ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, August 21, 1996 TAG: 9608210034
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: JACK BOGACZYK
DATELINE: LEXINGTON
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK
It hasn't happened at VMI in two decades. They're not just talking basketball, they're selling it.
``People buying basketball tickets around here in August is unheard of,'' said VMI athletic director Davis Babb.
Well, at least it has been since the mid-70s, when the Keydets made back-to-back NCAA Tournament trips.
But that's what going 18-10 the previous season will do for you. More to the point, that's what having North Carolina coming to town will do for you.
``We started getting calls last year, in October, from people who wanted to get on a waiting list for that game,'' said Paul Parker, VMI's compliance director, who spends a lot of his time these days answering the Cameron Hall ticket office phone. ``Last year we weren't even taking basketball ticket orders in August.''
With Dean Smith closing in on Adolph Rupp's record for all-time Division I coaching victories, you might expect Carolina to be looking toward a Lexington to the west. Instead, the Tar Heels will be returning VMI's 40- and 23-point losses in the Dean Dome the last two winters on Sunday, Dec.15 at 4:30 p.m.
Then, UNC plays a game in a Cameron indoor stadium every year, right?
It was only a year ago that the first-time, regular-season, cross-parking lot meeting between VMI and Washington and Lee was the big attraction. It still is. However, the Tar Heels' trip is special. How special?
In the last seven seasons, UNC has played in only one arena smaller than VMI's 5,000 seat Cameron Hall. That was at Cornell's 4,750-seat Alberding Field House in January 1991, where they were hanging from the rafters for one of Smith's traditional ``homecoming'' games for one of his players - King Rice of nearby Binghamton, N.Y.
It may be two decades since the Heels played in a visitors' building so small without a Carolina connection (a visit to Tulane Gym), but Smith, besides getting two home games, was gracious enough to help VMI coach Bart Bellairs try to rebuild interest in the program. The result will be a smashing of the Cameron Hall record attendance of 4,460, set during the building's Dec.5, 1981 opener when Ralph Sampson and Virginia won 76-49.
VMI is doing its part, too. The Keydets are selling three ticket plans involving UNC, in a priority system. A 14-game season ticket is $95, and there's a limit of two adult tickets per order. A four-game weekend package (UNC, Tennessee-Chattanooga, The Citadel and East Tennessee State) goes for $30. Individual-game tickets also will be available - maybe.
``The other two priorities will be filled first,'' Parker said. ``We're probably going to add about 400 seats at the top of the building for the North Carolina game, too.'' VMI also reserves about 1,100 per game for its cadets.
Already, VMI has orders for 15-20 season seats, about the same number for the four-game, UNC-anchored package, and 60-70 requests for UNC single-game tickets. VMI game tickets usually are $7. The UNC game, however, is a $15 seat.
Hey, it's a rare occurrence.
``We've gotten a lot of calls from people around here who say they like to watch North Carolina, but they can't get tickets for the [UNC] game at Virginia every year,'' Parker said. ``This is a chance they don't often get.''
Ditto for VMI, which last season sold all of 291 season tickets. What's the expectation this year?
``We're going into uncharted waters here,'' said Wade Branner, VMI's sports information director. ``I'd say we're going to smash it easily.''
He meant the ticket record, not North Carolina.
LENGTH: Medium: 69 linesby CNB