ESPN Men's Basketball

Typically, this isn't an issue. A coach is fired, a new coach is hired, and if the players committed to the old coach don't want to play for him, they are usually released from their national letter of intent -- which they don't even need to sign in the first place -- and allowed to choose another school, no hard feelings.

That wasn't the case at Virginia Tech this week. On May 10, Montrezl Harrell, Virginia Tech's top recruit in the class of 2012 (and the No. 89-ranked player overall) decided that he wasn't interested in the Hokies after former coach Seth Greenberg's sudden firing. Tech hired James Johnson, a former Greenberg assistant, in a grasp at "continuity," but by losing Harrell and ACC All-Freshman Teamer Dorian Finney-Smith, that didn't really pan out.

Anyway, the situation should have been simple. Harrell should have been released from his NLI almost immediately. Instead, Virginia Tech dragged the process out for an entire week, offering little explanation as to why. On Thursday, the school relented, with associate athletic director Tom Gabbard telling the Hampton Roads Daily Press that although Johnson wanted to keep Harrell in the fold, he ultimately didn't want a player who was no longer excited about being a Hokie.

"We'd have loved to have kept him, but (Tech men's basketball coach James Johnson's) position is if the young man doesn't want to be here with us on his own part, then we won't keep him here," Gabbard said. "(Johnson) would like for him to be here, but you only get one chance in your lifetime to play college basketball. We released him yesterday." [...]

But why did it take a whole week? From Gabbard again:

"To be honest with you, (an institution) gets 30 days (from the time the release request is filed) if you want them," Gabbard said. "Not only that, it specifically says if you deny it, then he can appeal it. One of the grounds for appeal is not a change of coach. That's not recognized as a legitimate appeal.

"Having said all that, and (Johnson) feels the same way and so does (Tech athletic director Jim) Weaver, you get one shot in a lifetime to do this. If you're not happy, we don't want you to come some place you're not happy or you don't think you're going to be happy. I think if (Harrell) came here, he'd be great, but he's made a decision, and we're going to help him with it."

Gabbard's reasoning on this is remarkably similar to Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan's, who came under fire for his heavy restrictions on freshman Jarrod Uthoff's transfer list this offseason. Among other concerns, Ryan maintained that he didn't make the rule, that he was only following protocol, and that nothing he was doing was outside the rules. Which was true. But just because a rule allows coaches to restrict transfers' permission-to-contact lists doesn't mean those coaches should take advantage of it. It's a bad rule. So is the 30-day digestion and appeals process Gabbard is referring to. Yes, a school can wait up to 30 days to allow a committed prospect out of his NLI, and yes, a school can hear an appeal on the matter. Just because a school can do these things doesn't mean it should.

Harrell wanted to play for Greenberg. Greenberg was fired. This is pretty simple calculus, and something that shouldn't take 48 hours, let alone a week, to process.

Harrell is back on the market, free to explore his various options (which will likely include Kentucky and Louisville, among others). All's well that ends well, I guess. But this rule, like the transfer rule, needs to be changed. Until it is, schools should do the right thing. This is pretty straightforward stuff.

That was the hope for new coach James Johnson, one Virginia Tech athletic director Jim Weaver cited as a main reason for lifting the longtime assistant to the first head coaching position of his career: continuity.

Less than two weeks since Johnson took the job, the results are decidedly mixed.

This week, the most promising Virginia Tech youngster in a generation -- freshman Dorian Finney-Smith, a top 20-ranked recruit in the class of 2011 (the No. 4-ranked small forward, behind only Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Adonis Thomas and LeBryan Nash) and an ACC All-Freshman Team member in his first season with the school -- asked for a release from his scholarship. On Friday, per the Washington Post's Mark Giannotto, Tech's top incoming recruit in the class of 2012 -- power forward Montrezl Harrell -- has asked for a release from his national letter-of-intent.

He will get that release, Johnson told the Post, because he wants players "that want to be here and are happy and excited about Virginia Tech."

As of now, you could forgive most Virginia Tech fans for falling short of that standard. One of the main reasons for hiring Johnson was, of course, the hope that Harrell and fellow incoming freshman Marshall Wood would decide to stand by their commitments. The good news? Last week, Wood confirmed as much. The bad news? Harrell is seen as a much more promising prospect. Without him and Finney-Smith, the Hokies lose a major portion of the frontcourt Johnson planned to develop in 2012-13. Instead, the Hokies will be rebuilding, playing with just eight scholarship players, and hoping for the best.

Of course, it wouldn't be fair to appraise Johnson's job performance yet. That sort of judgement takes years to render; it is far more complicated than the retention of two key players in the midst of a coaching transition. (And Johnson does deserve some credit for granting Harrell a smooth release and allowing Finney-Smith to transfer to any school "not in direct competition with the Hokies," i.e. anywhere that isn't an ACC school. To paraphrase "Inside the NBA's" Kenny Smith, that's a little like praising parents for taking their kids to school; you're supposed to take your kids to school, and coaches should grant players their releases. But even so, it's good to see.)

Still, the early returns on the Virginia Tech continuity project are in, and they aren't looking great. Finney-Smith and Harrell were the most important recruiting efforts Johnson could wage this early in his tenure, and neither ended up remaining with the team.

That might or might not be Johnson's fault -- reportedly, Finney-Smith was never comfortable at Tech, and had been mulling a transfer for months, and if two players don't want to be Hokies, well, what are you going to do? But however you look at it, the early results are inauspicious. Virginia Tech fans have reason to be discouraged.

And somewhere, former coach Seth Greenberg, who was so casually fired after a long and relatively successful tenure at the school, is probably wondering what all the fuss was about in the first place. It's been a tough few weeks in Blacksburg, Va.

The Afternoon Links are back, and they are exactly what they say they are. Some days will bring more links than others. This is the offseason, after all. If you have a link you'd like included, your best bet is to hit me on Twitter. You can also e-mail your link to collegebasketballnation at gmail.com, or use the submission form here.

• James Johnson's first item of business was winning the news conference, and that seemed to go pretty well, at least according to Hampton Roads Daily Press' David Teel: "James Johnson didn't act like the ACC's youngest, least-experienced and probably lowest-paid head basketball coach Tuesday. Conversely, Virginia Tech's new boss appeared comfortable during his introductory news conference. Comfortable in the spotlight, confident in himself. Don't misunderstand. There wasn't a whisper of brashness. He wasn't glib, emotional or long-winded. Some may interpret that as anxiety. But I saw comfort mixed with humility." Even better? As planned, Johnson's hiring prompted recruit Marshall Wood, who had asked for his release after former coach Seth Greenberg's departure, to remain in the fold.
• Western Kentucky freshman Derrick Gordon announced his transfer to UMass, where he will sit out a year before becoming eligible in 2013-14, via Twitter. Judging by the COPIOUS USE OF CAPS LOCK, Gordon is excited about the news.
• Over the weekend, Team USA added Oklahoma City's James Harden and (more relevant to our interests) likely No. 1 overall pick Anthony Davis to the pool of players eligible for selection to this summer's Olympic team. Davis would still have to make a final cut, but given the dearth of true big men available to Mike Krzyzewski this summer -- Dwight Howard is out, and without him the only true center in the player pool is NBA defensive player of the year Tyson Chandler -- Davis might have an outside shot at making the squad. I'll be honest: I would love to see Davis play in the international system. (And also: I can not wait until the 2012 Summer Olympics. You're going down, Spain! Who's with me?)
• We missed this late last week, but Connecticut got a commitment from Phil Nolan, a 6-foot-10 forward ranked No. 23 at his position in the class of 2012. Nolan might not make an immediate impact, but in the wake of Andre Drummond's draft departure, Alex Oriakhi's transfer to Missouri, and Roscoe Smith's defection, Nolan's sheer size makes him an important get.
• The Washington Post recognized the 10th anniversary of Maryland's 2002 national championship with a photo slideshow. When done poorly, photo slideshows are one of the worst things about the Internet. When done well, they're totally awesome. This is an example of the latter, complete with "Where are they now?" updates on each of the beloved title-winning Terrapins. For example: Did you know Juan Dixon is in Turkey? True! And that Steve Blake plays for the ... ha, just kidding.
• Obligatory in-house links: Today, Myron Medcalf breaks down how Kentucky's 2012 freshmen raised the expectations bar forever. In case you missed it, be sure to see Myron's story on Trent Lockett, who transferred from Arizona State to Marquette be closer to his mother, who is fighting her second diagnosis of a "crazy" and "rare" brand of lymphoma cancer. And don't miss last week's feature on a renewed Bruce Weber, who looked refreshed and ready for a new challenge at Kansas State when he spoke with our Jason King.
• Daily basketball break: "Any faceted solid, he showed, no matter how complex or irregular, could be folded from a single uncut sheet of paper. Start with a piece of paper big enough, and you could model Notre Dame down to the last gargoyle." You may want to read this story.

1. The Butler Bulldogs and the A-10 are expected to come a resolution within two weeks, according to at least one source close to the situation. The plan would be for Butler to join the A-10 for the 2013-14 season and replace the Temple Owls. Butler has always been the first choice for the A-10, once the Owls were on the move to the Big East. If A-10 commissioner Bernadette McGlade pulls this off it should go down as the second most significant basketball realignment coup behind the ACC getting the Syracuse Orange and the Pittsburgh Panthers from the Big East. The A-10 would be at 14 if it gets Butler. Expanding to 16, which isn't a necessity, is the only way the VCU Rams and George Mason Patriots come into the picture out of the CAA.

2. If the automatic qualifier is done for the BCS in college football then why did the Boise State Broncos join the Big East? Meanwhile, the WAC could be imploding, making Boise State’s move to the conference in all other sports highly suspect. The San Diego State Aztecs at least has its basketball program in a stable conference in the Big West while its football program is in the Big East. Boise State may have to reconsider its hoop location. Boise State’s Leon Rice was at Mountain West meetings this week. The MWC invited Boise, even though the Broncos are leaving. The Big East didn’t do the same with Syracuse and Pitt. Those two schools will head to the ACC meetings, even though they don’t play in that league until the fall of 2013 at the earliest.

3. The Virginia Tech Hokies' hiring of James Johnson was a surprise, considering he was an assistant with the Hokies two weeks ago before leaving for Clemson. Johnson may very well end up being the best choice, but athletic director Jim Weaver will need to answer if this was a short or long-term solution and whether he actually did a national search. Johnson has paid his dues as an assistant but he leaps into an ACC job at a time when the Hokies can’t afford to drop.

James Johnson must be one heck of an exit interview.

Just two weeks ago, Johnson was a departing assistant under former coach Seth Greenberg at Virginia Tech. Now, per the reporting of ESPN's Andy Katz, he's the Hokies' new head man, and the best hope Virginia Tech can come out of its surprising transition with the one thing that most concerned athletic director Jim Weaver about Johnson's predecessor: continuity.

Johnson's move to leave for Clemson this offseason -- which he carried through despite Weaver's attempts to match the Clemson deal and keep Johnson at the school -- capped off an unusual exodus of assistants from the program in recent seasons (six have left in the past four years, to be exact), and gave Weaver the reasoning he needed to end Greenberg's nine-year tenure with the school.

"I did not like, quite honestly, the way things unfolded with coaches leaving an [Atlantic Coast Conference] program that had the promise on the court that this program has for next year," Weaver said at last week's poorly handled, borderline-shotgun announcement that Greenberg had been fired. That spoke to a lack of continuity in the program and an apparent desire to find someone slightly more staffer-friendly -- a polite way to say Greenberg was not particularly well-liked by his assistant coaches -- and gave Weaver the impetus to spring a firing at a thoroughly unexpected time.

This late in the coaching carousel calendar, nearly a month after most vacancies have long since been filled, the move was a risk. But somewhere along the line, Johnson left an indelible impression on the Hokies' AD, and his return to the program he just left comes with its fair share of built-in advantages.

The first is familiarity: Johnson is not just a former Hokies assistant, one who has been at the school since 2007, when Greenberg had his greatest successes in revitalizing a long-dormant program into a consistently relevant entity, if not an NCAA tournament stalwart. Johnson is also a Virginia native with close ties to the state and years of experience coaching in the area at schools that have recently eclipsed the Hokies' postseason performance (including George Mason and Old Dominion). He is regarded by many in the profession as a talented, up-and-coming recruiter.

Those are the long-term reasons Weaver zeroed in on Johnson. In the short term, Johnson's hire gives Virginia Tech a much better chance of retaining its two 2012 commitments, forwards Montrezl Harrell and Marshall Wood. Neither player is sure to make an immediate impact, but Harrell is ranked among the ESPNU top 100 in the class of 2012 (he's the No. 18-ranked power forward, to be exact), and at the very least keeping the newcomers around should help the Hokies remain relevant in the immediate term. As Andy wrote, the Hokies "also return guard Erick Green, forward Cadarian Raines and freshman Dorian Finney-Smith to a team that should have a chance to be in the upper half of the ACC" in 2012.

That is the essential bar for this program, the one Greenberg created in his nine years at the school. Competing with Duke and North Carolina (and, in 2012, NC State and Florida State) is not always a realistic proposition. Competing for NCAA tournament berths -- as Greenberg proved, often unsuccessfully -- is. Little is known about how Johnson will manage this program and its expectations in the years to come. But if things go as planned, the Hokies won't have to go through the long, painful rebuilding process that Weaver risked when he pulled the plug on Greenberg with such short notice in late April.

All things considered, it's unlikely the Hokies could have done much better. Now it's up to Johnson to prove that the impression he made on Weaver two weeks ago is enough to justify a coaching change that ended with the first head-coaching gig of his career.

Oh, and if the head-coaching thing doesn't work out, Johnson can always hit the seminar circuit. Whatever he said on his way to Clemson, it clearly left a mark.

1. The Kentucky-Indiana series contract is over and the two sides are discussing renewing. But the two schools are at a major impasse. Indiana coach Tom Crean said Friday that he wants to play the series as a home-and-home. Kentucky coach John Calpari said Friday that he wants it to be a neutral-site game at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis with tickets split down the middle. The series was last played at a neutral site in 2005 (prior to meeting in the Sweet 16 in Atlanta). “We can do it in Louisville, Lucas Oil, both teams benefit," Calipari said. Crean rebutted saying, "It's got to be a two-way street and taking it off campus isn’t anything that people here are excited about or behind."

2. If Illinois State moves past Duke associate head coach Chris Collins then one of the leading candidates for the coaching job will be Vanderbilt assistant coach Dan Muller. Gonzaga assistant Ray Gicacoletti will be in the mix as well as would Indiana assistant coach Steve McClain. Vandy coach Kevin Stallings is a former head coach at Illinois State. Muller had a high-level run as a player with the Redbirds and is going all out for this gig -- as well he should.

3. The litany of names being tossed around for Virginia Tech to replace Seth Greenberg continues. But a number of coaches -- NC State associate head coach Bobby Lutz, Loyola (Md.) Jimmy Patsos, Murray State’s Steve Prohm -- haven’t had an interview with Hokies athletic director Jim Weaver as of Sunday. Wofford’s Mike Young and former Virginia Tech assistant and current Clemson assistant James Johnson as well as Davidson’s Bob McKillop have also been bandied about as possible candidates.

1. Kentucky coach John Calipari said Tuesday afternoon that Rod Strickland, a director of basketball operations, would be staying with the Wildcats and not heading to work for Larry Brown at SMU. Calipari said his entire coaching staff will remain intact; assistants Kenny Payne and Orlando Antigua had interest in a few openings but never got too far in the process. Assistant John Robic has been a steady presence next to Calipari during his tenure. Meanwhile, Calipari said he’s hopeful that the Wildcats can add one more recruit after already securing a top-five class.

2. Tony Benford could have joined Larry Brown’s staff but made the wise choice. Benford has longed to be a head coach and getting a North Texas gig that will be one of the best in its current and possible future league makes sense. The SMU staff situation continues to be an odd process as the school/Brown search for a possible coach-in-waiting rather than dealing with the now and simply turning to recruiting and coaching. SMU was supposed to hire one coach, not one for now and one for the future.

3. Loyola (Md.) coach Jimmy Patsos would be a great choice for Virginia Tech after he made the NCAAs and coached in the ACC as an assistant. Patsos is a tremendous worker and brings unbelievable enthusiasm. But the Hokies will likely look for high-level coaches they can’t get (VCU’s Shaka Smart), flirt with others who may make too much money or have a buyout (Richmond’s Chris Mooney) before looking at coaches who fit for cost, timing and location of this job. I will be surprised if Virginia Tech were to lure a coach who has a solid, stable situation in a top-eight league.

First things first. I thought my colleague (slash-friend-slash-life coach) Dana O'Neil nailed it in her reaction to the Seth Greenberg Virginia Tech story Monday evening. Her read on Greenberg's firing makes perfect sense to me. It wasn't pretty, but breakups never are. And that's what this was: a poorly-handled, messy, ill-timed, unfortunate but ultimately understandable parting of ways. As someone who has had his at least a couple of awkward breakups, I'd like to think I can relate.

The questions going forward are these: Does the way Virginia Tech handled this makes the program a less-than-desirable suitor now that athletic director Jim Weaver is (proverbially) single again? Will Virginia Tech finish this coaching search thinking it might have been better off trying to work things out?

After all, it's not like Greenberg was an abject failure in Blacksburg, Va. Bracketologist Joe Lunardi -- who watched Virginia Tech as closely as any team in the past five seasons, what with the Hokies seemingly always on the bubble -- made the case that the team wasn't in the dire straights you'd assume given Weaver's dramatic and surprising Monday news conference. From Lunardi :

Virginia Tech joined the ACC in Greenberg's second season (2004-05). After reaching the NCAA tournament in 2006-07, the Hokies hardly wavered from that level until this past year, when a staggering number of injuries dropped them to 4-12 in the league. In five legitimately "measurable" seasons from 2007-11, Tech was 45-35 in the ACC and in the NCAA conversation pretty much all the time. In other words, Greenberg put the Hokies exactly where they should be.

...

Unless Greenberg has done something we don't know, or there is genuine reason to believe his program is in a permanent downward spiral, Virginia Tech doesn't need a new coach. It just needs a little better luck at the end of the season and some fewer injuries the rest of the time.

Lunardi's argument doesn't take into account the sudden exodus of assistant coaches from Blacksburg in recent seasons; Greenberg had seen four of his past six assistants, and three this season, flee for greener pastures. On Monday, Weaver cited the departure of James Johnson -- who was offered the same financial package to remain at Virginia Tech that he received to leave for Clemson -- as a sign that something was amiss in the program. But there's no question this is a dangerous move for Virginia Tech, not only because Greenberg had achieved a measure of proven success, but because it may be difficult, for a variety of reasons, to lure a coach of similar quality.

The first is simple trust. Weaver said he made his decision last week, but Greenberg wasn't informed of his firing until after Weaver had announced the news conference Monday. (He even had a recruit on campus. Awkward.) Given that unceremonious treatment, why would other coaches be eager to jump on board? It's a fair question.

The second is the calendar. By this point, it's late in the coaching carousel game. Things have largely settled down; coaches have been offered positions and either accepted them or returned to their current jobs. Can Virginia Tech work outside of the norm -- wherein most coaching searches are conducted en masse in late March and early April -- and still land a quality candidate?

The third reason is the legitimate question of whether Virginia Tech can actually do better. Clearly, Weaver believes as much. But judging by the early consensus candidates -- Washington Post Hokies beat reporter Mark Giannotto put together a working list Tuesday morning -- it seems unlikely Weaver is going to land anyone that could remotely be described as a slam-dunk candidate. Among the nominees are local mid-major stars like VCU's Shaka Smart, Richmond's Chris Mooney and Old Dominion's Blaine Taylor. The former two have turned down much better offers in recent years (Smart just turned down Illinois); all three have had much more success at their programs than Tech during their tenures. Why jump?

Wichita State's Gregg Marshall isn't local, but he fits this mold, too. Murray State's Steve Prohm is a hot name but still relatively unproven after one (very, very good) season. Marshall's Tom Herrion is a good coach with a solid record with the Thundering Herd, but hardly one that will have Virginia Tech fans feeling like they just made a major upgrade. Giannotto's last candidate? Davidson coach Bob McKillop, all of 61 years old.

Even if you throw in former Georgia Tech and now George Mason coach Paul Hewitt -- and there is no reason to other than Hewitt is now "local" thanks to one season with the Patriots -- that list of candidates can be divided along two rough lines. Candidates are either a) unrealistic, or b) unexciting.

Of course, that is not a definitive list. Other candidates could emerge in the next week as he eluded to during his announcement. Weaver may already have a few in line. Perhaps Weaver will go outside the usual name restrictions and take a risk on the next big thing, one that will make him look like a genius in four years' time. It's all still possible.

You can argue that Greenberg deserved to be fired. The dearth of tournament success mixed with assistant coach defections is arguable enough, that's for sure. But even if you believe that, it's not clear why a better coach, or even an exciting hire, would now be interested in Virginia Tech.

Weaver surprised everyone, including his own head coach. Tech fans ought to hope he has at least one more trick up his sleeve. If not, they'll regret not only the way this breakup was handled, they may just regret the breakup itself.

Because that's where the metaphor breaks down: In real life, you can be single until someone else comes along. Virginia Tech doesn't have that option.

1. Former Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg was convinced he had a much-improved team next season. Erick Green would likely be an all-ACC guard. Dorian Finney-Smith is a possible star in the league. Last season’s team had only three seniors. That’s why this reeks of a classic athletic-director move of firing a head coach to set up a winning roster so the new coach has success in year one before a rebuild begins. The timing, with two-plus weeks left in the spring signing period, and the spring semester ending soon, might make it harder for anyone to leave.

2. UCLA has a chance for a special season with the top-rated recruiting class led by Shabazz Muhammad, Kyle Anderson, Jordan Adams and now Tony Parker, too. This is a Calipari-Kentucky-like class, oozing with one-and-done NBA potential. But for the Bruins to have a unique season like Kentucky just had, they must get veteran leadership, too. UK always had at least two selfless contributors who were upperclassmen. That puts the burden on Josh Smith, David and Travis Wear, Larry Drew II and Tyler Lamb to show significant improvement in leadership as well as their production.

3. Schools looking at Mark Lyons should pause after reading Xavier coach Chris Mack’s statement. If Lyons was against the constructive criticism about what he needs to improve upon, then why toss a potential disruptive force into a locker room for only one season? Lyons has to share some of the blame for Xavier’s mid-season collapse before the Musketeers rebounded to reach the Sweet 16. But something is clearly wrong if he can’t finish his final year at Xavier.

The most telling statement of Virginia Tech's unexpected press conference on Monday was also the most disingenuous.

Asked what a new coach could do to better foster the family environment Seth Greenberg's staff apparently lacked, athletic director Jim Weaver said, "I'm not here to throw Coach Greenberg under the bus, bottom line, so I'm going to pass on that question."

Well, technically Weaver was throwing Greenberg under the bus, running him over and backing up for good measure, firing his head basketball coach, or, as he said repeatedly, "terminating" him from his contract.

But rather than offering the usual platitudes and vacant stares, Weaver pulled the curtain back on Oz a little bit and offered insightful and even reasonable rationale to explain his decision to drive the bus.

There is no arguing this could have been handled better -- a lot better. Weaver said he and associate athletic director Tom Gabbard made their decision a week ago. Yet, apparently they couldn't find a break in the schedule until 1:30 p.m. ET Monday afternoon to inform Greenberg -- long after rumors started flying around the Internet that Greenberg was being let go.

Say what you want about Greenberg, he is a good man who put in nine years at Virginia Tech. He deserved to be the first, not among the last, to know he no longer had a job and the university's almost giddy link to its live stream of the press conference was borderline bad taste.

To read Dana O'Neil's full column, click here.

Well, you don't see that every day.

That was the summary immediate judgement borne of Monday's big news, when Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg was fired after nine seasons at the school. This was not a traditional axing; surprise characterized every minute of the proceedings.

Why? Because even Greenberg himself didn't see it coming. As ESPN's Andy Katz reported Monday afternoon:

Greenberg had told ESPN.com at 1 p.m. ET on Monday that he had no idea what the purpose of the news conference was and said he assumed it could have something to do with Weaver. Greenberg said he currently was hosting a recruit and had no reason to believe that he was about to lose his job.

Most coach firings take the form of polite "resignations." The school releases a statement thanking the coach, the coach releases his own statement thanking the school, everyone puts on a happy face, the circle of coaching life begins anew. That's not what happened here. Greenberg didn't know his fate until just a couple of hours before the news conference. Frankly, some members of the media -- including reporters at the Daily Press of Newport News, Va., which broke the story Monday afternoon -- may have even known before Greenberg. And so a man perhaps most famous for falling just short of the NCAA tournament -- Greenberg went to just one in his nine years at Virginia Tech, but came close a handful of times in recent seasons -- was late to his own coaching funeral.

Seriously: You really don't see that every day.

For Greenberg, the move wasn't just a sudden one. It was also poorly timed. At this point in the college coaching calendar, there are few remaining jobs available. With minimal exceptions, the coaching carousel has all but come to a halt. Finding a new job will not be easy.

What does it mean for Virginia Tech? In the interim, it means rebuilding a program almost from the ground up. Weaver told the media the recent en masse defections of Hokies assistant coaches was a primary reason for the timing of the decision, and so the athletic director and Virginia Tech brass will have to work on filling those positions, and a head coaching spot, from the ground up.

It won't be easy. The school will have to go about selling a new direction for the program even after it just unceremoniously, abruptly and arguably rudely fired its former coach. That does not an attractive workplace environment make. But after a sudden and unexpected news conference, this is the current journey of Virginia Tech Hokies men's basketball. Next stop: who knows?

ATLANTA -- Reaction from Duke's 60-56 win over Virginia Tech in an ACC tournament quarterfinal game.

Overview: Duke's coaches told sophomore guard Tyler Thornton to take the shot if he was left open. So he did Friday -- again and again and again.

Thornton scored a career-high 13 points -- on 5-for-16 shooting -- as the top-ranked Blue Devils beat Virginia Tech to advance to the semi-finals of the ACC tournament.

With junior forward Ryan Kelly out for the ACC tournament after spraining his right foot during Tuesday’s practice, and guards Seth Curry (2-for-6) and Andre Dawkins (0-for-5) struggling to hit shots, Thornton’s points were key.

But in addition, the defensive-minded sophomore was active all over the court, also finishing with four rebounds, three steals and two assists.

"We knew it was going to be a possession-by-possession game,'' Thornton said. "We knew we were going to have to fight on every possession."

Both teams shot worse than 40 percent from the field.

"I'm really proud of our team because we didn't shoot the ball well, but we didn't let that dictate our defense,'' freshman Austin Rivers said. "I think we've learned in that area."

Turning point: With just more than a minute left, Virginia Tech’s Robert Brown cut his team’s deficit to 55-51 (but missed a foul shot to convert a 3-point play). After the teams traded misses, Rivers scored in transition and made it a three-point play with a free throw with 15.1 seconds left to give the Blue Devils a seven-point cushion. It was enough.

Player of the game: Thornton was key, but so was Rivers, who led the Blue Devils with 17 points on 5-for-14 shooting.

Key stat: It marked the 10th ACC game this season the Hokies have lost by five or fewer points.

Miscellaneous: Tech said it needed to rebound, limit turnovers and finish to have a chance to win. In the end, Virginia Tech held a slight edge on the boards (38-37), but the Hokies committed 10 turnovers and missed too many easy baskets. They made 50 percent of their 3-pointers, but made only 30.2 percent of their shots overall.

What’s next: Second-seeded Duke will play either Miami or Florida State in the second semifinal game on Saturday. Virginia Tech ends the season with a 16-17 record.

After Virginia Tech's 68-63 victory over Clemson, Edward Aschoff caught up with Hokies senior Dorenzo Hudson, who scored 19 points against the Tigers.

One key player was ruled ineligible. At least one key team likely saw its at-large NCAA tournament hopes snuffed. And once again, it looks as if the ACC regular-season title will come down to the final Duke-North Carolina game, next weekend. This week’s attempt at the ACC power rankings:

1. Duke: The Blue Devils -- who already lost to Miami and Florida State at home this season -- had another close call at Cameron Indoor Stadium, needing overtime to beat Virginia Tech. But their win at FSU last week keeps them right where they want to be: in the hunt for No. 1 seeds in the NCAA and ACC tournaments.

2. North Carolina: ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi said last week the Tar Heels would need to win out to make a case for a top seed in the NCAA tournament. That push continues this week with their home finale against Maryland and a trip to Duke. When will point guard Kendall Marshall set the school record for assists in a season? Stay tuned.

3. Florida State: It was a rough week for the Seminoles. First they lost at home to Duke -- and likely lost their chance at the regular-season ACC title. Then they fell at Miami on Sunday. They’ll try to stop their slide at Virginia next.

4. Virginia: Saturday’s loss to the Tar Heels stung -- not just because of the physical game, myriad of whistles against the Cavs’ big guys or forward Mike Scott's ACC season-low six points. But also because Virginia has now lost three of its last five games.

5. Miami: The Hurricanes beat Florida State on Sunday without center Reggie Johnson, who was declared ineligible by the school after an investigation revealed members of his family took impermissible travel benefits from the former coaching staff. The victory enhanced the Hurricanes' NCAA résumé, but they’re going to need Johnson back to make a stronger push (and case).

6. Clemson: Andre Young's game-winning 3-pointer in overtime against NC State means the Tigers are now 2-8 in games decided by five or fewer points this season. They have now won four out of five games and pushed themselves to .500 in league play. But that still hasn’t made much of a dent in their triple-digit RPI.

7. NC State: Saturday’s overtime loss at Clemson was just the latest defeat to rip at the Wolfpack’s NCAA tournament hopes. An ACC tournament title would give them an automatic bid, but that now is probably the only way they get there after four straight defeats (Duke, Florida State, UNC and Clemson).

8. Maryland: After beating Miami at home last week, the Terps went on the road against a struggling Georgia Tech team and promptly lost. Coach Mark Turgeon summed up his team’s performance at Georgia Tech this way: “I thought we were growing up, but today showed we haven’t grown up all the way,” he said, according to The Washington Post. “We weren’t ready to play.”

9. Virginia Tech: “One or two more rolls went different this year, we’d be a whole different team,” senior guard Dorenzo Hudson told The Washington Post on Saturday after the Hokies lost another close one -- this time at Duke. Enough said.

10. Wake Forest: After Duke comes to town on Tuesday, the Deacs will finish the regular season with a winnable game in Atlanta. After prevailing in two of their last three games, they’d like to continue on a high note.

11. Georgia Tech: After managing only 37 points in a loss to Clemson, the Yellow Jackets beat Maryland by a bucket. “We're real happy,’’ guard Mfon Udofia said, according to The Associated Press. “I always tell the guys, 'Something's going to shake.'"

12. Boston College: The Eagles have now lost 10 of 11 games. The positive: All of those freshmen will be sophomores next season.

Follow Robbi Pickeral on Twitter at @bylinerp.

The Morning After is our semi-daily recap of the night's best basketball action. Bubble Watch has officially taken it prisoner, so, yeah, it's more like the Afternoon After (which happens sometimes). In any case, I wanted to get to these games, specifically their implications. Look for more on Michigan State later in the day, and join us for our weekly Friday chat at 1 p.m. ET.

No. 4 Duke 78, NC State 73: By this point, you've already seen the Duke-NC State highlights. If you're a Duke fan, you've already had time to simultaneously embrace your young team's unique ability to resurrect itself and fret about the deficiencies (again: rebounding, defense) that bury them in the first place. If you're an NC State fan, well, I don't know, man. The only State fan I know is a CBS NFL blogger Will Brinson, and he was actually at Cameron Indoor Stadium for the game last night and ... yeah. Rough night. Poor NC State fans. I mean, how brutal is that loss?

The important question for this Wolfpack team now is whether this loss comes to define their season. And no, I don't mean that in a vague or overwrought "this is how we'll remember this team" sort of way. By the end of the first week of March, we may just be looking back at this game -- and the 20-point lead with 11 minutes, in Cameron no less -- as the one that decided NC State's NCAA tournament fate.

This morning, Joe Lunardi updated his bracket, and the Wolfpack are among the last four in. Their profile, per Friday's Bubble Watch, goes as follows: No. 49 RPI, No. 59 SOS, No. 24 nonconference SOS, 2-6 vs. RPI top 50, 5-6 vs. RPI top 100, with the best wins still coming over Texas (meh) and at Miami (better, but still meh). On this bubble, with so many teams with comparable résumés, a road win at Duke would have given this decent, but not great, profile the one thing it truly needs: a marquee win.

Now? NC State's world is much the same as it was before it came to Durham this week. With the exception of Thursday night's game -- text I received: "Did Sidney Lowe sneak back on to NC State's bench for the last 10 minutes?!" -- Mark Gottfried has done a really nice job with this team in his first season at the helm. Speaking of Lowe, he never went to an NCAA tournament in five years in Raliegh. Gottfried has already proven what a legitimate collegiate head coach (as opposed to a fond memory in a scarlet sport coat) can do with this group of players. Perhaps the tourney bid isn't needed to validate this team's effort. But man, would it be nice.

No. 21 Florida State 48, Virginia Tech 47: If you're anything like me -- i.e. you keep SportsCenter on in the background and most hours of the day -- here's another ending you've already seen more than a few times. So I won't spend much time on that. Instead, well, Florida State's offensive surge seems to have been a fluke.

Think about it. For the past two or three seasons, FSU has played magnificent defense and downright bad offense. That was the case for much of this season until the Tar Heels came to town on Jan. 14. After that 90-57 blowout win, FSU went on to trounce Maryland, put up a 50-point second half at Duke and throttle Wake Forest on the Demon Deacons' home floor. In those four games, the Seminoles averaged 1.2 points per possession. Those four games were part of FSU's seven-game ACC winning streak, the one that put them into contention with Duke and UNC, the league's two codified powers, in the midst of a suddenly surprising ACC race.

But take a closer look. The two ACC tilts that preceded the four-game flash (a loss to Clemson, a win at Virginia Tech) and the five that have come after it (wins over Georgia Tech, Virginia, Miami and Virginia Tech, and last week's loss at Boston College) have all featured much more typical FSU offense. All together, the Seminoles averaged .94 points per trip in those seven games. In Thursday night's home win, against a rather so-so Hokies defense, the Seminoles scored a whopping .87 points per trip.

For a while there, this offense was rolling. When you defend as well as FSU does year in and year out, you don't have to score in bunches -- but, for a moment there, we saw what would happen if FSU did. The sky became the limit. Alas, it seems this team's four great games of offense was just that: four great games of offense, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. This FSU team? We know it all too well.

Everywhere else: Michigan State was commanding in a home win over Wisconsin, more on which I'll be writing later. ... Gonzaga got out of Santa Clara without letting one slip, which is good news for its chances of holding on to a tie with Saint Mary's for WCC regular-season honors. ... West Virginia pounded Pitt at home; in case you're the last person on Earth waiting for Pittsburgh to "turn it around," it's time to let it go. ... Vanderbilt put 102 points up at Ole Miss, because apparently going from Kentucky's defense to Ole Miss' is like going from varsity to YMCA. ... Things got a little crazy in the Pac-12, where every game was basically close and Cal held on to get a three-point home win over Oregon, one both teams very much needed for at-large purposes. Oregon's hopes may be just about done. ... BYU escaped San Fransisco with a hu-yuge 85-84 win. Or, to be more accurate, a non-loss. ... And, last but not least, Iowa-Penn State apparently played a basketball game, where the final attendance figure, as Adam Jacobi said on Twitter, was "no." (Too funny.)