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In case you missed my colleague Doug Doughty's interview with Dell Curry about his son transferring to Duke from today's paper, here it is:
By Doug Doughty
doug.doughty@roanoke.com
981-3129
Five days after the announcement that he would pursue a transfer, Liberty basketball star Seth Curry chose his destination Sunday.
Curry visited Duke, received a scholarship offer and made an oral commitment berfore returning to his Charlotte, N.C., home.
Curry, the leading scorer among Division I freshmen, will finish out the school year at Liberty and enroll at Duke for the 2009-2010 school year. He will have three years of eligibility for the Blue Devils, starting with the 2010-2011 season.
“From the start of this, Duke was at the top of his list,” said Curry’s father, Dell, a collegiate standout at Virginia Tech who spent 17 seasons in the National Basketball Association.
Dell Curry’s older son, Stephen, led all Division I scorers this season as a junior at Davidson. Seth, a 6-foot-1 guard, averaged 20.2 points for the Flames (23-12).
Tech was one of five ACC schools that had inquired about Seth Curry, the Big South Conference freshman of the year; however, he had not set up any other visits.
“We were going to wait till today and see what today was like,” Dell Curry said Sunday, “but we knew that Duke would be tough to beat, just with the prestige of the school and the program.
“We didn’t know what to expect on the visit, but the facilities were unbelievable.”
Dell Curry said he had spoken to Blue Devils’ assistant coach Steve Wojciechowski on Thursday, prior to the Blue Devils in the semifinal round of the NCAA’s East Regional.
Villanova upset Duke 77-54, but that didn’t drastically alter the timetable for the Curry family visit.
“If they had won, it probably would have been Monday,” Dell Curry said.
The choice of Duke was not intended as a reflection on any of the other 30 schools that expressed interest, including Virginia Tech.
“Seth had a list of schools and Virginia Tech was on it,” Dell said. “Seth talked to coach [Seth] Greenberg and I talked to Coach Greenberg.”
The elder Curry was quick to praise the Flames.
“They didn’t withhold any information and there was always a line of communication,” Dell Curry said. “Coach [Ritchie] McKay has been a class act. I can’t express that enough.”

Dell Curry told the Raleigh News & Observer tonight that his son Seth will be transferring from Liberty to Duke.

Virginia Tech was among many schools who wanted Seth Curry, but Seth Curry reportedly picked Duke on his visit Sunday to the campus. He did not visit anywhere else, according to the report.

Sad news for Tech fans, but really no shock. When you have a choice of Duke vs. Va. Tech, Clemson, Wake Forest, NC State, etc., most players are going to pick Coach K and the Blue Devils.

And it's not as if the Curry family has been enamored with Tech in recent years. Seth Greenberg told Stephen he would have to be a walk-on for his freshman year at Tech, and he told Seth when Seth was in high school that he would have to redshirt his freshman year.

So Seth Curry will now be playing against the Hokies instead of playing for the Hokies. Again, no great shock. Tech is always going to be a long-shot in any recruiting competition with Duke, especially in the case of Seth Curry. He is a Charlotte kid, after all, so Tech was going to likely take a back seat to the ACC's Carolina schools. Plus there is the history of the recruiting decisions Coach Greenberg made in the past with the Currys. All of that added up to Tech being a long shot this time around.

In case you missed it in my colleague Doug Doughty's college notebook in the paper today or online today, Oak Hill Academy point guard Mo Mo Jones, who orally committed to Tech in the fall, won't be signing with Tech next month.

So that means the roster for next season is set for now, with nine returning players and the four signees from last fall.

Unless Tech lands Seth Curry, who intends to leave Liberty U. If Tech gets Seth Curry, then there will be a scholarship numbers problem, like there would have been if Mo Mo had signed, - unless of course Seth Curry is willing to be a walk-on next season while he redshirts.

Of course, who's to say Seth Curry wants to go to Tech?

Don't forget, Seth Greenberg told Seth Curry's older brother he would have to be a walk-on for his freshman year if he became a Hokie. That's something many Tech fans wish had been handled differently by Greenberg. We all know what happened next. Stephen Curry opted for the scholarship offer at Davidson and became an All-American, and his parents - both Tech grads -- were irked at their alma mater.

When Seth Greenberg recruited Seth Curry, he told him he would have to redshirt as a freshman. Gee, do you think Seth Curry could have helped Tech this season? All he did was lead the nation's freshmen  in scoring -- at Liberty.

Will Seth Curry and his folks be willing to consider Tech this time around? And where would Seth Greenberg find a grant for Seth Curry, since all his are accounted for?

Stay tuned.

Virginia Tech is looking at playing in the Philly Hoop Group Classic next season.

Tech would play two games at home and two games at the Palestra. Temple has already committed to the eight-team tournament. UVa played in the inaugural tourney two years ago.

Tech will not return to the Holiday Festival at Madison Square Garden, athough the Hokies might play a single game at the Garden next season.

Tech also won't be back at the BB&T Classic at the Verizon Center because it conflicts with a home game with Georgia.

Coach Seth Greenberg is hoping to add a "made-for-TV" game to the schedule, which will also of course include the ACC-Big Ten Challenge.

Back at the office from Blacksburg, where Virginia Tech had a disappointing end to a somewhat disappointing season, getting steamrolled by Baylor 84-66 in the second round of the NIT.

I had actually felt before the game that Tech was likely going to lose, because I was impressed with Baylor. I had told folks that if they got by Baylor they would win at Auburn to earn a berth in the final four in New York. I had said Baylor was better than Auburn and would give the Hokies more trouble than Auburn would.

Baylor beat 5 teams in this year's NCAA field to Tech's 3, including wins over Kansas and Texas in the Big 12 tournament.

The Bears certainly showed Saturday how good they can be, shooting 61.7 percent from the field. Six of the Bears shot in double figures.

And Tech was as bad as Baylor was good.

Baylor made five early turnovers, giving VT the chance to jump out to an early lead, but the Hokies could not take advantage. They missed 16 of their first 17 shots and fell behind 22-5. Tech trailed from the first basket and Baylor led the rest of the way.

"It's disappointing," Seth Greenberg said. "We have to get stops to be good. ... It was a big zone (defense by Baylor). ... We weren't sharp."

Baylor became only the fourth road team to win in the NIT thus far.

"The biggest (reason for that) is our preparation we had in the Big 12, playing in hostile environments, ... coming to a place like this where we knew it was going to be hostile, we were kind of prepared," Baylor F Kevin Rogers said.

Tech trailed 41-21 at halftime, shooting 24.1 percent from the field to Baylor's 66.7 percent.

"We really came out focused and really did a great job defensively, especially first half, contesting shots," Baylor coach Scott Drew said. "We played one of our better games as far as executing."

"We went to a zone, which has helped us in the postseason," Rogers said. "The biggest thing in a zone is you have to contest shots, especially on a guy like AD."

"That zone really slowed us down a lot," Malcolm Delaney said. "We couldn't get out in transition and get some easy buckets like we usually do."

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Virginia Tech, coming off that thrilling double-overtime win over Duquesne (a win that would have been a bit less thrilling if Tech had not blown a 13-point lead with seven minutes left in regulation, or a 6-point lead with less than a minute left in the first OT), will host Baylor at 11 a.m. Saturday on ESPN in the second round of the NIT.

IF Auburn beats Tulsa tonight, Auburn will host the Tech-Baylor winner on Tuesday. If Tulsa wins, the Tech-Baylor winner will be the host Tuesday.

Tech is 19-14, while Baylor is 21-14. These teams have not met since Baylor won 66-63 in December 1968 in the East Carolina Classic.

Probable Baylor starters are 6-foot-9 F Kevin Rogers (12.4 ppg), 7-foot C Josh Lomers (3 ppg), G LaceDarius Dunn (15.5 ppg), All-Big 12 third-team G Curtis Jerrells (16.1 ppg), and G Tweety Carter )10.6 ppg).

So with Baylor having a big lineup, look for Tech to go back to starting C Cheick Diakite.

We'll see if Malcolm Delaney breaks out of his shooting slump today. He is shooting just 25.6 percent from the field the past six games.

Coach Scott Drew's third-seeded Bears are coming off their first postseason win in 59 years -- a first-round win over Georgetown. They made the NCAAs last year.

The Bears went 5-11 in the Big 12 during the regular season but made a splash in the Big 12 tournament, beating Nebraska, Kansas and Texas before losing to Missouri in the final.

The Bears have also beaten Texas A&M, Oklahoma State and Arizona State this season. They fell to Wake Forest 87-74 in November in Anaheim, Calif.

This is Baylor's first visit to Tech. It is the first time Tech has faced a Big 12 team since 1996.

Tech is 21-7 in the NIT.

Greetings again from Blacksburg, where Virginia Tech beat Duquesne 116-108 in double OT.

"That was a great basketball game as long as you weren't Coach Everhart or myself because it was brutal for us," Tech coach Seth Greenberg said.

Next up is Baylor, the Big 12 tournament runner-up, at 11 am Saturday on ESPN at Cassell Coliseum. AD Vassallo heard that and complained he would have to get up at 8 o'clock.

"Seven o'clock, bro," Seth told him.

For the first time since a win over UVa last season, five Hokies scored in double figures. AD Vassallo (33), JT Thompson (21) and Dorenzo Hudson (15) had career highs. AD became the No. 5 scorer on the VT career list.

JT started because Seth wanted a smaller lineup to match the Dukes' small lineup.

JT "being relentless around the front of the rim -- really really special," Seth said. "Dorenzo Hudson's last 3 games are the best 3 games he's played at Virginia Tech in terms of his floor game, his feel, making plays."

Jeff Allen had 23 points and 10 rebounds; AD also had a double double with 12 rebounds. Malcolm Delaney almost had a double double with 20 points and nine assists, although his shooting slump continued with a 3-of-9 outing from the field.

Tech shot 59.4 percent from the field to Duquesne's 50.7 percent. The Dukes were 17 of 30 from 3-point range, the most treys ever allowed by VT.

Aaron Jackson had 46 points for the Dukes and nailed eight treys, the most ever allowed to an opposing player by the Hokies. He picked up his fourh foul with 4:24 left in the first OT.

"The guy got a lot of heart and he kept fighting," AD said.

"Dorenzo guarded him {well]. The guy just made plays," Seth said. "It was incredible, the way he played. He's a fierce competitor. We're running a 2nd defender at him and he's making big shot after big shot."

It looked like VT had the game well in hand, up 66-53 with 7:01 to go in regulation.

"We did not do a very good job of managing the clock. We got careless," Seth said. "We could've just cashed it in but we didn't. That's a sign of maturing some, growing up. I couldn't be prouder.

"We showed great perserverance."

Tech improved to 8-8 in games decided by five points or fewer or by OT this year, including 2-2 in OT.

The Dukes reeled off an 11-0 run to cut the lead to 66-64 with 5:06 left in regulation. The first nine points in the run came in less than one minute on the game clock. Tech had two turnovers in the 9-0 part of the run.

The run stretched to 17-4, and the Dukes tied the scofre at 70 with 3:44 left on their third trey of the run.

AD made two free throws. But after a turnover and a dunk, the score was tied at 72. After an Eric Evans layip, Jeff made a layup to tie the score at 74.

JT missed the front end of a one and one and Bill Clark made a trey to give Duquesne a 77-74 lead with 44.8 seconds left. AD made two fre throws, and Melquan Bolding made one.

AD hit a jumper in the lane to tie the score at 78 with 13.4 seconds left in regulation.

"Daddy Vassallo taught him that shot," Seth said.

"It's a weird-looking shot," AD said. "My dad and me, we kind of work on it. I've been able to do it ... the last two years. It's a shot I've pretty much got a lot of trust in. They gave me that shot and it couldn't have been better."

Evans missed a layup with a second left in regulation.

It looked like Tech had the first overtime well in hand, up 92-86 with 48.7 seconds to go.

"I was thinking we had the game won, but that's a good team and they kept fighting," JT said.

But Evans made a trey and Malcolm missed two free throws. Jackson hit a trey to tie the score at 92 with 21.8 seconds left.

JT scored on a putback, but Jackson made a layup with 1.7 seconds left to force a 2nd OT with the score knotted at 94.

Tech fell behind 96-94 in the second OT but went on a 10-1 run for a 104-97 lead. AD had two treys in the run.

Damian Saunders had just five points for the Dukes.
"Jeff really really was good defensively. He was great stepping out on those ball screens," Seth said.

Most points Vt has scored since 1988 and most allowed since 1989.

"We never allowed that many points," AD said, referring to his Tech time.

"You're right, and we better not again, I can tell you that much," Seth said.

"It was a wild game," AD said.

Tech is in the NIT for the 2nd straight year.

"Everybody was wondering if after the disappointment and the tough loss to Carolina if we were going to be ready tonight," Seth said. "These guys love ball."

Seth will be in the stands today to watch his brother's RU team play UNC in Greensboro.

Hello from Blacksburg, where Tech wins 116-108 in double overtime. AD Vassallo scores 33 points and moves into 5th place on the Tech career scoring list.

More later

Greetings from Blacksburg, where Virginia Tech leads Duquesne 34-26 at the half in the first round of the NIT.

Tech has shot 50 percent from the field. Duquesne is shooting 41.7 percent. Duquesne is being outrebounded 15-13 and has 8 turnovers to Tech's four.

WIth the score tied at 23, Tech went on a 9-0 run to build a 32-23 lead with 1:28 to go in the half. Jeff Allen had four of his 10 points in the run.

AD Vassallo has six points, and has eclipsed Bob Ayersman for seventh place on the Tech career scoring list. Three points more puts him ahead of Zabian Dowdell for 6th place.

Malcolm Delaney's shooting woes continue. He is 0-of-4 from the field.

JT Thompson started instead of Cheick Diakite, no doubt because of Duquesne's small lineup, and has six points. So does Dorenzo Hudson.

The Dukes have four treys to Tech's one.

I turned in one final ballot for the Associated Press Top 25, as well as my votes for the All-America 1st, 2nd and 3rd teams, plus player of the year and coach of the year.

For player of the year, I went with Oklahoma's Blake Griffin, who I am sure will win it. For coach of the year, I looked at Bill Self of Kansas, Mike Anderson of Missouri and FSU's Leonard Hamilton before choosing to vote for Lorenzo Romar of Washington.

For my All-America first team, I went with Griffin, Big East co-players of the year Hasheem Thabeet and DeJuan Blair, ACC player of the year Ty Lawson, and NCAA scoring leader Stephen Curry of Davidson.

For the second team, I picked Tyler Hansbrough, Luke Harangody of Notre Dame, FSU's Toney Douglas, Big Ten player of the year Kalin Lucas of Michigan State and Pac-10 player of the year James Harden of Ariz. State.

It was hard doing the 3rd team because of many deserving candidates. I finally narrowed it down to SEC player of the year Marcus Thornton, Kentucky's Jodie Meeks, Kansas center Cole Aldrich, A-10 player of the year Ahmad Nivins of St. Joe's and VCU guard Eric Maynor.

As for my Top 25, I booted Butler after its loss in the Horizon League final. I kicked out BYU after its loss in the Mountain West tourney. I booted slumping Clemson after its loss to Ga. Tech on the first day of the ACC tourney. I kicked out Texas A&M after its loss in the Big 12 tourney. I kicked out slumping Illinois after its loss in the Big Ten tourney. I also kicked out Saint Mary's after it was drubbed in the WCC final.

Here is my final AP Top 25 ballot:

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