Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, November 26, 1995 TAG: 9511280004
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
At the Atlantic 10 preseason basketball gathering in Philadelphia this month, George Washington coach Mike Jarvis was asked about Virginia Tech, one of five new schools in the league this season.
``First of all,'' Jarvis said, ``I wish they'd kept Virginia Tech the hell out, because it's too damned good.
``Naw, in all seriousness, when I was asked about Tech, I said, `You know, if we don't have to play 'em it'd be great.'
``But they've got to be in ... they're just too good not to be in the league.''
The Hokies, with everybody back from last season's 25-10 National Invitation Tournament title team, are drawing a lot of looks from their new neighbors. Tech's move from the Metro Conference to the A-10 certainly didn't go unnoticed.
Tech's nosy new neighbors know so much that the Hokies have been tabbed the overwhelming favorite to win the East Division.
``I don't second-guess that assessment,'' said Jarvis, whose Colonials are picked second in the East. ``I expected Tech to get picked on top.''
So, what will the Hokies see in their first tour of the Atlantic 10? They will discover a lot of tough places to find (like Olean, N.Y., home of St. Bonaventure), as well as tough places to play.
``I'll probably miss Hattiesburg [Metro stop of Southern Mississippi] when I get to Olean,'' Tech coach Bill Foster said with a laugh
``It's going to be a whole new deal for us. We're going into a lot of places where we've never been before.''
The Hokies will get a crash geography lesson on the northeastern sector of the United States. They will spend a lot of time in the big city, especially Philadelphia.
``I'm not crazy about that,'' Foster said. ``I'm just an old Southern boy.
``I've talked to John Calipari [Massachusetts coach] and Mike Jarvis, and both mentioned the small gyms at some places. There are some Tulane-like facilities in this league which are going to be confining and small. And you go in there, and you're rated pretty good, and they're sold out with 2,400 or something, and they're just all on top of you.''
Nevertheless, the positive factors of going to the A-10 far outweigh the negatives in Tech's case.
First, there's television. In July, the league announced a six-year deal with ESPN and ESPN2 for games of the week on both cable networks. In addition, seven league games will air on ABC this season.
Tech has three dates on ESPN, two on ESPN2 and another on ABC.
``It's by far our best TV situation,'' Foster said.
``John [Calipari] told me basically the league is not going to get you a lot of TV games, you're going to get 'em because you're one of best teams. If you want to get games you'd better be one of the two or three best teams.''
Foster said the A-10 also has given Tech more recruiting visibility.
``It's easier to sell than the Metro,'' Foster said. ``The Atlantic 10, because of the success of Temple and UMass, seems to have more visibility in high school kids' heads, more name recognition, more credibility than the Metro had.''
West Division
GEORGE WASHINGTON (18-14 last season, 10-6 league): If anybody in the division can give Tech a run, it figures to be the Colonials. Jarvis has a solid cast back from a club that started well before fizzling late and blowing what would have been a second straight NCAA Tournament bid.
GW will be led by 7-foot-1 center Alexander Koul, last season's A-10 rookie of the year after averaging 12.8 points and 6.6 rebounds. The rapidly progressing Koul will be even more productive when he learns how to avoid fouls - he fouled out 10 times last season.
The Colonials' other big threat is 6-7 senior guard Kwame Evans (17.4 ppg).
``I think we'll be a hell of a team by the end of the year,'' Jarvis said.
XAVIER (23-5, 14-0 in Midwestern Collegiate): Fans will need a program this season at Xavier, where the Musketeers' roster is dominated by new names. Heading into its first A-10 campaign, Xavier will be without four starters who produced 66 percent of last last season's offense.
Sophomore forward Tavares Johnson, last season's MCC Freshman of the Year, is back. Coach Skip Prosser will count on some talented freshmen and a couple of last season's reserves to step into Xavier's run-and-press rotation.
DUQUESNE (10-18, 5-11): First-year coach Scott Edgar, who led Murray State to three postseason appearances the past four seasons, hopes to bring the same magic to Pittsburgh.
Edgar has four starters back from last season's disappointing 10-18 squad. The best of the lot is junior guard Tom Pipkins (17.4 ppg), a second-team all-league performer last season. In hopes of remedying the Dukes' size problems, Edgar brought in two junior college transfers - 6-10 Neil Hood and 6-5 Charles Poe - and 6-7 Nick Bosnic, a transfer from Maryland.
LA SALLE (13-14, 7-7 in Midwestern Collegiate): The Explorers enter the A-10 with the unenviable task of having to replace the backcourt of Kareem Townes and Paul Burke, which combined for 3,293 career points.
Sophomore point guard Shawn ``Reds'' Smith, a Prop 48 casualty last season, can play for just about anybody, but the rest of Coach Speedy Morris' surrounding cast is not up to A-10 caliber.
DAYTON (7-20, 0-12 in Great Midwest): Ex-Radford and Old Dominion coach Oliver Purnell is finding out how the other half lives in Dayton.
In his second season, Purnell is trying to rebuild a program that hasn't posted 10 victories in a season since 1991-92. It won't be easy as Dayton is thin up front and its backcourt is young and erratic.
``Our program is down, and we're struggling to get it where we all want it,'' Purnell said. ``And now we're not coming to play the little sisters of the poor, which will make it even more difficult.''
East Division
MASSACHUSETTS (29-5 overall; 13-3 league): The Minutemen have swept the A-10's regular-season and conference tournament titles the past four seasons. If UMass hits the parlay again this season, it will join North Carolina State (1947-51 in the Southern Conference) as the only school to score five such doubles in a row.
Although it lost forward Lou Roe, last season's A-10 Player of the Year, Calipari's club still has one of the nation's best front lines. Pacing UMass up front will be 6-11 junior center Marcus Camby, who likely would have been an NBA lottery pick had he opted to leave school after last season.
How far the Minutemen go will depend on the perimeter play of point guard Edgar Padilla and shooting guards Carmelo Travieso and freshman Charlton Clarke.
As usual, Calipari is downplaying his hand, saying, ``we're so overratted it's ugly.''
TEMPLE (19-11, 10-6): The Owls are loaded with size and talent up front but have some holes in the backcourt with the graduation of Rick Brunson.
``You can't get a damned thing without a lead guard. Some guys know how to do it, I don't,'' said Temple coach John Chaney, thin at the point with the failure of touted recruit Rasheed Brokenborough to meet Proposition 48 standards.
As usual, Chaney has lined up of the nation's toughest non-conference schedules, which includes the likes of Cincinnati, Kansas, Duke, Memphis, Oklahoma State, Tulane and Villanova.
"That should make us better for the end of the year,'' Chaney said.
ST. JOSEPH'S (17-12, 9-7): Longtime Hawks assistant Phil Martelli takes over for John Griffin, who resigned in July to re-enter the financial business world.
Senior forward Reggie Townsend (14.7 ppg) will have to pick up his game inside to help make up for the loss of Carlin Warley, the main reason St. Joe's ranked second in the league in rebounding margin last season.
The Hawks figure to be hard pressed to match last season's NIT appearance.
ST. BONAVENTURE (18-13, 9-7): The Bonnies lost three starters off last season's NIT club, but the fallout may not be too great.
Jim Baron, last season's A-10 Coach of the Year, has a deep frontcourt with size and decent skills. Baron's questions come in the backcourt, where he lacks a proven scorer with the loss of David Vanterpool (17.5 ppg). The point is manned by cat-quick, 5-7 Shandue McNeill, who can do everything but shoot. Opposing defenses figure to pack the middle and make the young Bonnies - with only one senior on their roster - fire away from outside.
RHODE ISLAND (7-20, 2-14): After making the NCAA field in 1993, the Rams have gone south in a hurry.
Coach Al Skinner's club has four starters back, led by sophomore point guard Tyson Wheeler (13.2 ppg). The Rams can't help but be improved, but unless they find some answers up front they won't be a league contender.
FORDHAM (11-17, 6-8 in Patriot League): The Rams finished fifth in the non-scholarship Patriot League. Now, they are forced to make the huge jump to the A-10.
``I don't know if we're an Atlantic 10 team. I don't think we are,'' said coach Nick Macarchuk, whose roster is laced with players who received little Division I attention.
Until the Rams' talent pool is restocked, opposing A-10 teams will find their new stop in New York City to be little more than a sight-seeing tour.
by CNB