THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, January 20, 1996 TAG: 9601200477
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Tom Robinson
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines
Now we get to see how well Virginia Tech's basketball team handles what it wished for. Because it's come true.
Consistently through the years, the Hokies have joined mind and voice in a vow to bring respect to their formerly downtrodden program. Well, take a look. A No. 11-ranking, with a probable top-10 spot on tap in the next Associated Press poll. Uplifting stories in USA Today and Sports Illustrated in the same week.
That's more than mere curiosity. It's earned recognition, even if it arrives grudgingly to a team that confounds those who would pigeonhole it. Are the Hokies fish? Fowl? With no supposed stars or certain NBA prospects, are they really worthy of their bestowed station and this praise?
Seems like it. The Hokies are 11-1. Cassell Coliseum rumbles and rocks once more. Opposing coaches talk of needing to coax peak performances from their squads in order to give Tech a game.
Clearly, the genie among these hills this athletic year is up to magic again, spreading wonderment and, to Tech's way of thinking, just reward. The interesting part will be monitoring the Hokies' reaction as they realize such prosperity comes with a price.
``Being ranked, all that means is you're going to get the opposing team's best effort,'' says forward Ace Custis, the smooth junior forward from Northampton, noting that the days of Hokie ambushes are over.
``If anything people are going to sneak up on us. We're the 11th-ranked team and we've got to play like the 11th-ranked team. We've got the respect, and we can't let anybody take it away from us.''
Thursday's 63-62 victory over Dayton at home tells you that's not going to be easy. Tech is winning but it's not humming, says coach Bill Foster, who began to lay some psychological groundwork, aimed for between his players' ears, after that sweaty escape.
The Hokies are suffering too much down time on defense, particularly in the paint, Foster says. They are getting to the foul line far too infrequently, again from a lack of inside aggression. They haven't had a real sustained effort since they thumped Virginia a couple days after Christmas. They need tons of work.
``We've talked about it for the last two weeks,'' Foster says. ``We've got to get our game up to another level somehow.''
Foster is the perfect guy to push Tech's buttons. He's a perennial underdog himself who, despite a 505-304 record in 29 seasons as a head coach, has put only one team in the NCAA tournament, Clemson in 1979-80.
Foster starts all four of his seniors - Shawn Smith, Travis Jackson, Shawn Good and Damon Watlington - and he lays responsibility for much of the Hokies' mindset on that quartet.
``Sometimes teams with a lot of seniors are the hardest to coach, because they stop listening,'' Foster says. ``They've heard it all before. So sometimes you need a few breakdowns before you can start breaking through a little bit.
``Hey, this is all new to us. We've never been here before. Heck, some of our kids have never read Sports Illustrated, much less read about themselves in it.''
Suddenly, such a different kind of lament coming out of Blacksburg. So refreshing, too, after such a prolonged inferiority complex and the tedious battlecries it spawned - ``Nobody likes us. Nobody respects us. We'll show you, you jerks.''
OK, show us. Just no more famous last words about respect, gentlemen.
Look around. It's all yours. Enjoy it. If you can. by CNB