Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 14, 1995 TAG: 9503140131
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Well, send them to Blacksburg. Virginia Tech men's basketball coach Bill Foster needs all the motivational tools he can find.
His players still are down after Sunday's NCAA Tournament snub, and Foster said Monday he's willing to try anything to get his club motivated to play Clemson in Friday's first round of the 58th National Invitation Tournament.
``They're a little down and a little disappointed they're not in the NCAA,'' Foster said. ``I think in the back of their minds they thought they might still sneak in [the NCAA field] Sunday.
``I think the players got wrapped up in all the high computer rankings we had in the [Ratings Percentage Index] and stuff and felt like they still might make it.
``But I understand the process. I wasn't surprised at all when we didn't get a bid. Sure, we're one of the best 64 teams. But the best 64 teams don't go. Never have, never will unless the format is changed.''
Foster said it's imperative the Hokies (20-10) regroup before facing the Tigers (15-12) at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Cassell Coliseum.
``Hopefully,'' Foster said, ``we can distance ourselves from last Friday [an 82-66 first-round loss to Southern Mississippi in the Metro Conference tournament] and Sunday [the NCAA snub].
``Not that our guys are not excited about playing, but they're not nearly as excited as they would be if they were playing in the other tournament.''
LET'S PLAY NOW: Foster said he would have preferred that Tech play its NIT opener Wednesday instead of Friday, even if it meant playing on the road.
``We told the NIT that we'd like to play Wednesday - home or away,'' Foster said. ``Then we get a call back and they say, `You're Friday.'
``At this time of year, you've got to have a lot of imagination just to keep going. These guys have been at this since Oct.15.
``Plus, there's nobody here. The rest of the students are gone on spring break. These players already have missed breaks at Thanksgiving and Christmas and now this. If we could have played Wednesday, they could have gone home a few days if they had lost. They could have gone home a day or two even if they had won.''
FAST CLOSER: Did the Metro Conference go down firing or what?
In its final season, the Metro wound up putting a league-record six of its seven teams in postseason play.
UNC Charlotte, Louisville and Tulane made the NCAA, and Tech, Southern Miss and South Florida are in the NIT.
While 85.7 percent of the Metro plays on, Virginia Commonwealth University has packed its bags and waits to see if coach Sonny Smith will move with the Rams to the Colonial Athletic Association or flee to South Alabama, as rumored.
TAKE A HIKE: Of the seven Division I schools that won 20 or more games and received no postseason bid, two have coaching ties to Virginia Tech.
Navy (20-9), led by ex-Hokies coach Don DeVoe, and New Orleans, coached by ex-Tech player Tic Price, joined Montana State (21-8), UNC Greensboro (23-6), Portland (21-8), Valparaiso (20-8) and Western Illinois (20-8) on the list.
NIT BITS: The Tech-Clemson winner will play the College of Charleston- Providence survivor in the second round. Obviously, the NIT folks are intrigued by coaches going against their old schools. As was the case with Foster and Clemson, the bracket sets up a possible pairing between Tigers coach Rick Barnes and his former school, Providence. Barnes led the Friars to three NCAA and two NIT bids in six seasons between 1987 and 1994 ... The first three rounds are played at campus sites. The semifinals and final will be held at New York's Madison Square Garden on March 27 and 29. ... Tech is 7-5 all-time against Clemson. The Tigers haven't played in Blacksburg since 1969, when they lost 86-75. Clemson has won the past three meetings, the last in 1973. ... Before Georgia Tech declined its NIT invitation, the last school to turn down an NIT bid had been Louisville, which rejected a bid in 1987 after going 18-14 coming off a national title season.
by CNB