Back on the Air With The New ACC

Editor's Note: My apologies for the weird font issue in the final section. I hate Blogger with a violent passion and will be moving to a new service as soon as I find one that suits our needs. Also, we just went over 100,000 page views all time despite our recent bout of woeful inactivity. Thanks for stopping by.

By Justin Cates

There's been a significant blackout here on the blog for the month of June. I apologize and will explain in due course. For now though, I'd like to extend a fairly warm welcome to the three new members of the Atlantic Coast Conference: Syracuse, Pittsburgh and Notre Dame.

Their membership formally kicks into effect today and brings the number of conference members to 14.5 as Notre Dame is only partially in for football because, well, they can I guess.

Despite being driven by the ever-changing landscape of college football, the move really serves to solidify the ACC as the best basketball conference in the nation.

As such, given the current toxic nature of the Virginia Tech basketball program, I don't expect to see the Hokies compete any time soon even though the conference may well be an eight bid league come the big tournament in March.

It will be interesting to see how these programs evolve in the two biggest sports, football and basketball. I'm particularly curious to see how these hoops squads evolve from the physical post play of the Big East to the fast-pace style employed by the bulk of the ACC.

These schools have three of the finest coaches in college hoops so they shouldn't have a problem, still it's a vastly different style. Also, we call fouls.

I'm particularly excited for Syracuse to make only their second ever trip to Cassell Coliseum. It marks the only time since 1978 when the Hokies upset the No. 10 Orange by 17-points likely inducing a number of facial cringes in Jim Boeheim.

Syracuse was the only one of these new schools not to come to Blacksburg during Tech's brief stay in the Big East, likely because they are special.

They will fit in well with the Carolina schools who as all new members will quickly find feel entitled to things which they are not.  

But enough negativity, welcome friends! Try the barbecue and don't get too comfortable.


Erick Green Drafted in NBA's Second Round 

ACC Player of the Year Erick Green was selected by the Utah Jazz last week with the 16th pick of the second round (46th overall). He was promptly traded to the Denver Nuggets for their first round selection Rudy Gobert (27th pick) and cash.

Denver thinks very highly of Green who led the nation in scoring this past season. If he makes the squad, he figures to help a lack of depth in Denver's backcourt. They are led by former North Carolina star Ty Lawson at point guard with veterans Andre Miller and Andre Iguodala the other major guards.

Iguodala has already met with the Detroit Pistons so he may be on his way out. That would leave Denver perilously thin at the guard spots. If Green has a good summer league, it wouldn't surprise me at all to see him suit up in the NBA next season.


Hokie Baseball Coach Pete Hughes Heads to Oklahoma

Virginia Tech is fresh off hosting their first NCAA baseball regional and posting 40-22 record, but they'll have to follow it up with a different head coach.

Pete Hughes decided to take the top job at Oklahoma last week after Sooners' coach Sunny Golloway left for Auburn.

Hughes spent 7 seasons in Blacksburg, rejuvenating a program that had languished at the end of legendary head coach Chuck Hartman's tenure. 

As has become his custom, Tech athletic director Jim Weaver quickly hired Hughes' top assistant, pitching coach Patrick Mason.

Mason has himself led a turnaround during his three seasons in Blacksburg vastly improving Tech's pitching staff. He announced at his introductory press conference that assistant Mike Kunagonis would also be staying with the program as associate head coach.   


     

Saluting ACC Player of the Year Erick Green

To say I'm bummed that the 2012-13 Hokie basketball season is over would be incorrect.

I'm very thankful that I won't have to watch this incompetent bunch bumble their way through the Atlantic Coast Conference any longer. Frankly, they should have been put out to pasture at the start of the new year.

The only thing I'll miss is watching Erick Green, the incomparable Hokie point guard who finished his senior season as the nation's leading scorer and as the ACC Player of the Year—both firsts for a Hokie.

In his final regular season game against Wake Forest, Erick broke the school record for points in a season with 786 surpassing the old mark of 785 set by Bimbo Coles in 1989-90.

Other teams put their best defenders on him and trapped and double-teamed him almost every game knowing he was the only real offensive threat, but still he piled up obscene numbers.

Those would be 25.4 PPG on 48% shooting from the floor including 39% from behind the arc.

That's right, he made half his shots and I can assure you having watched nearly every painful moment this season (Thanks ESPN3?) there weren't that many easy lay-ups.

He embodies everything you want in a team leader, heart, toughness, talent and work ethic. He gave his all every single game, often to the point of exhaustion.

Green was helped off the court suffering from dehydration against Georgia Tech Feb 9. 

If you haven't seen him play you might assume he's a selfish player who rarely involves his teammates, but that couldn't be further from the truth.

Green averaged just under 4 assists per game (3.9) and should have had many more. The guys around him just didn't make any shots.

No one expected much from the Hokies this season with a first-year head coach and only eight scholarship players, and that's mainly what folks got.

There was plenty of frustration for the Hurryin' Hokies this season.

The lone bright spot was Green doing his best and desperately trying to get his teammates to follow his lead.

There were lots of voices in recent weeks arguing against Erick's case for player of the year based on Tech's abysmal record (13-19, 4-13 ACC), the thinking being you can't be the best player if your team doesn't win.

Indeed, there haven't been many instances of MVPs on losing teams and in ACC hoops the only other example is the late Len Bias of Maryland in 1986.

In professional sports, I had a hard time finding anyone beyond the great Andre Dawson in 1987 when he took home the award after hitting .287 with 49 home runs and 147 RBI for the last place Chicago Cubs.

No these types of honors aren't just about stats, but certain individual performances can overcome playing on a bad team.

Ultimately, it doesn't really matter if you thought Shane Larkin of Miami or maybe Seth Curry of Duke was more deserving. EG just finished a season so impressive that he convinced even the Carolina media mafia he was worthy of their highest honor.

I'm sad to see the best thing about Hokie hoops head on, but I look forward to following him as he attempts to play professionally.

He'll make it somewhere because of his skill and make-up. He had the drive to keep going even when it looked like many of his guys had given up.

Come to think of it, that sounds like the perfect point guard for the Charlotte Bobcats.

Hokies Hire Former Assistant James Johnson as Head Basketball Coach

What a strange two weeks it's been.

James Johnson was just beginning his new job as an assistant coach at Clemson when Seth Greenberg was unceremoniously fired in a move that baffled the entire college basketball world.

Now, after being spurned by a number of potential suitors with "bigger" names, Tech athletic director Jim Weaver wiped the egg from his face just long enough to find Johnson's phone number and get him to come back to Blacksburg.

Let it be clear, I think Johnson will be a good choice. He was Tech's top recruiter during his five seasons under Greenberg. He was the lead recruiter on Robert Brown, C.J. Barksdale, Cadarian Raines and Erick Green. The team, not surprisingly is very excited with the choice.

 Erick Green tweeted, Yessss I’ll be back next year  and Cadarian Raines added via the often non-sensical social platform, I'm happy as hell right now!! #Hokies.

Much of the rest of the team expressed similar sentiments, so it would appear the bulk of the current players will remain at Tech which was becoming a serious question mark the longer the search for a head coach continued.

         

Johnson hopes to step out from the shadow of his deposed

 predecessor.

Johnson is a Virginia native and played his college ball about an hour away from Blacksburg at Ferrum College.

He knows the area well having been an assistant at Ferrum, Longwood, Hargrave Military Academy, Old Dominion and George Mason just in the Commonwealth alone. There were also stops at College of Charleston, Penn State and Elon.

He has loads of experience as an assistant at schools of various sizes and locations and his local knowledge and connections in the mid-atlantic should help Tech keep recruiting on roughly the same level as under Greenberg.

Speaking of Seth, he had this to say regarding Johnson in last year's basketball media guide:

“JJ is the elder statesman of our staff and is tremendously invested in Virginia Tech basketball. He is one of the elite recruiters in all of college basketball and a terrific on-floor coach. His genuine concern for our student athletes and their development both on and off the court is well documented. He is a head coach waiting to happen.” — Seth Greenberg

Time will tell how things work out for JJ, but given the horrible position the program was put in by the athletic department's timing, this is probably a best case scenario.

Tech simply wasn't going to attract a big name, certainly not the people rumored to be involved. The job is hard to begin with and Jim Weaver just proved what kind of support at a successful hoops coach can expect at Virginia Tech if things turn slightly sour.

To those concerned that Johnson wasn't Tech's top choice, fear not. Seth Greenberg was at least Weaver's fifth choice during the last coaching search (names like Lon Kruger and Jim Baron come to mind). He lucked into something with Seth, and may just do it again.

No thanks to timing.

Seth Greenberg Fired In Awkward Press Conference

Seth Greenberg was fired Monday during a bizarre press conference that was scheduled before the coach was even notified that his “contract had been terminated”.

The second-winningest men’s basketball coach in Virginia Tech history was let go after a nine-season run in Blacksburg and a 170-123 overall record.

Greenberg’s most impressive feats were his 61-67 mark in ACC play and three victories over the No. 1 ranked team in the country (Duke, UNC, Wake Forest).

He lifted Tech a notch or two as he stewarded Tech’s transition into the ACC, but things had stalled a bit and Greenberg was not without his faults as a coach.

That said, the callousness with which this firing materialized is surprising.

Greenberg deserved to know last week when athletic director Jim Weaver was suddenly overcome by an epiphany that Seth isn’t on the same page with him and the Tech athletic department family.

You can’t praise Tech’s family atmosphere in one breath and then cut ties with a coach who was doing his job, hosting a recruit the day you fired him.

If nothing else, it makes the athletic department look like a bunch of bumbling fools trying to jack up the website hits by teasing the presser for a fired coach.

Jim Weaver may not have thought this out

At best it’s inconsiderate and unfair, at worst it’s a calculated, cold-blooded move.

It’s hard to say any of this is calculated though. Many surmised that Weaver must have had someone ready to take the job already by making this move a month after most coaching moves occurred.

That doesn’t appear to be the case so far and that’s no surprise.

Some 40 schools have hired a new coach already this offseason. As Ken Pomeroy tweeted yesterday, “If you're firing your coach on April 23, that coach better have done some Brad Greenberg-type stuff. Otherwise, awful move.”

That is of course a reference to Seth’s brother Brad who got in some trouble during his brief stint as the head coach just down the road at Radford.

There’s never been anything to indicate Seth cut corners. He was aggressive in recruiting and had to work harder than a lot of coaches to overcome the various obstacles Tech faces in an area dominated by ACC flagship schools like Duke and North Carolina.

Seth Greenberg was exactly what Tech needed for a time, a firey, brash personality who wasn’t afraid to stick his nose in the face of Coach K and to challenge the ACC elite.

The players bought in and realized Virginia Tech wasn’t just a bottom of the league program as many had predicted, but a team capable of finishing in the top third.

It’s no surprise that over time Seth’s personality wore thin with people. Blacksburg isn’t used to big personalities. We’re used to ‘aw shucks’ Frank Beamer and the rock and stability of the football program.

Seth Greenberg is one of the most demonstrative and entertaining coaches to watch.

Still, I will remember Seth for the excitement and energy that he infused in a dormant program.

I loved his sometimes brutally honest media relations and can’t wait to see him on ESPN. He will instantly be their best analyst when they or some other network hires him.

He has two ACC Coach of the Year awards, one NCAA Tournament appearance and a plethora of NIT bids to show for his time storming up and down the sideline in Cassell Coliseum.

Many of the most exciting athletes in Hokie hoops history have come through during Seth’s time, and he leaves having helped build a beautiful multi-million dollar basketball practice facility that has helped make Tech’s facilities relevant.

Say what you will about Greenberg, love him or hate him, he gave Virginia Tech everything he could and did a great deal to advance the program.

If you can’t see that, you’re certifiably insane.

Hokies and Irish Notch Big Weekend Wins

Notre Dame's Jerian Grant celebrates a 67-58 victory over No. 1 Syracuse Saturday

It was a big weekend on the hardwood for the favored college hoops teams of this blog (save for Brian's annoying fixation with Duke).

Notre Dame became the first team to upend No. 1 Syracuse and the Hokies edged in-state rival No. 17 Virginia.

I can't speak for Brian, but I haven't posted about Hokie hoops because it's exceedingly frustrating (which I'm conditioned to) watching a talented group play so inconsistently. While I haven't watched ND much this season, they appear on paper at least to have similar afflictions.

The Irish have now upset two top ten teams (Syracuse and Louisville) and also defeated then No. 22 Pittsburgh.

There have been bumps along the way however like losses to Georgia and Rutgers.

Dorenzo Hudson made several big shots off the bench helping Tech to a 47-45 win over No. 17 Virginia Sunday

The Hokies have been even more mercurial, starting 0-4 in ACC play before Sunday's win over the Cavaliers.

Tech lost its first three ACC games by a total of seven points, which is why at 1-4 they still reside in the conference basement.

Even more frustrating, Tech has led almost every game at the half this season including against Syracuse at Madison Square Garden and No. 8 North Carolina Thursday in Blacksburg.

The Hokies lost both those contests, but have had chances to win all their games.

Notre Dame (12-8, 4-3 Big East) and Virginia Tech (12-7, 1-4 ACC) both have a lot of work to do to get into position to make the NCAA Tournament.

The Irish now have a signature victory and a number of nice wins to along with it. The Hokies' schedule isn't eye-popping, but their strength of schedule is currently 41 according to realtimerpi.com.

The grind of conference play will tell the tale for these two programs, and if this weekend was any indication it could be an unexpectedly pleasant story.

N.C. State Still Looking For New Basketball Coach

I'd just like to take a moment to witness and make fun of the North Carolina State basketball program and athletic department as they flounder to replace former coach Sydney Lowe, who was fired this season after amassing an 86-78 record during his time in Raleigh.

Lowe was a baffling hire at the time. He was a State alumnus and was part of their 1983 Jim Valvano-coached National Champion squad, but he had posted a career record of just 79-228 as a head man in the NBA when hired to lead the Wolfpack.

Of course, Lowe was hired to replace longtime coach Herb Sendek, who was dismissed after five consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances (something Lowe never accomplished) and a 191-132 record at N.C. State.

Sendek went to the postseason in nine out of his ten seasons with the Wolfpack but was ultimately rewarded with a pink slip.

Now comes the news that flavor-of-the-month coach Shaka Smart from VCU chose to stay in Richmond after being offered the N.C. State job. Wichita State's Gregg Marshall was also a candidate, but is also choosing to stay at his current position.

So what does it say when an ACC team can't attract basketball coaches from mid-major schools?

It's partly a reflection of the mid-majors stepping up their payments, Smart is due a base salary of $1.2 million a year.

But also, it speaks rather poorly of N.C. State's athletic department. Athletic Director Debbie Yow is apparently no cup of tea to work for and the State fans still suffer from the delusion that their basketball program matters outside of Raleigh.

N.C. State is in a position to make a move in the ACC and reclaim what once was fleetingly theirs. But, this is a massively important hire, one which needs to be much improved from their result of the last search for a head coach.

Virginia Tech Beats #1 Duke 64-60

I dare say I'm not surprised. For the third time in the last five seasons (tops in the NCAA) the Hokies knocked off the top-ranked college hoops squad in the land, edging Duke Saturday night in Blacksburg.

Thanks in large part to Jeff Allen's monster double-double (18 points, 15 rebounds), the Hokies took a large step towards solidifying an at-large berth in the "Big Dance".

The win puts the Hokies at 19-8 overall on the season with a 9-5 mark in ACC play.

With two games remaining against ACC foes, Tech sits poised to earn a first round bye in the ACC Tournament once again.

I would like to take this opportunity to point out that Brian expressed via text message following the game that he felt the Hokies still wouldn't get into the NCAA Tournament due to a "poor" non-conference schedule.

We'll have ample opportunity to point out the flaws in that viewpoint this coming week. In the meantime, I'll continue to bask in the glory of another impressive ACC victory.