UT COACH ACCEPTED U.VA., OFFER 34 YEARS AGO ... CHANGED MIND
Talking to recently-retired Old Dominion U., basketball coach JEFF JONES the other day prompted the memory man to recall one of those golden days of yesteryear ...when Virginia athletic director JIM COPELAND thought he had a replacement for TERRY HOLLAND , who was leaving after a long, distinguished career to become AD at his alma mater Davidson … Among the candidates (that included William & Mary’s BRUCE PARKILL ) was RICK BARNES , then in charge of Big East Conference Providence after building an early reputation for excellence at George Mason … The year was 1990, and Barnes had taken a heretofore moribund Friars’ program to consecutive NCAA tournaments. Copeland liked what he saw, made the Hickory, N.C., native an offer, and Barnes accepted … but, before making it official, they flew to Rhode Island so Barnes could do the right thing and tell his b...