University of Virginia Library

In This Corner

A Talk
With
The Hoot

With Randy Wert

SUCCESS IS A RELATIVELY NEW THING in Virginia's
basketball program. But there is hardly a person in the
University community who has not had his appetite whetted
by this time. However, ingredients for this success go much
farther than the points on the board or the final stats sheet.

Coach Bill Gibson toiled for eight years in Charlottesville
before he came up with a winner. During that time he
weathered much criticism and public doubt but at the same
time, he turned down two coaching offers elsewhere (one in
the professional ranks and one a powerful ACC rival). "My
drive was to prove that we can win." he said, "I've been told
by people, very important people, that you can't win at
Virginia. See, I'm not so smart. Nobody tells me I CAN'T do
anything. I don't even use the word. The difficult comes in
time, the impossible a little longer. Now we have made that
first step up the ladder. When I was offered those jobs
elsewhere, my wife, who has given me a lot of good advice,
said "You haven't done you're job at Virginia."

HE HAS NOW PROVEN HIS POINT. His club has won
ten games, only two of them at home, has soundly whipped
the "UCLA, of the East" and broken into the Top Ten for the
first time ever. How does a coach competing against the most
prolific assemblage of basketball powers in the nation take a
program from rags to riches? Mr. Gibson's answer is inevitably
"super kids."

"The whole program has to be contributed to Tim Rash,
Scott McCandlish, Frank DeWitt and Chip Miller. They're the
leaders, they're the ones who recruited the team. A lot of
schools," Gibson continued, "prospects will visit and have a
lot of time spent with the coaches. I tell prospects that I want
them to see the good and bad sides of the University. Talk to
the players, they'll tell you everything. You're not going to
live with me, so why not spend the time where you are going
to be living.

"When I say super kids, I mean well-rounded. They're
wholesome. They never complain about practices. I'd call a
practice session for 8 o'clock tomorrow morning and they'd
be there. They come before practice and they're still on the
court for a long time after. I have to shoo them off the court
at night. These guys are the best ambassadors the school
has. They have their feet on the ground. Their heads are
still the same size. When I go on that practice court, it is my
time with my boys, which I truly enjoy."

RIGHT AFTER HE GOT THE TALENT, GIBSON felt
something else was necessary to make his program go. He
knew he wanted an "ACC atmosphere." "Last year," he
went on, "I asked the Virginia basketball club for help in the
promotion of our game. They did a fantastic job. In our first
game at home last year against Duke, I couldn't help but hear
one of our players say 'Coach, are we really playing at home?'
It took four or five minutes to introduce Tim Rash. It was a
genuine thing, it wasn't superficial? It wasn't veneer. I don't
want you to cheer for me. "I'm no Lefty Driesell. Give that
enthusiasm to the team. Our fans mean so much to us, they
really do."

THROUGH TEN BALLGAMES THERE HAVE ONLY
BEEN THREE in which the entire ballclub did not get into the
action. Mr. Gibson thinks that this strategy is going to benefit
his team in the long run of the season. "If you look at our
schedule, it is a tough one, particularly in the first part
because here we have played ten games, eight of them on the
road. And at the end of the schedule, we'll have to playing
several games a week, and that will be hard on those boys."

Another part of Virginia's program which Coach Gibson
thinks is of great significance is the staff of assistants which he
has put together. "In my opinion, Chip Connor is one of the
finest young men I have ever had the pleasure of working with.
Of course, he played for me one year, went out and got some
experience, and, when a vacancy occurred here, he was the
only one I talked to. I could not ask for a more loyal, more
dedicated man than Chip Connor. I would like someday to
turn the reins over to Chip because he loves this University
more than anyone I know."

Heading the freshman squad this year is Terry Truax,
formerly of DeMatha High School in the Washington, D. C.
area, and a member of Coach Dean Smith's staff at North
Carolina. Said Mr. Gibson, "I don't know Terry as well as I
know Chip, but he is a very enthusiastic person. He knows
his stuff and is always willing to try new things. He is a very
positive thinker and does a very good job on the floor. And I
think he will be an excellent recruiter. I am becoming more
and more impressed with him."

SURELY THE MOST EXCITING THING ABOUT THE
SEASON SO FAR has been the national ranking received this
week. The victory over Wake Forest, engineered by the
smallest man on the team, Stevie Morris (who was,
incidentally, a walk-on a year ago and received a scholar ship
on his birthday in early December), came since the ballots for
the poll which ranked the Cavaliers ninth were mailed.

A win in Raleigh Saturday evening would also be included
in Virginia's next tally, underlining the importance of the
contest. Tall Mr. Burleson will be a difficult obstacle, but
Coach Gibson, as he did for Maryland, has collaborated with
his staff on a game plan to beat State that is now being worked
out in closed practice sessions. Saturday night could be the
moment of reckoning for the 'Hoos. Why don't you go to
Raleigh to witness it. Four hours drive is a small investment to
see Top Ten basketball.