Recap | Box Score

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The No. 12 seed miami hurricanes shocked the No. 4 seed Virginia Tech, 70-65, in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals.

The Virginia Tech Hokies knew they were in for a tough game today against the No. 12 seeded miami hurricanes, and they got one. The canes manhandled wake forest in the opening round on Thursday and were apparently still amped from the win as they upset the Hokies 70-65.

Jeff Allen led the Hokies offensively, scoring 18 points and pulling down 11 rebounds. Dorenzo Hudson, who missed the Hokies’ regular season finale – a road win over gt – went off for 15 points in the first half, but managed only one point in the second half.

Seth Greenberg, who is now mentioned as a favorite for both the rutgers and st. john’s jobs, got great contributions from Terrell Bell, who hit 4/9 three pointers for 12 points. All nine of Bell’s attempts were from behind the line. JT Thompson also stepped up with 10 points. Lewis Witcher added a tip-in for two points.

Malcolm Delaney, the ACC’s leading scorer, played easily his worst game of the season, scoring a just seven points. It’s the first ACC contest in which he failed to reach double figures. Only twice this season has Delaney scored fewer points: against longwood when he left the game with a high ankle sprain less than a minute into the game and against nc central where he scored five points before being taken out.

Today, Delaney was 3/15 from the field and miserable 0/8 from three point range. He attempted only three free throws and made only one. As Delaney goes, so go the Hokies. That, and their lack of size and rebounding ability.

The Hokies got destroyed on the boards and got out-rebounded 29-46 by the canes and that was the deciding factor of the game, plain and simple. As if that weren’t enough, the Hokies shot just 38 percent to miami’s 46. Take away Delaney’s dismal day and the Hokies shot 43 percent.

Tech took a 65-64 lead with 2:02 to play in the game when Jeff Allen hit one of two free throws. The Hokies failed to score again as miami closed the game with a 6-0 run.

The Hokies, the No. 4 seed, were a little sluggish out of the game and trailed 4-2 after 2-1/2 minutes, but Hudson got the Hokies’ offense rolling with a three-pointer from the right wing. Hudson, back from missing Tech’s regular season finale with a foot injury, scored eight straight points and 13 of Tech’s next 20 points to push the Hokies’ lead to 22-12 at the under 12 media timeout.

miami crawled back into the game with clutch shooting while the Hokies went cold (sound familiar) and eventually took two brief leads (33-32 and 35-33) in the final 2:13 of the half. But Jeff Allen scored the final four points of the first half to put Tech ahead 37-35 at the break.

The Hokies will now have to sit and wait for Sunday to see where they will be seeded in the NCAA tournament. This loss definitely hurt and they’ll like be seeded anywhere from 9-12.

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The New York Post reported today that st. john’s red storm head coach Norm Roberts will be let go after six seasons and an 81-100 record. The red storm finished 17-15 this season, and while the 17 wins were the most under Roberts, it was not enough to keep his job.

st. john’s will look to hire a “proven winner” according to the Post and at the top of the list is Virginia Tech head coach Seth Greenberg, who is a Long Island native and two-time ACC Coach of the Year.

Also on the red storm’s coaching wish list are hofstra’s Tom Pecora, siena’s Fran McCaffery, iona’s Kevin Willard and harvard’s Tommy Amaker.

Greenberg (343-262 overall, 130-92 at Tech) is a program builder and has turned a listless Virginia Tech program into a perennial overachiever in the ACC. In four of his six seasons in the ACC (his first season was in the Big East), the Hokies have earned a first-round bye in the ACC tournament. They have signature wins over No. 1 wake forest (2009) and unc (2007).

In his first season in the ACC, Greenberg led the Hokies to a 16-14 overall record, but more impressively, he led the team to an 8-8 conference record after being picked to finish dead last. For his efforts, Greenberg earned ACC Coach of the Year. Four years later, he earned the distinction again after a 21-14, 9-7 season.

Before the 2008-2009 season, Virginia Tech signed Greenberg to a contract extension that would keep him in Blacksburg as the Hokies’ coach through the 2013-14 season. Leaving Southwest Virginia would likely be a tough decision for the Greenberg as his three daughters have spent the last seven years in Blacksburg. Paige, 21, is a senior at Tech and Ella, 18, is a freshman cheerleader.  Plus, his brother Brad is just up the road at radford.

Not exactly the kind of news we like to report on the day of VT’s first ACC Tournament game, but this is a story we will have to monitor over the next few weeks as rumors persist.  And it is nice to have a coach that is in demand.

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What a wild Thursday. We were within an eyelash of having the four lower seeds win to start the tourney, three without their leading scorers (uva – Landesberg, miami – Collins, and unc – Davis). But gt stepped up and saved Paul Hewitt’s job. Then nc state may have saved Sidney Lowe’s job by knocking out clemson as a heavy favorite for the second year in a row.

Instead of calling it the ACC Tournament they should start referring to it as the Department of Redundancy Department for the Hokies. Stop the presses – for the third year in a row Tech will face the hurricanes in Tech’s tourney opener.

The canes stunned everyone except our own Balla in beating the deacons by an 83-62 score. This is the second straight year the 12 beat the 5. The u led by 14 at the half and then used an 8-0 run to open the second stanza and buried wake. miami used their superior outside shooting, hitting 8 threes by my count.

But the shocker was miami’s inside game. Playing without their best low post player and leading scorer, senior Dwayne Collins, the u got a career high 22 points from redshirt freshman Reggie Johnson. He redshirted last year because of how fat he was/is. But Reggie made that blubber work today and he played well against the Hokies in miami. But the Staypuft man should struggle to play on consecutive days.

miami shot the three against wake almost as well as they did against VT in miami when they torched the Hokies at a 70% clip in the first half and a 17 point lead. Let’s hope the rims aren’t as kind and the shots are off tomorrow.

uva: The hoos took down the eagles 68-62 in the coveted noon “where is everyone” game without Landesberg or Baker.

With the win, uva plays duke in quarterfinal noon game. A major streak is on the line – the cavs haven’t made the ACC semifinals since 1995, a run of 14 straight tourneys. Not quite to the level of clemson at unc but it is getting there.

In the evening session, the yellow jackets actually won a critical game! I know! I’m stunned, too. This should make scalping a lot easier the rest of the way.

unc used a 19-4 run in the first half to quickly build a 12 point lead and led by 9 at the break. But that lead was gone quicker than you can say NIT.

Derrick Favors dominated the second half and georgia tech won by 4, much to the delight of everyone not in powder blue ( about half the crowd).

The pack got a huge game from stat Tracy Smith and survived to live another day. Is clemson now on the bubble?

Friday:
- Noon: #1 duke vs #9 uva
- 2:20ish: #4 VT vs #12 miami
- 7: #2 maryland vs #7 ga tech
- 9:20ish: #3 fsu vs #11 nc state

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Read into it what you will, but this was freaking awesome! ESPN’s PTI Show will probably show this tonight at 5:30.

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UPDATE: For the third year in a row the Hokies will face the c-a-n-e-s canes in their first ACC Tournament game. The u, playing without their leading scorer Dwayne Collins, absolutely took the deacs behind the woodshed to advance to the quarterfinals (props to Balla for picking the u). The Hokies and canes split their two games this year (more on that below), but Tech beat miami two years ago in the quarters and last year in the first round. In the early game, uva stunned bc even without Landesberg. What an odd start to the tourney.

THE SETUP:

Alright, ladies, play time is over. The clock has tolled and it is officially March Madness. The Hokies head to Greensberg-o to participate in the granddaddy of them all, the ACC Tournament. This will be the first ‘true’ tournament Tech has played in all season, but the Hokies have some great tournament mojo working. VT has won their first game in 10 consecutive tournaments, and the current junior class is 8-0 in tournament openers.

The Hokies, thanks to their victory over georgia tech last weekend, get to enjoy an extra day of rest as the #4 seed with a First Round bye. The Hokies will have to wait and see who their opponent is as the #5 seed wake forest battles the #12 seed miami hurricanes at approximately 2:20 PM on Thursday. The extra rest is huge for Tech, who have two starters (Jeff Allen – shoulder and Zo Hudson – foot) battling injuries, along with reserve Cadarian Raines. Both Allen and Hudson should be good to go for Friday but we will see how well they hold up, especially Hudson who has been battling the foot injury for a while and missed the georgia tech game to rest it. While these injuries may not be a factor on Friday, they certainly could come into play as the tournament goes on if VT survives. The Hokie starters play a lot of minutes and playing on consecutive days can take its toll. Again, that’s why the bye was so big. We’ll see if Head Coach Seth Greenberg uses a guy like Manny Atkins, who played more minutes against georgia tech than he had in all other ACC games combined, to rest Zo. Allen’s foul trouble usually insures him plenty of rest, and senior Lewis Witcher has played well off the bench of late.

Having a bye has other advantages, too. While you don’t know specifically who your opponent will be, you have a general idea. Especially in a 5/12 game where you figure wake will win (though the 12 seed beat the #5 last year). So while Greenberg spent part of this week focusing on just improving as a team, you know they’ve also prepared for both wake and miami to a degree. Both wake and miami, on the other hand, had had to focus on each other. Tech will also be rested on Friday. That can equal rust early on and give their opponent an early shooting advantage, but VT should have better legs as the game goes on once they get in the flow. Plus, you had the bye because you were better to begin with, which is always a nice advantage.

The Hokies haven’t had much luck in Greensberg-o before, Tech is just 3-7 in the Greensboro Coliseum, including 1-7 against ACC teams. Tech did win their last game there three years ago, but that was against unc-g’boro. VT lost at the Coliseum to uva in the 2006 ACC Tournament. I was there to watch VT play a great game but fall late to the #3 unc tar heels back in 1995, when the heels had Rasheed Wallace and Jerry Stackhouse. But this is a different Hokie team and they are all about breaking trends, so let’s see how they do in the Gate City this time around (I have no idea why it is called the Gate City).

Note: Dwayne Collins, miami’s leading scorer, is out for the entire ACC Tournament with an injury.

SIX PACK OF KEYS TO WINNING:

• Come out fast: Tech’s opponent will have played the day before and will have a game feel early. Tech needs to match that intensity. It will help that this game is the second game of the day. As Greenberg pointed out the other night, the noon game stinks. There is no intensity (or people) in the arena for the noon game. That picks up as the game gets late, but you can be done by that point if you fall asleep, too. The Hokies need to have a good start. If they are around even (or ahead) at the first and second media timeouts, that is a good sign.
• Ride the Inner Tube (#0): Jeff Allen, aka the Big Donut, has been riding the gravy train with biscuit wheels lately. He’s averaged 20 points and 11.3 rebounds in his last three games and has avoided foul trouble. Jeff has hit double-digits in points 9 of his last 11 games. He owned miami this year, averaging 16.5 points and 7 rebounds in the two games, but Allen had just 8 and 5 against wake, largely due to foul trouble. If the Hokies do face wake, Allen is vital to be in there to defend the wake bigs inside like Aminu, McFarland, and Woods.
• Call the M.D.: Malcolm Delaney, fresh off being named ACC Player of the Week and All-ACC First Team, has been red hot of late. He’s scored 19 or more points in six straight games (two of those he went over 30). He’s also 22/44 from the field and 8/17 on three-pointers in his last three games. If he can get hot like he was two years ago in the ACC Tourney, he could put on an absolute show and carry the Hokies to great heights, like Randolph Childress did about 15 years ago for the deacons in the ACC Tourney in Greensboro. Two years ago Malcolm went for 30 points on 10/15 shooting, including an amazing 6/8 on three-pointers in two games in the ACC Tourney. Let’s hope he can re-channel that magic.
• Shoot the Boot: Let’s hope All-ACC Third Team member, Dorenzo Hudson, can ditch his walking boot and be strong for the tourney. We know he’s tough, having played through the foot injury for a while. He’s reached double-digits in points in 18 of his last 20 games, including averaging 18.1 ppg over his last seven. Tech must have him to survive in this tournament, even if it is with some slightly reduced minutes. Tech got 37 minutes out of Zo against nc state last week and will need to him to battle as much as he can in this one.
• Don’t rest on your laurels: Everyone thinks the Hokies are in the Big Dance. They probably are. It would be easy to come out and play a ‘ho hum’ game because there’s nothing to prove. But THIS tournament is a big deal. Winning it would be simply awesome. It would mean more to me than anything the football team has accomplished since joining the ACC (I mean that). It would mean more to me than making the NCAA Tournament (heck, we could skip it and I wouldn’t care). uva has just one ACC Tournament title in over 50 years (and hasn’t even made it to the semifinals in 15 years). clemson has never won it. Heck, only duke, unc, and nc state have more than four. So this is a BIG deal. Play like this is do or die and give it everything you have. And a win in the quarters would surely lock up a NCAA bid as a nice safety clause.
• Stop [X]: For miami it is… well, to be honest, they don’t have anyone that scares me. You just have to hope they aren’t hot as a whole team like they were in miami or on Thursday against wake.

THE opponent:

• miami: Recap – at VT 81, miami 66 | Recap – at miami 82, VT 75

c-a-n-e-s canes: Wow, what a tale of two games it was versus miami. In the meeting in Blacksburg, VT jumped out to a 48-13 lead in the first half and led by 27 at the break. The Hokies hit 7 of 9 threes in the first half, topped only by their 8 against georgia tech last week. miami made a bit of a run in the second half but they simply had to far to go.

In miami, it was the exact opposite. miami hit 5/8 on threes in the first half and 14/20 total shots (70%)! The canes led by 17 at the half, a 44 -point turnaround. Hudson, Delaney, and Allen scored all 30 of the Hokie first half points. In the second half, JT Thompson led the Hokies back with 14 points, and VT cut the lead to 5 on eight occasions but could never get over that hump and lost by an 82-75 score.

miami’s top three scorers (without Collins) are all guards. They have three guys (Dews, Grant, and Thomas) with 50 or more made 3-pointers, so defending the perimeter is a must. And without Collins, the canes have no true scorer inside. But Reggie Johnson had a career high 22 in the first round and played well against VT in the second meeting. But with his weight (290) he has to be worn down playing on consecutive days.

The canes had lost 5 of 6 and 11 of 14, I didn’t expect to see them Friday (especially with Collins hurt) but stranger things have happened (like a 2-14 georgia tech team beating a ranked clemson team last year). Tech must take away the three-pointer from the canes and exploit their porous defense by getting out in transition, or making the extra pass on defense as lazy defenders get lost. miami will likely to slow this game down and play in the half court. The Hokies usually do well in games like that with their solid defense but VT must also fuel their transition game with steals an turnovers from the canes. And let’s hope miami is fat and happy won a game in the tourney.

STARTERS:

STATS:

* I excluded Collins from miami since he isn’t supposed to play.

HIGHLIGHTS:

@ VT 87, wake 83:
ESPN Highlights

Watch VT Plays of the Week | 02.21.10 in Sports | View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

@ miami 82, VT 75:

@ VT 81, miami 66:

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• The 57th annual Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament gets under way tomorrow from Greensboro, its natural home I feel. With no truly dominant team in the conference, this season’s tournament figures to be a wide open affair, with many teams – including the Virginia Tech Hokies – figuring they have a legitimate shot at taking home the banner and the trophy. Here’s how the Balla thinks things will shake down –

1st Round – bc over uva, miami over wake, gt over unc, clemson over n.c. state

Quarterfinals – duke over bc, VT over miami, maryland over gt, clemson over fsu.

Semis – duke over VT, maryland over clemson

Final – duke over maryland

• Congratulations go out to Malcolm Delaney for being a unanimous selection to the All ACC first team. For the record, the Balla’s All ACC selections for 2009-10 would be as follows –

First team – Greivis Vasquez – maryland, Malcolm Delaney – VT, Jon Scheyer – duke, Al-Farouq Aminu – wake, Kyle Singler – duke

2nd team – Trevor Booker – clemson, Gani Lawal – ga tech, Nolan Smith – duke, Ish Smith – wake, Dorenzo Hudson – VT

3rd team – Tracy Smith – n.c. state, Sylvan Landesberg – uva, Joe Tripani – bc, Chris Singleton – fsu, Deon Thompson – unc.

Vasquez – the player everyone outside of College Park loves to hate – takes home Player of the Year honors, edging out Malcolm Delaney who should be pre season selection for 2010-11 ACC P.O.Y.

Gary Williams gets the nod for Coach of theYear, beating out Seth Greenberg and Coach K.

ga tech’s Derrick Favors is the Freshman of the Year. Hokie fans may have gotten their only look at Favors last Saturday as he likely will be one and done for the jackets.

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By Thursday morning I’ll have my preview of VT vs wake/miami up, but for now let’s look at the 2010 ACC Tournament and who has the best chances.

ACC TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE:

Thursday:

• Noon – #8 bc vs #9 uva
• ~2:20 PM – #5 wake vs #12 miami
• 7 PM – #7 georgia tech vs #10 unc
• ~9:20 PM – #6 clemson vs #11 nc state

Friday:

• Noon – #1 duke vs bc/uva winner
• ~2:20 PM – #4 VIRGINIA TECH vs wake/miami winner
• 7 PM – #2 maryland vs georgia tech/unc winner
• ~9:20 PM – #3 fsu vs clemson/nc state winner

Saturday:

• 1:30 PM – duke/bc/uva vs VT/wake/miami
• ~3:50 PM – md/gt/unc vs fsu/clemson/ncsu

Sunday: Championship Game at 1 PM

Let’s breakdown Thursday first:

• #8 bc vs #9 uva – I cannot even imagine what the spread will be in this game.  But if I were a gambler (I’m not), I wouldn’t touch this game.  Classic trap game.  The eagles won 3 of their final 5 games (including blowing out VT and beating uva by 13).  uva lost their final 9 games, including 6 in a row by double digits at one point.  The hoos have lost the services of Sylven Landesberg (academics) and Calvin Baker (family illness).  But the eagles were 1-7 on the road in the ACC, including a loss to lowly nc state in their regular season finale.  That’s why I wouldn’t touch this game as a gambler, but you have to pick the eagles to win.  After all, they just beat uva by 13 with Landesberg.  Pick: boston college
• #5 wake vs #12 miami – The game we all care about.  On paper, this seems like a slam dunk to pick wake – they finished 5 games ahead of miami in the standings; they are playing just a stone’s throw from their campus; they are the far superior team.  Not so fast, my friend!  Neither team is playing well right now – wake has lost 4 of 5 and miami has lost 5 of 6.  And last year the #12 seed, a 2-14 georgia tech team, upset the 18th ranked clemson tigers in the first round and lost to the 22nd ranked seminoles by just 2 points in the quarterfinals.  Plus, miami defeated wake by a point earlier in the season.  But that was at miami.  I just don’t see wake losing this game, especially since miami will have no fans there and wake should bring plenty.  Let’s just hope the c-a-n-e-s canes keep it close and wear down the deacons for Friday.  Pick: wake forest
• #7 georgia tech vs #10 unc – My buddy, vt1fan, has already predicted unc is going to the ACC Tournament Finals (he may have even said they win, I can’t remember).  unc, who always has about 40% of the seats at any tournament, should have a solid crowd since the game is in NC even with their terrible season (for the first time ever, no heels were named All-ACC).  Adding to the pressure on the jackets is the fact they must win this game (maybe even two) to have any shot at a NCAA Tournament bid.  Add georgia tech’s AD announced Tuesday he’ll decide on Head Coach Paul Hewitt’s future after the season.  So you have one team with every thing to play for, and a team with absolutely no pressure.  Hmm… I’m so torn here.  gt is 6-34 in ACC road games the last 5 seasons, but their one win on the road this year was at unc (whom they beat twice).  Plus, the heels are without Ed Davis, the one man that can match up with gt’s bigs.  But, whenever any chips are on the table, bet against the jackets.  Pick: tar heels (I’m with you so far, vt1fan)
• #6 clemson vs #11 nc state – I’m not wasting any typing, and risking Carpal Tunnel Syndrome writing about nc state.  They stink.  They will lose.  Sidney Lowe should be fired (and Hewitt if he loses to unc).  Pick: clemson

Friday – I’m not going to pick games after Thursday because I’m really uneasy about the Hokie game if they are playing wake.  The team that played the day before has the advantage of being in the flow and usually comes out shooting better than the team that has been off.  But they usually tire as the game goes on.  However, the Hokies will be playing with two starters nursing injuries – Dorenzo Hudson’s foot and Jeff Allen’s shoulder.  Both were limited in practice this week.  I’d be more worried about that but Hudson hasn’t been practicing much the last two months according to Greenberg.  And, VT has won their first game in 10 straight tournaments, so that’s some solid mojo.  So who knows.  Of course, Friday morning, I’ll be 100% sure the Hokies are going to win like I always am on game days.

Here’s my odds on the top four seeds winning the whole tournament:

• #1 duke – They won 10 of their final 11 ACC games, with their lone loss at maryland.  I still think they are the best team in the league and well better than maryland on a neutral court.  They will have a lot of fans there, though everyone not in royal blue will be rooting against duke.  They are my favorite to win.  Odds: 40%
• #2 maryland – The terps were 4-1 against the other three teams that got byes and have won 7 straight.  They are the hottest team heading to Greensboro.  They also boast the leagues Player of the Year in Greivis “Greasy Face-quez” Vasquez… and the Coach of the Year in Gary Williams.  If they can get by the gt/unc winner, they would face fsu or clemson in the semis.  clemson and maryland split on each other’s floors, which the terps swept fsu.  But honestly, I think the yellow jackets could give the terps fits if they beat unc.  The jackets should have won at maryland but lost on two shots at the buzzer.  The terps don’t have a lot of depth or bulk inside, and if Jordan Williams gets in foul trouble, they are in real trouble.  I think they’ll have a hard time making the finals unless they get unc and then fsu who simply can’t keep pace with the terps’ scoring.  Odds: 25%
• #3 florida state – clemson swept the noles this year.  And even if fsu beats clemson, they likely would have to face maryland who also swept them this year.  It’s not a good thing when your likely first two opponents went 4-0 against you (4 of their 6 losses).  They have a great defense, but they stink on offense, and you need good guards in tournaments.  Freshman Michael Snaer is playing better of late, but when you have to play on consecutive days, defense tends to suffer as you get tired.  Luckily, fsu’s players don’t average that many minutes, but I think their lack of offense will cost them dearly.  Odds: 12.5%
• #4 VIRGINIA TECH – I talked about us up above.  The pros for VT are this is a down year for the ACC and the Hokies can play with anyone.  A con is the Hokies’ starters play too many minutes and if they keep winning, may tire as the tournament goes on, especially guys like Hudson and Allen that are battling injuries.  Another pro is VT has one of the top three back courts in the league with Delaney and Hudson, who both made All-ACC teams – one of only two teams in the league to accomplish that with duke.  A con is VT’s struggles to rebound most of the second half of the season, especially when Jeff Allen was in foul trouble.  A pro is the way Manny Atkins and Terrell Bell stepped up with 20 combined rebounds at georgia tech and could provide additional minutes.  A con is VT will likely have to play duke in the semifinals if they are able to get past the quarters.  A pro is everyone in the arena will be pro-VT in that one except for the duke nerds.  And this may be the best opportunity the Hokies have at the title (especially if Delaney doesn’t return next year), with unc in a down year and no real dominant team.  Odds: 12.5%
• The Field (seeds 5-12): Hard to win 4 games in 4 days.  Very hard.  Odds: 10%

So there you have it.  Check back for my game preview on Thursday morning before I head out to Greensberg-o with the Weekend Warrior and DuffHokie!

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This is Part 2 of our two-part interview with Hokie legend Chris Smith. Click here to read Part I.

This Saturday at halftime of the first ACC Tournament semifinal game, Chris Smith will be introduced as Virginia Tech’s 2010 ACC Tournament Legend.  Chris joins John Wetzel (2009), Glen Combs (2008), Bimbo Coles (2007), Dell Curry (2006), and Allan Bristow (2005) as ACC Tournament Legends from Virginia Tech.

Chris Smith was an absolute force inside for the Hokies from 1957-61.  He doesn’t just hold every Virginia Tech rebounding record, he has a padlock on them.  It has been almost 50 years since his playing days ended but no one has come even close to reaching his rebound numbers.  Chris had 1,508 career boards, 129 ahead of second place (Bill Matthews) and more than 300 ahead of anyone that has played since Smith.  Smith has three of the top four rebounding averages in a season for the Hokies.  He averaged 20.4 rebounds in 1958-59, his sophomore season.  Chris followed that up with a 19.0 average the next year and “slipped” to 16.5 rebounds per game his senior year.  He also holds the single game record with 36 rebounds in a game against washington & lee in 1959.  To put that in perspective, that’s more rebounds he had by himself than VT had as a team in 12 games this season!

Chris was more than just a rebounder.  He still ranks 13th on the VT career scoring list with 1635 points.  But that doesn’t do him justice, as Tech played fewer games back then.  Smith averaged 18.6 ppg for his career, 8th best in Virginia Tech history.  His junior year Smith averaged 22.2 points per game to go along with those 19.0 rebounds!  And Chris believes that had blocked shots been tracked back then, his numbers in that category would have been even more astronomical.

The Hokies went 62-26 during Smith’s career, including losing to wvu in the finals of the 1960 Southern Conference Tournament.  After his career in Blacksburg was over, Chris was selected in the second round of the NBA Draft.  Chris decided to take a job with Union Carbide as a Production Engineer in his home state of West Virginia over trying out for the NBA.  We asked him about that decision and more.

Chris was selected as a charter member of the VT Hall of Fame in 1982.  Chris now has a web site at ChrisSmithPublishing.com and has published two books – ‘It’s More Than Just Winning!’ – focuses on Chris’s basketball experiences, amusing stories at Charleston High School and Virginia Tech, and the importance of character. Chris’s second book, ‘From the Shenandoah to the Kanawha’, is a biography of his first Smith immigrant ancestor.

TechHoops.com interviewed Chris Smith as he prepares for his induction as an ACC Tournament Legend.  The interview has been split into two parts, the first part focused on Chris and his career, the second part looks into his thoughts on the game, Virginia Tech, and the rivalries.

Q: You missed playing in Cassell by a year – what was it like playing in War Memorial Gym?  How many did it seat?

Chris: War Memorial was a great place to play.  We would cram about 4,000 people into it and pack them everywhere, especially on the indoor elevated track.  The football players would sit behind the visiting team and the band would play from one end.  Often the crowd, mostly our students, would just yell to make noise. Sometimes they would stomp on the elevated track, and it was so loud sometimes that I would become slightly fearful that it might drop down. War Memorial was a great place for the students to “let off steam” after a few days of hard studying.  We only lost two games there during my freshman season and we won our last 26 straight homes game over a stretch of more than three years.  We were glad to see Cassell under construction, even though we did not get to play there, because we felt we were a big part of providing the enthusiasm to get it built. Consequently, we had pride in the construction of Cassell just like everyone else.

Q: What do you think of home court advantage VT has now in the Cassell?

Chris: I think it is great!  I feel it is because of the enthusiasm of Hokie fans, just as it was when we played in War Memorial.

Q: What are your impressions of the Hokie program today and Coach Greenberg?

Chris: I like and respect Seth Greenberg and his staff.  He is an extremely hard worker, and he strongly believes in character as I do.  The players also respect him.

Q: Who was Tech’s biggest rivals during your playing days?

Chris: Even though we only played twice, I would say WVU was our main rival since we were always competing for the Southern Conference Crown.  In 1957-1958, WVU was ranked #1 for more than half the season.  The next year, they went to the NCAA championship and lost the finals to California.  The following year in 1960, we won the regular season conference championship with a 12-1 record while WVU was second with a 10-2 record.  We played them in the finals of the Southern Conference Tournament that year and lost to them after Jerry West fouled out.  [Note: We will have more on the 1960 Tournament from Chris's perspective later in the week.]

Q: Who would you compare Jerry West (the wvu legend who played at the same time as Chris) to in terms of playing style and how good he was compared to everyone else?

Chris: Jerry West was a great competitor who was extremely quick, fast, and agile.  His defensive ability was second-to-none, and he continually worked hard to improve, year after year.  Several broken noses did not keep him from rebounding during his college years and for his fist couple of years in the NBA.  Some thought he was second best only to Oscar Robertson, but I thought Jerry was the best.  My book describes my opinion of Jerry in detail.  [Jerry West is the player in the NBA's logo, though some talk of changing it to Michael Jordan has been discussed lately.]

Q: How much of a rivalry was VT and uva?

Chris: VT and UVA had a State Rivalry since we had what was called the Big Six including VT, UVA, VMI, W&M, Richmond, and W&L.  We only played UVA once each year, and it was most intense my sophomore year.  After losing during our freshman year at Charlottesville, we opened with UVA at Blacksburg.  My book describes a personal rivalry I had with Herb Busch, the huge UVA center.  He had earlier broken jaws and knocked out many teeth of opposing ACC players.  I describe in detail how I coped with this, and I was finally able to dish out some of my own elbows in self-defense.  Anyhow, we beat UVA at Blacksburg in War Memorial Gymnasium with our sophomore-loaded team and received a lot of attention.  UVA then received considerable attention when they went to Charleston, played the first game in the Charleston Civic Center, and beat West Virginia’s team that had been led by Jerry West and ranked #1 most of the previous year.  During the next two years, we were able to beat UVA easily.

Q: What are the biggest differences between the game when you played and today?

Chris: The players have gotten bigger and I feel (I’m sure to your surprise) that the game seems slower due to less fast breaks.  On the other hand, our offenses were more deliberate with more plays, shuffles, etc.  This has been replaced with more perimeter passing ending with long three-point shots.  I think this style of offense has been caused by the 3-point shot and the offensive time clock.  Walking was a strictly enforced rule in my day and seems to be ignored today.  I not saying that these differences or bad or good for the game.  I’m just pointing them out as differences.  As far as the knowledge of the game and the offensive and defensive techniques, I don’t feel that has changed so much.  While I played, basketball innovations such as the zone press and the four-corner slowdown offense were developed.

Q: Which of your teams was the best?

Chris:

Our freshman year was our weakest, but when we were on, we were competitive with almost any team.  We were on when we were focusing on rebounding and defense because we had an excellent fast break when we defended and rebounded well.   People forget, but Bobby Ayersman led the Southern Conference in scoring his freshman year with a 20.7 ppg average.  Also, we often shot well, but not always.  Bobby, Jitterbug Gilbert, and I averaged 21, 15, and 13 ppg for a total of 49 ppg as freshmen.  Our weak spots were we sometimes did not shoot as well and I was often in foul trouble.  Consequently, these inconsistencies caused our freshman year to be our least effective.

Several people thought our sophomore year was our best because of our rebounding, our excellent ball handling, our relentless fast break, and our outstanding outside shooting.   Dean Blake, Duke Rice, and I provided the rebounding, Louie Mills and Terry Penn were outstanding ball handlers, and Jitterbug and Bobby were superb in filling the lanes on fast breaks.  With regard to outside shooting, I’m not sure anyone could match Jitterbug when he was hot and that was about 60 to 70 percent of the time.  He had a 30-foot push shot that was outstanding, and it was not unusual to see him make 6 or 7 of these long-shots in a row.  Even though he substituted behind our Captain Terry Penn, Jitterbug still averaged about 16 ppg.  During our sophomore year, Bobby, Jitterbug, and I averaged about 60 ppg.  At the end of our regular season we were 16-4 and we were ranked in the top 20.  After the tournament, we fell out of the top 20 due to our first game tournament loss to GW, whom we had beaten twice during the season.  That year we lost to Marshall @ Huntington, 85-80, and we avenged that loss later in Bluefield; we lost to VMI in Lexington, 81-78, and we also later avenged that loss by beating them in Blacksburg by 58 points; we lost to W&M in Williamsburg, 59-58, and again we later avenged that loss by beating them in Blacksburg 74-68.  Our only other loss during our season was in OT to a good Louisiana Tech team in the championship game of the Gulf South Classic.  One other factor was that we only played eight games in Blacksburg, and we won all eight. In my opinion, we were good when we were on!

I felt our junior year was “our best chance for excellence” even though we lost our outstanding outside shooting because both Jitterbug Gilbert and Terry Penn were gone.  On the positive side, we picked up Bucky Keller, Dave Demarest, and John Fleischman.  That year, we only had five games at Blacksburg, and we had 13 on the road including Dayton, Toledo, and Navy, who were all ranked in the top 20.  We started well, set a scoring record at Annapolis while beating Navy at home, had a 12-2 record, and were ranked 15th nationally.  Then we had a loss to Dayton, who was ranked and had not lost a game at home for several years.  The next night, we had a close OT loss to nationally-ranked Toledo, and a week later we had our third straight loss to GW in Washington.  A week later, however, GW beat WV who had gone to the NCAA championship the year before.  Then we regrouped and won our final six games and went to the Southern Conference Tournament as the top seed since we had a Southern Conference Record of 12-1 and WV had a record of 10-2.  Our first two tournament wins against Richmond and GW gave us a record of 20-5. I thought that year we were competitive with anyone on a neutral court, and I felt we could compete well against WV in the Championship Game.  We had great athletes.  Bobby Ayersman, Louie Mills, and Bucky Keller were each outstanding high school football quarterbacks.  Dean Blake and Duke Rice did a great job  during the game as they took turns guarding Jerry West.  They held him to 14 points.  When Jerry fouled out in the third quarter, we were tied 49 to 49. Unfortunately, the rest of the WV team responded well and they scored on several long shots during the final 10 minutes of the game.  That Southern Conference Tournament Championship loss to WV gave us a final record of 20-6.  During the Southern Conference Tournament, Chuck Taylor of Converse attended all of the games and he selected me for his second team All-American Team.  Jerry West and I were also selected unanimously on the First Team All-Southern Conference Team.  That year I led the team in scoring for the first time.

The next year I knew our team would be challenged because we didn’t have Louie Mills, who had been the best ball-handler in the Southern Conference for the past two years.  Often, he made it easy for Bobby and me to score with his accurate passing.  Also, Louie was an excellent defensive player due to his quickness and toughness.  During my last year in 1960-1961, I was captain of the team and our team was receiving some early positive publicity.  During the preseason, we were ranked 15th and I was selected as a Dell Preseason All-American.  Bobby, Bucky, and Dean Blake were still there, and we had a new sophomore Lee Malear on the team. Lee was an outstanding shooter, but we didn’t have anyone to replace Louie’s ball-handling skills.  Also, we were not effective against the zone press, and we lost three games because we couldn’t get the ball down the floor effectively.  These losses were against WV at Morgantown, Richmond at Richmond, and GW during our opening game in the Tournament.   If we would have had Louie or even Frankie Alvis who was a freshman at the time, we would have won those games and would have been in the top ten.   That year I was selected to be the Captain of the Southern Conference Team.  One accomplishment we did have as a team was we won all of our games at Blacksburg and that meant we had won our last 26 games at War Memorial Gymnasium over a three and one-half year period.

Consequently looking back, I would have to say our best team was doing my junior year in 1959-1960 with Louie Mills, Bobby Ayersman, Bucky Keller, Dean Blake, Duke Rice, Bill Shepherd, Dave Demarest, John Fleischman, Managers Bill Chrisman and Jimmy Graves, Assistant Coach Bill “Moose” Matthews, Coach Noe, and me.

Q: How would your teams have done against the Hokies of today?

Chris: We may have competed better than most of today’s fans would expect.  We would not have given up, and we would have scrapped to the end.  I am speaking as a person who competed against some of the best until I was 40 in 1979.  Our “old man” teams always competed well against the younger teams in independent competition.

Q: Do you like the addition of the shot clock and three-point line?  Would you have liked them during your playing days?

Chris: I think the shot clock took away some good coaching options such as some of the good shuffle and slowdown offenses.  I described several of these offenses in my book.  Being an inside player who fought hard for every goal, I don’t feel the long shot deserves anymore points that an inside shot, but I’m sure I would not get any long-ball shooters to agree.

Q: Any final thoughts for all your Hokie fans out there?

Chris: They have always been great fans!

TechHoops.com would like to thank Chris for taking the time to do this interview with us and congratulate him on being named Virginia Tech’s 2010 ACC Tournament Legend, a well deserved honor!  Last year at the ACC Legends ceremony, the florida state representative came out in a garnet and gold suit with matching hat.  Let’s hope Chris doesn’t show up in a maroon and orange suit!

Popularity: 20% [?]

During the ACC’s final weekly teleconference, Virginia Tech head coach Seth Greenberg spoke about Dorenzo Hudson’s status for the ACC tournament.

“He assured me he’s going to play on Friday. How will he feel Wednesday? I’m holding him out until we get to Greensboro,” said Greenberg. “When we get to Greensboro we’re going to put him through some shooting drills and have him cut and run some offense and do some things and kind of get a feel for how he feels.

“If he feels good on Wednesday, then Thursday, every other possession we’ll let him go live. I expect for him to play. Here’s a kid from NC with the ACC tournament in NC coming off a magnificent season. This is special to him.”

Popularity: 17% [?]

• The team has worked hard, has great character and has given great effort and commitment to playing hard and winning. There has been great leadership in the locker room all season.

• Malcolm Delaney was named ACC player of the week on Monday and was named a unanimous selection to the First Team All ACC. Malcolm becomes the second Hokie to be named as a first team selection, joining Zabian Dowdell. A new display will now go up recognizing Malcolm in the basketball facility.

• Dorenzo Hudson went from averaging 4 points per game last season to being named Third Team All ACC this season. A great accomplishment.

• Zo is still in a boot and will remain shut down until at least Wednesday. They are not going to take any chances but are confident he should be ready to go by game time on Friday. Jeff Allen’s shoulder is doing better. Tomorrow’s practice may not even have contact. If it does, Allen may be held out.

• Cadarian Raines had an MRI on his shoulder and it showed no torn labrum which had been feared. There is only a bruise and Cadarian should also be ready to go on Friday.

• The Hokies had a great walk-thru in the ballroom of the team hotel before the georgia tech game. Coach Greenberg had a feeling something special was in store because it was the team’s best walk-thru of the season so far. The team was very focused.

• Seth indicated he got a call from the ACC office after the georgia tech game saying it was the most physical conference game of the season. He did not elaborate further.

• A great example of the team’s focus was Malcolm coming back from being knocked to the floor by Gani Lawal to his a long three pointer the next time he had the ball. He did not lose his composure despite the hard hit by Lawal.

• Hudson did a great job coaching Manny Atkins during the game. Zo was instrumental in Manny having a great game in his first career start.

• Seth will likely continue to take Allen out of the game after he gets his first foul to let him take a second to catch his breath and get re-focused.

• The team will work on improving their game for the next two practices, not on one particular team. They will not deviate from how they have approached games all season.

• The Hokies are now 4-1 at Alexander Memorial Coliseum. There was great crowd of Hokies on hand in Atlanta on Saturday.

• Ben Boggs’ great work ethic allowed him to play this season and not redshirt as he recovered from his badly broken leg. It’s not surprising he made the ACC All-Academic team.

• Greenberg’s Top 5 wins of the season were 5) The overtime win over delaware that would have been a very bad loss to a team that’s over 200 in the RPI. The Hokies won despite the fact they didn’t play well. 4) At n.c. state – Tech’s first win in Raleigh since 1917. 3) At uva – great comeback from down 11 points. 2) wake forest 1) Saturday’s win at georgia tech.

• Bill Roth’s Top 5 wins were 5) at n.c. state 4) at uva 3) at penn state 2) seton hall 1) at georgia tech

• Seth knew if Virginia Tech played hard for 40 minutes they would beat georgia tech who has a habit of not playing a full 40 minutes.

• There will be no more orange jerseys this season. There could be throwback VPI jerseys at some point next season if approved by Nike.

• Friday’s game will start around 2:30 against the winner of miami and wake forest. The canes will play a 2-3 zone versus wake and try to control Ish Smith and keep Aminu off the glass. They will try to get McFarland and Aminu in ball screens. The deacons want an up tempo. Greenberg thinks wake is more difficult to defend when they play a smaller lineup despite their tremendous height up front.

• Inbounding the ball is a very important job that’s often taken for granted. There is a lot of pressure on the inbounder. It’s usually a 5 on 4 situation. It’s also a specialty the Seth compared to a long snapper in football. Zo is the team’s best inbounder.

• This is a good year for Hokie fans to get good tickets to the ACC Tournament at a good price. Greensboro is an easy location to get to and several teams, such as miami and bc, did not come close to selling out their ticket allotment.

• The Hokies will have a light practice and walk-thru on Thursday night after they know who they will be playing.

Popularity: 18% [?]

Update: Malcolm Delaney has picked up another honor – he was named to the Sporting News’ All-American 4th-team.  Vasquez was 1st-team, Scheyer was 2nd-team, and Singler 5th-team.

The ACC announced its all conference teams today and not surprisingly, Virginia Tech’s Malcolm Delaney was a unanimous first-team selection. Dorenzo Hudson, 11th in scoring in the ACC, earned third-team honors. 

Delaney led the ACC in scoring and scoring average. He was the only player in the conference to score more than 600 points this season. He was also the only league player to average more than 20 points a game. The junior from Baltimore is the first Hokie to ever earn unanimous first-team All ACC honors and only the second VT player to earn a spot on the first team along with Zabian Dowdell who did it three years ago.

Hudson was a surprise to almost everyone this season, but made his presence known when he blew up for 41 points in a win over Seton Hall. His 41 points in that game tied for the most by an ACC players this season – maryland’s Vasquez dropped a career-high 41 on the Hokies last month.

Malcolm Delaney was also named the ACC Player of the Week after averaging 26.5 ppg and 5.5 assists in Tech’s two wins.  Delaney was 13/27 from the field and 7/13 on three-pointers, plus 20/23 from the line.  It is the second time he’s won it in his career (first this season) and Malcolm is the third Hokie to win the honor along with Dorenzo Hudson and Jeff Allen.

Also, freshman guard Ben Boggs was named to the Atlantic Coast Conference All-Academic men’s basketball team, which is made up of 12 players.

First-team All-ACC
Greivis Vasquez, Maryland (159)
Jon Scheyer, Duke (159)
Malcolm Delaney, Virginia Tech (159)
Trevor Booker, Clemson (137)
Kyle Singler, Duke (134)

Second-team All-ACC
Al-Farouq Aminu, Wake Forest (126)
Nolan Smith, Duke (104)
Sylven Landesberg, Virginia (95)
Tracy Smith, N.C. State (82)
Ishmael Smith, Wake Forest (76)

Third-team All-ACC
Gani Lawal, Georgia Tech (73)
Dorenzo Hudson, Virginia Tech (51)
Chris Singleton, Florida State (50)
Joe Trapani, Boston College (38)
Solomon Alabi, Florida State (30)

VT was one of just four teams to have two or more players on the All-ACC teams.  Duke had three, while wake and florida state also had two.  unc did not have a single player on the All-ACC teams, a first for the heels.  Tech did not have a player on the All-Rookie Team or the All-Defensive Team.  Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, and Coach of the Year will be announced Tuesday.  Expect Vasquez or Scheyer to get POY, Derrick Favors of gt to be the top rookie, Chris Singleton of fsu to be the top defender, and Gary Williams to get the coaching honor.

VT Honors and Championships Page

Other News: Joe Lunardi of ESPN.com has VT as a #10 seed in the East Region playing richmond, and Jerry Palm of CBSSports.com has VT as a #9 seed in the South playing oklahoma state.  Good to see the Hokies are firmly in for both bracketologists.

VT got votes in both polls but were still well outside the rankings.

Popularity: 28% [?]

This is Part 1 of our two part interview with Chris Smith, VT’s 2010 ACC Tournament Legend.  Click here to read Part 2.

This Saturday at halftime of the first ACC Tournament semifinal game, Chris Smith will be introduced as Virginia Tech’s 2010 ACC Tournament Legend.  Chris joins John Wetzel (2009), Glen Combs (2008), Bimbo Coles (2007), Dell Curry (2006), and Allan Bristow (2005) as ACC Tournament Legends from Virginia Tech.

Chris Smith was an absolute force inside for the Hokies from 1957-61.  He doesn’t just hold every Virginia Tech rebounding record, he has a padlock on them.  It has been almost 50 years since his playing days ended but no one has come even close to reaching his rebound numbers.  Chris had 1,508 career boards, 129 ahead of second place (Bill Matthews) and more than 300 ahead of anyone that has played since Smith.  Smith has three of the top four rebounding averages in a season for the Hokies.  He averaged 20.4 rebounds in 1958-59, his sophomore season.  Chris followed that up with a 19.0 average the next year and “slipped” to 16.5 rebounds per game his senior year.  He also holds the single game record with 36 rebounds in a game against washington & lee in 1959.  To put that in perspective, that’s more rebounds he had by himself than VT had as a team in 12 games this season!

Chris was more than just a rebounder.  He still ranks 13th on the VT career scoring list with 1635 points.  But that doesn’t do him justice, as Tech played fewer games back then.  Smith averaged 18.6 ppg for his career, 8th best in Virginia Tech history.  His junior year Smith averaged 22.2 points per game to go along with those 19.0 rebounds!  And Chris believes that had blocked shots been tracked back then, his numbers in that category would have been even more astronomical.

The Hokies went 62-26 during Smith’s career, including losing to wvu in the finals of the 1960 Southern Conference Tournament.  After his career in Blacksburg was over, Chris was selected in the second round of the NBA Draft.  Chris decided to take a job with Union Carbide as a Production Engineer in his home state of West Virginia over trying out for the NBA.  We asked him about that decision and more.

Chris was selected as a charter member of the VT Hall of Fame in 1982.  Chris now has a web site at ChrisSmithPublishing.com and has published two books – ‘It’s More Than Just Winning!’ – focuses on Chris’s basketball experiences, amusing stories at Charleston High School and Virginia Tech, and the importance of character. Chris’s second book, ‘From the Shenandoah to the Kanawha’, is a biography of his first Smith immigrant ancestor.

TechHoops.com interviewed Chris Smith as he prepares for his induction as an ACC Tournament Legend.  The interview has been split into two parts, the first part focusing on Chris and his career, the second part looking into his thoughts on the game, Virginia Tech, and the rivalries.

Q: How much of an honor was it for you to be named the 2010 ACC Basketball Legend for Virginia Tech?

Chris: It was very much an honor.  For one thing, it is the ACC.  I’ve always felt that the ACC was and is the best basketball conference.  We only played UVA, South Carolina, and Wake Forest while I played at VT.  We did scrimmage Maryland at College Park just before my junior season started and we did well.  I played head-to-head against Al Bunge, who was the star of the Maryland team that year and was an ACC legend selection last year.  Our team performed well on their home floor, and we won the scrimmage, 67 to 60.  I had 24 points and 28 rebounds.  I was able later to get a film of the scrimmage from Lefty Driesell.  After the game, Bud Milliken, who just passed away recently, asked me to test my jumping ability on a rebound machine he had just purchased.  I had gotten a couple of dunks during our scrimmage and he told me he was impressed with my jumping ability.  I told him about my jumping exercises that I had been doing since the start of my freshman year.  He was very interested, and we had mutual respect for each other.  When he tested me, he had also had a high school recruit there from one of the Washington City high schools. His name was John Thompson, who later became the Georgetown coach.  My other contact with the ACC was playing against players who were playing in the ACC.  We had several players in our Kanawha Valley Summer Leagues including Les Robinson and John Key from NC State, Howard Hurt and Buzzy Harrison from Duke, and others. My younger brother had a football scholarship from Duke.

Q: Describe yourself as a player.

Chris: I would describe myself as a team player whose best team skill was helping out on defense by positioning myself away from my man (sluffing off as we called it) toward the ball and the basket in order to help clog up the middle as much as possible.  Since I felt my best skill was blocking shots, I was able to start many fast breaks by blocking shots toward our point guard, Louie Mills, who could read and know where I was going to slap the ball.  Then my next best skill was rebounding due to my ability to jump successively with multiple jumps especially from a standing position (versus running), my long lateral and vertical reach, and my upper torso strength from lots of pushup and boat rowing that I had done since I was twelve.

About half of my scoring was a result of my offensive rebounding.  Short left or right-handed hook shots and turn around jump shots provided the rest of my scoring.

I did very limited ball-handling and never filled lanes on our fast breaks.  After getting rebounds and initiating a fast breaks, I often got my wind back by “holding back” on my return to the offensive end of the floor while hoping to see a successful fast break.  That provided time to reenergize myself.  The only problem was that when our fast break did not work, Louie would hold up our break until I ran the floor from end-to-end and that was sometimes embarrassing.

Q: You rank #1 on the Hokies’ rebounding list, with 1,508 rebounds, and you have three of the top four single season rebounding averages in VT history.  What made you such a great rebounder?

Chris: Jumping rope, performing the 300-jump routines [he'd jump 100 times and touch the backboard with one hand, then 100 more with the other, then 100 with both], off-season jumping on one leg, and trying to take care of my ankles as much as possible helped me to improve my jumping.  Also the one-on-one sessions for two hours after the regular practices with the 1956 Player of Virginia, Moose Matthews, provided an great opportunity for improvement during my freshman and sophomore years.

Q: Shot goes up, hits the back of the rim and pops way up in the air.  You’re underneath with Dennis Rodman and Charles Barkley.  Who gets the rebound of the three of you?

Chris: First, the better the competition, the more challenged I felt.  I would never be intimidated.  Second, I would try to get side by side to limit their movement so we would all be jumping from a standing versus a moving position.  At times, I might even check them away from the basket.  If the ball did not get retrieved initially, I would continue to jump toward the ball repeatedly until someone had possession of it.

Q: Do you think your Tech or Southern Conference rebound records will ever be broken?  Ace Custis came the closest and he was still over 300 short of you.

Chris: Teams play more games today.  If you look at rebounds per game and not total rebounds, I think the records will hold.  After all, it has been almost 50 years.  Also, if you look at my three year average by eliminating my freshman year when I was in foul trouble almost every game, my average rebounds per game would be 19 per game rather 17.

Q: What was your best game as a Hokie?

Chris: Mike Harris’s book, ’Game of my Life‘ (pages 177 to 184) describes my game against Marshall during my sophomore year when I had 30 points and 31 rebounds along with several blocked shots.  But I had several games where I felt I was able to often “control the game” with my rebounding and shot blocking.

During our 1958-1959 season, these games included our 85-73 win over UVA @ Blacksburg (18 points, 19 rebounds, and held big Herb Busch to 6 points), our 105-24 win over W&L @ Blacksburg (24 points, 36 rebounds) after leading 41-4 at halftime as a result of W&L slowdown offense and our full court zone press, our 93-80 win over Marshall @ Bluefield (31 points, 30 rebounds, and several blocked shots), our 74-68 win over William & Mary @ Blacksburg (14 points, 24 rebounds, and several blocked shots), our 104-66 win over Richmond @ Blacksburg (20 points, 27 rebounds, and “a dozen spectacular blocked shots” as reported by newspapers), and our 91-84 win over GW @ Washington (28 points, 23 rebounds, and several blocked shots).

Then during our 1959-1960 season, these games included our opening 75-62 win over GW (19 points, 21 rebounds, and “blocked a 12-15 shots” as reported by several sportswriters), our Watauga Invitational Tournament games with Tennessee Tech and host East Tennessee State when we won the Tournament and I was selected MVP, our 82-61 win over Mississippi State in Sugar Bowl Classic (set rebound record),  our 79-72 win over Marshall @ The Charleston Civic Center (26 points, 20 rebounds, and several blocked shots), our 95-93 OT win over VMI @ Lexington (41 points, 27 rebounds, and many blocked shots), our 89-78 win over Navy @ Annapolis (25 points, 16 rebounds, several blocked shots, and MVP of our only televised game), our 82-66 win over W&M @ Williamsburg (23 points, 14 rebounds, and several blocked shots to hold down Jeff Cohen of W&M under double figures until I fouled out), our 86-74 win over Citadel @ Charleston (31 points, 19 rebounds, and several blocked shots), our 100-71 win over VMI @ Blacksburg (32 points, 31 rebounds, and several blocked shots), and our Southern Conference Tournament games including our 78-58 win over Richmond (34 points, 27 rebounds which was a single game record for Tournament), and our 88-52 win over GW (25 points, 28 rebounds which broke my record set the day before). [Note: We'll have more from Chris and the 1960 Southern Conference Tournament later in the week.]

During my 1960-1961 final season, these games included our 76-54 opening win over Richmond (25 points, 25 rebounds), and our 106-75 win over South Carolina (28 points, 20 rebounds).  I also had two good games in the Birmingham Classic and was selected MVP even though we lost to Auburn.

Q: Off the court, what’s your favorite memory of Virginia Tech?

Chris: Crossing the drill field several times each day was my favorite thing to do and my favorite memory.   I spoke to everyone, and they spoke back to me in a very friendly way.  This mutual respect we had for each other taught me a lot about people.

Q: After your time at Virginia Tech ended, you were taken in the 2nd round of the NBA Draft by Syracuse.  You ultimately decided to go work for Union Carbide as an engineer instead.  What were the biggest factors on your decision?

Chris: First I had to decide if I could make it in the NBA and decide how well I could do.  What I needed to do was to play with and against some of the players drafted by the NBA and some of the players who were playing in the NBA.  So, after our senior season, our seniors played in several independent games and Tournaments.  First, Louie Mills, who was from Roanoke, organized a game with Lenny Rosenbluth’s All Americans in the Salem Civic Center.  Rosenbluth’s North Carolina team had won the National Championship against Kansas and Wilt Chamberlain in 1957 and we felt he was loaded with talent.   We had our VT players including Moose Matthews, Bobby Ayersman, Dean Blake, and Louie Mills.  We then recruited Bucky Bolyard, who was coaching at VMI and had played for WVU during the Hundley/West years.  During the game, we out-rebounded them badly, and Louie, Bobby, Dean, and Bucky ran the fast break perfectly as we won by 33 points, 104 to 71.

The following week we played in the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament, there were several teams with ACC players, mostly from Duke, N C State, and Maryland.  Many of the players had been drafted, and we were all trying to compete and measure our potential for making it in pro ball.  I felt pretty good about the experience because we won the tournament and I was selected as the Tournament MVP.

The next weekend was the Tournament of all Tournaments right in my hometown of Charleston, WV.  Jerry West had a team of West Virginians.  We had a Virginia Tech team with Bobby, Louie, Dean, and me along with Hal Geer and Wayne Embry. Also there was a group of Dayton players with Arlen Bockhorn and Elgin Baylor.  The fourth group was an ACC group.  We beat the WV group and the ACC team lost to Elgin Baylor’s group.  So we played in the championship game against the Elgin Baylor/Dayton team and we lost on a last second shot.  I was fortunate to make the All-Tournament team with West, Baylor, Cleo Hill (the number 1 pro draft choice my senior year) and Arlen Bockhorn, who made the last second shot against us.  I felt honored being the only one on our team who made the All-Tournament Team while playing with two NBA Hall-of-Famers, Hal Greer and Wayne Embry.  I’ve described this in detail in my book.  Based on these experiences, I concluded I could play professional basketball successfully.   So I had to choose between basketball and chemical engineering.  The money was not that great in the NBA at the time.  Also, I wasn’t certain about my ankles and knees after several 100-plus game seasons.

Q: Do you ever regret not giving the NBA a shot?

Chris: Intermittently, I wondered if I made the right decsision, but fortunately I played in that same Charleston Sportsman Tournament each year.  This was because Jerry West and Rod Hundley had the Tournament sponsors place me on their team.  This gave me an opportunity in 1962 to play against the great Ohio State team and later against a team with Oscar Robertson and Nate Thurmond.  That year, I was able to guard Jerry Lucas the second half and slow him down by blocking two of his shots, but John Havlicek made up the difference.  The next night I was able to block one of Oscar’s hook shots.  In 1963, we had Hot Rod Hundley, Jerry West, me, Bucky Bolyard, and Bill Russell.  Hot Rod, who played on several All Pro Teams said that was the best starting five he ever played with.  In 1964, I was able to play with Hot Rod, Jerry West, and Rod Thorn, the only time they ever played together.  Tom Lowry and I did the rebounding against two first team consensus All-American centers, Gary Bradds and Len Chappell and we out rebounded them.  After that in the summer of 1964, I received an invitation to tryout with LA.  Reluctantly, I turned it down but I felt it was quite an honor.

Click here to read Part 2.  It focuses on Chris’s thoughts of the Hokie program today, the rivalries, and the game in general.

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Its that time of year again… time to block out your calendar for the ACC and NCAA tournaments. I’m not talking about the entire schedule, but there are three key days coming when you don’t want to risk having an important meeting scheduled while the Hokies run the floor:

ACC tournament games during the workday:

• Friday, March 12 — Just one time to block out this year, thanks to the sweet first-round bye — the Hokies don’t play until Friday at 2 PM, vs the winner of the miami vs wake game.

The Hokies look like a solid NCAA at-large bid, regardless of what happens on Friday, but solid isn’t certain. If a lot of Cinderella upsets happen in conference tournaments, the number of at-large bids available to teams in Tech’s position would be reduced, and the Hokies could need a little more quality on the resume. At least one win in the ACC Tournament seems like enough to push the Hokies clear into the Big Dance for sure, so this game is important in that regard.

NCAA tournament aside, this is the ACC Tournament we’re talking about, and it carries a helluva lot of weight in its own right. Some fans actually place the ACC Tourney as the more important of the two tournaments, as far as Tech’s goals and aspirations. Personally, I love the ACC Tourney. Its historically been the focal point of the conference, the marquee event, the event of the year on Tobacco Road, and one day we’re going to bust in on their fancy tea party and track maroon and orange mud all up in it. Maybe this is the year. And this year the Hokies are positioned nicely as a legitimate threat — well short of the favorite, but certainly not a dark horse.

So: Block your calendar NOW for 2-5 on Friday. Don’t get stuck in a meeting checking your Blackberry like a compulsive freak. Last year I wrote nearly the same thing and I STILL let myself get sucked into a meeting conflict. Dumb.

(Or if you’re a student and who expects to spend the week on spring break, (1) I salute you, and (2) watch out for Friday afternoon, it will sneak up on you… And please send pictures.)

NCAA tournament games during the workday:

• Thursday, March 18 — NCAA tourney Round of 64, 12-5 PM
• Friday, March 19 — NCAA tourney Round of 64, 12-5 PM

In all likelihood, the Hokies will be invited to the Big Dance, and on March 18 or 19 the Hokies will take the floor for their biggest game in three years. As interesting as the ACC Tournament is, it doesn’t come close to the pressure cooker of the NCAA tournament, when everyone is watching, and when every game could be the last. Independent of the Hokies’ run in the tourney, these are two of the finest days in the sports calendar, and fully half of the action takes place during the workday. Tracking scores and brackets on the internet while your friends carouse in the local bar is no way to earn a living.

Block your calendar NOW for the afternoons of March 18 and 19.

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Let’s take a look back at the regular season that was, including how teams’ did against their predictions, how the teams have done over the last six years, and look ahead to the ACC Tournament starting this Thursday.

The ACC seedings went right down to the wire.  clemson needed to beat wake Sunday night to get a bye and be the #3 seed.  But wake held serve at home and clemson falls all the way to the #6 seed and florida state gets the #3 seed and a bye.  By the way, can you tell it is March yet?  Sunday’s two ACC games featured two bloody eyes – one for nc state’s Dennis Horner (probably made him less ugly) and one to clemson’s Trevor Booker.  And Mike Gminski called the VT/gt game the most physical he’s seen all season.  But now the regular season is over and things really get cranked up.

Here are the final standings with seedings for the ACC Tournament.  The top four get a bye to Friday.

1. duke (13-3)
2. maryland (13-3)
3. fsu (10-6)
4. VIRGINIA TECH (10-6)
5. wake (9-7)
6. clemson (9-7)
7. georgia tech (7-9)
8. boston college (6-10)
9. uva (5-11)
10. unc (5-11)
11. nc state (5-11)
12. miami (4-12)

Note that VT was 0-3 against the top three teams, 3-0 against the teams in the fifth through seventh spots, and 7-3 against the bottom five.

So how did the media and I do at guessing these standings?  Let’s take a look.  Keep in mind that my preseason rankings were done before the start of the season and my pre-ACC rankings were done just before VT’s first ACC game against unc in early January.

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Looks like Niemo took the media members to school!  In my preseason rankings (done at the same time as the media’s), I was closer to the actual finish on seven teams.  The media was closer on just two and had three of the same picks.  My preseason assessment that maryland’s experience would help them greatly was dead on.  I figured georgia tech was too young and had too tough of a schedule to finish near the top of the league and I was exactly right with them at 7th.  I also figured unc would struggle but I was too much of a wimp to put them lower than 2nd so no credit to me there.  I was wrong about florida state, having them at just 8th.

I was within two spots on every team in my preseason rankings except for two: unc and fsu.  I was right on with three teams, off by one on five teams, and off by two on two teams.  Not too shabby.

In my pre-ACC rankings I had a brain fart and dropped maryland way down.  I was closer on five teams in that ranking, compared to the media beating me on three.  So even with two months of game experience, it turned out my preseason guesses were a lot better.  Next year I’ll just stick with my gut from the preseason.

THE ACC’S LAST SIX SEASONS:

The Hokies have now received a bye in four of their six years in the league.  Tell me they aren’t the most unappreciated program in the league.  That number is third best in the ACC over that span.  In fact, Tech, unc, and duke are the only teams with more than two! Here is a look at regular season records over the last six years (five for bc) and first round byes:

Note: georgia tech’s bye in 2004-05 was as the #5 seed since there were only 11 teams then.

As you can see from that chart, the Hokies are tied with wake for the fourth most wins in ACC regular season games over the last six years, and are tied with wake and bc in winning percentage at 50%.  Just duke, unc, and maryland are over .500 in that stretch.

You can also see that every team has at least one bye except for miami.  As I pointed out above, VT, duke, and unc are at least doubling everyone else.

ACC TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE:

Thursday:

• Noon – #8 bc vs #9 uva
• ~2:20 PM – #5 wake vs #12 miami
• 7 PM – #7 georgia tech vs #10 unc
• ~9:20 PM – #6 clemson vs #11 nc state

Friday:

• Noon – #1 duke vs bc/uva winner
• ~2:20 PM – #4 VIRGINIA TECH vs wake/miami winner
• 7 PM – #2 maryland vs georgia tech/unc winner
• ~9:20 PM – #3 fsu vs clemson/nc state winner

Saturday:

• 1:30 PM – duke/bc/uva vs VT/wake/miami
• ~3:50 PM – md/gt/unc vs fsu/clemson/ncsu

Sunday: Championship Game at 1 PM

I said yesterday I’d rather face wake than fsu because I thought the Hokies matched up better with the deacs.  But upon further thinking, playing wake could have its issues, too.  Greensboro is only about the length of a marathon run away from wake forest, so the deacons could have a lot of fans there, especially if unc is eliminated on Thursday.  But I expect the Hokies will travel well too and can negate any near-hometown advantage.  And wake has been slumping, losing four in a row including to nc state and unc before beating clemson at home to close out the regular season.

Good omen: The Hokies have won their first tournament game in 10 straight tournaments, dating back to the 2006 Old Spice Classic in Orlando.  In fact, the current junior class has never lost their first game of a tournament.  Tech has not played in a tournament yet this year though.

Coaching Changes?  Will Sidney Lowe or Paul Hewitt get fired?  nc state is just 20-44 in ACC play under Lowe and haven’t won more than six games in any of his four seasons.  Herb Sendek, whom they ran out of town, finished with a winning ACC record in four of his final five seasons in Raleigh.  It is interesting to note though that state had a losing record in Sendek’s first five seasons though.  And Lowe has a killer class coming in.  But I’d fire him, he’s a terrible coach.

Paul Hewitt got georgia tech to the 2004 Final Four but things have been bleak ever since.  The jackets have not had a winning ACC record in the last six seasons, and have had a losing season four of the last five years (including 2-14 last year).  As I’ve noted all season, Hewitt has no idea how to win on the road.  georgia tech is just 6-34 away from the ATL the last five ACC seasons.  I’d probably give him one more year.  He sure can recruit but hasn’t been able to turn it into much of anything.  And if gt finished .500 or below next year, I’d axe him.

Rock Bottom for uva: The hoos have lost nine straight ACC games since starting 5-2.  Junior Mike Scott has been benched a lot lately due to lack of intensity.  And now star Sylven Landesberg has been suspended for the rest of the season for academic issues.  There’s a good chance he won’t be back next year.  It could get worse for the hoos.

Hokies Outlook in the ACC Tournament: VT could easily lose their quarterfinal match-up, especially if it is wake.  But you also have to like the Hokies chances of winning it all.  Tech showed they can play with duke and maryland, the co-regular season champs.  The Hokies would likely have to beat duke in the semi-finals to get to the title game, but getting duke at a neutral site, where the common fans would jump on the Hokie bandwagon, would help.  But first things first, Tech has to win their quarterfinal contest.  A key concern will also be how Zo Hudson’s foot holds up, especially if VT does advance and has to play on consecutive days.  But guards are key in tournaments and the Hokies are strong there, hence why they win in tournaments.

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