ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, July 25, 1996 TAG: 9607250037
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
THE RADFORD COACH praises the Black Bears' and their conference.
Radford University men's basketball coach Ron Bradley's first day of interviews for the same post at the University of Maine was highlighted by a press conference in which he compared the athletic potential of the Orono school to larger institutions elsewhere in New England.
When asked Wednesday why he was interested in Maine, Bradley said:
``If someone had been asked that question 15 years ago, they would have said, `Why UConn?' If someone had been asked that question eight years ago, they would have said, `Why UMass?' Maine is the state university. The potential is very good. ... People feel very good about the future here.''
Bradley also compared the situation at Maine to that at Radford. For openers, he said Maine's America East Conference is ``much better'' than Radford's Big South.
``Geographically, the two schools are similar. Both are rural and not near an urban center. But where Radford is one of several Division I programs [in Virginia], Maine is the Division I school for the state.''
Bradley is one of four finalists for the post vacated when Rudy Keeling left to take over the basketball team at Northeastern. The other finalists are Maine assistant Mike LaPlante; Cal-Irvine coach Rod Baker; and Rowan College coach John Giannini, who led the Profs to the NCAA Division III national title at the Salem Civic Center in March.
LENGTH: Short : 39 linesby CNB