ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, March 12, 1997 TAG: 9703120076
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING THE ROANOKE TIMES
The Hokies are looking for a new leader for their women's basketball team.
In the end, a rash of injuries and the preseason defection of her best player weren't strong enough alibis to save Carol Alfano's job as Virginia Tech women's basketball coach.
Reacting to Tech's second straight losing season, Hokies athletic director Dave Braine announced Tuesday that the school has elected not to renew Alfano's contract, which expires June 30. The Hokies were 10-21 this past season, the final season of Alfano's four-year contract.
Alfano, 47, said Tuesday night she was stunned when Braine informed her of his decision late Monday afternoon.
``You could have knocked me over with a feather,'' Alfano said. ``Nobody saw it coming. Me, my staff or the players. They were floored.''
Braine defended his decision by saying "it's time for a change.''
``The program has not shown progress,'' Braine said. ``We've had two straight seasons that are not up to our standards. After carefully evaluating the program, we feel we must must take steps to move in a new direction.''
Braine said a search for Alfano's successor is already in progress.
``We're going to take our time,'' he said. ``It's a good thing that all the recruiting is done. I look for us to have a replacement sometime shortly after the Women's Final Four [March 28-30].''
Best bets to surface as leading candidates for the position are: Former Tech assistant Bonnie Henrickson, currently an assistant at Iowa; former Radford University coach Charlene Curtis, currently an assistant at No.1-ranked Connecticut; and former Tech player Susan Walvius, presently head coach at West Virginia.
Henrickson worked under Alfano for seven years before leaving for Iowa after the 1994-95 season in which Tech went 22-9 and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Henrickson recruited most of the players, including star center Jenny Root, who triggered the Hokies to a three-year 66-23 run from 1992-95 that included a Metro Conference tournament title, a Metro regular-season championship and back-to-back NCAA trips.
Curtis, a Roanoke native, knows Tech's conference, the Atlantic 10. After leaving Radford she was head coach at Temple before moving to UConn.
Walvius, a stellar player at Tech from 1982-85, was head coach at Virginia Commonwealth before taking the WVU post.
The new coach will be only Tech's fourth since women's basketball became a varsity sport in 1975-76. John Wetzel and Carolyn Owen each led the program for one season before Alfano was hired in 1978. The Long Branch, N.J., native has coached ever since, compiling a record of 278-262. She had nine winning seasons and two of her clubs finished .500.
After losing four starting seniors off the '95 NCAA club, Tech dipped to 11-17 in '95-96, the school's first season in the A-10. Alfano predicted the club would rebound this past season.
But a wave of personnel problems then beset the Hokies. The team learned a week before the season that it would be without its best player, star forward Michelle Hollister, who withdrew from school due to a unplanned pregnancy. Then a rash of injuries, which knocked four key contributors out for a prolonged period of time, riddled the club.
When asked about her contract situation in early February, Alfano said she wasn't worried about it because Braine had given her nothing but support. After a story appeared in The Roanoke Times on Feb.6 concerning the program and Alfano's impending contract situation, Alfano said she called a meeting with Braine.
``He never gave me one indication I wasn't going to have my job back that day,'' Alfano said.
Alfano said in Monday's meeting that Braine refused to listen to her arguments about the injuries and Hollister's unplanned withdrawal from school.
``I would have liked to have had one more season,'' Alfano said. ``I'm disappointed I wasn't allowed to get to 20 years. That would have been a nice milestone, a nice way to go out.''
Alfano said her successor will step into ``a good job with plenty of good players.'' Hollister recently announced she will return to school and play next season. The Hokies also will be bolstered by Maria Albertsson, a transfer from VCU who was forced to sit out this past season, and what's considered a strong recruiting class.
``It's a program that certainly can be a front-runner as far as the A-10 goes,'' Alfano said. ''I sure would have liked to coach those players next season.
``Then again, I understand athletics and how it works. They felt like the the program needed to go a different direction than what I was taking it. I've seen enough coaches get hired and fired in my tenure here at Tech ... from Charlie Moir to Frankie Allen.''
LENGTH: Medium: 93 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ALAN KIM THE ROANOKE TIMES. 1. Women's coach Carolby CNBAlfano had nine winning seasons in 19 years at Virginia Tech. color.
2. Carol Alfano (right) had plenty of headaches with her Virginia
Tech women's basketball team this season. Graphic: Chart: Carol
Alfano.