THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 4, 1995 TAG: 9501040524
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 80 lines
Colonial Athletic Association play begins Saturday for half the league, but Old Dominion has two more games before its conference debut.
And two final chances to win a nonconference road game.
The Monarchs visit St. Joseph's in Philadelphia tonight at 7:05 to begin a six-day trip that also takes them to No. 15 Arizona State on Saturday. ODU has gotten used to life on the road, although it's been filled with potholes.
The Monarchs (5-6) are 0-5 on opponents' floors. ODU's only victory away from Scope was against Weber State in Hawaii.
``We've got two games left in our first season,'' coach Jeff Capel said. ``We certainly want to try to build some momentum going into our conference race.''
Once the Monarchs reach conference play Wednesday against UNC Wilmington, they will face a lesser brand of opponent than in much of the nonconference schedule.
Atlantic 10 coaches and media picked St. Joseph's (4-2) second in the league behind No. 4 Massachusetts. In Arizona State, ODU faces its third nationally ranked foe, the Monarchs' most ranked opponents since they played six in 1985-86.
``We've had a very good test,'' Capel said. ``We haven't won as many games as we would have liked, but this team has a pretty good sense of where we are.''
Knowing where they are physically, though, could give the Monarchs pause. By the weekend they will have been to Illinois, Louisiana, Hawaii, Washington state, Pennsylvania and Arizona within six weeks. When the Monarchs return home Sunday, they will have spent 21 of the previous 38 days on the road.
Appropriately, Capel participated in Tuesday's weekly CAA media conference call from an airport. He was asked if perhaps ODU has traveled too much.
``That's a good question, we don't know,'' Capel said. ``We hope this is going to make us stronger.''
CULUKO'S WOES: It's not a good year to be a returning all-CAA player. ODU center Odell Hodge suffered a season-ending knee injury, as did American's Tim Fudd.
Now James Madison's Kent Culuko has been removed from the starting lineup. The senior was 1 for 10 from the field in JMU's previous outing and was averaging 14.4 points before Tuesday's loss to Furman, in which he made 2 of 4 shots for six points. A 44 percent shooter his first three seasons, Culuko is shooting 31.7 percent overall, 33.3 percent from 3-point range.
``He's in a big-time slump,'' coach Lefty Driesell said. ``He's going to have to relax and play better than he has been, or he might stay on the bench. I think he thinks he's got to average 20 points as a senior. He's just pressing too hard.''
LEAGUE RACE REVISITED: ODU was the clear CAA preseason favorite, but as league play starts some coaches have modified that prediction because of Hodge's injury.
``I would say that maybe the injury to Odell Hodge brought Old Dominion back to the pack and gave James Madison and UNC Wilmington a little bit of help in trying to win the conference,'' Richmond coach Bill Dooley said.
But no one is counting out the Monarchs - certainly not George Mason coach Paul Westhead.
``I think the two teams I would fear the most are Old Dominion and James Madison, even though Old Dominion had a significant injury and both teams' won-loss records wouldn't look like something to be feared,'' Westhead said. ``I think they definitely are the two best teams we will play during the conference.''
FITS AND STARTS: William and Mary has had a weird schedule. The Tribe played four times in eight days in late November and early December, then took 16 days off before playing back-to-back nights. After that, William and Mary (0-7) went 12 more days without a game before playing at Navy on Tuesday.
``It kind of feels like our third season,'' first-year coach Charlie Woollum said. ``Obviously I think it's affected us. As to how much, I don't know. We're not playing good basketball at this point with any consistency.''
GRAND OPENING: East Carolina (6-2) finally gets to play a home game Friday when it hosts East Tennessee State in renovated Minges Coliseum.
. ``It's almost like our season hasn't started yet, because nobody around Greenville has seen our place yet,'' coach Eddie Payne said. ``I knew it was going to be nice, but they just did a better job than I thought they would or could.'' by CNB