THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 5, 1994 TAG: 9406050177
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: D5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: 940605 LENGTH: Long
Mike Krzyzewski flirted with leaving the Blue Devils for the NBA, but announced Tuesday he would stay in Durham, N.C.
{REST} New ODU coach Jeff Capel said that decision left him with mixed emotions. His son, Jeff Capel III, was the Blue Devils' starting freshman point guard on last season's national runner-up Duke team. The elder Capel was happy his son's coach stayed put, but if Krzyzewski had bolted the Monarchs would have picked up Duke's point guard.
``He was on his way,'' Capel said of his son. ``We'd already talked about it. He chose Duke because he wanted to play for Coach K.
``He definitely was coming to ODU.''
ODU BASEBALL: Monarchs assistant baseball coach Tim Parenton is in the unusual situation of having spent four years working as the lead assistant in a winning baseball program, but suddenly having an unsettled job situation.
Parenton admittedly was ``a little bit shaken'' when ODU head coach Pat McMahon took the job as associate head coach at Mississippi State Tuesday. McMahon goes to the Bulldogs with the understanding he's the next head coach, but as an associate coach he can't accommodate his longtime assistant.
``It's very unique,'' Parenton said. ``Most coaches who leave for positions are going into head coaching jobs, and you would hope he'd take you along with him.''
Parenton, however, won't mind being left behind if it means he's the next ODU coach. Parenton, 32, has been an Old Dominion assistant four years and has McMahon's endorsement as the next Monarchs coach.
``Tim Parenton and I have worked together a long time and he'd be an outstanding person for the position,'' McMahon said. ``I know a lot of quality baseball coaches will be very interested in the position.''
Old Dominion, with excellent facilities and virtually everyone back from an NCAA tournament team, is an attractive job. Among what should be a long list of candidates could be: Virginia Commonwealth head coach Tony Guzzo, who played and coached at Norfolk Catholic; Vanderbilt assistant Paul Keyes, a former ODU player; Virginia Wesleyan coach Nick Boothe, another former Monarch player; William and Mary coach Jim Farr, a former ODU assistant; Georgia assistant Jim Bagnall, a former ODU assistant; and Gary Lavelle, Greenbrier Christian Academy coach who spent 13 years pitching in the major leagues.
Parenton, who will run ODU's summer camps, said he was told by athletic director Jim Jarrett he will have a job with the Monarchs at least a year if he doesn't get the head coaching job.
``I feel confident something will work out,'' Parenton said, ``if not here then somewhere else.''
BIG EAST ON TV: The Big East made big inroads in Virginia last week by securing three major markets for its football broadcasts. The Big East Football Television Network is trumpeted as college football's largest regional network, but it did not have a regular affiliate in any Virginia markets last season.
Now it has three. That's good news for local Virginia Tech fans, who were only able to see two of the three Hokie appearances on the Big East network last season and had to be alert to find out what station the broadcasts would appear on.
Stations in this and other Virginia markets aired just a smattering of Big East network games last season.
Locally, WTKR has agreed to carry 10 of the 11 games offered this fall. The one exception is the first game, which conflicts with CBS' U.S. Open tennis coverage. WTKR sports anchor John Castleberry said the move makes sense because Virginia Tech is expected to be a league power, and because CBS has a contract with Big East football that kicks in in 1996.
``It's an up-and-coming football conference,'' Castleberry said.
The NBC affiliate in Roanoke will televise all 11 games on the package and a Washington independent station will pick up eight. The Big East is still working on the Richmond market.
``The commitment from the stations in Norfolk, Roanoke and Washington is a significant step in the marketing and promotion of Big East football,'' Big East associate commissioner Tom McElroy said in a written statement.
Virginia Tech, coming off a 9-3 bowl season and ranked 14th in the preseason by Football News, has 14 returning starters and is regarded among the league's preseason favorites. Five Tech games are being considered for broadcast on the Big East network: at Boston College, Sept. 17; at Syracuse, Oct. 1; home against Pittsburgh, Oct. 22; at Miami, Oct. 29; and home against Rutgers, Nov. 12.
Big East assistant commissioner John Paquette said that probably three or four Tech games would be televised, but if the Hokies have a good enough season some of those games might be picked up by either ABC or ESPN.
``It will be a little bit of a function of the season they have,'' Paquette said.
Tech's Thursday night home game with West Virginia on Sept. 22 is an ESPN broadcast.
ODU HOOP TALK: The Monarchs' European summer tour is essentially confirmed. ODU will leave for France Aug. 10 and return Aug. 22. All games, probably seven, will be in France against club teams. The Monarchs will be allowed 10 days of practice before they depart, which will enable coach Capel to get his first look at the team he took over in April.
ODU's regular-season non-conference schedule also continues to shape up. The Monarchs will host South Florida Feb. 6, and Capel said there's a good chance they will play at Arizona State in early January. That leaves ODU with one game to schedule, and the Monarchs have made overtures to Georgetown and Temple, Capel said.
It's an aggressive schedule. ODU already is set to play in the Preseason NIT, on the road against Washington, Tulane, Southern Illinois, Virginia and in the four-team Hawaii-Nike Festival and at home against North Carolina, Towson State, South Carolina, Wyoming and Virginia Commonwealth.
``I don't think you schedule wins,'' Capel said. ``I'd rather play teams of the caliber we're talking about and get a real read on how good we are rather than get a false sense of security by playing the sisters of the poor.''
U.VA. GAME: The University of Virginia's college football season-opener against defending national champion Florida State on Sept. 3 will be televised regionally by ABC (WVEC). Kickoff will be at 3:30. by CNB