COLLEGE BASKETBALL : Metcalf Is Gone but Not Forgotten at Texas A & M

When Texas A & M fired Shelby Metcalf this week, it signaled the end of the reign of one of the most enduring coaching figures in college basketball. Metcalf was in his 27th year at A & M, which has fallen upon hard times recently. But indications are that isn’t the only reason Metcalf lost his job.

Metcalf, 59, had been at odds with Athletic Director John David Crow since Crow replaced Jackie Sherrill in December, 1988. Metcalf narrowly escaped Sherrill’s ax in 1987, when A & M, the lowest-seeded team, won the Southwest Conference postseason tournament and reached the NCAA tournament.

There were new rumors that Metcalf was in trouble early this season, but the end was sudden and unexpected, thanks to a newspaper article. Metcalf, in a Sunday Dallas Morning News story, was quoted as having said that Crow was making his life miserable. Crow fired Metcalf the next day and named Metcalf’s assistant, John Thornton, as interim coach.

In his tenure at A & M, Metcalf went to the NCAA tournament five times, the National Invitation Tournament four times and won the Southwest Conference title six times. His 438-306 record made him the winningest coach in SWC history, but the conference may find it misses Metcalf’s one-liners as much as anything:

--After one of his players reported getting four F’s and a D, Metcalf told him: “Son, you’ve been spending too much time on one subject.”

--”How come if a kid fails a course it’s not a bad teacher, but if they can’t play it’s a bad coach?”

--Having breakfast at a coffee shop, Metcalf said a man walked up, shook his hand and said, “Coach, I’m behind you 30%,” to which Metcalf replied: “Then you’re one of the best friends I’ve got.”

--”When you stay at one place as long as I have, one year they want to name a street after you and the next year they want to chase you down it.”

Metcalf finally was caught, but his demise was a long time coming. The Aggies play their home games at 36-year-old G. Rollie White Arena, a drafty, barn-like building that seats 7,500, named after a former president of the Texas A & M board of regents.

Hated rival Texas posted consecutive sellouts against A & M and Rhode Island in the 16,231-seat Erwin Center, so influential A & M alumni grumbled about the average crowds in G. Rollie White being under 3,000.

Still, G. Rollie White was always a tough place for an opposing team to play, with the A & M crowd offering the traditional Aggie “Gig ‘em!” cheers and Reveille, the school’s collie mascot, standing by for whatever action might be necessary.

Abe Lemons, coach at Oklahoma City University and formerly the coach at Texas, said Reveille always causes problems for visiting teams at G. Rollie White.

“That damned dog will bite you when you come down the ramp,” Lemons said.

In time, there were questions about Metcalf’s change in philosophy to keep up with Texas by depending largely on junior college transfers. Some were not regarded as good citizens. Crow stepped in and kicked one of them, 6-foot-6 forward David Williams, off the team for disciplinary reasons.

The Aggies were 9-10 and 2-3 in the SWC when Metcalf was fired. Actually, Crowe “re-assigned” Metcalf to a position within the athletic department that has not yet been defined. Metcalf has met with William Mobley, the president of Texas A & M, to clarify his situation.

When Metcalf learned he was no longer a coach, he was typically disarming in a performance that was pure Shelby. As he faced television cameras that were carrying his remarks live, Metcalf made reference to Sherrill, to whom the A & M board of regents paid the remainder of his contract after he was let go in the wake of an NCAA investigation.

“I just wish they’d pay me off like they did Sherrill so I can get the hell out of Dodge,” Metcalf said.

Metcalf is under contract until Aug. 31, 1991, with a reported base salary of $75,000. But even if Metcalf doesn’t have a team or a coaching job, at least he’s still got his spread in East Texas near Palestine, which he calls the Jolly G. Rollie Ranch. Unless he renames it, Metcalf even has a lake to remind of his ties to A & M: Lake Gig ‘Em.

The real truth: Lemons speculated on the real reason Metcalf lost his job at football-happy A & M. “My guess is he missed a football game,” Lemons said. “He didn’t go see the Aggies face Rice and they caught him. There was a dummy sitting in his seat, you know, and a balloon with a hat on it saying Shelby .”

The short goodby: Lemons, 67, is retiring after this season. He said he did not call a press conference to announce his retirement plans because he was afraid no one would come.

And what has been his team’s reaction?

“They don’t care, otherwise they’d be playing harder,” Lemons said. “They probably figure they’ll get somebody in who knows what he’s doing, which is true. That’s one of the reasons I quit. I’ve lost contact. When you look at the media guide and see a guy’s favorite music is Heavy D, well . . . Who? That’s a telltale sign I’ve lost it. Actually, I did know one person that was mentioned. I got one player going to be a doctor. He said Mozart.”

Quote of the week: From Lemons on how some college basketball coaches eventually fall out of favor the longer they stay at a school: “They say when you move to town, that’s the most friends you’ll ever have.”

Orange Aid: The Syracuse Orangemen are no longer ranked No. 1 and no longer have the same starting lineup either.

Coach Jim Boeheim benched center LeRon Ellis, moved Derrick Coleman to the pivot and made 5-foot-11 freshman Michael Edwards a starter. Sophomore Tony Scott, a 6-8 reserve, is getting more playing time in a lineup designed to bolster the Orangemen’s outside shooting. Boeheim said Ellis’ weak rebounding made the move easier.

The teams in the Big East play a zone or sagging man-to-man defenses against Syracuse, which forces Boeheim’s players to shoot from the outside where they are weakest. How weak? They are under 30% from beyond the three-point line.