The demolition of the starting backcourt for Tech's 1998-99 men's basketball team is now complete.

In case you've been under a rock and haven't heard, redshirt freshman Kenny Harrell was charged last weekend with discharging a firearm on school grounds.  That's a felony, folks.   Read the articles:

Tech guard charged in shooting - Richmond Times-Dispatch, 9/29/98
Harrell may not return to basketball team - The Washington Post, 9/30/98

(Goodness, when a Tech athlete gets arrested, The Washington Post is right on top of it, aren't they?)

A few months ago, most Tech basketball observers, me included, figured that the future of Tech men's basketball was very bright.  Last year's freshman phenom, Rolan Roberts, was returning to the frontcourt next year, where he would be joined by top 100 recruit Dennis Mims from North Carolina.  In the backcourt, the lineup looked to be budding star Jenis Grindstaff at point guard and the athletic Harrell at shooting guard.

With an experienced and solid supporting staff (Russ Wheeler, Brendan Dunlop, Eddie Lucas, Andre Ray), those four young stars looked poised to bring Tech men's basketball back to the limelight of 20-win seasons.

That was back in March.  It's October now, and the prognosis isn't as good.

Grindstaff bolted for Tennessee months ago, and now Harrell has done a foolish thing that has resulted in him at least being suspended from the basketball team, and at worst being kicked out of school.

I don't know what general school policy is, but I do know that under the Virginia Tech Athletics Comprehensive Action Plan, an athlete charged with a felony is immediately suspended from the team.  If the athlete is convicted or pleads guilty, they're gone for good.  Based on the fact that police officers saw Harrell fire the gun, I would say that the outlook for Kenny is not good.

So the Tech basketball team has now lost two players who were supposed to be future stars, and in the process, the backcourt has been decimated.  This isn't to knock Brendan Dunlop, Jermaine Kimbrough, or Eddie Lucas (who will probably play some guard next year), but let's be honest:  Grindstaff and Harrell were going to carry the torch for the backcourt in the coming years.  Now we go to plan B, and beyond Dunlop, Kimbrough, and Lucas, there's no depth to speak of at all.

That's a shame, because the front court, with Roberts, Mims, Wheeler, Ray, and Clint McPherson, is intact.  But in the backcourt, there is now no more room for error, and every remaining player is going to have to step it up a notch.  Or two.  Or three.

Pulaski County Hokie Club member Doug McDaniel sent me a whopper of a spread sheet the other day that contains every meaningful Virginia Tech kicking record, and Shayne Graham's current status in relation to those records.  The spreadsheet also has a breakdown of Shayne's performance in every single game since he started at Tech (they love their football in Pulaski County, and they love Shayne Graham).

The key stat is 254.  That's how many points Ryan Williams scored in his career from 1991-1994.  Ryan benefited from kicking for some very high-scoring Tech teams, including the 1993 Tech team, for which Ryan attempted a stunning 53 extra points (and made 48).

With his nine points against Pittsburgh last Saturday, Shayne raised his career scoring total to 200 points.  He is now a mere 54 points away from Ryan's record, and barring injury, Shayne should mow that record down.  300 career points is not unthinkable for Shayne, when you figure that he's got at least 18 games left to play in his career (20 if we play in a bowl game this year and next), and he routinely scores 7 or more points a game (he has done it 17 times in 26 career games).

Shayne averages 7.7 points per game, so look for the career points record to fall next year.  At his current pace, he will total an amazing 354 points in his career.

Shayne is also a mere 10 field goals behind Chris Kinzer's career field goal record of 47.  He may beat that one by the end of this year.

One last note:  please don't email me and ask for a copy of the spreadsheet.  Just trust me - it's nice.  Good work, Doug, and thanks for the info.

I have some new Boston College football links on my Links Page, including a new BC message board link (look in the BC section under "Football Opponent's Web Sites").

Over on the Football Page, please take note of the slew of links at the top of the page, including a link to GalaxHokie's Hokie Hotline notes, as well as the link to the Lane Stadium seating chart, and ... links to ESPN and CBS football broadcast schedules!

And lastly, there is a new auxiliary HokieCentral message board dedicated solely to trading game tapes and buying and selling tickets.  If you have a password to the regular HCMB, it will work on the new board, too.  Please restrict ticket and tape trading to the new board.  I'm still tweaking the new board with Grassy, and I'll soon have a link to the new board from the old board.

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