seth g makes la times

[smazza]

ON COLLEGE BASKETBALL

A crazy upset for Greenberg

Robyn Norwood

January 10, 2007

There was a time when Seth Greenberg's idea of a tough road game was playing in Logan, Utah.

On Saturday, the former Long Beach State coach took his Virginia Tech team into Duke's Cameron Indoor Stadium and won, on a court where Duke had won 151 of its last 160 games.

Rowdy old Cameron went quiet as the Hokies celebrated their 69-67 overtime upset of fifth-ranked Duke.

"We won once in Logan too, I've got to be honest," Greenberg said with a laugh, remembering a victory over Utah State.

It has been more than a decade since Greenberg left Long Beach State, where he had another signature victory, an upset of No. 1 Kansas in Allen Fieldhouse in 1993.

Long Beach State has had a long struggle in the years since, although the 49ers might finally have turned the corner, with a nine-game winning streak and an 11-4 record in Larry Reynolds' fifth year as coach.

Greenberg spent seven seasons at South Florida but never had as much success as he did at Long Beach, taking the 49ers to two NCAA tournaments in his six seasons from 1990 to '96.

He left South Florida for Virginia Tech in 2003, and became an accidental Atlantic Coast Conference coach when the Hokies left the Big East. "When I took this job, I thought I was taking a Big East job, and it turned into an ACC job," said Greenberg, who called it a better fit geographically.

It's a tough assignment for building a program. Winning the conference title isn't realistic for Virginia Tech when it's going against North Carolina and Duke each season.

"I think coming from the ACC, you want to finish in the top five. If you get in the top five, odds are, you're in the NCAA tournament," said Greenberg, whose Virginia Tech team is 11-4, and 2-0 in the ACC but plays No. 1 North Carolina on Saturday.

"Obviously, Carolina is very special, and we have to play them twice."

Greenberg is happy at Virginia Tech, with his brother, former NBA executive Brad Greenberg, as associate coach, and the oldest of his three daughters, Paige, a freshman on the Hokies volleyball team.

But he said he and his wife, Karen, look back at Long Beach with fondness.

"I could have been very happy at Long Beach State the rest of my life," he said. "I've said a lot of times, those were the happiest days I ever had coaching  great friends, a close-knit community, obviously great teams, and we recruited regionally, so I was home a lot.

"Everything's worked out magnificently, obviously, but sometimes I looked back and thought leaving was the biggest mistake I made, professionally.

"I guess my biggest regret is I wonder if we could have been Gonzaga. That's in the back of my mind. We had that type of energy going."

[Herman_Momart]

Duke not looking so solid.  0-2 in the acc for the first time in over 10 years.  Lost to unranked Va Tech and Georgia Tech.  

[USFan]

Duke not looking so solid.  0-2 in the acc for the first time in over 10 years.  Lost to unranked Va Tech and Georgia Tech.  

Duke will not be "Duke" this year.  They are way too young.  They only have 1 senior and 1 junior this year...  

[Paisa el Toro]

Seth will be gone from Va Tech soon when another school starts waving some greenbacks in his face.

[smazza]

Seth will be gone from Va Tech soon when another school starts waving some greenbacks in his face.

good for him

where will he go? new york knicks?