THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, December 2, 1994 TAG: 9412020738
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 89 lines
There's a new game of espionage going on behind the scenes this season in college basketball. It's called the ``Tape Caper.''
The NCAA has eliminated in-person scouting of opponents, so now the only way teams can prepare scouting reports on upcoming opponents is with game film. Obtaining tapes of opponents' games, and trying to prevent tapes of Old Dominion games from falling into the wrong hands, is almost the full-time job of Monarchs restricted-earnings coach Bobby Collins.
``We want at least two or three tapes of every team we play,'' ODU coach Jeff Capel said. ``We know enough people that we're confident we can do it.''
For Saturday's game at Southern Illinois, Collins tried to get tapes from the first two teams to play the Salukis, Seton Hall and St. Bonaventure. But everyone wants a tape of a future foe in return, so there's a lot of dealing going on. After a game, Collins sends out between six to 10 copies of Old Dominion's tape to adhere to prearranged contracts.
``After the game, I get calls from five or six different schools requesting that tape,'' Collins said.
``Our Federal Express bill will probably quadruple,'' Capel said.
Sometimes the Monarchs have to be careful who gets a tape to avoid helping a future opponent prepare a scouting report on them. Towson State, for example, asked ODU if it could get a copy of the tape of their game after the two teams played Saturday.
But before the game, the Monarchs noticed the Tigers were setting up their own film crew. ODU coaches surmised Towson State had cut a deal to provide a tape for ODU's next opponent.
ODU didn't give Towson State a tape, but two days later South Carolina seemed to know the Monarchs' plays. ODU figured Towson State left a copy of the game tape behind for the Gamecocks.
``You have to be very guarded,'' Capel said. ``You're hit with so many requests that some are going to slip by.''
The Tape Caper will settle down a bit once ODU hits Colonial Athletic Association play. League rules require a team to provide any three game tapes a CAA opponent requests.
NAME GAME: Junior college transfer Duffy Samuels is trying to make a name for himself on Old Dominion's basketball team.
Unfortunately, the name ODU fans see on the back of his jersey isn't his. It reads ``Sammels'' instead of ``Samuels.''
Samuels' mother was at ODU's home opener with Towson State and noted the misspelling.
``She was kind of upset,'' Samuels said. ``It doesn't matter how my shirt looks, it only matters how I play.''
Capel said Samuels' mother asked why her son's name was misspelled. He said the uniform manufacturer botched it and a corrected uniform is expected soon.
``That's absolutely ridiculous,'' Capel said. ``They had the correct spelling when we sent the order in.''
STOMP: Old Dominion will be facing a somewhat famous character Saturday when it plays at Southern Illinois at 9:05 p.m. The Salukis' starting center is Aminu Timberlake, a transfer from Kentucky.
Timberlake had a minor but memorable role in what some basketball aficionados regard as the greatest college game ever played, Duke's 104-103 overtime victory over the Wildcats in a 1992 NCAA tournament regional final. Timberlake was the Kentucky player who fell to the court attempting to draw a charge and was then intentionally stomped on by Duke's Christian Laettner.
DUKE GAME: The rest of the Great Alaska Shootout field was announced last week, and one of the teams joining ODU in the field is Duke. The Blue Devils' point guard is Capel's son, Jeff Capel III.
The Monarchs and Duke have verbally agreed to play next year, but Capel said depending on how the brackets are drawn in the Great Alaska Shootout, they might not meet in a single regular-season game. Also in the field are Connecticut, Indiana, Iowa, Ohio University, Texas Christian and host Alaska-Anchorage.
``It's going to be a great field and a great opportunity for us,'' Capel said. ``The only thing that concerns me is I was watching a little of the Great Alaska Shootout (last week) and it was 10 degrees outside. I'm glad it's an indoor sport.''
EYE TO EYE: New Hampshire and Wyoming, the next two ODU foes to visit Scope, may want to consider buying goggles for everyone on their team after two separate eye injuries by teams visiting ODU this year.
Towson State coach Terry Truax scratched his eye putting in a contact lens and sat on the bench during the game with an ice pack on his eye. South Carolina point guard Melvin Watson suffered a scratched eye during the team's game-day shoot-around and had to visit an ophthalmologist before the game. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Duffy Samuels' name was misspelled on his jersey. A replacement is
expected soon.
by CNB