THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, November 26, 1994 TAG: 9411260166
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 86 lines
Terry Truax finally gets his chance to coach at Scope today.
But Truax, who twice has been a finalist for the Old Dominion job and also applied when it was open again last spring, won't be coaching the Monarchs basketball team. He'll be coaching against them when Towson State visits Scope at 2 p.m. in ODU's home opener.
The game is the season-opener for Towson, and the Monarchs' first game since they lost by three points to Virginia 10 days ago in the Preseason NIT.
``It's almost like a Christmas break - it's been too long,'' ODU coach Jeff Capel said.
But the Virginia loss, a game the Monarchs led most of the way, gave ODU a renewed belief that it can be a formidable team this season.
``I was really proud of our kids in that game,'' Capel said. ``It certainly gives you a sense of being a pretty good team when you can go on the road and play a team that good the way we did.''
Since the Virginia game, ODU has been bitten slightly by the injury bug.
Guard E.J. Sherod has been bothered by a bad back, and Mike Jones hyperextended a knee. Capel said earlier this week both should play today.
Towson State is several notches below Virginia, but the Tigers are a power in their league. Towson State has finished first in the Big South regular season the last two years and is picked to win the league this year by the coaches and sports information directors, as well as by Street & Smith's magazine. According to The Sporting News, the Big South is the 25th-best of 32 Division I conferences, while the Colonial is the 14th-best.
``Terry's been around awhile and understands the game,'' Capel said. ``His teams typically don't beat themselves.''
Truax said the team has taken a bit of a beating since all the preseason prognostications came out. For starters, the Tigers decided to redshirt all-league pick Scooter Alexander, a guard who led the team last season with 17.4 points per game.
Also, starting center Jason Crump has to sit out the first four games because he played in a spring basketball league that was not sanctioned by the NCAA.
``It would be difficult for us to beat Old Dominion even if we played flawless,'' Truax said. ``We are hurting for numbers.''
The Big South will be hurting for numbers in the schools' bank accounts at the end of this season. The league lost its automatic NCAA tournament bid because Campbell bolted, leaving the Big South without six schools that have been in the league at least five years, a requirement for an automatic bid.
For Truax, who has been considered but overlooked several times for the Monarchs job, meeting ODU would seem to be automatic motivation. But he insists there have never been any hard feelings after unsuccessful job hunts.
``I have a great deal of respect for that program and what they've done there,'' Truax said. ``I'm not gong to be coaching any harder because it's Old Dominion.'' ILLUSTRATION: GAMEWATCH
TOWSON STATE at ODU
Site: Scope (10,232)
Time: 2 p.m.
TV: None
Radio: WGH, AM-1310
Tickets: Available for $10 for adults, $8 for children
17-and-younger, faculty, staff, senior citizens and military.
Students with an ODU ID card get in free.
Records: Towson State is 0-0 (21-9 last season); Old Dominion is
0-1.
About the Tigers: The preseason pick of many to win the Big
South, Towson State may have trouble living up to that. Leading
scorer Scooter Alexander (17.4 ppg) has been redshirted, partly for
academic reasons but also to give him another year to work on his
game. That, coupled with the four-game suspension of center Jason
Crump for playing in an unauthorized basketball league, leaves the
Tigers with little proven talent in their first game. With Alexander
out, guard Ralph Blalock (16.6 ppg) is Towson State's top returnee.
About the Monarchs: The home opener is almost like another
season-opener after ODU's 10-day layoff. ODU's talented, experienced
frontcourt should be able to exploit Towson State's smaller and
unproven frontcourt. Center Odell Hodge and forward Petey Sessoms
combined for 41 points and 17 rebounds in the Virginia game. The
Monarchs need to get better help from their big people off the
bench. David Harvey and Derrick Parker were scoreless in the
Virginia game, although Harvey grabbed six rebounds.
by CNB