The Hokie Hotline this week originated from the Gobblertown Tavern in Christiansburg, and the guests were Tech Director of Athletics Jim Weaver and men’s head basketball coach Ricky Stokes.

The first guest for the evening was Tech Director of Athletics Jim Weaver. He first commented on the recent play of the men’s and women’s basketball teams, saying that he felt that the men’s team is playing as well as it has played in a long time, and that he has enjoyed watching them play recently as much as he has since he came to the school. He feels that they are playing with intensity, that they are defending well and moving the ball, and that they have improved on their free throw shooting. On the women’s side, he mentioned that the women’s team is steadily improving as the season progresses and that he feels that they will be there in the end at the Atlantic 10 Tournament.

The remainder of his comments focused on football and football facilities, and the discussions were generally broken into several major categories.

He said that the fan support that Virginia Tech received was awesome and that the best estimates that he has seen indicate that there were about 40,000 Hokies in New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl. He has spoken with the manager of the Hilton in New Orleans, and he said that the Hokies were the best fans that he has seen for the Sugar Bowl in the 14 years that he has been associated with the event. Weaver said that he even plans to write a letter that will be published in the local newspapers.

As for the game itself, he said he thought it was a great national championship game, and that the team showed its character in coming from behind against an excellent team like Florida State. He feels like the team proved that it belonged in the game, and that the point was highlighted by the national media when it kept Tech at number two in the final football polls. He also commented that he has seen stories in the media which indicate that some believe that Tech has a chance to return to the national championship game in the Orange Bowl next season.

He commented that the athletic department is currently negotiating with both the Kick-Off Classic and the Black Coaches Association for a pre-season game for next year. He prefers the Black Coaches Association game because it would still allow Tech to compete in the Kick-Off Classic in 2001. According to NCAA rules, participation in the Kick-Off Classic in 2000, would preclude Tech from the Black Coaches Association game in 2001, but the same is not true in reverse. If the deal goes through for the BCA game, it would be held on the Saturday before the Labor Day weekend, and the current list of potential opponents includes Illinois, Washington, Colorado, Georgia Tech and North Carolina.

He said that the BCA recently issued a Request for Proposal to secure a manager for the game. One possibility is that a group in Cleveland, who would like to hold the game in that area, might secure these rights. He said that he felt that there was a good possibility that the game would sell out if it was held in Lane Stadium because of the excellent fan support at Virginia Tech, and that it was possible that the game could make just as much money if it was held in Blacksburg. He said that he was very confident that Virginia Tech would be in the game, but that he wasn’t as confident on the venue.

The next subject that Weaver and Roth discussed was the rumors that Frank Beamer would leave Tech to become the head coach for the Green Bay Packers. Weaver said that he hadn’t spoken to Coach Beamer recently, since he was on the road, but that he felt that the statements that he had issued earlier indicated that he was flattered to receive the interest, but that he wasn’t interested in the position at this time. While the NFL isn’t required to seek permission to speak to college coaches, Weaver said that he felt that if Coach Beamer were interested in the position, that he would have called to discuss it. He also mentioned that he had heard from some of his sources in the NFL that the position had been filled and that the Packers were currently negotiating with their new coach (note from Will of HokieCentral: the position has been filled and Beamer is no longer a candidate).

He said that, while some see this speculation as a negative, that it is very easy to present this as a positive to recruits. With this interest from a recent Super Bowl team and all of the national coach of the year awards, it is very easy to demonstrate to recruits that Virginia Tech has one of the foremost coaches in college football today.

Following the first break, Weaver announced that Coach Beamer had been named the recipient of the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award. Unlike many of the other coach of the year awards that he has won this year, this one is traditionally presented in the winner’s local area. The presentation will be held on Monday, March 6 at the Hotel Roanoke. No details are currently available for tickets.

In light of the "unprecedented" number of coach of the year awards that Coach Beamer has received, Bill Roth asked if the athletic department had any plans to reward him with a bonus or renegotiate his contract. Weaver said that he hadn’t had any discussions yet and that they had all agreed that they needed to put first things first at the moment. He pointed out that his current contract runs through the 2005 season and he is willing to extend that contract for any amount of time with which Coach Beamer feels comfortable. He repeated that point by saying that Frank Beamer will be the head coach at Virginia Tech as long as he wants to be. He said that they will do something though, and that he has already been given a "little bonus" for winning the coach of the year awards, the Sugar Bowl appearance and the perfect regular season. He also wants to make sure that they continue to take care of the assistant coaches, which has always been a priority for Coach Beamer.

Weaver said that he was proud that Coach Beamer was doing things the right way and that this longevity and the trust that has been built up continues to be good for recruiting. While Tech doesn’t currently have the facilities like schools in the SEC, they are able to use these factors as a strong selling point in the recruiting process.

Following another break, Weaver outlined the current and future plans for expansion at Lane Stadium/Worsham Field. Tech has submitted a proposal to the State legislature that will allow the university to proceed with the fund-raising, detailed planning and construction of approximately 12,000 seats in the South end zone. He hopes for the process to begin in July and be complete for the 2002 football season. He also mentioned plans for upgrading West stands, including an expanded press tower, a Hall of Fame, ticket and Hokie Club offices, an academic area for the student-athletes on the fourth and fifth levels, and club levels for various functions on the sixth through eighth levels. He indicated that he expects each of these phases to cost approximately $24 million, bringing the total cost to approximately $50 million, but that he doesn’t expect to hear anything official from the legislature until March.

He reviewed the current plan for the progression of the improvements to the stadium. For next season, there would be approximately 3400 additional seats in the North end zone. This would result from increasing the height of the new bleachers installed last season and extending them to each side to simulate a bowled end. Along with this expansion will be a new video board which would be located behind these stands. There would be nothing new for the 2001 season, but the South end zone addition would be ready for the 2002 season, and the West Stands expansion would be ready for 2003. He said that he expects the capacity for the stadium following all of this work to be in the neighborhood of 65,000, with a potential minimum of 64,000 and a maximum of 67,000.

Later in the show, Weaver brought up naming rights for the stadium complex in reference to fund-raising. He indicated that the department was looking into selling the naming rights to support the fund-raising efforts, much like the University of Maryland has done for its new field house. He also mentioned our "neighbor institution," which has three names for its stadium, and suggested that the same could be true at Virginia Tech in the near future. When asked if there was a preference for private versus commercial names for the facility, he indicated that he had none, and suggested that Roth donate the $20 million so that it could be named after him as his legacy! Roth said that they would have to renegotiate his current contract first!

The first caller, Steve in Baltimore (HCMB’s SteveInBaltimore?), asked about the schedule making for the Big East conference, and why it was so slow relative to other conferences. Weaver indicated that this was primarily due to the situations in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, relating to Temple’s use of Veteran’s Stadium and Pittsburgh’s use of Three Rivers Stadium next season and their future use of the Steeler’s new stadium after that. Additionally, the scheduling requirements of the various television networks that have rights to Big East games also have to be considered, and all of this causes headaches for the conference’s schedule-makers.

He also had two other interesting comments related to this discussion. First, he mentioned that the networks’ demands for Virginia Tech in the national spotlight have become much higher with the team’s success this past season. He also praised Mike Tranghese’s work for the Hokies, and mentioned that Tranghese will become the chairman of the NCAA tournament committee in the near future.

In response to a question from the audience on recruiting defensive players following the departure of so many players from last season’s defense, Weaver made several comments. He said he felt that the coaches had done an excellent job in developing depth on defense in last year’s team, and that this will help for next season. Beasley and Pugh played quite a bit after injuries had caused the starters to miss some action and they had played very well. He also commented that there were players who redshirted this season and played back-up roles that are ready to contribute next season, and that with several players moving around, the defense will be ready for next season. The challenge will be to continue to develop the depth.

On the offense, he mentioned that the team returns nine or ten starters, depending on how you look at it. He indicated that he felt the depth at receiver will be much better, and Steve DeMasi, who was forced to fill in during the season, and Jake Grove, a redshirt last year, will be ready at the center position. The biggest challenge, he said, may be on special teams, where every player must be replaced.

The next caller asked what kind of increase is expected in season ticket sales. Weaver indicated that he expected that the season tickets might increase by as much as 5,000 to bring the total season ticket sales to approximately 30,000. He said that Tech fans are finally starting to come to the games to see the Hokies play, and not worrying about the opponent. He said he feels that this indicates that Virginia Tech is moving more into the "big time."

In response to a question about whether the facilities hampered Tech’s ability to recruit against other schools, Weaver said that he felt that the facilities at Tech are the best in the Big East, but that they must always continue to improve them. He mentioned that a new track facility was planned for 2004 and that Rector would then be used exclusively as a track facility.

His final question concerned recruiting, and he said simply that Tech is looking for players who want to work with the coaches in an effort to return to the national championship game and bring back the national championship.

Coach Stokes began his segment by saying that he had finished reviewing the tape of the game on Saturday and that he really felt like the team had done what it needed to do. There are still things to work on, but everyone feels good following the two wins this past week. They played well against both Duquesne, who currently leads the West Division, and George Washington.

Roth mentioned briefly a report from the Roanoke Times that a player is preparing to transfer to Tech and that he would be available to play next season. Coach Stokes said that you "can’t believe everything you read," and that he couldn’t comment further because the player would be a prospect, and he can’t comment on prospects.

Roth mentioned that in the recent games Dennis Mims has looked like an NBA forward and that the guards have handled the ball and played very well. Coach Stokes agreed and insisted that they will continue to go inside with the ball, even though that will become increasingly more difficult. He said that the freshman guards have handled the team very well, that Andre Ray has played excellent defense while guarding some of the best players on the opposing teams, and that Russ Wheeler and Brendan Dunlop have accepted their roles very well. All of this has contributed to the success of the team.

Coach Stokes mentioned that Tony Dobbins has really turned his season around after a difficult stretch earlier in the season. He mentioned that he received his grades for the first semester and made the Honor Roll, and that success has continued for him on the court as well. The coach had told him that in order to play that he would have to play defense, and he has followed through with that and improved his game. One factor that has helped in that regard is a new drill that has been introduced that emphasizes one-on-one defense.

The remainder of the show focused on recruiting and the upcoming games. Coach Stokes repeated his desire to recruit in-State and expand to the bordering states and Washington, D.C. as necessary. He also mentioned again the success that the staff had in the early signing period and that they continue to look for two quality big men to help the team compete in the Big East next season.

The game on Wednesday at Cassell Coliseum will be against Fordham, which is coached by former NBA coach Bob Hill. Their team is flying high after a recent win over Xavier and Tech will have to defend the three-point shot in order to be successful. On Saturday, the team travels to Philadelphia to play Temple. Coach Stokes said that they are big, talented, and well-coached and that the team looks forward to the challenge of competing against such a quality opponent. In response to a caller, he commented on the parity in the Atlantic 10. Duquesne is currently in first place in the West Division and their only loss in-conference is to Tech. In the East, St. Bonaventure is currently in first place ahead of Temple.

Finally, he mentioned the game next Monday against Virginia in Richmond. This will officially be a home game for Tech, who will be wearing the white uniforms. Tech will have its own announcer, and the game officials will be assigned by the Atlantic 10. He said that they need a great turnout for the game, especially since this will be the last Tech-UVa game in Richmond for at least the next four years, as the game will move back to the respective campus sites beginning next year. He admitted that the game will be exciting for him as he coaches against his alma mater, but that it’s not any more or less important for the team than the game before or the game after it in the schedule. All of the games are important as the team seeks to finish the season with a winning record and look to compete in the post-season.

• Prior to the Tech-Fordham game on Wednesday, Fork Union will play at Cassell Coliseum at 4:00. One of Tech’s recruits for next season, Carlos Dixon, will be playing in that game.

• Next week’s Hokie Hotline will be on Tuesday night due to the Tech-UVa game on Monday.

• Game time for Wednesday’s home game against Fordham is 7:00 at Cassell Coliseum.