Tech Coach Greenberg mourns with others

Cassell Coliseum is something of a second home to Seth Greenberg, who for the last four seasons has coached the Virginia Tech men’s basketball team. Tuesday, however, it was where Greenberg and thousands of other community members gathered to mourn the victims of Monday’s shooting spree.

The former Long Beach State coach is not only an employee of the school, he’s also the father of a Virginia Tech student.

Paige Greenberg, a freshman, was typing a paper in her dorm Monday when word of the tragedy’s magnitude hit. Once Seth knew she was safe, he began the maddening process of tracking down his team’s players and managers.

It took hours. Landlines were jammed and text messages failed. Once Greenberg accounted for everyone, his attention turned to the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority, where his wife, Karen, serves as an advisor.

The news was awful. A sorority sister, Caitlin Hammaren, was among the fatalities. She was a sophomore from Westtown, N.Y., majoring in French and international studies, according to the school’s student newspaper, Collegiate Times.

The Greenbergs mourned at the sorority house until the wee hours.

“I’m numb right now thinking about the parents coming to campus to identify their children,” Greenberg told ESPN.com. “It’s hard to put into words. What would drive someone to do this?”

*

The Associated Press and reporter David Teel of the Newport News Daily Press contributed to this report.