Thursday: Weighing in on Weaver/Greenberg/Johnson
EXCELLENT DISCUSSION YESTERDAY, GUYS. Seems those days where I have to rush out the door, you folks do your best work in the comments section (if you missed it, it’s here). Allow me to weigh in on the Weaver/Johnson/Greenberg debate real quickly.
One of the things that’s most troubling to me about this bad Tech season is how much joy Greenberg must be getting out of it. You know he’s laughing in those ESPN studios every time he sees another lopsided Hokies score pop on the screen. He feels he’s been wronged, and on some level he’s right.
But on another level, he isn’t. I don’t think Greenberg got fired for failing to create a “family atmosphere,” even though that’s what Weaver said in the press conference. I think Greenberg got fired for repeatedly calling out his boss. How many of us could get away with that?
Put yourself in Weaver’s shoes. On one hand, you’ve got a basketball coach whispering that his assistants’ salaries aren’t competitive, which is a thinly veiled assault on your commitment level to basketball. On another, you’ve got assistants telling you they aren’t leaving for the money, some of whom are making lateral or even downward moves to exit Blacksburg. And that continues even AFTER you acquiesce and raise the financial commitment to assistants. Not sure how long you should be expected to put up with that.
Did Weaver screw up in firing Greenberg when he did? Oh, yeah, no question, and I wrote as much when it all went down. Weaver had nine years to determine whether Seth was the right fit. His handling of the split was poor all the way around — particularly with him not telling Greenberg first, which will never make sense to me. There was a way for these two parties to go their separate ways amicably without making Tech look like a circus, and Weaver failed miserably on that front.
But Seth has some culpability, too. A lot. He helped create this mess, and any pleasure he might want to take from Tech’s struggles now would be in poor taste in my opinion. He had a hand in it.
I always liked Greenberg. He was an awesome quote, never boring, and had a knack for getting his teams to play their best against top competition, which meant it was never a waste of time to drive to Chapel Hill or Durham to see the Hokies play. Then again, I did not have to work for him. And he did not have to work for me.
Now, none of this really answers the million-dollar question: Is Johnson the right guy to lead this team in the future? My answer: I don’t know yet. I have to agree with those who say the profile of recruits who are committing to Tech doesn’t seem overly encouraging. But until they get here, we don’t know if they’re busts or lower-profile players who will fit Johnson’s philosophy perfectly. See VCU for a program that’s taken guys other people overlooked and made it work. It takes a rare coach to do that, though.
Johnson’s one known strength when he took the job was his tireless effort to identify and lure players as an assistant. He deserves a chance to do that, to put a lineup on the court that does not include walk-ons, but those guys will have to prove they can play quickly.
SPEAKING OF OVERLOOKED: Berman has a feature on former William Fleming standout Jamelle Hagins, a lightly recruited player who’s averaging a double-double for Delaware. At one point this season, he was leading the nation in rebounding.
ACC LAST NIGHT: Duke rallies from a 10-point deficit in the first half to defeat UNC 73-68, while Miami improves to 11-0 in league play with a 74-68 win at Florida State.
STAY LOW: The price of a hit to the head could go up in college football next year, as the NCAA Football Rules Committee unanimously approves a rule that would eject tacklers who hit defenseless players in the head.
JEEZ, HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY: The Olympic athlete known as “Blade Runner” has been charged with murdering his girlfriend.
NAME THAT TUNE:
She grew up in an Indiana town
Had a good-lookin’ mama who never was around
But she grew up tall and she grew up right
With them Indiana boys on them Indiana nights
Well, she moved down here at the age of eighteen
She blew the boys away, was more than they’d seen
I was introduced and we both started groovin’
She said, “I dig you baby, but I got to keep movin’…on”
Keep movin’ on
February 14, 2013 - 8:52 AM
AMac, why assume Greenberg is laughing at Tech’s situation? He recruited all of these guys. He hired JJ, and despite their obvious wedge issue, probably hopes JJ advances his career. Who’s to say Greenberg hasn’t turned the page, and is more worried about how to get along with Andy Katz than what the latest Hokie score was?
If I had to guess, I’d say Greenberg is more into his current job than still obsessed about his last one. I’d also guess he’s probably happy to have the internal ‘family’ politics behind him. It’s possible to think you’ve been wronged, and then to move on from it. Why not assume he’s done that, instead of the most negative?
But then, that doesn’t align with the perpetual ‘everybody’s against us’ mindset of some Hokie fans, so – sure, I bet the VaTech score is probably the first thing SG looks for, and he rubs his hands with glee when we lose. Yeah, that’s got to be it…
Back to reality… The one big expertise JJ was said to have at the time of his hiring was his focus on defense. Now that seems to be his weakness. Not the players playing his defense, but his defensive strategies, and the execution of those strategies. Why the disconnect?
As for recruiting, is there any info out there on the 2014 possibilities for VaTech? We’ve got next year’s team, who are we chasing for 2014?
“Mary Jane’s Last Dance”-Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.
“Tired of screwing up, tired of going down
Tired of myself, tired of this town.”
Last dance with Mary Jane
On the Greenberg issue – had to be a deliberate ‘put him in his place’ thing the way the firing went down.
Should VT have gotten rid of him? I don’t know. Was he difficult? Probably. But you had 9 years to know his personality. Either way I don’t like the way it was handled.
I think Greenberg handled his firing about as well as anyone could have given the horrible way in which it was handled…..total blindside. I haven’t really heard him slam Tech or Weaver. I feel like he only gave a quote or two afterwards expressing how it really came out of the blue. I could be wrong. How he feels now? Who knows? I’m sure watching Tech struggle is a heck of a lot easier than seeing them do what he had so much trouble doing which of course is going to the NCAA’s. I do feel we were a bit spoiled with him though. There was always a chance they’d win (or lose) and they always seemed to be relevant.
Joel with the quick score. Nicely done.
CR–Seth’s very good at his current job, and I’m sure he is more focused on that than what’s going on in Blacksburg. That said, my assumption — and I admit that’s what it is, an assumption — is based on nine years of being around the guy and being a witness to all the drama that went down when it ended.
Not sure the best place to find the 2014 guys. Rivals doesn’t list any at this point. Perhaps there’s somebody here who knows a good resource; there have to be sites out there where that’s all they do.
Speaking of ESPN personalities, did anyone see what happened with Jim Boeheim after his team lost to UConn? He blasted Andy Katz with – ‘I’ll answer anyones questions but his. WHy? Because you’re an idiot, and you’re disloyal…’
Seems Boeheim had told Katz something off the record, and Katz being Katz, immediately went on the record with it.
Good find, CR. Here’s the video.
CR, if you want, go to http://www.vtscoop.com and click on basketball menu for the commitments lists and targets. Hope that it helps.
CR,
SG helped perpetuate that “everybody’s against us” mentality that you reference with his annual whining about being left out of the Dance. He reminded me a lot of Jim Boeheim at Syracuse about 15-20 years ago. You could always count on him to be on the announcement show complaining how his team had been wronged by the committee, and how some team that made it, didn’t deserve it. To JB’s credit, he toughened his non-conference schedule, and the bids came easier. This was something that SG never learned.
About JJ, I would reserve judgement on him for this year. The team played really good defense earlier in the year. However, he has a very short bench, and they’ve worn down. Look at UVa last year. TB is huge on the pack-line defense. He had a short bench going into the season, and they made the tournament based on their early work. Once Brogdon and Harris were injured, their defensive stats all went in the tank. As a former player, I know playing defense well consumes more energy than anything else you do on the court.
I would like to echo what AM said about Smart at VCU–you won’t see him beating a lot of the basketball blue-bloods for recruits, but he’s become consistantly good just the same. You also have TB at UVa doing the same. Look at the type of players he recruits. They all have to play tenacious defense, have a high basketball IQ, and shoot well. I know Akil Mitchell is getting some attention this year, but 2 years ago when he was a freshman, I’ve never seen a kid at that level have a grasp of ball-man help defense and defensive rotation. He fit the system. None of this year’s players were considered by the basketball elites, but they fit TB’s system. Even though JJ’s recruits may not be highly touted, they may fit his uptempo, defensive pressure style. Just give him a chance. In a couple of years, if you’re seeing the same things as this season, you’ll have reason to call his hiring a mistake.
The Blade Runner story this morning sounds tragic. There are even rumors floating that she may have been planning some sort of Valentine’s Day surprise for him when he mistook her for an intruder and shot her several times in the dark. (It happened at 4 a.m.)
I was among some of the folks who thought Tech would not fare well in the ACC in basketball, and Seth Greenberg proved folks wrong. I am not a fan of him, but I respected him. Yeah, he can be abrasive and come across as an a-hole, his offense were boring to watch, but one thing about his team, they could play defense.
JJ is the polar opposite. His offense can really flow when everything are clicking and the defense are as porous as Swiss cheese.
JJ’s challenge is to strike the right balance between a high-octane offense and hard-nosed defense. That require developing bench depth to rotate bodies, a la Louisville, who mastered the fine art of offense and pressing defense. I repeat what I said yesterday, JJ deserves time to get his system in place and get the players he needs. He have already secured four commitments, three of the players are over 6’8″, and one is a shooting guard.
#9 jaded, Hokie fans (in general) have had that mindset for decades. It was there back in the dark ages when I was a student, and it’s still there. The thing I learned in talking to people from outside of Virginia is that they don’t think about us nearly as much as we think they do. Not that they think LESS of us, just they don’t obsess about it like we do.
I’ll agree with you on SG’s scheduling strategy, although I will say we can’t ignore that the NCAA committee has a moving target when it comes to ‘being on the bubble’. Not just for us, for everyone. Why else would UVa be concerned about making the tourney with their record?
I’ll disagree about our defense being tough early on. We won, but we weren’t playing tough defense. A drop off in the defense is not why we’re losing now. It’s the drop off in offense. The defense has remained fairly constant, relative to possessions. The defensive strategy and execution has remained relatively constant.
Trev, thanks for the recruiting link. I’ll have to keep that one bookmarked. One thing, it shows us as having signed two shooting guards and two centers for next season.
I wonder what the difference is in Athletics budget at a school like Lousiville vs Virginia Tech? Lousville seems to be good in almost every men’s and women’s sport but Tech only seems to be good in football. This year being an exception. If it’s not the money then it is the A.D. doing a bad job. Really not that complicated.
Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears; I come to bury Greenberg, not to praise him. The evil that men do lives after them; The good is oft interred with their bones; So let it be with Greenberg.
The noble Weaver hath told you Greenberg was ambitious: If it were so, it was a grievous fault, And grievously hath Greenberg answer’d it. Here, under leave of Weaver and the rest – For Weaver is an honourable man; So are they all, all honourable men – Come I to speak in Greenberg’s funeral.
He was my friend, faithful and just to me: But Weaver says he was ambitious; And Weaver is an honourable man. He hath brought many captives home to Rome Whose ransoms did the general coffers fill: Did this in Greenberg seem ambitious? When that the poor have cried, Greenberg hath wept: Ambition should be made of sterner stuff:
Yet Weaver says he was ambitious; And Weaver is an honourable man. You all did see that on the Lupercal I thrice presented him a kingly crown, Which he did thrice refuse: was this ambition?
Yet Weaver says he was ambitious; And, sure, he is an honourable man. I speak not to disprove what Weaver spoke, But here I am to speak what I do know. You all did love Greengerg once, not without cause: What cause withholds you then, to mourn for him? O judgment! thou art fled to brutish beasts, And men have lost their reason.
Very tragic about the shooting. I’ve done some firearms training…one of the big things that has always been emphasized is know what you are shooting at. He failed on that account and even if he is found criminally not-guilty, he will live with that forever, which is sometimes worse than any potential jail sentence.
Like I mentioned yesterday regarding VT hoops, I typically like a 3-year proving period for new coaches, especially when brand-new game plans are part of the process or the person is completely new to a situation. I am discounting this year for the moment, given all the myriad factors at play, but I do have misgivings about next season already…and if next year goes like this one, I’ll truly begin questioning whether or not JJ is the right man for the job.
As for SG…is he laughing about the situation Tech finds itself in? I would doubt it. But, is he smiling a little on the inside and possibly outward smirking a bit when he sees a box score? Probably. It’s hard to not at least take a small measure of satisfaction in such a situation to at least inwardly think that part of the reason for the poor performance is that you’re not there now. You don’t necessarily enjoy it so much as it helps your ego in thinking that they were better with you than they are without you. Mentally, it justifies your opinion that your firing was unjust…and that may be where he’s at…purely speculating of course.
Shaun, I also think it’s the level of commitment from, not just the AD, but from the fanbase as whole.
CR, you are welcome on the recruiting link. Two shooting guards? Hmm, I must not have read it as thoroughly as I initally did, but nonetheless, there’s one common thread…JJ is recruiting all over the nation rather than trying to establish a pipeline to Blacksburg. Correct me if I am wrong, but didn’t Greenberg establish a pipeline from Puetro Rico?
JJ has to be given a chance. Even though he was an ass’t with an input he’s basically playing with SG’s picks as players. I look at their mechanics and these players were picked more for their athleticism than skill set. They look spectacular playing against slower HS players but their weaknesses are exploited against similarly skilled players at the college level. They need to look at prep schools, JUCOS, AAU summer leagues and foreign teams to find players capable of performing at the highest Div I level. We can’t afford to recruit projects hoping most will pan out. It’s not like we can fire them if they can’t perform, we’ll have them for 4-5 years eating up scholarships. Only Ken., Louisville, and those schools can compete on the one and done philosophy.
#15 CVC, excellent work.
A-Mac, not to pass on rumors, but I heard the Greenberg firing was related to other things not done properly in the program.
We could all speculate till the cows come home on how Seth feels/doesn’t feel about Tech’s miserable season, but I don’t think Im going out on a limb by saying that the Hokies would have been a totally different team this year with Seth still on the sideline and the Harrell kid who left for Louisville, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Would they have been a NCAA tourney team? I doubt it, but I bet they would be a lot closer to a 500 ACC team than they are now. But that is just more speculation of course, it is what it is and it’s JJ’s team. He deserves his chance to prove himself I guess, but it’s hard for me to forgive Weaver for dumping Greenberg the way he did after the success Seth had. Tournament bids or not for Greenberg, all the victories and big wins against Puke and NC (both in the same season once I think) seem so far away and long ago.
@15. So was Johnson the Brutis to Greenberg? As for calling out his boss, It was Seth`s job to make the basketball team as good as possible. Maybe Weaver would`t listen to him privately so he put a little pressure on by speaking out. Remember, Frank did kind of the same thing when he said he wasn`t taking a raise until his coaches got one. Kind of sends the same message. Seth, as did Beamer, got the raises so any means to an end. Obviously, Weaver thought he was going to get someone better the Johnson-may have thought he had someone lined up. Why let him go to Clemson if you are going to hire him. Veni,vidi, vici. Weaver came, saw and conquered and it backfired on him. On another front, Kate Upton`s in particular, the SI Swimsuit issue arrived today and, though the shoot was in Alaska to quote Alica Keys “That girl is on fire”
Yes it is me again Aaron. Interested in an up date on how you are feeling and what was the result of your MRI. Do hope I am not asking things that you do not want to share. If so let me know. Still on my prayer list.
Sara Bailey
A couple of items in want to address.
I want to jump on something here that has been getting on my nerves all season. Aaron sort of makes reference to it, and many others have, too, over time.
It is this notion that Johnson has nothing to work with – a short bench, low numbers, whatever you want to call it. It is a very weak argument.
Tech is putting 8 scholarship players on the floor for more than 10 minutes a game – Green, Rankin, Van Zegeren, Brown, Barksdale, Raines, Wood and Eddie.
Granted, Wood was hurt, missed a few – but all you have to do is a quick review on ESPN.com of other teams, and that is what everybody else does.
Michigan only has 7 guys play 10+ a game, and we know where they are ranked. They have been winning big, so you would think they might have some scrub time to bump the numbers, but they don’t.
And, when you look at the higher ranked teams (don’t waste your time, I’ve already done it), any of them, nobody else does it.
Teams play 7 or 8 for 10 minutes or more. It rarely goes deeper than that. By throwing Johnston and Beyer in the mix, JJ is just giving his “paid” players a break. Most coaches don’t even do that.
Gonzaga (among the top 10, which VT certainly is not) is the one exception, they do go a bit deeper, with some less than spectacular recruits, but there probably hasn’t been a better coach in college basketball than Mark Few, whose name doesn’t start with a K or W.
But, back to why I started this, Jim Weaver repeated one of the greatest mistakes VT hoops has ever made. In the mid-70′s, Tech ran Don DeVoe off. SG was no DeVoe, but he is a very good coach. You need a hardass in that position. It pains me to think about what Tech hoops could have been, with either one of them.
Coach K, Bobby Knight – players didn’t exactly want to go have a beer with them. If a player wants to go hang with the coach, he ain’t much of a coach.
I wouldn’t JJ solely by this year’s recruiting class. He basically had to snatch up some leftovers. I will reserve judgement at least until next year.
Err, I wouldn’t judge JJ.
#24 Rick H, umm… WOW! Very astute analysis, RH. Not because it debunked the excuse machine, but because it gave insight into what ‘the rest of the world’ is doing. Very solid stat.
#20 OT, not that you’d want to pass on rumors or anything, which you just deliberately did. You know why that false internet rumor you just passed on is a lie? Try using simple logic – IF Greenberg had done something improper, WHICH HE DID NOT, and Weaver discovered it, THERE WAS NOTHING TO DISCOVER, then Weaver would also be committing a violation by not self-reporting the impropriety. You’ve got a right to think Greenberg is a jerk, but he’s not unethical. You’ve got a right to think Weaver is a bad AD, but he’s not unethical.
The lie you perpetuated portrays both of them as unethical, and that is a lie. If you don’t like my bold response, tough. What you are alleging in your wreckless attempt to smear a former coach who’s been gone for nearly a year, is that VT officials broke NCAA rules. Don’t be so trifling.
The only thing I would add to what Rick H said about the number of scholarship players is this: on a typical squad, they have 13 total scholarship slots available, and play 7-8 of them regular minutes, meaning several scholarship athletes see little or no playing time normally. VT is using ALL of their scholarship athletes PLUS walk-ons to field the team on the court…meaning they are using athletes who at other schools would probably be sitting on the bench, or not even on the team. That is one little thing that is not in herently apparent from the stats, that I think should be considered.
Comment #24. Right about the rotation in games. What is not taken into account is the lack of quality players in practice. Hard to go and simulate what you will see in a game with trainers and mangers running it. As for the firing of SG most reasonable explanation was that having to find a quality staff after evryone had left next to impossible due to the fact that SG really only looking at one year to make some improvement. Only way would be at least a two year contract which means if SG gone after this year then you are on the hook for 5 asst salaries for a year. Had a few assts. Stayed around he would still be there. Finney~Smith was gone anyway and the Harrell kid was looking for an out the day Keatts left Hargrave to go to Louisville. Not much chance for the inprovement needed (NCAA bid) that you are firing SG in the next few weeks anyway. Besides that he was an Ahole that rubbed everyone raw @ VT, officials etc.
I’m sorry to everyone who made the comparison, but Shaka Smart getting underrated players to overperform at VCU is totally different from what JJ (or any coach) should be doing at an ACC program like Tech.
Even though it’s a football school, Tech is in the ACC, with all the resources in the world to compete on a level playing field with all of the Big Boys of college basketball. VCU is an “outsider”, and Shaka Smart (and Jim Larranega at Mason) have done excellent jobs of finding the right overlooked/underrated players to fit in their systems. But Tech is the ultimate “insider” school. Tech may not have quite the history of some other ACC schools, but today’s kids are NOT concerned about history. (Look at the kids flocking to Ole Miss last week on signing day, for crying out loud…) Tech should be gunning for 5-star basketball recruits. They may not land a team full of McDonald’s All-Americans, but we’ve gotten a few of top-rated recruits in the past and there is NO reason why we should settle for the VCU type of player.
Greenberg called out his boss because Weaver needed to be called out! Basketball at VT is treated like a second class citizen in comparison to the football program. VT was lucky to have Seth Greenberg as a coach and Weaver should have done everything in his power to keep him. Greenberg took a terrible program and made it competitive in one of the best conferences in the country. Johnson will have this team in last place for the next three years until he is removed and they have to start from scratch all over again.
Love ya Rick, but O.J.’s nailed it. I was a walk-on pitcher at Maryland. You can bet my coach would have preferred not to use me had he the choice, even though I had better numbers than many of the scholarship guys my freshman year (I sucked as a sophomore and senior and was pretty good as a junior — all of which happened after I was awarded a partial scholly). In fact, he told me that one time. When coaches hand out scholarships, they put their reputation on the line. John Engelbergers notwithstanding, they don’t want to put walk-ons in games that count. And if scholarship guys are going to sit, they want it to be their decision. In other words, Jonhston playing = JJ playing five-card draw with four cards.
#15:
What feats he did that day. Then shall his name familiar in our homes be known. VanCantfort. Linked Shakespeare. Ceaser. Greenberg. Blacksburg. Johnson and Weaver. Be in our blogs closely remembered. This story shall men teach their sons. Thou shall not bloweth off Curry. Thou shall not blowest off Weaver by thought word or action.
But in we few, we band of brothers who remember and revere shall speak of Don DeVoe forever. And hurl curses upon Stokes.
Those that shed their blood for Tech shall be my brother no matter how vile their opinions I may hold.
Those now in their homes abed, and those who do not blog, shall hold their sporthood cheap, for they were not here readers on this St. Valentine’s Day
Good Comment RP! I have heard forever the comment that coaches can’t get 5 star BB recruits to come to Blacksburg because Blacksburg is out in the boonies! You can’t tell me that Syracuse is in the middle of Manhattan! Kids want to play for winners, doesn’t matter where.
Speaking of VCU, I was recently at their new BB arena. Wow, makes the Cassell look like a dungeon! If I were at 4 star in-state recruit, I’d rather play at VCU.
Does the fact that Tech does not have a full compliment of scholarship players hurt them during games? Yeah, probably. But, it’s the same team that won seven games early. Something has gone dreadfully amiss. If this team was bad at the get-go, I think it would be difficult to say anything negative about the coaching. And, they beat good teams! Not great teams, but good teams. Other than Green, this is a very poor shooting team. Every so often, they play a good team like Miami right down to the wire. So, I conclude that it is in them to play well. Then, I look at the two VA games, and wonder, ‘this can’t be the same team!’ VA never let anyone go the the hoop without paying. Tech allowed one uncontested layup after another.
Greenberg is irrevalent at this point. How and why he left are worrisome, but it can’t be undone. What worries me more is that this team keeps sliding south, and that is on the coach. It’s not so much that they lose, but it’s how they are losing. They just look like a very poorly coached team! Maybe JJ needs a year to hone his skills, OK, he’s got it. But, what I see bothers me.
This is a good point, Desert Hokie. No excuse for that recent effort against Georgia Tech, for example, no matter your personnel.
@20 Sorry, I`m not buying that. If Seth had done something improper Weaver would have used that as a reason for firing him and not that lame-ass famiy excuse. Not to start argument on Valentines Day, but here`s my all ACC team so far. Plumlee, Larkin, Green, Leslie and Snaer.
Comment by Chris VanCantfort — February 14, 2013 @ 10:42 am
Outstanding!
Ralph@3:13— Any all ACC team that leaves off Joe Harris the way he is playing both on offense and defense is bogus. Snaer is a pure shooter but I don’t see him as the all around threat you get with Harris.
Playing 2-3 games a week, having a running offense AND trying to play a tight defense with 8 guys is pretty difficult. The guys are going to get tired. The bench has to be long enough that the starters can get the occasional blow. Let Johnson get 12 scholarships on the bench then evaluate him. Don’t be jumping on his case yet.
Release from Tech regarding Roanoke’s Michael Cole. Very unfortunate. Best wishes to him:
BLACKSBURG – The Virginia Tech Athletics Department announced Thursday that, due to his injury and subsequent surgery, Virginia Tech rover Michael Cole will retire from football, but will remain an active part of the team on the sidelines in the future.
After consulting with doctors and the training staff at Virginia Tech, it was determined that Cole should not continue to play football due to a higher risk of further injury to his neck and spine. Per NCAA rules, Cole qualifies for a medical disqualification and will remain on scholarship, although the scholarship does not count toward Tech’s limit of 85.
“I would just like to thank Coach Beamer, Coach Stinespring – who recruited me – and all of the coaches in making my dreams come true,” Cole said. “It truly has been an honor and a blessing to be led by such a highly respected group of people. I would also like to thank my friends and family back home and the entire Hokie Nation, which has supported me throughout my career. It pains me that I will never be able to put the pads on again for this prestigious program and university, but in spite of all this, I will forever be a Hokie.”
“I am disappointed that Michael Cole will no longer be playing football at Virginia Tech,” Tech head coach Frank Beamer said. “Good players with great character are hard to replace. I believe Michael has a great future no matter what road he decides to take.”
Cole, from Roanoke, Va., played in 10 games this past season as a redshirt freshman, making four starts as the nickel back. He earned Academic All-District honors and was an honorable mention Freshman All-American by CFN.com after making 43 tackles and recording two interceptions and a fumble recovery. He led the team with 11 tackles, including one for a 3-yard loss, at North Carolina and recovered a fumble and returned an interception 12 yards against Duke. He also had five tackles and an interception at Clemson.
Cole started against Florida State and made two tackles before leaving the game early with a neck sprain. He did not play the rest of the year.
“Michael has done well after the injury he sustained in the Florida State game,” said Dr. Mark Rogers, head team physician. “Unfortunately, he was still having some persistent symptoms, so he underwent surgery on his neck. He has recovered well and he will continue rehabilitation. We expect him to make a full recovery.”
That was a scary neck injury. I think the entire Lane Stadium and Hokie Nation members were holding their breath. It was just sickening when they showed the replay. Just thankful that it was not as severe as Eric LeGrand. Best wish to Michael Cole.
Snaer! Surely you jest.
Roll Tide!
———————–
Plumlee, Larkin, Green, Leslie and Snaer.
Comment by Ralph — February 14, 2013 @ 3:13 pm
Ron, correction to your post:
“TROLL TIDE TROLL.“
Aaron thanks for posting a topic that is on all our minds.
So if JJ is such a great recruiter where are the recruits? He was a member of this staff and from what many of you say that’s his specialty. Where are they?
To try to run with a team that has a short bench makes no sense. Sometimes coaches need to adapt and I can’t imagine why he thought it would work.
You know assistants get hired to be a HC all the time, usually when a team is doing well. So either JJ got hired based on VT’s success in which case SG should have never been fired or VT was a bad team and JJ should have never been hired. No he got hired because Weaver fired SG in a fit of jealousy and had absolutely no plan, because Green threw a fit, because players and recruits threatened to leave. Regardless of the reason we’re stuck with him for probably 2-3 more very bad years. I’m glad Green is having so much fun scoring so much on an abysmal team.
Why is there never any accountability for Weaver.
SG did more for VT BBall than any coach since VT left the Metro (or it left us). 1 NCAA appearance in a decade is as good as anyone else and it should have been 3.
wayne goodman@3:50pm Snaer 13.7 ppg, 4.6 rebounds pr game, 2.6 assists per game. 25 steals Harris 16.3 ppg, 4.1 rebounds per game, 2.3 assists per game 19 steals. Snaer is a pretty good clutch shooter at the end of the game. Guess you could make a case for either one but Snaer over Harris does not make the team bogus.
As I posted last night, Weaver is a Football AD. After nine seasons with Seth, VT only went to one NCAA. Bottom line on Greenberg at VT. He was just unlucky. Lost too many games the last two minutes. Greenbergs sideline presence was acting presumably uninterested for most of he game. He looked at the floor rubbing his eyebrows and would occasionally go over to the table and chug a bottle of water.Plus, his out of conference record was poor.He never talked up to his players, seemed to beat em down.
Weaver had an opportunity to try and hire a high revenue coach last year but decided to “get even” with Clemson by hiring back JJ.
Obviously, it’s still too early to rant or rave about JJ. But you have to know when Weaver is revisiting the process, he’s second guessing his choices and overall behavior of the Greenberg dismissal.The timing was odd.
I hope Greenberg gets a new coaching job soon for I for one do not think he adds any value to the espn crew.
VT under Weaver has done a few things to the basketball facilities to keep up with the Joneses, but his skills at hiring Male and Female Head basketball coaches during his tenure seems hasty and a lets get this out of the way process and move on to football.
After going 7-6 last year in football, yo Jim , is VT just a Football school??Keep putting your eggs in one basket.
Johnson should have been given a 1 year contract and see what he can do. The guy get’s outcoached by almost everyone including GA Southern’s coach, he doesn’t make in-game adjustments nor do they know how to shoot the ball or play defense and that all goes back to coaching. This guy stinks as a coach and his recruiting for next year is proving that statement. Weaver needs to stop hiring these awful basketball coaches this guy is Ricky Stokes all over again!
Further,On recruits missed, Greenberg still leads 2-1.
Seth missed out on both Curry’s and JJ missed out and did not offer Andrew Rowsey from Rockbridge-this kid can fill it up.Big mistake!!!
The last I will say on JJ is that, most of the time, you get what you pay for. What do we expect out of a guy who gets paid $700K a year?
People who try to get something for nothing usually end up getting nothing for something.
Weaver and his bargain basement hires are well known. Few of them work out. The track record is poor, and the odds long.
VT could not afford Weaver if he worked for free-and he doesn’t.
Posters All, I support many of the comments made about Jim Weaver’s capability to hire quality basketball coaches; that said, Seth had many problems. I really liked his ability to prepare for hi-profile teams and his “in game decisions.” What I saw as Seth’s major weakness was being a judge of high school talent and thus who he (and his staff, like JJ) recruited to Tech. Let face it, we will always be behind: DUKE,UNC,SYRACUSE,LOUISVILLE, PITT and several others to get hi-quality players, so at best, bottom half of the ACC is where we will at best be.
JJ was put into a bad spot, and he gets a “free pass” for this year and `13-14, but his team better show real improvement in the 2014-15 season, or JJ will be “Weaver’s second selection of Ricky Stokes.”
GO HOKIES, GFB-VT`63
Probably should have said this earlier, but it is great having you back!
Thanks, George. Appreciate that very much.
Aaron, just now getting around to reading your follow up to mine, but have to disagree.
You can’t compare stickball to basketball. The scholies numbers, as you well know, don’t compare. Baseball has a bigger roster, 2x that of basektball, and fewer available scholarships, so the comp between the two is apples and oranges.
There are lots of quality walk-ons and partials in baseball, because, quite frankly, of Title IX and what is doing (that is a whole other discussion).
I stand by what I say, and Tech may not have the quality (although I don’t agree with that – 3 guys on this roster were top 100 recruits, Rankin wasn’t far out of that number, either, and Green has gone over the top in overachievement).
The depth isn’t the issue, it more toward the coaching, respect, and getting them to deliver what they can deliver. At 7-0, James Johnson was a national coach of the year candidate – now he is struggling to win 1 more ACC game – just how can things change so much in so short a time? He lost control – he is Ricky Stokes II (a guy, that I must say, I really liked, my son was one of his ballboys, never was there a nicer person in the world – he just couldn’t coach).
In terms of guys like Johnston, or Beyer, NOT having scholarships, and being considered ‘walk-ons’ – that is pretty insulting to those kids and their parents, because because Tech has doled out the available number of rides to guys, to simply spend the Hokie Club money, over the years, that were not nearly as good as those two.
It isn’t something you can objectively discuss, because a coach can give out favors (i.e. scholarship money), at his discretion. To me, those two guys are every much a scholarship player as some of the guys we’ve seen don the O&M in the past, that got even more playing time.
I would even be willing to bet that Will and Christian are not on scholarship, and are walk-ons, because the head coach has been told not to award them a scholarship, to save money, by his boss.
I believe it took John Wooden 14 years before he won a conference championship with UCLA, let alone a national title. You can’t judge a coach after less than one year on the job.
Roll Tide!
You have got to give jj a chance. I know he was an assistant and was in on the recruitment of this team,Greenberg may be sitting back laughing , but basiclly the guys playing now was his responibility,