Tonight's Hokie Hotline featured women's assistant basketball coach Joe Mathews and men's basketball coach Ricky Stokes. As expected, the primary topics were the first-ever Big East basketball victory by the women's team over the Miami Hurricanes on Sunday and the near-miss on Saturday by the men's team against Villanova.

With Coach Henrickson out of town on a recruiting trip, assistant coach Joe Mathews took over for the first part of the show. He said that Coach Henrickson was in the Hickory, NC area and had called back and said that they needed to sign the player that she was there to see.

Bill Roth and Coach Mathews discussed the victory over the Hurricanes and the coach said that the team had played well and that the team and the coaches felt good about the win. He said they were proud of the effort that the team has put into the games and that they should continue to improve over the next month, and should be playing their best by mid- to late-February.

Roth asked if the team would need a breakthrough victory against one of the top teams in the league in order to secure an NCAA tournament berth. Coach Mathews said that he didn't think so because of several factors. First, he said he thought the committee would look at the strength of the league and the strength of the team's schedule and take that into account. Also, he mentioned that the team's current RPI ranking was in the 31-32 range, which ought to be good enough, especially once some of the teams in the Big East are factored into that ranking.

One member of the audience asked about Davina Simmons, and whether the coaching staff was rethinking the decision not to redshirt her for the season. Coach Mathews said that they weren't, and that a redshirt season would not necessarily have been a good thing for her. He said that she has a lot to contribute to the team and that she works hard in practice in the event that she has to provide more of a contribution throughout the rest of the season.

Another question was raised about what the team needs to do to become competitive against all of the teams in the conference. The coach responded that the team just needs to play more. Despite being a cliche, he said, it's true that the team has only ever played some of these teams once or not at all. Once they become more familiar with the style of play, they will have a better shot at winning some of the games. Roth mentioned that recruiting has also stepped up with the lure of the Big East as a selling point. He also mentioned that players are starting to call Tech with interest in playing for the Hokies.

With regard to the upcoming rematch with Notre Dame, Coach Mathews mentioned that they have a better idea what to expect in the game, and that they have to make some adjustments in order to be successful.

MEN'S BASKETBALL NOTES

Coach Stokes began his portion of the show by giving the players and the crowd credit for the close game on Saturday against Villanova. He said that, despite not playing well in New York earlier in the week, the players played really hard and the crowd was very loud, helping the players feed off the energy.

Bill Roth mentioned that the practice leading up to the game had been a brutal one. For every turnover in the practice the player had to run "suicides." Coach Stokes said that it was a risky decision, and one that he recognized at the time may have impacted the game on Saturday. However, he said that it taught the team the importance of valuing the basketball. It paid off too, since the team did not have a turnover in the first 15 minutes of the game.

On the injury front, Carlton Carter and Carlos Dixon both had turned ankles in the game, but both are expected to be available for the game on Wednesday night. Brian Chase was still not 100%, and wore an offensive lineman's glove for the game -- an idea put forward by Keith Dooley, one of the trainers. The only modification that had to be made before the game was that the steel rods or plates had to be cut out of the palm of the glove. The referees were concerned that Chase could inadvertently injure another player during a scramble for the ball.

Coach Stokes described Chase as a spark plug for the team. He said that he was confident and energetic, and that he was a leader for the team and a good competitor. They also discussed Drew Smith, saying that he works very hard and can contribute to the team. On the other sideline, they discussed Villanova center Michael Bradley, a player Coach Stokes said would be in the NBA one day. Tech was able to hold him for a while, but he was eventually able to foul out Jon Smith and Mbindo Dongo.

One member of the audience asked the coaching staff to recount some of the success that the players had in the classroom during the first semester. Carlton Carter earned a GPA between 3.7 and 3.8. Mbindo Dongo earned a 3.0 GPA and Drew Smith earned a 3.3 GPA for the Fall semester.

The next caller was Georgia Tech head basketball coach Paul Hewitt. He and Coach Stokes are obviously friends and they discussed the ACC and the Big East and joked about the players that Coach Stokes had recruited into the ACC. Coach Stokes wished him well in his first season and encouraged him to get a win over Virginia in their upcoming game.

A question was raised about Dennis Mims, and whether there had been any contact. Coach Stokes said that they hadn't spoken since December 18 and that they had decided that it would be best for all concerned if Dennis looked elsewhere to play basketball.

Roth and Coach Stokes discussed the two upcoming opponents: Miami and Georgetown. Miami is now coached by former Tulane head coach Perry Clark. They had a tough loss to BC over the weekend, and will be coming into Cassell Coliseum on Wednesday. Coach Stokes said that he looked forward to having the crowd back for the game.

Georgetown is currently 13-0 and is playing some of the best basketball in the conference right now. They had slumped briefly following the departure of John Thompson, and attendance has been down. The team is playing very well now though, and should be 14-0 going into the game on Saturday barring a "Chaminade-like upset." (I thought that comment was interesting, and wondered if there were any smiles from Coach Stokes.) Coach Stokes said that he had been pleased when he saw that Georgetown was one of the teams in the other division that Tech would have the opportunity to play this season.

Finally, on recruiting, Coach Stokes said that he would like to focus on in-state recruiting because it is a lot easier and the players often want to stay at home. The Big East will help that recruiting, as will national exposure on TV like this past Saturday. The coach said that recruiting goes in cycles, and that another good cycle is approaching for in-state recruits.

• The Hardwood Club and the new Roundball Club were discussed for a while. Included in the discussion was information on joining the clubs, which support the women's and men's basketball teams, respectively.
• Roth and Coach Mathews mentioned that Tere Williams had the 25th double-double of her career -- a remarkable feat for someone her size (just 5-11).
• Roth mentioned a few times that the Big East currently has six of the fourteen teams in the conference in the Top 25.
• When asked if Carlos Dixon would see more time in the point guard position, Coach Stokes responded that he would.

-- Apex Hokie

Hokie Hotline Note Archives