Virginia Tech fires James Johnson as men’s basketball coach

Virginia Tech fired men’s basketball Coach James Johnson.

New Virginia Tech Athletic Director Whit Babcock made the announcement Monday.

Johnson spent two seasons as the Hokies’ coach. Virginia Tech went 9-22 overall and 2-16 in the 15-team Atlantic Coast Conference this season, its third last-place finish in a row. The Hokies’ season ended in a 57-53 loss to Miami in the first round of the ACC tournament on Wednesday, leaving Johnson with a record of 6-32 against ACC competition as the head coach.

Babcock said a national search for a successor will begin immediately.

The change ends an unusual stretch in the Hokies’ basketball history.

Johnson initially left the Hokies, where he was the associate head coach under Seth Greenberg, following the 2011-12 season to accept the same position at Clemson. When Greenberg blamed Johnson’s departure on Clemson’s willingness to pay better, then-Virginia Tech athletic director Jim Weaver fired Greenberg and gave Johnson his first head coaching job.

Duke’s Parker is honored

Duke forward Jabari Parker won the Wayman Tisdale Award, presented by the U.S. Basketball Writers Assn. to the nation’s top freshman.

The 6-foot-8 Parker is second in the ACC in scoring (19.3) and leads the league in rebounding (8.8). He has scored in double figures in 17 straight games and in 32 of 34 games this season, breaking the Duke freshman record held by Gene Banks and Luol Deng.

Joining Parker on the USBWA’s freshman All-America team are: Joel Embiid and Andrew Wiggins of Kansas, Tyler Ennis of Syracuse and Julius Randle of Kentucky.

Utah State player sentenced

Utah State center Jarred Shaw was sentenced to 10 days in jail after pleading guilty earlier this year to possession of a controlled substance.

The Herald Journal of Logan reported that Shaw appeared in a Logan court Monday alongside assistant coach Tarvish Felton.

Shaw, who led the 18-14 Aggies in scoring and rebounding, is a senior who played his final collegiate game last week.

Shaw was temporarily suspended following a Dec. 28 arrest when police found him with more marijuana than normal for personal use. Shaw started his collegiate career at Oklahoma State before transferring to Utah State.

Tournament opens

The NCAA tournament begins Tuesday with two first-round games in Dayton, Ohio.

Albany (18-14) will play Mount St. Mary’s (16-16), followed by North Carolina State (21-13) against Xavier (21-12).

On Wednesday at Dayton, Cal Poly (13-19) faces Texas Southern (19-14) and Iowa (20-12) takes on Tennessee (21-12).