Tonight’s Hokie Hotline, the final Hotline for the 2000-2001 academic year, came to Hokie fans everywhere from the Gobblertown Tavern. Hope you like basketball, because that was the topic for this evening. Bill Roth’s guests tonight included Women’s Basketball Administrative Assistant Katie O’Connor, women's radio broadcaster Cory Provus, Women’s Head Basketball Coach Bonnie Henrickson, and Men’s Head Basketball Coach Ricky Stokes.

Roth started out by saying that around 300 people were present at Gobblertown Tavern on Sunday, March 11^th for the Women's NCAA Tournament selection show. He asked Katie O'Connor, the first guest, what the women's team was doing to prepare for Denver, their first-round opponent on Friday (6:30 PM ET).

Katie O said that since the seeding was announced, the team has gotten six video tapes and "reams of paper" to prepare for Denver. She said that they met as a team right after the announcement. Bonnie Henrickson's former boss (no name given) is a Hokie Club-type rep for Denver.

The Hokies have close to 500 or 600 game tapes from the past season in their library, but no film on Denver. The tapes are compiled by assistant coach Karen Lange's husband Cory, who tapes as many games as he can off of satellite and sometimes has five or six VCR's going at the same time, according to Katie O. So the Hokies found a way to get six tapes from another source and had them sent airborne.

Denver is 24-6, with only two losses in the last month, both against highly-ranked Louisiana Tech. They are very talented and very big, with the Sun Belt Player of the Year in Misa Pavlickova, and the Sun Belt Newcomer of the Year in Nikki Weddle, a transfer from Colorado.

Three of their losses were to La. Tech, two to Texas, and one to Western Kentucky on the road, so Denver's 6 losses are all "quality losses." It is Denver's first Division 1-A NCAA appearance after having moved up to Division 1-A just a few years ago.

If Tech wins, they'll probably face 2nd-seeded Texas Tech on their home floor in the second round. TT plays in a 15,000-seat coliseum and will almost assuredly fill it for a second-round game.

The team is probably as healthy as they have been all year. Tere Williams is working out and running and should be full strength for the tournament.

The team will be chartering a 737 that will carry the team, the band, the Hokie Bird, and the cheerleaders down to Lubbock. Chartering a flight is not the normal way of doing it, but it is great news for the team, because otherwise, they would have had to bus down to Charlotte and take a commercial flight from there. Since they're chartering, the flight will only take about three hours, with no layovers or changing of flights.

There was some discussion of Villanova getting a #5 seed versus Tech's #7 seed, and the Wildcats getting to play in North Carolina, while the Hokies are getting shipped out west. All this despite Tech having defeated Villanova twice this season. Why did it work out this way?

"That is the question of the day," Katie O said. She said that she doesn't understand why Nova's strength of schedule is so high (#9 in the country, versus #37 for Tech, according to the RPI Ratings), but she did concede that their RPI of 14 versus Tech's RPI of 25 is the difference.

Bill then talked about the Big East being perceived as a very strong conference with Notre Dame and Connecticut, the #1 and #2 teams in the country, both being in the league. But when the RPI rating of the league as a whole is considered, it doesn't fare was well as you might think. The Big East is the #5 conference according to RPI ratings.

Katie O commented that earlier in the year, the league had an RPI rating as bad as 8^th, which is surprising. She said that some of the bottom teams have very low RPI ratings (she mentioned Pitt and WVU specifically, with RPI's of 180 and 264, respectively -- St. John's has an RPI of 216). Bill agreed that the bottom teams dragged the league down, and he said that was partly due to the fact that the league has 14 teams, so there are more bottom teams to drag the league's rating down.

Game time on Friday is 6:30 Eastern Time.

Women's basketball radio announcer Cory Provus joined the broadcast via telephone. He talked about Pavlickova, Denver's senior center, who stands 6-3 and averages about 17 points and 10 rebounds per game. Provus noted that VT has done a good job this year of not letting post players beat them, instead forcing the rest of the team to play well.

Pavlickova is similar to Tech's Ieva Kublina, in that she plays well facing the basketball. Katie O said that Pavlickova is more advanced than Kublina is at this point.

Denver's point guard, Nikki Weddle, is a transfer from the University of Colorado.

Bill asked Cory Provus about Tech's seeding, and Provus said that the RPI takes precedence over the AP and coaches polls. Provus noted that a 6^th seed would have been better for Tech, because it sets up a second-round meeting with a #3 seed instead of a #2 seed, and in women's basketball, there's a big difference between the top 8 teams in the country (the 1 and 2 seeds) versus the rest. He used the phrase "Tech kind of got the shaft" in his comments.

Bill asked Cory how far he thought Tech could go. Cory said that Tech would have to shoot well, and that they're 7-0 when the shoot over 50%. He said the key is hitting well from the outside to loosen up the inside game for Tere Williams. He also said that rebounding is a big key.

Katie O agreed, saying that the defense will be there every night, so how well Tech shoots will often determine how the game is going to go. Bill noted that Denver holds opponents to 38% from the field, which is 14^th in the nation in field goal defense. They play all man-to-man. They'll pressure some and "front the post" some.

Katie O noted that Sarah Hicks's shooting and Chrystal Starling and Amy Wetzel's penetration will be key.

One of Denver's few negative stats is that they get outrebounded by 1.2 rebounds per game, so Tech will look to press the advantage there.

After a commercial break, the first question from Steve in the audience concerned the women’s shooting percentage and VT’s problem with the zone defense. O’Connor pointed out the 17% that the women shot against Notre Dame in the tournament wasn’t very good. O’Connor felt Notre Dame’s zone defense is one of the country’s best, and a good way to counter that is to go inside. Tech, however, had problems doing that against Notre Dame that night, and the outside shots weren’t falling. She felt that the team has to take a shooter’s mentality and have some confidence going into the NCAA tourney.

Steve then looked ahead and asked the assistant if playing teams like Notre Dame, UConn, and Tennessee(two years ago) would help the Hokies against Texas Tech(VT’s probable second round opponent.) O’Connor stated that it was nothing but great experience playing those clubs and that facing those top teams this year has shown the team that they can compete at that level. She offered that is also calms down the younger, less experienced players, having played big minutes against the bigger teams. It takes the uncertainty out of the equation.

Roth then turned to the fantastic record the women’s basketball team has enjoyed of late. He observed that the women have A) won 20 games for four years straight, and B) been to the NCAA’s 3 of the past 4 years, and 5 of the last 9, doing all this in three different conferences: the Big East, the A-10, and the Metro. O’Connor credited this to the hard work of Coach Henrickson and the players. Roth then asked about the success and if it was attributed to the improvement in the program. O’Connor pointed to the level of player that is coming to Virginia Tech to play women’s basketball these days. O’Connor stated that when she played, the team didn’t have the same talent level, but it played together well. Now, the team can enjoy the fruits of earlier successes by having both.

Roth then asked if there was any way that Notre Dame, Tennessee, or UConn doesn’t win the tournament. O’Connor thought that it would be hard for one of these teams not to do well. She pointed out that UConn, who lost All-American senior Shea Ralph, shouldn’t miss a beat. She compared Ralph to Hokie star Amy Wetzel and stated that Coach Henrickson coached Ralph for Team USA in the Jones Cup in 2000. Roth asked for her tournament winner and O’Connor picked Notre Dame.

Roth then asked why there are more upsets in the men’s tournament than in the women’s. O’Connor gave several reasons including the strength of the four or five elite teams and teams with long winning traditions. She simply felt that there was a bigger level of separation between the haves and the have-nots. She did say that anything could happen, and when it does, it happens in the second weekend of play "when people are getting tired and it gets down to the nitty gritty."

Head Coach Bonnie Henrickson called in from practice, as the ladies were preparing for the game on Friday against Denver. Roth started the questioning by asking the coach what the last 24 hours have been like. Coach stated that they had recently received about 5 game tapes of the Pioneers which they had been reviewing. The players have been checking out personnel(they only know jersey numbers, not names yet), team patterns, and are working on defensive position work. She also said that the team is back to practicing with a sense of purpose. Roth then asked about the key practice points. Coach Henrickson preferred to stick with what got them there and not try to "re-invent the wheel" although she did say that the team was working on defensive tendencies, trapping, post plays, and perimeter work.

A young Hokie fan in the audience asked about the progress of senior forward Tere Williams’ knee injury. Coach Henrickson reassured the young fan and all those listening that Tere is ready and practicing in a custom knee brace. She did say that William’s biggest struggle would be to mentally trust the brace. Coach stated that the brace would allow no other damage to the knee, but that Williams just has to continue to buy into that fact, which she feels she is doing daily.

Roth once again turned to the subject of the Hokies’ past play against top notch teams and their current ability to better handle top teams. The Hokies have a chance to play 12^th ranked Texas Tech on Sunday if they handle first round opponent Denver Friday night. The Lady Hokies played the Red Raiders three years ago, and Roth asked if that experience, along with playing the top nationally ranked teams this season, will put them in a better position on Sunday to be successful. Coach stated that playing Rutgers, UConn, and Notre Dame help even if they didn’t win those games. She felt that the uneasiness of playing a top team is gone and that the team can finally focus on the task at hand: winning one of those games against a traditional power.

Roth then asked the Coach that if one of the "Big Three"(Tennessee, Notre Dame, or UConn) didn’t win the women’s championship, who would? Coach Henrickson was fairly stumped and said so. After some thought, she offered that Vanderbilt has played some good basketball, but Duke and Georgia have a real shot at making some noise this year in St. Louis.

Roth finished his conversation with Coach Henrickson by asking what she thought of a team that is making its first NCAA tourney appearance and has never beaten any top 30 team it has faced (our ladies are 25^th.) Coach called the Pioneers a confident group and saw similarities in the two teams. Both are known for their defense: Denver is ranked 14^th in that category nationally, VT is 19^th. She felt the keys to victory for Tech would be our ability to use the transition game and run the ball vs. their half-court defense. With that said, Bill wish Coach Henrickson good luck as she needed to return to practice.

In the final segment of the Hotline, Bill Roth welcomed Head Coach Ricky Stokes. With the men’s team done for the season, the talk centered on the upcoming men’s NCAA tourney, their picks, and the activity for the coach in the off-season.

The talk started with some good-natured ribbing by Roth and he reminded Coach Stokes of his pick for the Big East tournament. Coach temporarily side-stepped the tongue lashing by congratulating Coach Henrickson and the Lady Hokies. Stokes, however, had backed Providence, while Roth correctly predicted Boston College. Roth asked Coach Stokes if he thought Boston College’s #3 seeding was too low. Coach felt that the lack of a marquee player may have kept them from a two, but still felt that they have had an outstanding year. Roth offered it may be a blessing in disguise as #2 Kentucky faces #15Holy Cross and possibly red-hot #7Iowa, while BC faces #14Southern Utah and maybe #6Southern Cal.

Roth also mentioned the relative lack of controversy concerning the bubble teams this season and the fine job done by Mike Tranghese and the selection committee. Coach Stokes felt the best 64 teams had been chosen, all though Southern Miss, Richmond, and Alabama may have been overlooked. He did state that Richmond was probably hurt by the lack of a conference affiliation(they join the A-10 next season) and that Alabama’s early season schedule may have hurt them. Coach Stokes also brought up the fact that #8Georgia’s young team may have played a brutal early season schedule that included NCAA invitees Fresno State and Wake Forest, but it paid off for them in the end. Roth agreed its all in who you play.

Talk then turned to the team. Roth asked what has been going on with the coaching staff as the team did not make the trip to New York for the conference tourney and the kids also just came off of spring break. Coach Stokes said that he and the staff have been evaluating the team and the program. Roth also stated that the Hokies have received a verbal commitment from a JUCO point guard, an area of need the staff has been trying to address (NCAA rules disallow naming the player until the mid-April signing date, with I believe is April 11^th.) Coach also said that the team needs to get big inside to play in this league. He believes a big man would help ease some of the long scoring droughts that plagued the Hokies this past season. While no recruits have visited lately, Coach said there are visits scheduled, and that the coaching staff would know something in early April.

A future young Hokie in the audience had several questions for Coach Stokes, the first of which dealt with the team’s shooting percentage. Coach put the team’s field-goal percentage at 43.1% and the team’s 3-point percentage at about 32-33%. Coach said he felt that getting the team physically stronger would help in that category. The young fan continued his barrage when he asked about this recruiting season comparing to years past. Coach Stokes felt that the Big East is a big draw when it comes to recruiting. He offered that the recent JUCO commitment occurred without the recruit ever stepping on campus, and believed that Tech’s reputation inside and outside the conference had everything to do with that decision. The young man finished asking if Coach Stokes would recruit any "taller players" to which Coach happily responded, "the taller, the better."

Bill Roth started "recruiting" the young man, asking him if he wanted to play basketball for the Hokies someday. The future Hokie politely refused, stating he wanted to play football. Coach Stokes kept the recruiting pressure up, saying he could play two sports. The young man again turned him down, stating he wasn’t very good at basketball and that he could only make lay-ups and not very good at the three. Coach Stokes stated he would take a sure "2" over a missed "3" any day.

Brian from Richmond called in asking how much time the NCAA allowed the staff to work with the players in the off-season. Coach Stokes informed the caller that the NCAA allowed 8 hours a week of basketball work between seasons. This was one area that Coach felt the NCAA hit the mark as it allowed younger players the chance to continue their development. Brian also asked how the new point guard would be perceived by the current players in that position. Roth asked if Coach Stokes had spoken with freshman guard Chris Exilus concerning Tech’s new recruit since the break. Coach said he had not, but didn’t worry about an adverse effect as he felt competition is a good thing and brings out the best in all involved. He said an example he likes to make to his team is Duke and stated that an All-American wouldn’t spurn Duke simply because they had another All-American. Roth also observed that having another true point guard on the team would make Exilus a better player.

A Hokie in the audience congratulated Coach Stokes on the season stating that many didn’t expect the team to win any conference games, let alone two. Coach reassured the fans that the team will improve, but it needs to focus on playing solid basketball for longer stretches. The question that followed dealt with the first round match-ups that intrigued him. Coach Stokes said that #6 Notre Dame/#11 Xavier would be a good contest. However, he pointed to #8 Tennessee/#9 Charlotte as the early game not to miss. He stated that former Tech assistant Chris Ferguson is on the staff at Tennessee and that Charlotte has a future NBA star in freshman Rodney White (some project White to leave after this season) and that Coach Bobby Lutz does a great job.

Both men marveled at some of the decisions the NCAA makes when in comes to tournament time. Roth found it amazing that Metro-DC schools Maryland and George Mason, which are only 30 miles apart and don’t normally play each other, have a first round match-up but play some 2,500 miles away in Boise, Idaho. Coach Stokes pointed to possible second-round barnburners with a) #2 Arizona and oft-whining star senior center Loren Woods meeting former meal ticket #7 Wake Forest and b) #11 Georgia State Coach Lefty Drisell facing off against former employer and #3 seed Maryland.

A Hokie in the audience asked about CBS’s impact on setting first and second round games. Coach Stokes eluded the question somewhat, only saying that the tournament should be an exciting one. Teams to watch, in his opinion, are #3 Maryland, and MEAC champs #15 Hampton University. Roth said that #5 Syracuse had a tough 1-2 punch in playing #12 Hawaii and #4 Kansas to make the Sweet 16.

In the final segment of the last Hokie Hotline of the year, Roth hoped that next year, he and Coach Stokes would be discussing the Hokies’ first round opponent. Roth asked if this was a realistic goal. Coach Stokes said that his goal for the team would be to have a winning season and to make the Big East tournament. He felt, since each Big East team with a with a winning record made the post season this year, that plan would be a good one to follow.

Roth asked what Coach Stokes does between now and the start of next season. Coach stated that the post-season for him begins with a contact period which includes visiting a lot of high schools, he will be speaking at Roanoke College to the Division III Final Four teams as a favor to Roanoke Maroon head coach and former Hokie Page Moir, conducting the Orange and Maroon Tour in May, holding camps in June, more recruiting in July, and August marks the beginning of practice. Roth observed that for Stokes, the season never stopped. He also made the statement that a lot of Hokie fans want to see the Hokies on TV and in the tournament, but none more so than Coach Stokes himself. He again assured fans that, "we will, we will."

And for your viewing pleasure…their final four picks. Remember this is only an exhibition, this is not a competition, please…no wagering:

Bill Roth: Duke, Maryland, Michigan State, Arizona(NC)
Coach Stokes: Illinois, Iowa State, Florida, Duke(NC)

• Remember, this is the last Hokie Hotline of the season. The next Hokie Hotline will be in August with the kickoff of football season.
• Cheer on the Lady Hokies as they take on the Denver Pioneers in round 1 of the Women’s NCAA Tourney!!! Friday night’s game can be heard on WFNR in Roanoke and the New River Valley, or by going to Hokiesports.com. Game time is 6:30 PM and is broadcast from Lubbock, TX.
• If the Lady Hokies win their first game, game 2 on Sunday against Texas Tech could be a nationally televised game. Bill Roth said that negotiations are on going, so keep your fingers crossed for Sunday.
• In reference to Coach Stokes theory of Big East teams with winning records heading to the post-season, there are 11 teams in tournament play. 5 in the big dance, 6 in the NIT.
• Monday marked day 528 of the Hokies’ possession of the Commonwealth Cup. I have it on good authority we will still have it in our possession when we see you back here later this year.

Hokie Hotline Note Archives