Virginia Tech basketball assistant Bill Courtney doesn't think there is any way he will take a seat on the wrong bench tonight.

Finding the visitors' locker room might be another matter.

"I don't think I've ever been in there," said Courtney, an assistant coach at Virginia from 2006-2009. "All I know is, it's down the hall somewhere."

Aside from that, Courtney probably could give a tour of John Paul Jones Arena, the setting for a 7 p.m tipoff between the Hokies (15-3 overall, 2-2 ACC) and the Cavaliers (12-5, 3-1) tonight.

Virginia's first season at JPJ in 2006-2007 coincided with Courtney's first season on the staff of then-UVa coach Dave Leitao. The Cavaliers got to the second round of the NCAA tournament and finished 21-11 with Sean Singletary and J.R. Reynolds leading the way.

Less than two years later, Courtney and the rest of Leitao's staff were looking for new jobs after a 10-18 season in 2008-2009.

"I wouldn't say there was bitterness," Courtney said. "When it first happened, I was stunned more than anything else. But, you've got to move on. I'm not a guy who holds grudges or takes shots at people."

Last year's winning percentage was Virginia's lowest in more than 40 years but the Cavaliers had participated in postseason play in three previous seasons under Leitao.

"Obviously, it was a surprise to all of us," Courtney said, "but, it's the kind of thing that happens in this business. You've got to roll with the punches.

"I'd never gone through anything like that before. There was a sense of 'what the heck do I do now?' For the first time since I had been involved in basketball, I wasn't part of a team."

Leitao and another one of his full-time assistants, Steve Seymour, are not coaching this year and still live in the Charlottesville area.

Courtney keeps up with them and two other members of that staff, former UVa director of basketball operations Rick Brunson, now an assistant coach at Hartford, and Drew Diener, who is the head coach at Cardinal Stritch, an NAIA Division II program in Wisconsin.

Courtney wasn't out of coaching for long, but he didn't go directly from UVa to Tech.

On April 15, less than month after the UVa staff was let go, new Virginia Commonwealth coach Shaka Smart announced the appointment of Courtney to his staff.

Courtney was at VCU for less than six weeks before he accepted an offer to join Seth Greenberg at Virginia Tech. Weeks earlier, Greenberg had lost former assistant Stacey Palmore to Georgia.

"Those guys [at VCU] were very good to me," Courtney said. "It wasn't like I was looking to go anywhere but then this opportunity came about. Can't look back."

Courtney previously had been an assistant coach for eight years at George Mason, whose coach, Jim Larranaga, offered a glowing recommendation to Greenberg.

"Jim was very high on him," Greenberg said. "He's [Courtney] been terrific. He's a coach's coach. He's got a great work ethic. He's committed and passionate about recruiting. He's excellent on the court. It's just like Jim told me: 'He's the total package.' "

Greenberg said he has never been in a situation where he has coached a game against players he had coached previously.

"It's always going to be difficult because there are a number of kids he's developed close relationships with," he said.

Courtney said some of the UVa players in whose recruiting he was heavily involved were Sylven Landesberg, Assane Sene and Tristan Spurlock. Landesberg was last year's ACC rookie of the year and is leading the Cavaliers in scoring for the second year in a row.

If he were coaching in another part of the country, Courtney said, he would be keeping up with the players and would not hesitate to correspond with them.

"Obviously, you still have some affection for those guys, but this is the first time I've seen them since we were let go," he said.

Normally, assistant coaches stand and watch as players warm up in the hour or so before a game.

Courtney expects to exchange the normal pleasantries tonight, but he won't go overboard

"I've got the players in the Virginia Tech uniforms to think about," he said. "but, I don't mind telling you, it's probably going to be a little weird."