Published: March 16, 2008 11:55 pm      

Virginia Tech hears silence on Selection Sunday

BLUEFIELD — The bubble burst on Virginia Tech Sunday.

Despite a 19-13 record and a fourth seed in the ACC Tournament, the Hokies were left out of the NCAA Tournament field when it was announced on Sunday evening.

While Virginia Tech head coach Seth Greenberg was disappointed, it was hard not to be proud of what the Hokies accomplished this season.

“This does not diminish what we have accomplished this season,” said Greenberg, in his fifth season at Virginia Tech. “I’m proud of this basketball team, but there are a lot of good basketball teams out there.

“There’s a few great ones, but a lot of very good ones. Again, I’m very proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish. We’re excited about playing again and we will move forward from here.”

Virginia Tech will play again in the National Invitational Tournament on Wednesday against MEAC regular season champion Morgan State.

Virginia Tech and Arizona State are the No. 1 seeds in the NIT field.

Greenberg insists it won’t be a problem motivating a team that has seven freshmen and three sophomores on the 14-man roster.

Virginia Tech, which won the NIT in 1973 and 1995, last played in the event in 2005, defeating Temple in the opening round before losing at Memphis.

“It won’t be hard at all to get these guys ready,” Greenberg said. “We’re excited about playing. That’s been our approach all season long is the next game. We’ve got a next game to play and we’re excited about playing that game.”

When the season began, the Hokies — which had lost three productive seniors that finished 22-12 and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament — were picked to finish 10th in the 12-team Atlantic Coast Conference.

No wonder Greenberg found it hard to be too disappointed, despite finishing with a 9-7 ACC mark, defeating Miami in the ACC Tournament before dropping a conference semifinal by two points to top-ranked North Carolina.

“I’m very proud of our basketball team and I’m excited about what they’ve been able to accomplish,” Greenberg said. “We can control things we can control and one thing we can control is the next game and how well we play.”

Greenberg didn’t want to speak of what may have been the downfall for Virginia Tech. The Hokies won five of their final seven games, and had an RPI of 36, but were 0-5 against the top 25 and 1-7 vs. the top 50, with that win being against the Hurricanes in the ACC tourney.

“It is not my place to evaluate, I don’t want to diminish the accomplishments of the teams and coaches that did get in,” Greenberg said. “We can only take care of what we can control.

“We’ve got a game this week and hopefully we’ll find a way to be successful and continue our season. We’re excited about playing again.”

—Contact Brian Woodson

at bwoodson@bdtonline.com