Veteran Roanoke College men's basketball coach Page Moir is in the position of filling a vacancy on his staff, and he considers that a compliment.

Robbie Pridgen, a Maroons' assistant for the past three seasons, has accepted a position at Division I Robert Morris in Pittsburgh.

Pridgen, who also was a player of some distinction for Roanoke, will join the staff of third-year Robert Morris head coach Mike Rice. Rice has a two-year record of 50-11 and last year took the Colonials to the NCAA Tournament, where they were beaten by eventual NCAA runner-up Michigan State.

Pridgen takes the place of Levi Franklin, who resigned to become head coach at the Potomac School in McLean. Franklin had gone to Robert Morris after six seasons at Paul VI in Fairfax.

Moir said that Pridgen had a connection through Robert Morris assistant Jimmy Martelli, who previously had coached in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference at Randolph-Macon. Martelli is the son of St. Joseph's head coach Phil Martelli.

While Roanoke hasn't achieved full-fledged "cradle of coaches" status, Pridgen joins a decent-sized list of ex-Maroons in the Division I coaching ranks.

The list includes assistants Ben Betts at Oklahoma, Brian Blaney at Fairfield and Nathan Stewart at Maryland-Baltimore County. All-time Roanoke College scoring leader Frankie Allen is the head coach at Maryland-Eastern Shore after earlier stints at Virginia Tech, Tennessee State and Howard.

"I push hard to get my guys to the Division I level," Moir said. "That way, they'll have some perspective if they ever want to come back to our level. Plus, that's [Division I] where the money is."

Other Roanoke basketball alums include Lynchburg College head coach Hilliary Scott and Radford athletic director Robert Lineburg, previously a D-I assistant and interim head coach at SMU.

Pridgen, originally from Akron, Ohio, began his college career as a walk-on at East Tennessee State before transferring to Roanoke College, where he became eligible in January of his redshirt freshman season and scored more than 1,500 points during his career.

He is the half-brother of former Roanoke basketball and soccer standout Dustin Fonder, now the head soccer coach at Division I High Point (N.C.) University.

• Robert Morris' last signee for 2009-2010 is a Virginian, 6-2 guard Coron Williams from Christchurch School by way of Midlothian. Williams scored 19.8 points per game while shooting better than 49 percent on 3-pointers.

• Roanoke's most celebrated recruit is 6-foot Kwasi Amponsah, who averaged 20.4 points for Gar-Field High School, where he was coached by Roanoke Valley product Andy Gray. Amponsah, who also led the team in assists and steals, was named player of the year in Prince William County by the News & Messenger.

Up and around

Virginia Tech assistant football coach Curt Newsome, who underwent double-bypass heart surgery Friday, was released from Lewis-Gale Hospital on Tuesday and actually made a brief stop at the Tech offices Wednesday.

Doctors had advised Newsome to start walking and Wednesday's heat prompted him to spend 15 minutes walking the corridors at Cassell Coliseum. When he was done, his plan was to stop by the Tech football office and check his mailbox.

"Nothing other than that," Newsome said. "Coach [Bryan] Stinespring was in there working and the first words out of his mouth were, 'Get out of here.' I'm really surprised to be walking around. Based on the way I felt Saturday and Sunday, I didn't think I'd be up for a couple of years."

Doctors discovered a blockage when they did a full body scan June 13. Tech associate head coach Billy Hite underwent the same procedure Monday and received a favorable report, Newsome said.

Highlanders relieved

Terry Rupp's resignation as Maryland baseball coach after nine seasons had the Terrapins casting an eye toward Radford, where RU alumnus and second-year head coach Joe Raccuia directed the Highlanders to a 26-24 season, the most wins for Radford since 2000.

"He was supposed to interview up there on Monday and declined," athletic director Robert Lineburg said Wednesday. "He's going to stay at Radford. Obviously, we're very excited about that.

"My impression is, he had a legitimate shot. I think he thinks he's building something here and has things going in the right direction. Joe's good. I'd say he definitely was in the mix because they actually called and asked for my permission to speak with him."

• The new baseball coach at Wake Forest is 39-year-old Tom Walter, who took the University of New Orleans to the NCAA tournament in 2007 and 2008.

Local angle

Former William Fleming High School and Virginia Tech standout Lee Suggs has been promoted to full-time status at Division III Oberlin College, where he was a volunteer assistant on the football staff in 2008. Suggs, a fourth-round draft pick of the Cleveland Browns in 2003, will coach the running backs.