Seth Greenberg Is Named Coach at Virginia Tech

Seth Greenberg joined Virginia Tech on Thursday, agreeing to a six-year contract and hoping to turn around a program that has suffered through three consecutive losing seasons.

Athletic Director Jim Weaver called Greenberg “the ideal candidate” and said he’ll get a base salary of $158,000, with other incentives bringing its value to $429,064 a year.

Greenberg, 47, formerly at South Florida, replaces Ricky Stokes, fired last month after a 45-70 record in four seasons. Stokes’ teams went 10-38 in three seasons in the Big East.

The Hokies were 11-18 this season, including losses to Wofford of the Southern Conference and William & Mary of the Colonial Athletic Assn.

“The decision to come here was an easy one,” said Greenberg, who is 213-170 in 13 years of coaching, six at Long Beach State and the last seven at South Florida. “In South Florida, kids don’t go to sleep dreaming about being Bulls. I think there’s some kids that dream about being Hokies, though.”

Greenberg went 108-100 with South Florida, 15-14 this season. Under Greenberg, the Bulls lost all 20 games against teams ranked in the Top 25. Their average attendance dropped to 4,045 this season, the lowest in 17 seasons.

Weaver, who met Greenberg when he was coaching at Long Beach State and Weaver was at Nevada Las Vegas, cited the 49ers’ victories against the Runnin’ Rebels and top-ranked Kansas as proof of Greenberg’s ability to build a winner.

“He knows what it takes to win at the highest level,” Weaver said.

Greenberg’s Long Beach State teams went to the NCAA tournament twice and the National Invitation Tournament once. His South Florida teams made two trips to the NIT, losing in the first round each time.

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Matt Doherty said North Carolina officials never met with him to discuss problems with his coaching style before Doherty was asked to resign as the school’s coach.

“[Athletic director] Dick Baddour is a good person. I like Dick Baddour. I think it’s just more the handling, the process that I’m disappointed in quite frankly,” Doherty said. “I didn’t feel like all the options were exhausted.”

Doherty said neither Baddour nor his assistants attended any practices during the season and they did not meet with any assistant coaches.

A school spokesman denied Doherty’s claims. He said Baddour did attend several practices and had considered interviewing the assistant coaches, but decided that doing so may lead some to question their loyalty to Doherty.

Doherty said he was told Saturday that he would have to resign or be fired.

“I was blown away,” he said. “That was one of the lowest moments of my professional life to have that presented to me.”

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David West became the first Xavier player to earn AP All-America honors as the leading vote-getter on the 2002-03 team. He was joined on the first team by fellow seniors Nick Collison of Kansas and Josh Howard of Wake Forest, along with junior Dwyane Wade of Marquette and sophomore T.J. Ford of Texas.... Georgia Athletic Director Vince Dooley, seeking a replacement for Jim Harrick, interviewed former Bulldog and NBA standout Dominique Wilkins, who acknowledged in 1985 that he received $30,000 in payments from a sports agent while he was playing at Georgia, a violation of NCAA rules. Wilkins said he is a longshot for the opening.

Georgia also has received permission to interview Mercer Coach Mark Slonaker, along with Western Kentucky Coach Dennis Felton. Dooley already has interviewed former Chicago Bull and Iowa State coach Tim Floyd.

Wyoming is expected to apply for an extra season of eligibility for forward Marc Bailey, who was lost early in his senior campaign because of a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.... Michael Perry, who became Georgia State’s coach when Lefty Driesell retired in January, signed a three-year contract with the school.