[thesportscritic]

Here is the story from Chris Lang from yesterday down in Charlotte for media day.

By Chris Lang
Lynchburg News & Advance
October 12, 2006


CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Larry Blair's NBA draft experience was short lived. After declaring himself eligible for the draft in April, he pulled his name out well before the late June deadline so he could return to Liberty for his senior year.
The 6-foot-1 guard is the leading returning scorer in the Big South and finished second to Winthrop's Terrell Martin (by one first-place vote) in preseason conference player of the year balloting. His scoring skills have never been in question. He averaged 22.6 points per game, 24.4 ppg in conference games.

But Blair learned what he needs to do to gain the notice of professional scouts and coaches during his flirtation with the draft.

"I think Larry's got to continue to grow with his ability to defend, because that's always going to be a factor when you're a 6-foot-1 guard," Liberty coach Randy Dunton said at Wednesday's Big South media day luncheon. "He's worked himself into a really good position in the weight room. He's had a great summer in terms of improving his ability to handle the basketball and pass the basketball. Those are areas that are going to be attractive as he looks to play himself into professional opportunities."

Happy, healthy

It started when guard Matt Coward was booted from VMI for an honor code violation. Another player struggled with grades and another battled an honor code case for the rest of the season.

As if those distractions weren't enough last year, head coach Duggar Baucom found himself in the hospital on five different occasions as surgeons tried to correct his heart problems.

It was not a year to remember for the Keydets, who finished last in the Big South for the second straight season.

"Whatever could go wrong, we felt did go wrong last year," Baucom said.

Baucom was diagnosed with hypertrophy cardiomyopathy, a condition which causes a thickening of the heart muscle, in 1991 and had a combination defibrillator-pacemaker installed to control the problems. Last January, when the original pacemaker eroded, he had a new one installed at the University of Virginia medical center.

But the pacemaker had faulty wiring, leading to chest trauma and blood clots, including one that spread to his lungs. In August, he had his fifth operation and enters the season with a clean bill of health.

Throughout the ordeal, Baucom found he had plenty of friends in the Big South coaching community. He's eager to get the Keydets started at practice so both he and the team can erase the bad memories of last season.

"I've had unbelievable support from all the coaches in the league and other coaches in other leagues," Baucom said. "The camaraderie was great. My mailbox stayed full with well-wishers and people hoping I got better. That meant a lot to me. That helped my spirits."

Gone, then back

Gregg Marshall called it the toughest hour of his professional coaching career.

When he started to call his Winthrop players after taking over as head coach at College of Charleston during the summer, he realized he might have made a mistake. What then transpired was a strange 48 hours culminating with Marshall returning to Rock Hill to remain the head coach at Winthrop.

"The emotions in that room ran the gamut, anything you can imagine, basically," Marshall said. "I didn't even think of having to do that when I accepted the offer (at CoC) on the phone.

"That was the first step of me deciding not to take the job, seeing how difficult that was, the actual process of leaving that group."

Martin said the turn of events left some Eagles players confused, but that he was happy Marshall had returned for another year at WU.

"All the guys were just happy for things to be normal," Martin said. "It's a hard thing when you get out of your comfort zone, and you think you're going to have a new coach. It was definitely a distraction, but it's gone now."

The Eagles came maddeningly close to winning their first NCAA tournament game last season, only losing when Tennessee's Chris Lofton hit a 3-pointer from the corner in the closing seconds.

"You hear people say we were so close we could taste it, and I literally tasted it last year," Martin said. "I want to get back to the point where I can taste it and maybe chew a little bit and swallow.

"Anything less than that would be failure in our program."

Tip-ins

Liberty's men and women will participate in a midnight-madness style event to open practice Friday night at Vines Center, starting at 11:30. There will be a men's alumni game preceding the event at 10:30 p.m. ? Dunton said freshman Lamont Winters, who dislocated an ankle in preseason workouts, could be cleared to play as early at mid-November. ? Dwight Brewington, Liberty's heralded transfer from Providence, will be eligible starting with the Dec. 16 game at St. Francis (Pa.). ? Liberty women's forward Jamie Feagin had offseason surgery on her left shoulder, which she injured in a December game at Florida. The shoulder was a lingering problem and bothered her the rest of the year. LU coach Carey Green is unsure of when Feagin will return.

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