Thursday, May 28, 2009
Ramon Williams loses job at DePaul
Doug Doughty
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Former VMI basketball star Ramon Williams was the victim of a coaching shake-up at DePaul, where four-year head coach Jerry Wainwright was allowed to keep his job after a 9-24 season but will go into the 2009-10 season with three new full-time assistants.
The first ex-Blue Demons assistant to go was Wainwright's son, Scott, in late March. Approximately one month later, Wainwright announced the resignations of Williams and Gary DeCesare, both of whom had been with him for seven years, the first three at the University of Richmond.
Williams and his twin, Damon, were standouts at William Fleming High School and VMI. Ramon Williams coached at VMI for nine seasons before going to Richmond with Wainwright.
DePaul was 20-7 as recently as 2006-07, when it reached the quarterfinals of the NIT, but the Blue Demons were 0-18 in the Big East this year.
Williams could not be reached for comment Wednesday, but he has spoken to Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg about an opening on the Hokies' staff.
Greenberg said Wednesday that he is no hurry to fill the vacancy created when Stacy Palmore went to Georgia, adding that he might wait until the end of the summer .
In the interim, Greenberg said he may seek a waiver from the NCAA that would allow director of basketball operations Adrian Autry to go on the road and recruit. Autry, a former college standout and 1994 Syracuse graduate, had an 11-year professional career overseas that postponed his entry into coaching.
Autry has not been involved in off-campus recruiting and the waiver could serve as a trial run.
Coaching carousel
Rick Brunson, the director of basketball operations at Virginia for the past two seasons, has surfaced as a member of the men's basketball staff at Hartford. The Hartford roster includes guard Joe Zeglinski, whose younger brother, Sammy, plays at Virginia.
UVa had feared that North Carolina would come after women's golf coach Kim Lewellen, a UNC alumnus. Instead, the Tar Heels tapped Jan Mann, who had been the UVa coach from 2002 until her retirement in 2007. UNC was seventh in the NCAA championships and Virginia was eighth.
A 7.30 staff earned run average (8.99 in ACC games) probably hastened the departure of Wake Forest baseball coach Rick Rembielak, who was not retained after compiling a five-year record of 142-142.
In memoriam
Virginia's unexpected ascent to the ACC baseball championship followed the mid-week passing of James O. "Jim" West, the Cavaliers' coach when they won their first ACC baseball title in 1972.
"I knew how much he loved to beat Hokies and the Tar Heels," said Barry Hollar, a former UVa pitcher turned pastor who eulogized West at his funeral. "Does anyone but me suspect that he had something to do with that 10-run inning the other day against the Tar Heels?"
West, who was 82, was a 1958 UVa graduate who worked at his alma mater for 33 years as a coach and administrator. He was the Cavaliers' cross country coach before spending 19 seasons as head baseball coach. He later served as the top aide to UVa athletic directors Gene Corrigan, Dick Schultz and Jim Copeland.
Local update
James Madison relief pitcher Kevin Munson, a sophomore who graduated from Cave Spring, was named to the All-Colonial Association first team after posting a conference-leading nine saves to go with a 2.85 ERA. Munson (3-3) struck out 67 batters in 4713 innings for the Dukes (30-24).
Munson's JMU classmate, ex-Lord Botetourt pitcher Turner Phelps, was named second-team All-CAA after registering a team-high eight wins. Phelps is 16-2 for his college career.
Cave Spring graduate and former Timesland athlete of the year Tom Hagan, who elected not to return for a fourth year in the Pittsburgh Pirates' chain, is working in New York for the sports division of Creative Artists Agency.
While the Los Angeles-based firm is best known for representing actors, he is working for the part of the company that deals with endorsements and branding.
Hagan was a first-team All-ACC pick for UVa's baseball team in 2006.
Non-revenue
Virginia Tech's wrestling recruits have been ranked No. 5 in the country by W.I.N. Magazine, marking the third time in three seasons under coach Kevin Dresser that the Hokies have had a top-10 class.
Tech was behind Minnesota, Oklahoma, Nebraska and Oklahoma State. The Hokies were directly in front of Old Dominion and Virginia.
