Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, August 4, 1995 TAG: 9508040039
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: EAST RUTHERFORD, N. J. LENGTH: Medium
``Right now, I'd say the chances of us having Tony Morrison on the field this fall are good,'' said Beamer, speaking at the annual Big East Football Conference media day at Giants Stadium.
``His case is still under review. I'm not for sure when it will [be] taken care of, but I feel good about his chances of playing.''
It was Beamer's first public comment on Morrison since the sophomore linebacker was suspended from school in May for an unspecified on-campus incident.
Six weeks ago, it appeared Morrison's days at Tech were history when the school turned down his appeal for reinstatement.
But the school recently decided to review the case again after conferring with Morrison's lawyer, David Paxton of Roanoke.
``The university did, after speaking with the young man's lawyer, take another look at it,'' said Larry Hincker, Tech's director of university relations.
According to Paxton, a decision on the matter could come as soon as today.
Morrison was one of Tech's most heralded recruits after he graduated from Indian River High in 1993. The 6-foot-1, 216-pound Chesapeake native was listed as a projected starter at linebacker in spring drills.
``Tony is a rookie at that position but he did go through spring practice there,'' Beamer said. ``It's such a critical position in our defense because he's the one who has to move around [and] adjust quite a bit.''
EYE OF THE STORM: The media didn't waste any time in swarming around Butch Davis, the new head coach at Miami.
Predictably, most of the questions fired at the Hurricanes' boss concerned the NCAA's ongoing investigation of the Miami program.
``We're hoping to find out what's going to happen before the start of the season or the middle of the fall,'' Davis said. ``The ball is in their [the NCAA's] court. We're on their timetable now.''
ANOTHER HURRICANE YEAR: All the strife in Miami didn't dissuade the Big East media from picking the Hurricanes to rule the roost again.
Miami received 20 of a possible 30 first-place votes, easily outdistancing runner-up Boston College.
Tech, picked to win the Big East by Athlon magazine, garnered seven first-place votes - four more than BC - but finished third in overall voting.
No other school received a first-place vote. West Virginia was fourth, followed by Syracuse, Rutgers, Pittsburgh and Temple.
NEW RIVER TRAGEDY: West Virginia junior quarterback Chad Johnston, who played one season of high school football at Craig County High, was scheduled to join the Mountaineer contingent at media day. But Johnston learned late Wednesday night that Chad Johnston, his best friend from Peterstown, W.Va., had drowned earlier Wednesday in the New River.
``Chad was just heartbroken,'' said Shelly Poe, WVU sports information director. ``Evidently, Greg slipped on a rock while fishing and the current just took him.
``It's terrible because Chad had had such a great summer. He had a 4.0 [grade-point average] last spring and just gotten engaged. He was smiling all the time and everything was going his way for once.''
BOWL TIES: Commissioner Mike Tranghese said he's confident that the Big East will soon land a guaranteed bowl hook-up for its fourth-place finisher.
``We do not have a signed deal for a fourth team, but we do feel very confident in where we are,'' Tranghese said. "We'd like to think before too long we'll be making an announcement about an arrangement for our fourth team.
``We think it's very important we have a deal in place for four of our teams. Last year we had four teams [Tech, Miami, Boston College, West Virginia] go to a bowl and we think we should have had a fifth [Syracuse].''
The early front-runner for the link with Big East No.4 is the Liberty Bowl in Memphis, Tenn.
The Big East champion goes into the Bowl Alliance, which includes the Fiesta, Orange and Sugar bowls. Big East No.2 is ticketed for the Gator Bowl, while the Carquest Bowl gets the third Big East team.
DOWN TO BUSINESS: The Hokies, who open against Boston College on Thursday, Sept.7 at home, will begin fall practice next week.
Freshmen report on Monday and begin preliminary drills on Tuesday. The rest of the Tech squad reports on Thursday. After Friday's Media and Picture Day, the entire squad begins practice on Saturday, Aug.12.
by CNB