News With Commentary by TSL Staff

Wednesday, December 6, 2000
by Will Stewart, TechSideline.com

Suggs Wins Dudley Award

As expected, Virginia Tech's Lee Suggs won the prestigious Dudley Award Tuesday by a wide margin. The Dudley Award is given annually to the top college football player (in all divisions) in the state of Virginia. The honor is voted on by members of the state print (newspaper) and electronic (TV and radio) media.

Suggs was a unanimous winner, garnering all 15 first-place votes and easily outdistancing the runner-up, UVa linebacker Byron Thweatt, by a margin of 75 points to 23 points. Suggs was the only player to appear on all 15 ballots, with Thweatt appearing on just 9, and all other players appearing on 6 or fewer ballots.

Here are the details of the voting:

Player, School

First

Second

Third

Total
Points

Lee Suggs, Virginia Tech

15

0

0

75

Byron Thweatt, Virginia

0

7

2

23

Andre Braxton, Va. Union

0

4

2

14

Damon Thompson, Va. State

0

2

4

10

Mac Janney, Richmond

0

2

4

10

Delvin Joyce, James Madison

0

0

2

2

Marc Watson, Wash. and Lee

0

0

1

1

Voting for The Dudley Award was conducted among 15 members of the print and electronic media from across the state. Voters picked three choices, in order, and points were awarded on a 5-3-1 basis. Also nominated but not receiving votes: Brett Sterba, William and Mary; Richard Holland, Virginia Military Institute; Travoris Carnes, Norfolk State.

Suggs, just a sophomore, led the nation in scoring with 28 touchdowns and also led the Big East in rushing with 1,207 yards. His 28 total TD's and 27 rushing TD's both shattered the Tech single-season records, and his 30 career touchdowns have already tied the Virginia Tech record.


 Dennis Mims Suspended Indefinitely

The checkered Tech career of basketball forward Dennis Mims took another interesting twist Tuesday, as Mims was suspended indefinitely for "violating a team rule on class attendance," according to CBS Sportsline.

This is the latest in a long series of wrong turns for Mims. He has a history of bad behavior on the court, drawing many technical fouls, and he was suspended by Coach Ricky Stokes last year before the A-10 Tournament.

During this past off-season, Mims was placed on deferred suspension by Virginia Tech's Judicial Review board for an incident involving a female student that took place during the 1999-2000 academic year. Mims was convicted of assault against the student (see News and Notes, July 12, 2000), whereas then teammate Rolan Roberts was convicted by the JR Board of assault and sexual misconduct.

Expected to lead the Hokies this year, Mims was averaging just 10.8 points per game (through four games) before he injured his ankle. A rift has reportedly developed between Mims and his teammates. This would not be a surprise -- the 6-9 junior has only been averaging 8 shots a game and has gone for long stretches without having the ball passed to him in position to score. Whether this is his "fault" or the "fault" of his teammates is debatable, but they are not working well together.

In any event, just when you think the men's basketball team can't get any lower (after home losses to William and Mary and Liberty), this happens. With the Big East portion of the Hokie schedule less than a month away, a young 2-4 Tech team is reeling.


 TSL Launches Football Recruiting Database

Make sure you didn't miss yesterday's News and Notes update about TechSideline.com's new football recruiting database.

          

TSL News and Notes Archives

TSL Home