THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, November 17, 1994 TAG: 9411170585
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TOM ROBINSON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 120 lines
It was as precious as 20-point losses get. Liberty University was whipped by North Carolina, 71-51, in a first-round NCAA tournament game last March, but when the final horn sounded, the face of Flames' basketball had changed.
By leading the Tar Heels early, then trailing by only six at halftime, Liberty brought itself two hours of televised glory that lifted coach Jeff Meyer's program, the entire university in fact, to a point of respect he'd always envisioned.
Keeping it there is a challenge Meyer, despite heavy graduation losses, relishes in his 14th season at the Lynchburg school.
``We're not suppressing the excitement,'' Meyer said. ``We could do that and talk about how young we're going to be, how inexperienced we are, the fact we lost 75 percent of our playing time and scoring.''
But those are crutches. And tastes of NCAA tournaments have ways of casting them aside. Meyer faces those obstacles, but now expectations are such that folks in Lynchburg naturally anticipate Liberty overcoming.
Season-ticket sales are up, Meyer said. His recruiting pool, already nationwide because of Liberty's Baptist affiliation, is deeper. And Liberty just matriculated its largest freshman class, thanks in part to the Flames' show against Carolina, Meyer said.
``All those things that we had thought an NCAA appearance would do for Liberty University have become a reality,'' Meyer said.
Liberty awakes Nov. 26, against Montreat-Anderson, to the stark fact that floor leader and top scorer Matt Hildebrand (18 points, 5 assists per game) is gone. However, a pair of big men, 6-foot-9 senior Jason Dixon and 6-10 sophomore Peter Aluma, return.
Dixon is one of two seniors on hand to see if Liberty sustains its momentum. However, the Big South lost its automatic NCAA tournament bid this season because of Campbell's defection to the Trans America Athletic Conference. So the chances of anyone from the low-rated conference reaching this season's tournament are small.
At Radford, Liberty's Big South rival, coach Ron Bradley will turn to defense again in pursuit of his third 20-win season in four years. The Highlanders (20-8 last year) limited opponents to 41.6 percent shooting last season and plan more full-court defense to fuel an offense led by guard Anthony Walker, the conference's top rookie a year ago.
In Lexington, former James Madison assistant Bart Bellairs takes over for Joe Cantafio, who left for Furman, at Virginia Military Institute.
The Keydets finished 5-23, after a 1-13 start, and have junior forward Lawrence Gullette back to try to help them avoid being Southern Conference cannon fodder again. Non-conference is a different story. VMI will swallow hard and take three huge lumps but nice pay days Dec. 17 at North Carolina, Dec. 19 at Virginia and Jan. 7 at Alabama. LIBERTY
Location: Lynchburg
Coach: Jeff Meyer; 207-169 in 13 years at Liberty and overall
Last season: 18-12, 1st in Big South. Finished 8-1 and stormed to the conference tournament title and its first NCAA tournament appearance.
Impact players: Peter Aluma, 6-10 so. (7.6 ppg, 4.1 asst); Jason Dixon, 6-9 sr. (13.7 ppg, 7.2 rebounds)
Newcomers to watch: Gabe Caldwell, 6-3 fr.; Larry Jackson, 6-1 fr.
Prospectus: Aluma, the conference tournament MVP last year, could be one of the Big South's dominant players. Meanwhile, Dixon led the Flames with a 56.6 field-goal percentage. If somebody can get the ball to them, the Flames should contend again.
Schedule: Nov. 26, Montreat-Anderson; 30, at VCU; Dec. 3, Western Michigan; 6, JMU; 17, Kings College; 19, at Missouri; 29-30, at Dr. Pepper Classic at Tennessee-Chattanooga; Jan. 2, at Colorado; 7, at Md.-Baltimore County; 9, at Towson State; 12, UNC Asheville; 14, Radford; 18, at Winthrop; 21, Charleston Southern; 23, Coastal Carolina; 28, Va. Tech; 30, at UNC Greensboro; Feb. 4, Md.-Baltimore County; 6, Towson State; 9, at UNC Asheville; 11, UNC Greensboro; 16, Winthrop; 18, at Charleston Southern; 20, at Coastal Carolina; 25, at Radford; March 3-5, Big South tourney at Liberty. RADFORD
Location: Radford
Coach: Ron Bradley; 55-33 in three years at Radford, 151-84 overall
Last season: 20-8, 3rd in Big South. Upset LSU in Baton Rouge, but couldn't get past Campbell in conference tournament semifinal.
Impact players: Anthony Walker, 6-0 so. (13.9 ppg, 3.5 asst); Jason Lansdown, 6-3 jr. (8.4 ppg, 2.6 rpg)
Newcomers to watch: Eric Parker, 6-9 fr.; Kevin Robinson, 6-7 fr.; Chibi Johnson, 6-4 fr.
Prospectus: The Highlanders were picked 5th by Big South coaches and sports information directors, but Bradley has a way of driving his guys to exceed expectations. Backcourt offense and pressure defense will have to key its game again - Radford had a school-record 303 steals last year.
Schedule: Nov. 26, Catholic U.; 28, Centenary; 30, at N.C. State; Dec. 3, Glenville State; 5, Richmond; 10, VMI; 17, Widener; 20, at Stetson; 29, at Middle Tennessee State; Jan. 4, UNC Greensboro; 7, at Towson State; 9, at Md.-Baltimore County; 11, Winthrop; 14, at Liberty; 21, Coastal Carolina; 23, Charleston Southern; 28, at UNC Greensboro; 30, UNC Asheville; Feb. 1, at VCU; 4, Towson State; 6, Md.-Baltimore County; 9, at Winthrop; 11, at UNC Asheville; 18, at Coastal Carolina; 20, at Charleston Southern; 25, Liberty; March 3-5, Big South tourney at Liberty. VIRGINIA MILITARY
Location: Lexington
Coach: Bart Bellairs; 1st year at VMI, 21-27 overall
Last season: 5-23, 10th in Southern Conference. Lost all 13 road games.
Impact players: Lawrence Gullette, 6-5 jr. (11.3 ppg, 5.5 rpg); Warren Johnson, 6-3 so. (9.6 ppg, 3.7 rpg)
Newcomers to watch: Mike Spinelli, 6-8 fr.; Jason Bell, 6-1 fr.
Prospectus: The Keydets could use point guard Darryl Faulkner, an all-conference freshman last season who didn't meet VMI academic standards and dropped out. He might return for the second semester. Poor shooters, the Keydets need higher pressure defense to create easier scoring chances and win more than five times.
Schedule: Nov. 28, Bluefield College; 29, Centenary (N.J.); Dec. 3, Richmond; 7, at Va. Tech; 10, at Radford; 17, at UNC; 19, at Virginia; Jan. 7, at Alabama; 9, at Navy; 14, at Western Carolina; 16, Marshall; 21, at Davidson; 23, East Tennessee State; 26, W&M; 28, at Appalachian State; 30, Tennessee-Chattanooga; Feb. 4, Georgia Southern; 6, at The Citadel; 11, at East Tennessee State; 13, at Furman; 15, Lynchburg; 18, at Marshall; 20, Davidson; 22, Army; 25, Appalachian; 27, The Citadel; March 2-5, Southern Conference tourney at Asheville, N.C. by CNB