Valvano

Bob Valvano announced yesterday that he is stepping down as St. Mary's men's basketball coach and assistant athletic director to become the men's coach at Bellarmine College in Louisville, Ky.Valvano, who coached for two years at Division III St. Mary's, led the Seahawks to a school-record 14 victories last season."

Is Jeff Ruland in charge of the Iona basketball team, or is it "Coach McNasty"? In his second season with the Gaels, Ruland has guided his alma mater back to the NCAA tournament with the same no-nonsense style of his Washington Bullets days. The Long Island native likens himself more to the mob boss in the HBO series, "The Sopranos," than John Wooden. Looking down at every one of his players, the 6-foot-10, 295-pound Ruland orders each one to follow two off-court rules -- go to school and be on time -- or he'll kick them off the team despite joking that he majored in cutting class and minored in bar-hopping as a student.

Alan Aufzien, the New Jersey Nets' chairman of the board, denied last night that coach Bill Fitch was about to be fired and replaced by former North Carolina State coach Jim Valvano.Reports published yesterday in The Record of Hackensack, N.J., and USA Today indicated that the change was imminent, and two people with knowledge of the situation told Newsday yesterday that the change would be made soon.Aufzien said, however, that Nets vice president Willis Reed is in charge of basketball operations, and Reed said: "As of now there have not been any changes in our basketball program.

The expectations on Jeff Ruland going into his first season as Iona's head coach were not unlike the ones he faced nearly 20 years ago as the team's star player.In other words, they were as enormous as 6-foot-11 Ruland himself.``It's a little tougher [as a coach], because no matter how well we practice or how focused we are, it's out of your hands when the team's on the court,'' Ruland said last week.It's been a difficult start for Ruland, the former All-American and NBA All-Star who took over after three seasons as an assistant when Tim Welsh left last spring for Providence.

The TV Repairman: OH-OH, TIME to drag out, dust off and recycle our righteous indignation sentiments as Jim Valvano launches into his career as an analyst on college hoops.Recall, Coach V departed North Carolina State, his tail feathers all but in flames, when he was hired by ABC to do what he does best: talk. One would think he had been hired to head a religious sect in Guyana.Valvano was pilloried, if not worse. Tomorrow, V makes his debut, not on ABC but for its stepson, ESPN, and he'll be calling the LSU-Villanova game.

LANDOVER -- The administration of his new place of employment is convinced that Bob Valvano's troubles at Catholic University are behind him.So, Valvano was officially introduced as the new St. Mary's College basketball coach yesterday at a news conference at the Capital Centre."

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Despite chief executive officer Alan Aufzien's denials last night, the New Jersey Nets reportedly have reached an agreement in principle with former North Carolina State coach Jim Valvano on a five-year deal that will make him Bill Fitch's successor as coach within a week.According to reports in the Bergen Record and USA Today, Valvano was offered the job during a Monday afternoon meeting with Nets' part-owner Joe Taub. Indications are Valvano has requested and will get his release from his contractual commitment to ABC, which owns ESPN, for which he works as a college basketball analyst.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Jim Valvano concluded negotiations with the New Jersey Nets late Friday and reached an agreement to become head coach of the NBA team, according to a source close to the negotiations.The source told The Charlotte Observer that the agreement allowed Valvano to take over the team as soon as he wanted but that he is not expected to do so until after Christmas.Valvano, 45, who won the national title at North Carolina State, is believed to have agreed to a five-year, $2.7 million contract, which would rank among the top half of NBA salaries for head coaches.

St. Mary's will introduce Bob Valvano as its men's basketball coach today, according to a source at the college.The Southern Maryland school has called an 11 a.m. news conference at the Capital Centre.The younger brother of former North Carolina State coach Jim Valvano, Valvano spent the last three seasons at Catholic University, where his teams improved from 8-18 to 9-17 to 21-6. He was fired last March, however, when the administration said that his coaching methods did not meet school standards, particularly in his use of profanity at practices.

With a visit from the Russian National team and a game o Home Team Sports, St. Mary's is going beyond the customary promotion for a Division III basketball team. The product is also coming on. Bob Valvano's Seahawks are becoming more comfortable with his offensive style and have won a couple after an 0-5 start.Valvano, in his first year as St. Mary's head coach, is maintaining a hectic pace, one which includes a game tomorrow (7:35 p.m.) at UMBC.On Sunday, he plans to drive to Raleigh, N.C., to visit his brother Jim, the former North Carolina State coach and TV analyst who's battling cancer.

As if to match the blandness of last night's NCAA national championship game, CBS turned in a meat-and-potatoes effort, with nothing flashy or spectacular, but mostly solid.The network quickly identified the David vs. Goliath storyline of the Syracuse-Kentucky matchup and stayed with it, from the opening coaches round table to the game coverage.For once, analyst Billy Packer's attention to detail paid off, as he spotted the Wildcats' exploitation of Syracuse's 2-3 zone for three-pointers in the first half and their excellent passing throughout, and Jim Nantz was his usual understated self on the play-by-play call.

Bob Valvano announced yesterday that he is stepping down as St. Mary's men's basketball coach and assistant athletic director to become the men's coach at Bellarmine College in Louisville, Ky.Valvano, who coached for two years at Division III St. Mary's, led the Seahawks to a school-record 14 victories last season."

Florida State basketball coach Pat Kennedy said recently of ** his mentor and former boss Jim Valvano: "We always thought Jimmy had nine lives, but I guess he only has one like the rest of us."That life ended yesterday when Valvano, 47, lost a 10-month battle with cancer."He put up a good fight. It's amazing what a constitution he had," said Atlantic Coast Conference commissioner Gene Corrigan. "I don't know how many of us could have done what he did."Valvano's death came a little more than 10 years after he vaulted onto the national stage by leading North Carolina State to an NCAA championship with a huge upset of Houston.

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Once this was his fiefdom, his basketball program, his stage. But in 1990 he was forced to resign amid ongoing evidence of academic and other irregularities, and he had not been back since.Yesterday afternoon, Jim Valvano finally returned to Reynolds Coliseum, overcoming the ravages of bone cancer and the passage of time to again cast his spell over North Carolina State basketball.The occasion was a 10th anniversary salute to N.C. State's 1983 national championship team, which defeated a heavily favored Houston team led by Clyde Drexler and Hakeem Olajuwon in the title game.

ST. MARY'S CITY -- The games are his outlet. The games are his release. Two nights ago, his team played at home before fewer than 100 fans. It didn't matter. Here came St. Mary's, rallying from a 14-point second-half deficit to force one overtime and then another."C'mon fellas, suck it up for two seconds!" Bob Valvano cried to his players during a timeout before Marymount's final possession, with St. Mary's leading, 76-75. "It will be the biggest win in school history!"The games carry him. Past the memory of his firing at Catholic last March, and his mother's quadruple bypass surgery that same week.

With a visit from the Russian National team and a game o Home Team Sports, St. Mary's is going beyond the customary promotion for a Division III basketball team. The product is also coming on. Bob Valvano's Seahawks are becoming more comfortable with his offensive style and have won a couple after an 0-5 start.Valvano, in his first year as St. Mary's head coach, is maintaining a hectic pace, one which includes a game tomorrow (7:35 p.m.) at UMBC.On Sunday, he plans to drive to Raleigh, N.C., to visit his brother Jim, the former North Carolina State coach and TV analyst who's battling cancer.

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Once this was his fiefdom, his basketball program, his stage. But in 1990 he was forced to resign amid ongoing evidence of academic and other irregularities, and he had not been back since.Yesterday afternoon, Jim Valvano finally returned to Reynolds Coliseum, overcoming the ravages of bone cancer and the passage of time to again cast his spell over North Carolina State basketball.The occasion was a 10th anniversary salute to N.C. State's 1983 national championship team, which defeated a heavily favored Houston team led by Clyde Drexler and Hakeem Olajuwon in the title game.

As if to match the blandness of last night's NCAA national championship game, CBS turned in a meat-and-potatoes effort, with nothing flashy or spectacular, but mostly solid.The network quickly identified the David vs. Goliath storyline of the Syracuse-Kentucky matchup and stayed with it, from the opening coaches round table to the game coverage.For once, analyst Billy Packer's attention to detail paid off, as he spotted the Wildcats' exploitation of Syracuse's 2-3 zone for three-pointers in the first half and their excellent passing throughout, and Jim Nantz was his usual understated self on the play-by-play call.

LANDOVER -- The administration of his new place of employment is convinced that Bob Valvano's troubles at Catholic University are behind him.So, Valvano was officially introduced as the new St. Mary's College basketball coach yesterday at a news conference at the Capital Centre."

St. Mary's will introduce Bob Valvano as its men's basketball coach today, according to a source at the college.The Southern Maryland school has called an 11 a.m. news conference at the Capital Centre.The younger brother of former North Carolina State coach Jim Valvano, Valvano spent the last three seasons at Catholic University, where his teams improved from 8-18 to 9-17 to 21-6. He was fired last March, however, when the administration said that his coaching methods did not meet school standards, particularly in his use of profanity at practices.