Tech to host VMI, Duke
Virginia Tech announced today it will host VMI this season.
It will be the teams’ first meeting since the 2009-10 season. VMI is the alma mater of new assistant coach Ramon Williams.
Tech also announced the ACC part of its schedule. Tech will play Duke both home and away, while its only games against UNC and N.C. State will be on the road.
Tech will also play Maryland, Wake, UVa, Clemson, Georgia Tech and Miami both home and away. The only meetings with BC and FSU will be at Cassell.
The other nonleague games announced by Tech are old news that I already reported — WVU and UNC Greensboro away, Oklahoma State and Rhode Island at home, the Las Vegas Classic, and the game against BYU in Salt Lake.
June 20, 2012 - 2:19 PM
No doubt, this will be a lonnnnnnngggggggggg season.
Are there going to be more than 8 scholarship players?
Still only 8 scholarship players on roster, yes.
Any word on progress in finding stop gap players since the transfer of the UNC-Wilmington guard?
Still only 8 scholarship players for the coming season.
Mark,
While we’ve got you in a talkative mood, maybe you will give us your take on what led to Weaver’s bizarre decision to dismiss Greenberg.
I have asked this question on this site previously but have not received a response.
I’d really be interested to hear your thoughts.
Will Tech be able to sign walk-on players? If they don’t fill up the bench, it will take an unfortunate injury to really throw the season away.
Oh, I’m sure they’ll have a few walk-ons.
I think after nine years, he got tired of Greenberg and when Greenberg kept losing assistants this year, Weaver decided he’d had enough. With Tech coming off a losing season, he probably was more willing to make that decision than if they were coming off a great year. But, like with the women’s basketball hire a year ago, he really opens himself up to second-guessing. In this instance, because he all of a sudden decides to do this in April, throws out the “family” line about the basketball office at the news conference, and then hired a rookie head coach.
I actually think Tech has a chance to have a better record this year. The freshmen will not be freshmen any more and Raines was much improved by the end of the season.
Mark,
Thanks. All good points. For alums like myself who aren’t close to what’s going on with the program it was a little surprising to hear that many considered Greenberg to be caustic and that he could belittle his assistants. Had not heard that before. Assume this may be some of what you mean when you say Weaver got tired of Greenberg after 9 years.
I enjoy reading your columns- it should be an interesting season.
Well, by got tired of him, I meant that Weaver and Greenberg had been together for nine years and I guess after all that time, Weaver was ready for a change. Whether he was right in wanting to make that change or not, we will see.
To assume Weaver just ‘got tired’ of Seth Greenberg is to absolve all maturity and perspective. It might fit neatly in the conspiracy.
Have they set the date for the VMI game?
dates on the schedule have not been announced yet.
VMI certainly ought to raise our SOS for later in the year!
As for Greenberg, I support Weaver on this. I wrote at the time why and will summarize:
1. Greenberg was the center of the program, not the players, the team or VT.
2. Greenberg’s on court histrionics were more entertaining than the team. Those games where Mike Patrick specifically pointed out on national TV that “Greenberg can’t watch” as the team missed free throws was a real boost to the palyers, school and program.
3. The program never got better after, say, year 4 of his tenure.
4. You can’t name a player who actually developed under his tenure. Remeber Jeff Allen? Like a man playing with boys for 10 minutes a game. Like a boy playing with toys for the rest of his minutes. Guys like Delaney were more physically mature when they left but not better players.
5. I think the best example of Greenberg First came at the end and was the straw that broke… Weaver had an athletic department event that got 99% participation right after the basketball season ended. The eprson who did not attend because he had more important things to do (recruiting)? Greenberg. You know this event was on the calendar for months. SG thought his agenda was more important than his bosses agenda. You try that at work and see what happens.
The “family” thing was just Weaver’s way of saying that SG is all about SG and nothing else.
Is SG a good man and good coach? I say yes.
Was the firing awkward? Undoubtedly.
Did Weaver look good? Not particularly.
Was Weaver wrong? 9 seasons – 5 with no improvement. 9 seasons – no player really developed and launched to stardom (ala Vick, Hall, Jones, Flowers, Wilson, etc). 9 seasons – same approach. 9 seasons – insubordination (quite probably).
We’ll see how it turns out. I wish the new coach well. Certainly he is in a tough position being tossed into it late and having some guys bolt.
SG has his supporters who are still bemoaning his fate.
I don’t get that as the record shows that SG did an ok salvage job but wasn’t going to lead the program to the promised land.
I say SG had enough time and Weaver was more than patient.
Interesting comments. But I will say in Greenberg’s defense, the coach is usually the center of the program for most men’s basketball (and football) teams. The face of the program is usually going to be the coach. And Tech was often the better for having Greenberg as the face of the team, because he helped raise the profile of the program from the Stokes era. You have to recall what it was like before Greenberg got there. The Stokes era wasn’t exactly a high-water mark.
And players did develop under his tenure. In his very first year, he helped make Bryant Matthews an All-Big East pick. I think Matthews was definitely better under Greenberg than he was under Stokes. And you have to give Greenberg some credit for Zabian Dowdell and Malcolm Delaney becoming All-ACC first-team picks under his tenure, since no one was saying when they were younger that they were future All-ACC picks.