls in the post,'' he said. ``Were there any fouls called on Wake, defensively, in the post? I'm not talking about [fouls] on shots.''
WILLIAMS WATCH: Maryland coach Gary Williams has been released from Washington Adventist Hospital after an 11-day bout with pneumonia, but Terps insiders say it's no certainty that he will be cleared to coach in the NCAA Tournament.
SWEATY STUFF: No one is looking forward to Williams' return more than interim coach Billy Hahn, who has sweated through his clothes in each of four games. ``I can't afford the dry cleaning,'' Hahn said.
SMITH SNUBBED: Academics were cited as a reason that Maryland star Joe Smith was not included on a list of finalists for the Wooden Award, for which one of the requirements is a 2.0 grade average.
PROGRESS HAILED: North Carolina State athletic director Todd Turner has given a vote of confidence to coach Les Robinson, whose four consecutive losing seasons are the first for the Wolfpack since 1943-46.
Turner cited improved graduation rates for Wolfpack basketball players and said that Robinson has signed NBA-caliber prospects the last three years in Todd Fuller, Chuck Kornegay and Ishua Benjamin, although Kornegay subsequently transferred to Villanova.
Kornegay never expressed unhappiness with State's basketball program but enrolled at a time when strict eligibility standards were in place. Those standards have been modified and now come closer to NCAA guidelines.
State's student newspaper, the Technician, called for Robinson's resignation this week.
by CNB