ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, September 6, 1996 TAG: 9609060018
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: Jack Bogaczyk
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK
A real-life episode of ``Friends'' was seen Thursday in the Bowman Room of the Jamerson Athletic Center, and this one has been running considerably longer than the NBC-TV sitcom.
As they have been for so long and so many times before, Bill Foster and Bobby Hussey were side-by-side. They were on the same page, as always, only this time, they were heading in opposite directions.
When Virginia Tech named Foster as its men's basketball coach in the spring of 1991 - a recycling effort, to be sure - the Hokies knew what they'd be getting, but not for how long.
Turns out they got two head coaches, and they got them long before Thursday, when Foster announced he would leave the bench after the 1996-97 season and Tech athletic director Dave Braine announced Hussey would follow in Foster's size-12 footsteps.
It was anything but a shocker, but it still was a day Hussey, 55, wasn't sure would ever come again. It also a day that reminded Foster of facing Marcus Camby in the post.
He wasn't quite sure how to handle it.
Ten minutes into a news conference, Foster was talking about the transition in the program, and said, ``No guy could ever be ... ''
He started to cry. He raised his right arm, waved and sat down.
No doubt, in his 30th and last year on the bench this season, there will be other moments like that.
Hussey had 18 seasons as a head coach before his 1989 exit at Davidson, two years as a Clemson assistant, then uniting with Foster at Tech. Beginning next season, he'll have a four-year contract and a base salary in the $110,000 range.
Between them, they have 804 victories and even more memories.
``I think in the last five years, some of Bill has rubbed off on Bobby, and vice versa,'' said Chris Ferguson, who will climb the ladder, too, to become Tech's top assistant.
For two years, it's been speculated that what happened Thursday would happen, and anyone paying attention could see it in Ferguson's refusal to pad his resume. He turned down assistant positions in the ACC and Big Ten (N.C. State and Penn State, respectively) and the head coach's job at UNC Asheville to stay with Foster and Hussey.
``Yes, I did miss being a head coach,'' Hussey said in his office about a half-hour before he was announced as his best buddy's successor. ``The last two years, it's been an uncomfortable subject for me.''
That's because both of them have found working together so comfortable.
``It's one of those things where you know you're working for him,'' Hussey said, ``but you feel like you're working with him.''
When Foster was hired, he had been doing TV analysis for Raycom, and he realized he was seeing the game from the opposite sideline he wanted. One reason he got the job, Braine said Thursday, ``is that it was apparent he really wanted it.''
He took a moribund program in a once-solid conference, the Metro, that could have used Dr. Jack Kevorkian to put it out of its misery. But as he had previously at UNC Charlotte, Clemson and Miami, Foster made nobodies into names.
When Foster was hired, Braine was on the grill for choosing a 55-year-old coach. Foster and then-Kansas assistant Jerry Green (now the Oregon head coach) were the only real candidates.
``One reason we hired Bill,'' Braine said, ``was I didn't think we had the luxury of time to hire a young coach and let him learn to be a head coach.''
Foster's health did become an issue. But his survival of a March 1994 week should have displayed that even a stomach that jumps, screams and spews as much as former Atlantic 10 Conference sideline rival John Calipari wouldn't stop the veteran coach.
In that week, just after Foster agreed to a contract extension, the Big East announced the Hokies wouldn't be admitted in basketball, and the NIT snubbed an 18-10 team.
``That was as difficult as it's been,'' Foster said.
It also was inspirational. The Hokies have won the NIT championship, returned to the NCAA Tournament and won 48 games in the past two seasons. Foster's last team - he and star Ace Custis are two fighters going out together - should at least be an NIT entrant.
Foster, 60, isn't leaving because of his health, although he could have. This past spring, after battling bronchial asthma, he ended up spending two days in a South Carolina hospital while visiting his mother.
``The doctor thought I might have a heart attack,'' Foster said. ``I was hooked up to so much stuff, it liked to scared me to death.''
It was probably the longest Foster ever sat still in his life. It doesn't mean he's retiring, however.
``Retire, I can't,'' he said. ``I'm just not going to coach. I have to do something.''
Among the thousands of coaches who have passed through major-college hoops in its 105 years, Foster ranks 37th in victories, with 517. He'll pass two Hall of Famers - Lou Carnesecca and Pete Carril - this season.
Foster's career has been about more than triumphs, however. It's been about dignity and graciousness and continuity, which Hussey will continue.
Turns out Tech hired the right guy, then and again.
LENGTH: Medium: 96 linesby CNB