Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, April 2, 1995 TAG: 9504060020
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SEATTLE LENGTH: Long
Bill Raftery is calling the Final Four for CBS Radio this weekend, but he hasn't forgotten the basketball he saw on the opposite coast a few days earlier.
Raftery said NIT champion Virginia Tech's program ``is one of the best-kept secrets in the game.'' The former Seton Hall coach handled the analysis of the Hokies' last two NIT victories in New York for ESPN.
``I was really impressed with what Bill Foster did with such limited resources,'' Raftery said. ``When you're short on depth and you can't make changes, sometimes kids tend to go off on you, do their thing, because they know they're going to play.
``Not those guys. They play defense, they pass, they didn't foul, they didn't turn it over. Very solid, underrated guards, too.
``And I loved the job Ace [Custis] did. He didn't play well in the championship game, but in the last few minutes they needed him and he brought it. They're just tough kids.
``How can you not like Shawn Smith? He's one of those big guys that we couldn't recruit when I was coaching at Catholic schools. We couldn't afford to feed a guy like Smitty.''
LESS-THAN-WHOLE HOG: Considering the rabid Razorbacks rooters Virginia saw at the Midwest Regional final in Kansas City, Mo., and last year's outpouring of Hog-hatted fans at the Final Four in Charlotte, N.C., the next paragraph is shocking.
Arkansas failed to sell its allotment of 3,500 tickets for the Final Four. Oklahoma State bought the last 112 seats from the Razorbacks. ``Our fans love to drive,'' said a school spokesman. And Seattle is a long way from Hog Heaven.
FAMILIAR: Making his first appearance at the Final Four coaches' reception was Roanoke's Keith ``Duck'' Spencer, a Longwood College student assistant and William Fleming High School graduate.
Spencer was wearing shorts of the XXXL variety that Jalen Rose would appreciate. Speaking of shorts, Spencer said one reason his favored Kentucky team lost was its attire. ``Those shorts look like backgammon boards,'' he said.
STREAKING: John Wooden guided UCLA to seven consecutive NCAA titles and 10 in 12 years and Billy Packer is calling his 21st consecutive Final Four telecast for CBS. But the record for Final Four longevity belongs to Louisville.
Not the Cardinals of Denny Crum. The school's statistics crew is working its 26th consecutive Final Four for the NCAA, and the 15th in a row on the computer program the crew popularized and refined at Freedom Hall.
The seven men also worked all 20 Metro Conference tournaments.
FRANKIE WHO? Tennessee State coach Frankie Allen, the former Roanoke College star and Virginia Tech coach, is scheduled to sign autographs today at the National Association of Basketball Coaches' ``Fan Jam.''
Allen, worried the fans might not know him, expressed those concerns to the NABC's executive director, Jim Haney. ``Jim said, `Just sign `George Raveling' and nobody will know the difference,''' Allen said.
Allen said he is thrilled about being named to coach the South team at the U.S. Olympic Festival in Denver during the summer. Among his players will be Oak Hill Academy's super prospect, Ron Mercer.
``I just hope I don't screw him up,'' Allen said, laughing.
IMPORTANT: The Seattle Post-Intelligencer asked coaches, administrators and media to name the 10 most influential people in college basketball. There was a Knight on the list, but not Bobby.
The list, alphabetically:
CBS Sports vice president Len DeLuca, recruiting guru Bob Gibbons, NCAA deputy director Tom Jernstedt, Nike chief Phil Knight, Kentucky athletic director C.M. Newton, Kentucky coach Rick Pitino, NABC president and rules committee chairman George Raveling, North Carolina coach Dean Smith, Georgetown coach John Thompson and ESPN/ABC analyst and walking, talking corporation Dick Vitale.
STATEMENT: The crowds looking for Final Four shirts and caps at the Bon Marche department store in a city overrun by hoopheads are spending big. Two counters away, no one is looking at Seattle Mariners jackets, marked down 40 percent.
DRIBBLES: Pete Strickland, a former VMI and Old Dominion assistant now on Oliver Purnell's staff at Dayton, will interview for the vacant head-coaching job at Delaware, as will Duke assistant Mike Brey and Charleston Southern head coach Gary Edwards. ... More than 29,000 spectators watched Friday's Final Four practices for free at the Kingdome. Only Indianapolis has attracted more practice viewers. ... It's true: Oklahoma State's sixth man, Chianti Roberts, was named after the red wine. ``My aunt named me when I was born,'' he said. ... An informal survey among Final Four players after Oklahoma State's Bryant Reeves shattered a backboard during Friday's workout revealed the only other player on the four teams to smash the glass during his career is Arkansas center Elmer Martin. ... Oklahoma coach Kelvin Sampson, a North Carolina native and Lumbee Indian, will receive the national coach of the year award from the U.S. Basketball Writers' Association on Monday. Sampson, in his first season with the Sooners after seven years at Washington State, adds the USBWA honor to the Adolph Rupp Trophy as Associated Press coach of the year. ... On the marquee of The Lusty Lady adult theatre in downtown Seattle: ``Welcome Final Four Players. Have an Erotic Day.''
FINAL WORD: The Kingdome Pavilion adjacent to the stadium is the location of the media work and interview room. On occasion, a train passing just outside the arena blows its whistle.
It happened during UNC coach Dean Smith's news conference after Friday's practice. To which Smith said, ``That reminds me of N.C. State [where a rail line passes not far from Reynolds Coliseum].''
Grinning, Smith added, ``I can't say that. ... Well, I never did say that in recruiting once.''
by CNB