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LOCATION: Blacksburg, VA
CONFERENCE: Atlantic-10 (West Division)
LAST SEASON: 13-15 (.464)
CONFERENCE RECORD: 7-9 (4th)
STARTERS LOST/RETURNING: 1/4
NICKNAME: Hokies
COLORS: Chicago Maroon & Burnt Orange
HOMECOURT: Cassell Coliseum (10,052)
COACH: Ricky Stokes (Virginia '84)
record at school 106-45 (5 years)
career record 123-58 (6 years)
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ASSISTANTS: Donnie Marsh (Franklin & Marshall '79)
Mark Cline (Wake Forest '88)
Steve Lytton (East Tennessee State '68)
TEAM WINS: (last 5 years) 25-23-15-10-13
RPI (last 5 years) 24-27-125-144-190
1998-99 FINISH: Lost in conference quarterfinal.
ESPN.com Clubhouse
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They will play the season at Virginia Tech this year. The question is: Will anyone be watching? The answer may have nothing to do with the Hokies on-court performance. In fact, new coach Ricky Stokes will be in the process of launching his own era with a different brand of basketball. Problem is, Tech is an Atlantic 10 orphan, having accepted an invitation to have its basketball program join its Top 25 football team in the Big East. And there is an added glitch. A dispute between hoop and gridiron interests in the Big East resulted in Tech's basketball invite being postponed until the 2001-02 season. That would mean two lame-duck years of A-10 play, not just one. "It's obviously an uncomfortable situation for everyone involved," said one source close to negotiations between and among the parties. One camp of Atlantic 10 schools seems to think voting Virginia Tech out immediately (effective next season) is appropriate given the Big East's waffling. Another group thinks its doesn't matter, that Tech won't be much of a competitive threat while its status is unclear. There is also the issue of balanced divisions and scheduling, which are problems postponed until the Hokies land safely in new pastures.
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Blue Ribbon Analysis |
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BACKCOURT C+ BENCH/DEPTH C+
FRONTCOURT B INTANGIBLES B
In all likelihood, Ricky Stokes will win at Virginia Tech. When that will be and in which conference is anybody's guess. It won't be this season, we can tell you that. Stokes has a long way to go in transforming the Hokies into a team which is both productive and fun to watch. Years of plodding have taken their toll in terms of both attendance and the standings. Cassell Coliseum is too fun a place for that downturn to last forever. Look for Stokes and the Hokies to at least stop the bleeding this winter. Yet even a little more excitement will result in no better than a fifth-place West Division finish. |
It all comes down to money, of course, and whether or not Virginia Tech is entitled to Atlantic 10 "shares" after making its departure intentions so clear. In the meantime, there is a season to be played and a schedule to keep. And, on that front, the Hokies can at least think about improvement. This program has been in pretty much a holding pattern for the past three years. Successful coach Bill Foster was an intended lame duck in his final season, and hand-picked replacement Bobby Hussey oversaw little more than a gradual decline during his two turns at the wheel. The impending Big East decision, along with the sudden rise of Tech women's basketball, pretty much assured that a change would be made on the men's bench. Stokes heads to Blacksburg after a wonderful playing career at Virginia, as well as successful assistant coaching stints at his alma mater, Clemson and Texas. All indications are that he is the right man for the job. Whether this is the right time will be settled somewhere else, namely a conference commissioner's office. Stokes, meanwhile, inherits a team with four returning starters but without its leading scorer. Eddie Lucas (14.9 ppg, 4.2 rpg, .441 3PT) graduated after exceeding virtually all expectations in 1998-99. The new coach will begin his tenure by relying on a couple of old hands. Make that one old hand and another who could be. Power forward Rolan Roberts is a 6-6, 237-pound junior who was a special freshman. He did not take a great leap forward as a sophomore (14.1 ppg, 5.9 rpg), but has the game to excel when Stokes, as expected, turns the Hokies loose. Although he is a bruiser, Roberts is quicker and more athletic than one would think. Projected center Dennis Mims, a 6-9 sophomore, should also see his game evolve in an open court situation. Mims is rangy, athletic and a runner. One suspects his first-year numbers (7.4 ppg, 5.0 rpg) are but a taste of things to come. Mims did his damage in relatively limited minutes (20.9 per game). He also played behind Roberts much of the time while 6-8 senior Russ Wheeler (6.9 ppg, 5.3 rpg) manned the middle. Wheeler remains a serviceable pivot, but there is no argument that Mims has far more upside potential. The point guard is 6-2 senior Brendan Dunlop (11.1 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 4.0 apg), who started all 28 games last year and played an average of 36.0 minutes. Dunlop is no star, but Stokes could do worse than to inherit a senior starter at the game's most important position. Dunlop is backed up by another senior, 6-0 senior transfer Jermaine Kimbrough (2.9 ppg). Where the Hokies really need to take a step forward is on the wing. Too often Tech is a possession-by-possession team, without the kind of game-breaking force who can score or intimidate in transition. Even Tech's best teams of recent vintage were led by Ace Custis, a fine player, but not the kind of fullcourt athlete which rules the modern college game. It is Stokes' job to bring Virginia Tech a more athletic team and style. His one impact freshman, 6-3 wing guard Tony Dobbins (Maret School/Washington, D.C.), should help do just that. Dobbins averaged 26 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and five steals on his way to a first-team All-Metro selection in the nation's capitol. He'll replace the Atlantic 10's top three-point marksman in Lucas and, while he may not immediately make a similar contribution on the scoreboard, he will add instant quickness to a team which so often performed in slow motion. "Tony is one of the best-kept secrets in the nation," said his high school coach, Butch McAdams. Another wing candidate is 6-6 freshman Brian Felts, a versatile swingman from Austin-East HS in Knoxville, Tenn. Felts averaged 17.8 ppg and 8.0 rpg while begin named a Class AA All-State player. Felts will most likely back up 6-4 senior Andre Ray (3.7 ppg, 3.9 rpg) at small forward. This position has been an offensive back hole at Tech since we last saw Custis in 1996-97. Ray shared the job a year ago with 6-7 junior David Whaley (2.4 ppg, 1.5 rpg) and 6-5 sophomore Rodrigo Viegas (0.8 ppg, 1.2 rpg). Whaley is equal parts power forward; Viegas saw action in 19 games while adjusting from international competition. The backup power players are Whaley, 6-9 redshirt sophomore Clinton McPherson and 6-8 freshman Jon Smith (11.0 ppg, 10.4 rpg at South Charleston HS/Dunbar, W.Va.). McPherson has yet to appear in a Division I game, having redshirted as a true freshman and then tearing his ACL last October. An intriguing all-around athlete is 6-5 freshman Keith Wills (Norview HS/Norfolk, Va.). Wills averaged 27.0 ppg and 12.7 rpg as a high school senior, but, as you read this, he is working his way up the depth chart as a prep All-America tight end for the football Hokies. Wills is planning to join his hardwood friends after football, which at this point may not be until after a New Year's Day bowl game. Which may still be sooner than Virginia Tech's conference affiliation is resolved.
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