Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 30, 1995 TAG: 9503300080
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
``I want to talk to them not as the ACC commissioner but as a former member of the committee,'' said Corrigan, who served two three-year terms on the panel.
Corrigan said he was concerned by the implications of Georgia Tech not receiving an NCAA Tournament bid despite an 8-8 conference record and by the ACC receiving four NCAA bids when four other, lesser-ranked conferences received five or more.
``I was bitterly disappointed for Georgia Tech,'' said Corrigan, who also said he felt Virginia Tech belonged in the field ahead of a sixth team from the Big Ten Conference, which was 1-6 in NCAA first-round play.
Corrigan expressed no reservations about the selection of Manhattan, which was 25-4 after losing in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championship game. He noted that Santa Clara received a bid after losses to Pepperdine (8-19) and Loyola Marymount (13-15) in its last two games.
``They have a big board with all the [possible] teams on it,'' Corrigan said. ``It's like I told one of the committee members, `Never let them take a team off the board because it's not going back up there.'''
Corrigan would not dismiss the notion that the ACC may have suffered from a lack of representation on the committee. Duke athletic director Tom Butters was the chairman until this year when Kansas' Bob Frederick took over.
Committee members are excluded from voting on teams in their conference, ``but that doesn't mean you can't talk about them,'' Corrigan said.
Corrigan said he had no argument with Georgia Tech's decision to turn down a bid to the National Invitation Tournament, something no team had done since 1987.
``Bobby [Cremins] called me before he did that,'' Corrigan said. ``I told him it was all right with me. I don't think there's any way they could have gotten ready for the NIT after getting their hopes up [for an NCAA bid] two years in a row.''
Corrigan answered questions on a Division I-A playoff (he's opposed to it, but considers it inevitable) and ACC expansion (none in the foreseeable future). He received little challenge on the latter issue from Virginia Tech fans, many of whom stayed home or left early to watch the Hokies in the National Invitation Tournament.
HIGH ON METHENEY: Virginia basketball coach Jeff Jones on Wednesday gave his most glowing comments yet on Chase Metheney, a 7-foot-3 freshman who did not play after the preseason and for whom the Cavaliers are making a hardship appeal.
``My expectations for Chase start right now,'' Jones said. ``I expect him to get into the weight room; I expect him to work harder than anybody on the team. I don't expect him to be a savior next year; I don't think expect him to match Junior Burrough's numbers. I expect him to compete for quality minutes.
``I feel [with] the attributes he has, tangible and intangible, that the possibility and likelihood of him being a very good player are tremendous. He'd be out for a week and then come back and he'd change the entire complexion of practice. Even when he was healthy, we'd have to sit him down sometimes because he totally distorted everything we were doing.''
POSSIBLE PRIZE: Vic Williams, head football coach at Thomas Dale High School in Chester, said Virginia Tech signee Ricky Hall can be mentioned in the same breath as former Thomas Dale running back Ken Oxendine, rated one of the top two prospects in Virginia when he signed with Tech last year.
``He always been,'' Williams said. ``He's [Hall] a better athlete. He's the best athlete I've ever coached. Here's a kid who goes 6 feet 3 and about 205 pounds who has a 31-inch vertical leap and runs the 100 [meters] in 11 [seconds] flat.''
Hall, a wide receiver and defensive back, fell in many recruiting rankings because of questions about his academic status. Although he still does not meet NCAA qualifying standards, Tech saw enough improvement in Hall's transcript after the first semester to offer him a scholarship.
In order to meet NCAA grade requirements, Hall must raise a D to a C+ and a D to a C, as well as make an A in a geometry course he is taking at night. He has a score of 680 - 20 points under the required minimum - on the Scholastic Assessment Test.
Hall had 24 receptions for 480 yards this past season and scored touchdowns on three of his eight punt returns. If he does not qualify, he plans to attend Butler County (Kan.) Community College and transfer to Tech in two years, a route followed by Tech signees Greg Melvin and Myron Newsome.
MAKING THE GRADE: Several Tech signees have met NCAA academic standards since the national letter-of-intent date, Feb.1, leaving the Hokies with four players waiting on SAT scores: Hall, fullback-linebacker Shelley Ellison, wide receiver-defensive back Shannon Rice and quarterback Willie McGirt.
LOCAL UPDATE: Radford High School product Paige Martin finished her basketball career at Central Connecticut State with 1,084 points and 335 assists to finish ninth and third, respectively, on the school's all-time lists.
Ex-Blacksburg standout Yolanda Ervin, also a senior at Central Connecticut State, had the best season of her college career. Ervin started 16 games and was third on the team in steals and assists.
James Madison freshman track-and-field performer Jason Alexander from Wytheville qualified for the USA Junior National Championships with a time of 31 minutes, 12.8 seconds for the 10,000 meters.
by CNB