ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, March 19, 1996 TAG: 9603190068
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
BILL FOSTER SAYS Tech had a great basketball season, despite its late-season slump.
They won 23 games. They were ranked in the polls all season. They earned the school's first NCAA Tournament bid in 10 years.
Enough said. That's how Bill Foster feels.
While Tech would have preferred to finish better - it lost four of its final seven games, including Saturday's 24-point loss to Kentucky in the Midwest Regional - Foster, Tech's coach, said the 1995-96 Hokies shouldn't be short-changed by anybody.
``As far as I'm concerned,'' said Foster, ``this team had a great year ... just a phenomenal year.
``I told the kids I'd be willing to bet that that there won't be 10 teams in the country that end up with fewer than six losses.''
Under examination, Tech's six losses - the program's fewest in a season since the 1972-73 club went 23-5 and won the NIT - was the one thing that set this team apart. The Hokies didn't have a ``bad'' loss going 14-0 against teams with losing records.
Tech's only two losses in which it was favored came against two teams that made postseason play - at George Washington and against Rhode Island in the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament.
On the other hand, Tech beat only two teams (No.21 Wisconsin-Green Bay and No.50 GW) that finished in the top 50 in the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI). The Hokies' only wins over top-100 teams were Virginia (No.53), UNC Charlotte (61), St. Joseph's (90) and Rhode Island (93).
Tech didn't beat anyone it wasn't supposed to - it lost all four games in which it was an underdog (at Georgia, to Massachusetts, at Temple and to Kentucky).
The Hokies also didn't do anything spectacularly. They struggled to beat a lot of inferior clubs, but the bottom line was they defeated them.
Considering their one major limitation - no big man who could dominate in the low post - the Hokies went as far as could be expected. If not for a low No.9 NCAA seed that set up a early second-round date with powerful Kentucky, Tech would have had a legitimate shot at making the Sweet 16.
``Considering everything,'' said Foster, ``I think we did about all we could do.
``I said long ago that the one thing we really lacked was the big man, a guy who could be the corrector in the middle. Considering we didn't have that, I thought we had a strong year.''
Foster noted that it was no picnic playing in a new league for the first time. In their first swing through the Atlantic 10, Tech's coaches and players made ton of adjustments on the fly.
``The first year in any new league isn't easy,'' Foster said. ``We saw more zone in our first A-10 game than we did all year in the Metro Conference. The league also was much more physical than the Metro. All that, plus going to a lot of new places to play made things tough.''
On the surface, it appears things may be tougher next season. Foster has to replace four senior starters who have been the driving force behind Tech's basketball revival the past three years.
Shawn Smith, Damon Watlington, Shawn Good and Travis Jackson - a quartet that combined for 4,299 career points - will be missed sorely.
``But they won't be forgotten,'' Foster said. ``Look back over the last three years and they've won 66, and the last two years they've won 48.
``They've overachieved so much. When we first got together, it was just some guys getting together to play basketball. None were highly recruited.
``They've come a long way, let me tell you. Now, they've kind of established a little bit of tradition for us again in basketball.''
Tech will return its Ace next season. Ace Custis, the Hokies' marquee player, will be running in a starting lineup that almost assuredly will include point guard Troy Manns of Roanoke and forward Jim Jackson.
The other spots will be filled by Keefe Matthews, Alvaro Tor, David Jackson, Myron Guillory, Andre Ray or incoming freshmen.
``I told the juniors [Custis, Manns, Matthews, Jim Jackson and David Jackson], it's your team now,'' Foster said.
``Starting now you can get off your rear ends and get to work because those seniors in front of you have kind of set the stage. And, if everybody will work and we'll recruit well, hopefully we can become an every-year playoff team in one tournament or the other.''
Foster said the Hokies' success the past two seasons has been a huge boost to recruiting, which for Tech, is now more paramount than ever. Tech loses four seniors this year and another five next year.
The Hokies already have received oral commitments from 6-foot-6 Rolan Roberts, who helped lead Potomac High School to the Group AAA championship last year, and guard Nathaniel Bailey of Johnson City, Tenn.
``The exposure you get by getting on TV and getting in the playoffs is amazing,'' Foster said. ``For us to get this good with a team that was never on television, that was losing, is amazing.
``Our entry since the NIT last year and through this year with recruits is so much better than anything we've ever had. We're in the door with better kids in both the junior and senior class, and it's up to us to kind of keep it going next year. Then all of a sudden you get up there and you expect to be up there.''
Foster said next season will come down to how hard the returning players start working now and what the coaching staff gets accomplished on the recruiting trail the next couple weeks.
Tech reportedly is close to signing high-scoring, 6-4 guard Tony Stanley from Arlington and 6-7 Jesus Rodriguez from Hargrave Military Academy.
``I feel good about where our recruiting is right now,'' Foster said. ``We're pretty solid. We're just a hair away from being finished, to be honest with you. Hopefully, we can kind of put most of the hay in the barn the next two weeks.''
LENGTH: Long : 104 linesby CNB