THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 26, 1995 TAG: 9502260155
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANK VEHORN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. LENGTH: Long : 137 lines
In the shadows of some imposing giants, Dave Odom quietly has built one of the nation's best basketball programs at tiny Wake Forest University.
So quietly that even in this basketball-crazed state, his 10th-ranked Demon Deacons seldom sell out home games unless one of the neighboring giants, North Carolina or Duke, is an opponent.
So quietly that he rarely gets a mention by the national media. No one has anointed him with a nickname such as ``The General,'' ``Michelangelo,'' or ``The Captain.''
He is just Dave, a little guy from eastern North Carolina who has done a big, big job since leaving the University of Virginia staff six years ago to revive a slumping program.
He doesn't seem to mind that the national spotlight has not found him yet, or resent that residents of this nicotine-stained city aren't beating down the doors to watch his team play.
You don't hear him whining about respect the way Arkansas coach Nolan Richardson did last year to fuel his team's roll to the national championship.
As dedicated as Odom is to winning, he can be happy without the hoopla and hysteria that accompany it at most schools.
``I think we get too much credit some times. It is enough for me. I can't deal with any more than that,'' said Odom, who enjoys having time to spend with his family.
Just once, though, wouldn't Odom love to hear Dick Vitale screaming, ``Oh, baby, this Odom is something! He's a genius, baby! Just look at what he has done, beating the Dukes and North Carolinas! Oh, he's Dave the Rave!''?
Truthfully, if Odom did hear that, he probably would blush and turn down the volume.
``I am fine just the way things are,'' Odom insisted last week.
``I am sitting here right now, looking at two boxes, that's 24 basketballs in each box, that need to be autographed and sent out for fund raising.
``I don't know how teams like Kentucky, North Carolina, Duke, and Indiana do it. I don't know how they do all they do, and if that is what national publicity means, I don't need any more, not too quickly, anyway.
``I don't want an avalanche of national people coming in here to talk to us. I'm not prepared to handle that right now.''
Ready or not, the crush could be just around the corner.
The Deacons are on their way to their fifth straight NCAA appearance and third straight 20-win season.
They are also in the hunt for their first ACC regular-season title since 1962, trailing Virginia, North Carolina and Maryland by one game in the loss column.
The Deacons play Virginia today and the Tar Heels on Tuesday before closing the regular season against North Carolina State.
If they win those games, the title could be theirs.
``We are in control of our own destiny,'' said the 52-year-old Odom. ``If we can't handle the pressure, we don't deserve to be a factor in the race.''
It is the kind of pressure that Odom, a former high school star in Goldsboro, N.C., and a member of Guilford College's hall of fame, seems to relish.
If not, he might have stuck around at Virginia to replace Terry Holland instead of jumping into a highly pressurized situation at Wake Forest, which has the smallest student body and slimmest athletics budget in the ACC.
Even some alumni do not think the Deacons have any business competing on the same level as their Tobacco Road neighbors, and the last coach who had any success, Carl Tacy, left because of self-declared burnout.
North Carolina, Duke, and N.C. State - all located about 70 miles west of Wake Forest - have won five national championships in the last 14 years.
It was in these imposing shadows that Odom found room for a nationally ranked program that gained credibility by beating the neighborhood bullies regularly.
The Deacons last season became the first team in four years to post a winning record (3-2) against Duke and North Carolina.
They are 9-12 against the two schools since 1991, a period in which the two have won three national titles.
``We don't fear them,'' Odom said, ``but we respect them enough to be ready when we play them. Our players might not have the national reputation as their players, but I don't think the talent gap is that wide.''
Still, while he is able to go head-to-head with Duke and North Carolina on the court, Odom usually does not take them on in recruiting wars.
``You don't want to commit recruiting suicide, so I try to pick my spots, where the odds are somewhat even,'' he said.
Odom set the foundation with his first recruiting class, which included Rodney Rogers, who went pro after his junior year, and Randolph Childress.
``Rogers was a top-10 recruit in the country, but for whatever reason, Duke and North Carolina didn't recruit him in their typical fashion, and North Carolina State was going through their problems at the time,'' Odom explained.
``We were kind of fortunate there. Rodney, sort of like me coming to Wake Forest, wanted to make a mark at a place that needed him. Instead of sustaining a national power, he wanted to build one.''
Childress, who sat out a year because of a knee injury, is the senior leader on this season's team.
He decided on Wake Forest when his top choices, Georgia Tech and North Carolina, failed to offer him scholarships.
``Rogers gave us the physical presence to play at the highest level,'' Odom said, ``and Childress gave us the total presence to play at the high level.''
Odom came up big again last year by signing Tim Duncan, a 6-foot-10 center from St. Croix in the Virgin Islands.
Duncan, who had not attracted much recruiting interest, is now considered by pro scouts as one of the top three centers in the nation.
Odom admits he got lucky with Duncan, who was discovered by former Deacon Chris King during a trip to St. Croix. Odom has signed other foreigners, including starting forward Ricardo Peral of Spain, and got into hot water with the NCAA with the recruitment of Makhtar Ndiaye of Senegal.
Odom strongly denied any wrongdoing, but the NCAA ruled Ndiaye could not play at Wake Forest. He transferred to Michigan.
Odom says he will continue making use of his worldwide contacts, but adds that the Deacons ``can't make a living off foreign players.''
``Wake Forest is first and foremost a school with Southern tradition,' he said. ``The South is where we will do most of our recruiting.''
If he can't get the high school All-Americans that Duke and North Carolina attract, he still thinks he can find some players.
``I don't know if I could coach five high school All-Americans. I'd rather have five just as good who don't have that blue-chip reputation.''
Despite its size and high academic standards, Wake Forest already was attracting a trickle of good players before Odom arrived.
But Odom's Deacons lost their first 11 ACC games.
``The media kept asking when was I going to win an ACC game,'' Odom said. ``I told them we would win when we were good enough.''
That first ACC victory finally came against Maryland in Wake Forest's final home game.
Then the Deacons won on the road at Virginia, in what was Holland's final home game, and at N.C. State, in what would be the late Jim Valvano's final home game.
The following year Wake Forest climbed out of the ACC basement to finish third and reach the NCAAs for the first time in five seasons.
The Deacons have been back every year since. ILLUSTRATION: FILE COLOR PHOTO
In addition to Ricardo Peral of Spain, left, Wake Forest coach Dave
Odom has recruited foreign players from Senegal and the Virgin
Islands.
by CNB