As one of the career scoring leaders at the University of Virginia, basketball standout Richard Morgan made a name for himself in the ACC.

"Now, I'm in the AAC," said Morgan, newly introduced as the head coach at Bluefield College. "There's only one letter's difference."

Morgan knows there's a world of difference between the Atlantic Coast Conference, one of college basketball's elite conferences, and the Appalachian Athletic Conference, but he couldn't be more excited about his new opportunity.

"I tell people, 'I've got my swagger back,' " said Morgan, one of the most celebrated athletes to come out of Salem High School. "I've been on a rollercoaster since the end of the season."

On March 14, Morgan was recognized at midcourt of the Georgia Dome in Atlanta as one of this year's ACC Legends. After returning to Boone, N.C., he found that his boss at Appalachian State, Houston Fancher, had been dismissed.

Morgan, who was among the candidates for the head-coaching vacancy at North Carolina Central, finished second for that job and for spots as the head coach at Miller School outside Charlottesville and for an assistant's job at North Carolina-Wilmington.

He subsequently asked his wife, Sherrelle, where she wanted to live. The family had picked out Greensboro, N.C., and Morgan was looking at helping Jason Niblett with the Heat Basketball Academy in Martinsville.

Even when Bluefield athletic director Ewell Vernon called him, Morgan, 42, wasn't sure if his family could endure any more close calls.

"I didn't know if they could stomach another one," said Morgan, who has two sons, ages 10 and 5, "but he said, 'I really need you to come up here and get in front of the committee and let us talk to you. I feel like you're the guy.' "

Morgan will take over a program that averaged 23 victories a year in four seasons under predecessor Jason Gillespie, who resigned to become the head coach and athletic director at Cincinnati Christian University.

"The cupboard's far from bare," said Morgan, who can award the equivalent of six full scholarships.

The Rams went 18-0 in the AAC and received a bid to the NAIA national tournament for the fifth time in six years. Returnees include 6-foot-6 Tazewell product Omar Reed, who averaged 17.6 points and a team-high 9.8 rebounds as a junior.

"Every time one of these committees looks at my resume, I'm told, 'You don't have head-coaching experience,' " Morgan said. "Well, guess what? They can't say that now."

Moving forward

Ex-Northside High School and UVa linebacker Jon Copper said his free-agent tryout with Green Bay "went great" but the Packers already had six linebackers and were not in a position to invite him to training camp.

"I could still get a call," said Copper of his chances of latching on with the Packers or another NFL team. "If I do, I'm going to go. If I don't, then, yeah, I'm done."

Copper, who arrived at UVa as a walk-on and finished his college career with more than 300 tackles, was in Roanoke last weekend to give a seminar on health and nutrition and also is working as a personal trainer.

He wouldn't rule out coaching at some point, "but that's what I'm doing right now and I'm going to run with it," said Copper, who will be based in Charlottesville at least until his wife, Holly, graduates in December.

Recruiting

Tre Jones, a 6-foot-1, 205-pound linebacker from William Fleming High School, will play for the postgraduate football team at Fork Union Military Academy this coming season. Jones, a first-team All-Timesland selection, was the Western Valley District defensive player of the year.

Patrick Henry girls' tennis standout Finley Vinson, a second-team All-Timesland selection, will play at Hollins.

Track star

John Ballein, quirky director of football operations at Virginia Tech, returned to his native western Pennsylvania this past weekend and finished second in the tractor pull at the Jacktown Fair, billed as the oldest continuous-running fair in the country. A disappointed Ballein, piloting a Deere 4000 Turbo, finished 8 inches out of first.

Local update

Randolph College basketball players Pete Hamilton from Cave Spring and Cameron Shepherd from William Byrd visited Bosnia and Croatia, among other European locales, as part of a five-game exhibition series billed as the USA Athletes International Tour.

Hamilton started all 25 games for Randolph (6-19) last season and averaged 10.8 points while converting a team-high 47 3-point field goals. Shepherd played in 23 games, averaging just over 10 minutes.