EXAM WEEK

Students at Tech are in exam week right now, including the athletes, and that means that both the men’s and women’s teams are on exam break right now. Coach Henrickson commented that the practice schedule for the women’s team is based on the exam schedules for the players. They try to get in as many practices as they can, and have managed to get in practices with the full squad during the week. She tries to stress to her players that they need to focus on the task at hand. She wants them to be in exams when they’re in exams, and be at practice when they’re at practice. Coach Henrickson pointed out that the team GPA right now is around 3.1, which is up from 2.6 during her first year. Coach Stokes and the men’s team will get back to practice on Tuesday.

UPCOMING SCHEDULES

The next women’s game is on Monday in Charlottesville against Virginia. Coach Henrickson says it gives the team something to focus on, especially since Tech has never won in Charlottesville. Virginia is 4-4 on the season and out of the Top 25. After that, the women’s team will host the Hokie Hardwood Classic in Cassell Coliseum just before the New Year. The first round game will be against Hampton, and the second game will be against either Bowling Green or UNC-Charlotte, depending on the results of the two first round games. Coach Henrickson urged the fans to come out to all of these games. The Virginia game will be the closest the women’s team gets to Richmond this season, and the holiday tournament will be prior to departure for most Tech fans going to the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans. A caller asked off the air about the Hokie Hardwood Club, and Coach Henrickson explained that it is a Booster Club that supports the women in various ways. Included in that is fund raising for next year’s trip to Europe.

The men’s team will be traveling to Puerto Rico on Friday to participate in the San Juan Shootout beginning Monday. Their first round opponent will be Illinois State, the winningest team in the MVC and a team led by another first year coach. Other teams in the tournament include Auburn and Miami, but again, match-ups are based on results within the tournament. Coach Stokes related a story about his experience at Texas several years ago that he said mimics the fortunes of this year’s Tech team in some ways. The team had come into the season with a new staff and a lot of high hopes, but had started the season 2-7 before heading to Hawaii for a holiday tournament there. The team was able to win two of three in Hawaii and build on that success. Later, when responding to a caller who asked if the team was looking forward to the trip to Puerto Rico, he indicated that it will give the team a chance to bond. Bill Roth mentioned that he had talked to one of the players who was preparing for his Spanish final, something that might come in handy in Puerto Rico.

RECRUITING

A lot of time was spent with both coaches on the subject of recruiting. Coach Henrickson noted that they had just signed Davina Simmons, a 3-guard from Winston-Salem, NC, and that a transfer from Illinois had just been announced recently. Two of the women’s coaches are on the road now, and Coach Henrickson is headed to Richmond and Baltimore to recruit some more players in that area, but she couldn’t mention their names due to NCAA regulations.

The men’s team received five commitments during the early signing period, and Coach Stokes is happy with them. The two that he mentioned by name were Brian Chase and Carlos Dixon. Brian Chase was admitted to Tech on Monday and becomes eligible to play the day after the last final exams, which is Thursday. There is a chance that he will be available to the team when it leaves for Puerto Rico on Friday, and when asked about his impact on the team early on, the coach said that Brian would have to feel his way through. Carlos Dixon is a good player. He’s about 6’-7" and handles the ball and can play multiple positions. He comes to Tech through the efforts of Coach Peele, who recruited him when he was at UNC-G. Carlos went Fork Union instead, and when Coach Peele joined the staff at Tech, he continued to recruit him. When asked by a caller whether signing so many players in one year will hurt the recruiting rotation, Coach Stokes said that at this point the team needs to concentrate on the here and now. Tech is also looking at some big men to help out inside.

Both coaches commented on and were asked about the impact on recruiting now that Tech will be playing in the Big East next season. Coach Henrickson commented that they were able to visit with and talk to some of the best players in the country. Unfortunately, they missed out on too many of them for several reasons. The timing of the announcement worked against them as many coaches used the uncertainty of the conference situation against Tech, saying that Miami would leave the Big East and Tech would not be able to join. She said that some of the other factors that Tech will be able to use are that the team has been to four of the last six NCAA tournaments and the overall success of the rest of the Tech athletic department, including the football team. Coach Stokes said that he thinks that there are many selling points for the men’s program, including playing time, the lure of the Big East, the excitement within Cassell Coliseum, academics, and, particularly for the in-State players, the opportunity to stay close to home. When Bill Roth pointed out that some of the outstanding college players over the past ten years or so didn’t even visit Blacksburg, Coach Stokes said simply, "We’re going to change that."

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL NOTES

Bill Roth asked Coach Henrickson about the prospects for next season in the Big East. She pointed out that four teams (UConn, Rutgers, BC and Notre Dame) went to the NCAA tournament from the Big East last year, and said that Virginia Tech has the potential to displace one of them and perhaps finish as high as third or fourth in the league. However, she said, in order to do that, they need to have a good recruiting class.

Someone from the audience asked what the coaching staff does after a tough loss like the one against Duke. Coach Henrickson responded that she gave the team the day off and then they went through the whole game possession by possession so that they could see how the team dug itself into a hole. She admitted that she was very upset, particularly because most of the mistakes were mental, and she can’t act like that’s OK. She also tried to turn it into a positive, though, by pointing out that they could have beaten Duke, a team ranked in the Top 25.

Another member of the audience asked about Emily Lipton’s progress. Coach said that she is very good in transition, and just needs to work on her half-court play. She is very pleased with her progress.

On next year’s schedule, Coach Henrickson mentioned that Tech will again host its own tournament and will participate in Florida State’s tournament, which will also include Michigan State. ODU is also back on the schedule. Responding to a caller about Louisiana Tech, she said that she would love to play the Lady Techsters in Blacksburg, but she’s not so sure about going to Ruston.

MEN’S BASKETBALL NOTES

Coach Stokes started out his segment by commenting that it had been a tough week for his team, but stressed that the players had played hard but that turnovers and poor shooting from the free throw line and from the three-point line had caused problems. He also brought up an incident with one of the players following a game last week. He stressed that the behavior won’t be tolerated and that he had met with the player and that it was being dealt with internally.

A caller asked how the players are responding to a new staff. The coach said that they are giving good effort and are having fun. A member of the audience mentioned the need for more crowd support and urged fans to come out to the games and help increase attendance.

Another member of the audience asked if he was concerned that there was not a "go-to" player for the end of close games. Coach Stokes pointed out that they had gone to Rolan Roberts in the William & Mary game and that they had tried to go to him again recently, but that the ball had gone away from him. Later, when commenting on a question about Russ Wheeler, he said that he will be available to practice on Tuesday.

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

Bill Roth commented to Coach Henrickson that he was sorry he would miss the women’s game in Charlottesville on Monday, but that he would be pool-side in San Juan that day preparing for the men’s games in the San Juan Shootout.

Due to the games in San Juan, there will be no Hokie Hotline next week. In two weeks, there will be a special Sugar Bowl Send-Off edition of the Hokie Hotline. Beginning Thursday, December 30, there will be special editions of Hokie Hotline from New Orleans every night through Monday between 7:00 and 8:30. Radio coverage of the Sugar Bowl pre-game will begin at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, January 4, 2000.

Continuing GalaxHokie’s tradition from football season, as of Monday, the Hokies were at Day 73 in possession of the Commonwealth Cup.

Also, as of Monday, Virginia Tech’s first appearance in the National Championship Game is only 22 days away.