ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, March 17, 1996 TAG: 9603180026
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-11 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: HIGH SCHOOLS
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM
The game of musical chairs will begin as soon as the basketball season ends for Timesland coaches, but in football there is one constant.
Despite rumors this past season might be his last, Pulaski County coach Joel Hicks is coming back in the fall.
Several years ago, Hicks, brooding over a close loss at Salem, decided on the way back to Dublin to retire. His decision was announced, but three months later, Hicks reconsidered. When two of his assistants left at the end of the 1995 season, it appeared Hicks really might retire this time.
``Every year at the end of the season, it's one year at a time,'' said Hicks, whose team shared the Roanoke Valley District title with Patrick Henry and lost to Group AAA Division 5 runner-up E.C. Glass in the Northwest Region championship game. ``This year, it took me time to get around to'' a decision.
The two assistants who left Hicks' program are offensive line coach Clark Reese and defensive ends coach Freddy Akers. Each had spent about 10 years on Hicks' staff, one of Timesland's most formidable crews along with those of Salem and Blacksburg.
Reese and Akers, who left coaching to devote more time to family farms, will remain in teaching. That means Hicks will have to fill the coaching openings with part-time help or with candidates who already are teaching in the school system.
Luckily for the Cougars, a number of players who have come through Pulaski County's football program are now ready to filter back through it as coaches.
``I'm very fortunate, because we have on the ninth-grade and the junior varsity staffs Scott Vest, J.W. Smith, Perry Reece, Rodney Landreth, Eric Berry and Buddy Ratcliff,'' Hicks said. ``They all went to school here and played for me. They went and got their [college] education and then came back. I can move these kids up and replace Clark and Freddy.''
Hicks' team faces a stiff challenge next season in the district. William Fleming and Patrick Henry had some outstanding sophomores in 1995, and Hicks acknowledges his 10th-grade class wasn't one of the Cougars' strongest.
``I knew this was coming and I didn't want to quit the same time my assistant coaches did,'' Hicks said. ``I wanted things to stay together. Next year will be tough, and I just felt like they [the players] needed some good support. It wasn't a time to bail out.''
Pulaski County also is in the midst of a schedule transition, having dropped E.C. Glass while losing a game with Lynchburg's other public school, Heritage, now that the Pioneers dropped to Group AA.
The Cougars have added a home game against Good Council, which is out of Maryland and plays in the same league as perennial power DeMatha. They also have added Group AA Division 4 champion Amherst County, which replaces Heritage in the Western District.
Pulaski County needs one more home game and may have trouble finding an opponent. There are few Group AAA schools in the area, and Group AA teams, except Salem, are reluctant to play the Cougars.
Hicks is reluctant to discuss his future beyond the fall, but retirement remains an option.
``I don't know myself,'' he said. ``I told people I thought this would be my last year, so I would kind of like to leave it open.''
TIMESLAND PINS HOPES ON JONES: Franklin County's Bryan Jones, who won the Group AAA wrestling title at 152 pounds, goes to Pittsburgh on March 29-31 to compete in a national meet that involves only first- or second-place finishers in state tournaments.
This is the seventh edition of the tournament, but Jones will be the first Franklin County wrestler to compete. The meet will be held at Duquesne University, and each bracket will have at least 32 wrestlers competing in what also serves as a showcase for college coaches.
GIVE US LIBERTY: The Virginia High School League's executive committee has agreed to keep its spring basketball tournaments at Liberty University next year.
The Group A and AA wrestling tournaments will return to the Salem Civic Center, but will be held two weeks earlier than usual. They will coincide with the dates of the Group AAA district wrestling tournaments, meaning the Roanoke Valley District meet will be held the same weekend.The scheduling conflict will stretch officiating crews.
The fall girls' basketball championships, for the moment, are homeless and appear to be headed for two sites because there might not be a facility available large enough to hold both tournaments.
VHSL officials may talk with representatives of the Roanoke Civic Center, but that facility is a long shot at best. With college basketball season opening around the time of the state tournaments, it's unlikely any colleges will make a bid for the tournaments, and there are no high school facilities in this part of the state large enough to hold both tournaments.
To avoid conflicts in the future, programs supervisors Larry Johnson and Claudia Dodson, who schedule the state tournaments, will be allowed to negotiate a deal more than a year ahead of time if the VHSL finds a site it likes.
JETT-SETTING: Northumberland, which played Madison County in the Group A boys' basketball championship game Saturday, is coached by former Ferrum Junior College athlete Jimmie Jett.
Jett has coached Northumberland for a number of years, including 1983, when his team lost to Drewry Mason in the Group A title game. But Jett is better remembered as a baseball and basketball standout at Ferrum in the mid 1950s.
LACROSSE TIME: There will be a Roanoke Valley lacrosse jamboree Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Veterans' Administration hospital field in Salem.
Timesland schools participating are Cave Spring, Patrick Henry, Salem, William Byrd and Rockbridge County. Other schools involved are Charlottesville, Bishop Ireton of Alexandria, Mercersburg (Pa.) Academy, Albemarle and a team made up of players from Campbell County.
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