ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, November 25, 1996 TAG: 9611260047
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: LAHAINA, HAWAII
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
COACH JEFF JONES and Virginia aren't sure where this season will take them.
For a team whose 1996-97 bags have been tagged destination unknown, maybe it's only fitting Virginia starts its season 6,500 miles from home in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
As his men's basketball team tried to shake jet lag in time for today's opener against South Carolina in the Maui Invitational, coach Jeff Jones appeared to know only one thing for certain Sunday.
While the UVa coach still wasn't set on his starting lineup for the 4:30 EST tip-off, he had made a critical decision on his Maui coaching wardrobe.
``I've seen [coaches] wear the golf shirts and the slacks over here,'' Jones said.
``I was thinking about going with the sandals and shorts, but that's kind of gotten vetoed. A lot of people don't think that's a very good idea. So I'm going to stick with tradition and just go with golf shirts.''
Whether Jones and UVa wind up in the rough will depend on the guys wearing the shorts - his players.
Coming off a perplexing 12-15 campaign - only their second losing season in 19 years - the Cavaliers are trying to find themselves in more ways than one. In addition to not knowing where they're headed this season, the Cavs barely knew where they were Sunday.
One thing is for sure - it wasn't Clemson, S.C.
``This is the first time most of the players, if not all, have been to Hawaii,'' Jones said.
``We flew in Friday night and they were all excited when we got here. They all thought the hotel was neat and they wanted to go down and check out the beach right off.''
In a reversal from normal procedure, Jones said he ordered his players not to go to bed before 11 p.m. local time, which is five hours behind Eastern Standard Time.
After a Saturday morning practice at the steamy Lahaina Civic Center, a session in which Jones admitted to ``yelling for a while to get everybody's attention,'' most of the UVa players spent the rest of the day snorkeling and attending a Hawaiian luau.
While Jones missed the festivities because he had to attend a fund-raising social with UVa alumni in Honolulu, he got a scouting report upon his return to Maui on Saturday night.
``It was the first time most of them had gone snorkeling,'' Jones said. "Not all, though.
``Monte Maraccini [a first-year-eligible transfer from Pepperdine] apparently is a very, very good swimmer. And Craig McAndrew [6-foot-10 freshman center from Australia] is a deep-sea diver, I hear.''
Jones' report said freshman forward Colin Ducharme from Richmond and senior swingman Jamal Robinson exhibited some nice moves at the luau.
``Colin got up on stage along with Jamal and did the hula,'' Jones noted.
Did they learn those moves from their coach?
``No,'' Jones said, smiling. ``That would be a scary thought, actually.''
On Sunday, with a tough date against a good South Carolina team looming today, Jones shortened the leash on his exploring troops.
``The snorkeling and all that, it'll wear you out, being out in the sun and being in the water,'' Jones said.
``So we want 'em to relax, have fun, and if they're going to be on the beach, keep it to a reasonable amount of time.
``We want them to have fun, but we want to maintain our focus on the basketball and not do anything to detract from that.''
Jones' biggest distraction since arriving on this isle of paradise has been answering queries about a game he had no part of 13 years ago. It seems nobody has or ever will forget No.1-ranked Virginia and Ralph Sampson losing 77-72 to current Maui host, Division II Chaminade.
``I think Virginia-Chaminade has been the most-asked question since we've stepped foot on the island Friday night,'' Jones said.
``First, I wasn't there. I was back in Charlottesville. I've got to admit that I was probably one of a whole lot of people who took for granted Virginia would win. I didn't even listen to it, so I was shocked the next morning when I woke up to hear about the upset.''
Chaminade is Massachusetts' worry today. The two teams meet in the opener of the eight-team tournament at 2 p.m.
Top-ranked Kansas (1-0) faces LSU (1-0) at 9:30 p.m., while Iowa meets California at 12:30 a.m. Tuesday.
Every game but the USC-UVa game will be televised live by ESPN. It's a fact that hasn't escaped Jones.
``It is interesting, because at least on paper, it's very, very competitive game, maybe more than any [first-round] game, and yet that's the only one that's not on TV,'' Jones noted.
If UVa beats a South Carolina team that was 19-12 last season and is most experts' pick to finish second behind defending national champion Kentucky in the SEC East this season, it will play the Chaminade-UMass winner at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
``I'm not really sure where we're at and where we're going right now,'' Jones said. ``I guess we'll start finding out today.''
LENGTH: Medium: 95 linesby CNB