Coaches caravans are coming

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With the college sports season slowly coming to a halt, coaches from Virginia Tech, West Virginia and Marshall will begin visiting fans from across the two states over the next two months, leading up to the 2010-11 school year that begins in August.

Virginia Tech will get it started, bringing the Orange and Maroon Tour to Fincastle Country Club on April 27. The West Virginia Coaches Caravan will follow on May 19 at the Bluefield Elks Club, while Marshall will host the Big Green Coaches Tour at Chuck Mathena Center in Princeton on June 8.

For Marshall, it will mark the return of the Tour to Four Seasons Country after a one-year absence, providing local Thundering Herd fans with the opportunity to meet what is a relatively new collection of administrators and coaches.

Those slated to attend in June is athletic director Mike Hamrick, who is completing his first season at Marshall, along with first-year head football coach Doc Holliday, and new men’s basketball coach Tom Herrion.

Roger Topping of Princeton, who is helping coordinate the Marshall stop, said the day will have the theme, “Come see who’s new at MU.”

Women’s basketball coach Royce Chadwick is among those planning to attend, along with cheerleaders, the school’s mascot, Marco, and members of the Big Green Club. Some coaches from the school’s Olympic programs could also attend.

Sam Stanley, Marshall’s assistant director of athletics, and ‘unofficial’ tour director, said the Tour is a vital part of bringing Thundering Herd athletics to fans across the Mountain State.

“It helps to raise the visibility of athletics like football and basketball and it gives Marshall fans a chance to meet the coaches and hear about the latest in Marshall athletics,” Stanley said.

He added that the Tour also helps with fundraising since the monies raised go toward scholarships for incoming athletes, leaving any additional funds available in the athletic budget for other needs.

Stanley said the Tour started five years ago, and has grown from just four stops to what is now 17.

The arrival of Holliday, who replaced Mark Snyder as the Herd’s football coach after last season, has brought a renewed excitement to a program that’s fallen on hard times in recent years.

“Our season ticket sales have already matched those from last year, and that is just from the renewals and the people that had season tickets last year,” said Stanley, who added that additional season tickets will be available soon, starting with the “Choose-a-Seat” event at noon prior to Marshall’s Green and White Game on Saturday at Joan C. Edwards Stadium.

“There has definitely been an increase in interest,” Stanley said.

Herrion took over as the Marshall men’s basketball coach last week, replacing Donnie Jones, who left for Central Florida after three years with the Herd.

Hamrick replaced Bob Marcum as athletic director last summer.

Tickets for the Big Green Coaches Tour stop, slated for Tuesday, June 8, are $25 apiece.

A social hour begins at 6:30 p.m., followed by the dinner and program at 7:15.

For more information, contact Topping at (304) 920-9696.

Virginia Tech, which traditionally begins its Orange and Maroon Tour during the week following the school’s spring football game, will travel to the Fincastle Country Club in Bluefield, Va., next Tuesday.

Guest speakers will be Virginia Tech associate head football coach Billy Hite and Hokies’ assistant men’s basketball coach Ryan Odom.

Hite, who is also the running backs coach for the Hokies, has been at Virginia Tech for 33 years, and has been the associate head coach under Frank Beamer for the last 10 seasons.

He has been on the sidelines for more Virginia Tech football games than any other coach.

Odom just completed his seventh season as an assistant coach under Seth Greenberg for the Hokies’ basketball program. He is the son of former Wake Forest and South Carolina men’s hoops coach Dave Odom,

The Orange and Maroon Tour begins with a social hour at 5:30 p.m., followed by the dinner and program at 6:30. The cost is $25 for adults, and $15 for kids, 12 and under. Priority seating for a table of eight is $300.

Reservations will be on a first-come, first-serve basis. For more information, call John Spracher at (276) 326-9000.

Headlining the West Virginia Coaches Caravan on May 19 will be Bill Stewart, who is entering his third season as the Mountaineers’ head football coach.

Joining Stewart will be assistant men’s basketball coach Erik Martin and gymnastics coach Linda Burdette-Good. Gary McPherson, the director of development for the Mountaineer Athletic Club, will serve as the master of ceremonies for the long-time event.

Stewart, who is currently leading the Mountaineers through spring football drills, has posted a 19-8 record in two seasons with the Mountaineers.

Martin recently completed his third season as an assistant under Bob Huggins, a duo that helped the Mountaineers advance to the NCAA men’s Final Four last month for the first time since 1959.

Burdette-Good is known as one of the top gymnastics coaches in the country, having won more than 600 meets, along with accumulating 10 conference team champions, 31 trips to regionals and four trips to nationals in 36 seasons at West Virginia.

Tickets for the May 19 event will be $65, and are available from members of the Mercer County Mountaineer Athletic Club.

For more information, call (304) 887-3190 or (276) 322-0109.

—Contact Brian Woodson

at bwoodson@bdtonline.com

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