Lucas Gets Drafted

Here's an unexpected feel-good story:  former Tech basketball player Eddie Lucas was drafted in the NBA draft the other day.  Tech's hard-working sharpshooter was picked dead-last at #58 by the Utah Jazz, but hey, these days, dead-last is awesome, since the NBA draft only has two rounds.  There are no such things as "throwaway" picks in the NBA draft, and getting drafted is an indication that a club thinks you can play.

I had been hearing that Lucas improved his draft stock in various invitational tournaments and camps, but I didn't think he had any stock to improve.  Nothing times ten equals nothing, you know?  Turns out I was wrong, and I couldn't be happier.

This is not a knock on Lucas, mind you.  If you could make money just by being a hard worker, Lucas's worth would be at least twice that of Bill Gates's $90 billion fortune.  Eddie is a class act, a team player, and guy who maximizes his talent and ability through sheer dedication and grit.  I just didn't think he was deemed worthy of being drafted.

To put this in perspective, the last Hokie drafted was Bimbo Coles back in 1990 (he went as the 40th pick to the Sacramento Kings, who promptly traded him to Miami).  Ace Custis, whose retired jersey hangs in the rafters of Cassell, wasn't drafted.  That's how big a deal it is that Eddie was.

So hats off to Eddie, and now that he has surprised me by being drafted, I wouldn't be surprised at all if he makes the team.  And I might not even be surprised if he's a starter some day.  The guy works hard enough to do anything.

Tech Notes

• I was over at Tech the other day, and I checked out the bleacher construction project to see if there was anything worth taking pictures of.   There didn't appear to be a whole lot of progress since my last set of pictures (see the Lane Stadium Expansion Page), so I bypassed it.  I'll keep an eye on things and will keep you apprised of any progress.

• I received the latest Virginia Tech magazine in the mail today, and in addition to a great feature on Jim Meadows's Hokie Plate Collage, it included details on the Oct. 16 Homecoming festivities this fall.  The calendar of events for that day had the Syracuse game time listed as 8 p.m.  I don't know how set in stone that is, but it would be pretty cool to have the Orange Peels under the lights again, wouldn't it?  Shades of 1997.

• Bimbo Coles will return to the east.  He has been traded from the Golden State Warriors to the Atlanta Hawks, which is pretty cool, because it means I (and you) can catch him on WTBS, the SuperStation.  I didn't see squat of Bimbo when he was out in California, so I'm glad to see him back closer to home, not to mention that there are a ton of Hokies in Atlanta who can now catch Bimbo live and in person.

• Lisa Witherspoon will be patrolling the sidelines at Tech women's basketball games next year.  Spoon will be a graduate assistant (I believe that is the correct name of the position) and will be helping coach the team.  I sure hope that Lisa can teach her god-given talent for passing to next year's Hokie point guard.

• Recently, a message board poster posted a link to CBS's 1999 college football broadcast schedule (which for some reason has yet to appear on CBS Sportsline - go figure.  At the very least, they haven't posted it in the same location where last year's schedule was posted).  As you might imagine, the only Big East in-conference games that CBS is going to show include Miami - BECAUSE THE CANES ARE BACK, BABY! - and the out of conference games feature Miami against Penn State - BECAUSE THE CANES ARE BACK, BABY! - and Notre Dame vs. Pittsburgh (because Notre Dame is Notre Dame).  Surprise, surprise, the Hokies are not on the schedule.

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