ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, March 27, 1997 basketball TAG: 9703270057
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: COLLEGE NOTEBOOK
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY
As the other men's basketball coaching openings in the Colonial Athletic Association are slowly being filled, the biggest story at Richmond has been a non-story.
Richmond this past week announced that Kevin Eastman, a former guard for the Spiders, had withdrawn his name from consideration. Eastman has completed three seasons as the head coach at Washington State.
More than three weeks after the end of the regular season, Richmond and George Mason had not named new coaches as of Wednesday afternoon. American University got into the act earlier in the day, when it hired former Maryland assistant Art Perry, most recently head coach at Delaware State.
James Madison was the first CAA school to fill its opening when it announced this past week that alumnus Sherman Dillard had succeeded Lefty Driesell. Driesell, Richmond's Bill Dooley, American's Chris Knoche and George Mason's Paul Westhead were fired in a 48-hour span.
Radford coach Ron Bradley reportedly is among those who have talked with Chuck Boone, Richmond's athletic director, although there is some question whether it was a formal interview. Bradley was en route to the coaches' convention at the Final Four and was unavailable for comment Wednesday.
Jim Larranaga, a one-time Virginia assistant who has been the head coach at Bowling Green for 13 years, has interviewed at George Mason. Tommy Amaker, a Fairfax native and ex-Duke assistant, was considered a natural at Mason until he was hired by Seton Hall.
Duke didn't take long to fill its vacancy, replacing Amaker with Johnny Dawkins. The Blue Devils' career leading scorer, Dawkins had been working in the school's ticket office and serving as color commentator on the team's radio broadcasts.
Ricky Stokes, an assistant coach at Wake Forest, has spoken twice with officials at Furman about the vacancy created when Joe Cantafio resigned. Stokes, a Virginia native and UVa graduate, also has been a CAA target.
ODOM STAYING PUT: Wake Forest men's basketball coach Dave Odom said he is tired of answering questions about his perceived involvement with various coaching vacancies.
``I've told all the reporters down here, `I'm not leaving. I'm not interested in any other jobs,''' Odom said. ``Now, everybody's mad [in the media] because they say I'm not speaking to them. How many times do I have to say I'm not interested? I've got other things to do.''
Odom, who signed a contract extension last year, has Digger Phelps and Dick Vitale to thank for rumors linking him with openings at Tennessee and Ohio State.
HOLLAND ON JONES: Vitale was the source for an item in USA Today that mentioned Virginia coach Jeff Jones as a prospect for the Tennessee job. UVa athletic director Terry Holland said Tuesday that nobody from Tennessee had requested permission to speak with Jones.
Holland has said he will soon discuss a contract extension with Jones, whose deal expires after next season. Holland has been amused by the suggestion that the proposed extension is a hot topic with UVa fans.
``I received a letter from a writer who said he wasn't part of the organized letter-writing campaign,'' Holland said. ``What I'd like to know is, what letter-writing campaign is that? I've gotten 12 letters, most expressing concern, but I'd hardly consider that a significant number.''
Holland admitted that contract numbers he has heard in recent days may have changed college basketball. Clemson coach Rick Barnes reportedly will receive a seven-year package worth $668,000 per year and Florida State's Pat Kennedy wants his $485,000 salary upgraded.
``Damn, maybe I should get back into coaching,'' said Holland, the Cavaliers' head coach from 1974-90. ``Who is that Tennessee AD, anyway?''
HOKIES LOOK EAST: Holland said he understands Shawn Campbell, a UVa women's basketball assistant for 12 years, either has met or will meet this week with Virginia Tech athletic director Dave Braine about the Hokies' head-coaching vacancy. Sources say Braine is at the women's final four in Cincinnati and may interview five candidates.
IN FOOTBALL: One-time Virginia Tech offensive coordinator Pat Watson has resigned after two seasons at Georgia Tech. Watson, the offensive coordinator, saw his role would be reduced with the hiring of Ralph Friedgen to oversee the passing game.
It was thought Watson might remain as offensive line coach, but that situation became awkward. Friedgen most recently had been an NFL assistant under San Diego Chargers head coach Bobby Ross before Ross resigned to become head coach of the Detroit Lions.
New Boston College coach Tom O'Brien has hired one of his old Virginia coaching colleagues, Frank Spaziani, who will coach the defensive backs. Spaziani, once the Cavaliers' defensive coordinator, resigned following the 1990 season and had been coaching in Canada.
Receivers coach Sean Payton became the third member of Ron Vanderlinden's first Maryland staff to leave without coaching a game, but Payton had a good reason. He accepted the position of quarterbacks coach for the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles.
NON-REVENUE: The Washington and Lee men's lacrosse team, ranked third in NCAA Division III, is off to its best start (6-0) since 1987 as it prepares to entertain No.6 Roanoke (3-2) at 2 p.m. Saturday.
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