Bill Hodges, who coached Indiana State University to the 1979 NCAA men’s basketball final and who took North Cross to a boys state championship game in March, has retired following a 43-year coaching career.

The 68-year-old Hodges said Wednesday night that he has been suffering from inflammation in an artery that has affected his eyesight, forcing him to step down as boys coach and history teacher at the Roanoke County private school after two seasons.

“It’s not life-threatening,” Hodges said. “It’s just a problem that’s going to be a long-term healing process.

“I was having real severe headaches. I thought it was just blood pressure. After all the tests, the doctors didn’t say, ‘You can’t coach,’ they just strongly advised against it.”

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Check roanoke.com Thursday morning for more on this story.

George Wythe has two basketball head coaching vacancies, with the recent resignation of boys coach Joey Russell after five years on the job.

Bradley Sutphin said he resigned earlier in April after four years in charge of the Maroons’ girls program.

I spoke with both men Wednesday night. They both plan to retain their teaching positions and were limited in their comments about their departures. Russell has been at George Wythe for 18 years and is a football assistant and former head baseball coach.

Russell, who was an assistant under Al  Copenhaver when George Wythe won the 2007-08 VHSL Group A Division 2 championship, had a 48-2 record in Hogoheegee games. The Maroons were unable to advance past the Region C tournament under Russell, falling in the semifinals four times, mostly against very tough opponents.

The Maroons also were eliminated in the region twice by Radford and once each by James River and Fort Chiswell. Radford won two Division 2 state titles and James River claimed one during that span.

George Wythe was 14-12 overall last winter, losing to Graham in a first-round regional game.

Sutphin posted a 32-61 overall record as George Wythe’s girls coach, reaching the Region C Division 2 tournament once. The Maroons posted an 18-22 record in the Hogoheegee.

George Wythe’s girls were 7-15 overall last winter and 4-6 in the Hogoheegee.

No doubt, George Wythe has boasted one of Timesland’s most successful boys basketball programs in the last three decades. A losing season in Wytheville is virtually unheard of.

Check out these statements from Wythe County school superintendent Lee Brannon:

“I would think the two programs in this part of the state that would be the most attractive are, one, Radford; and two, George Wythe,” he said. “There is an opportunity for future success.”

Brannon said the administration already has received feelers from “two very high-profile coaches close to us who have been very successful where they are.”

Anyone out there believe in coincidences?

Think about this. Who was the last player from Roanoke to play in an NCAA men’s basketball final?

Cue the Jeopardy music. Time’s up. It was former Patrick Henry star George Lynch, who led North Carolina to the 1993 title.

It was 20 years ago. The opponent was Michigan. Remember the timeout by Chris Webber?

Tonight, ex-Hidden Valley star Luke Hancock of Louisville becomes the first Roanoker since Lynch to make the championship game.

Louisville’s opponent?

Michigan.

Troy Daniels had a noteworthy senior year at William Fleming High School.

The 6-foot-3 guard led Fleming to the2009  Group AAA boys basketball championship game where the Colonels lost 49-47 to a King’s Fork team that included current NCAA standouts Devante Gardner (Marquette) and Jaquon Parker (Cincinnati).

Daniels was named Timesland player of the year and was known for his long-range shooting. He had buzzer-beating 3-pointers to give Fleming wins over Franklin County and Radford. He made six of six 3-point attempts in a late-season win over North Cross.

Now the nation knows of Daniels’ 3-point prowess.

Daniels recently completed his four-year career at VCU with a single-season school-record 124 3-pointers, and Thursday night he won the NCAA’s 3-point contest in Atlanta as a prelude to the Final Four.

Is the Roanoke Valley-New River Valley the nation’s hotbed for college basketball shooters? From Blacksburg’s Doug Day at Radford University to Patrick Henry’s Curtis Staples at Virginia and to Cave Spring’s J.J. Redick at Duke, this area has produced some of the greatest college basketball shooters of the last 20 years.

The Roanoke Times All-Timesland boys and girls basketball teams will be released Sunday.

Who are your picks for players and coaches of the year, and who do you think should make the first team?

There were some difficult choices to make, particularly when it came to the second teams and the Sizzlin’ Sophomore teams.

Check Sunday’s paper for the selections.

The VHSL has moved its boys and girls state basketball semifinals out of VCU’s Siegel Center as part of a restructured format beginning with the 2014-15 season.

The new format — adopted after a poll of the VHSL Executive Committee —  calls for the six boys and six girls championship games to be played at VCU over a three-day period from March 13-15 with four games played on each day.

Each day’s games will be divided into two-game sessions at VCU.

The state semifinals will be played at sites across the state on the weekend of March 7-8, similar to the “supersite” setup the VHSL has used for its quarterfinals in recent years. The semifinals will still be played one week following the March 1 completion of regional tournaments.

Two other possible formats for next year’s state tournament were considered by the Executive Committee.

Option 2 called for playing the semifinals and finals at VCU with six games per day over six days from March 10-15.

Option 3 called for playing the semfinals and finals at VCU with six games per day from March 3-8.

The new format passed with 15 votes of Executive Committee members. Three voted for Option 2 and five voted for Option 3.

I spent five days in Kentucky and returned to see that Lloyd Church is no longer the boys basketball coach at Franklin County High School.

Church said Monday that he has resigned and is headed back to western North Carolina where he spent 22 mostly successful years at McDowell High in Marion, N.C.

Church went 9-13 and 15-8 in his two years at Franklin County.

We’ll see where the Eagles go from here.

Congrats to Ryan Gravley of Carroll County, Tay Taylor of Salem, Caleb Tanner of Floyd County and Sa’Mone Moore of Covington.

They have been named basketball players of the year in their respective regions.

The list is below:

BOYS BASKETBALL
REGION IV
First team
Ryan Gravley, Carroll County, sr.; Dylan Hodson, Hidden Valley, sr.; Paris Jamison, Martinsville, sr.; Josh Hess, Abingdon, jr.; Mack Owens, Abingdon, sr.
Second team
Troy Mann, Salem, jr.; Chris Hampton, Magna Vista, sr.; Michael Ayares, Blacksburg, sr.; Joey Augustin, Christiansburg, sr.; Ethan Richardson, Marion, sr.
Player of the year
Ryan Gravley, Carroll County.
Division 4 coach of the year
Brad Hawks, Carroll County.
Division 3 coach of the year
B.J. Lasley, Abingdon.

REGION C
First team
Caleb Tanner, Floyd County, jr.; Isaiah Phillips, Radford, jr.; Tyler Crockett, Glenvar, sr.; Asher Dillow, Bland County, sr.; Charlie Fitzgerald, Parry McCluer, sr.
Second team
Reid Sturgill, Chilhowie, sr.; Brandon Lemons, Floyd County, sr.; Isaac Baltazar, George Wythe, sr.; Colby Hill, Graham, soph.; Jeremy Williams, Glenvar, soph.
Player of the year
Caleb Tanner, Floyd County.
Division 2 coach of the year
Rick Cormany, Radford.
Division 1 coach of the year
Nelson Fox, Parry McCluer.

GIRLS BASKETBALL
REGION IV
First team
Tay Taylor, Salem, sr.; Brittany Allen, Richlands, jr.; Ebony Reynolds, Patrick County, soph.; Taylor Blevins, Abingdon, soph.; Andrea Venable, Bassett, sr.
Second team
Tessa Foley, Salem, sr.; Taylor Catron, Tazewell, sr.; Darian Thornton, Christiansburg, sr.; Hailey Singleton, Hidden Valley, fr.; Cassie Richardson, Richlands, sr.]
Player of the year
Tay Taylor, Salem.
Division 4 coach of the year
DeWayne Harrell, Salem.
Division 3 coach of the year
Dennis Palmer, Richlands.

REGION C
First team
Sa’Mone Moore, Covington, jr.; Danielle Catron, Chilhowie, jr.; Kasey Uecker, PH-Glade Spring, sr.; Brooke Bostwick, Auburn, jr.; Maggie Wilbourne, Glenvar, soph.
Second team
Amanda Hollandsworth, Floyd County, jr.; Ashley King, James River, sr.; Sarah Whisman, Fort Chiswell, sr.; Sydney Lindsey, Galax, soph.; Carley Lytton, Floyd County, soph.
Player of the year
Sa’Mone Moore, Covington.
Division 2 coach of the year
Alan Cantrell, Floyd County.
Division 1 coach of the year
Mark Pifer, Covington.

We’re done for the day at Siegel Center.

Salem qualified for its first state girls championship game Wednesday with a 51-38 victory over Loudoun County in a Group AA Division 4 semifinal. The Spartans will play 2012 state runner-up Courtland in Saturday’s 7 p.m. final.

Grafton’s boys made their second straight Group AA Division 4 final, edging E.C. Glass in overtime 51-48. The Clippers will play Salem’s boys in the Division 4 championship game at 9 p.m. Saturday.

At least, we can hope the game begins at 9 p.m. Last year’s boys final between Christiansburg and Grafton started after 10 p.m. and concluded around midnight.

Maybe by then the snow that has blasted Virginia’s capital city will have melted.

Safe travels to all who are driving through this mess today.

That’s it for today. The arena is being cleared for tonight’s college men’s game between VCU and Richmond.