Virginia Tech basketball stars Liz Kitley (left) and Georgia Amoore (NYTimes photo)

A (Not So) Modest Proposal for Virginia Tech Women's Basketball

I have an idea that could well be irresistible for Virginia Tech and its followers: Hire the marvelous Blacksburg sculptor Larry Bechtel to forge a sculpture representing the Tech women's basketball team and its two All-Americans.

These two and the culture they represent are well worth the investment and Bechtel, who has done some terrific work in this region, would be a natural.

I don't need to go into how appropriate this sculpture would be, standing outside Cassell Coliseum where Liz Kitley and Georgia Amoore have re-defined not only women's basketball, but Tech sports in general. The most famous athlete in Tech history is Michael Vick--without a question. But his involvement with dog fighting--and serious jail time--obviates any mention of him among the role models, which Amoore and Kitley slide into naturally and with huge smiles. 

ODU's Nancy Lieberman and her statue

Tech has a statue of Frank Beamer, its legendary football coach. The University of South Carolina plans to construct a statue of Dawn Staley, the UVa All-American player and USC national champion coach. UVa does not have statues of football coach George Welsh or basketball coach Terry Holland, both of whom are deserving. There is no statue of Wendy Larry, Old Dominion's outstanding coach with 600 wins, but it does have one of ODU basketball player Nancy Lieberman (an All-American and two-time Division II national champ).

These young Tech women--one from Greensboro, the other from Australia--have brought huge crowds to a venue where a few hundred people at a game has most often been the reality, regardless of how good the teams and players have been. Kitley and Amoore (or Kitmoore) have been leaders in a new age of attention and that attention has been good for Tech, Blacksburg and this region overall.

Kitley (6'6") and Amoore (5'6") have helped create an atmosphere of the possible at Tech, taking a program to the final four last year and hoping to repeat. The team is good enough, but basketball is a game of streaks and anything can happen in a single game or set of games, especially tournament games. Tech won the ACC tournament last year and has already clinched at least a tie for the regular season title this year. Neither of those had happened before. Kitley's list of school and conference  records speak for themselves. She's been the ACC player of the year the past two years and appears to be a shoo-in for a third. Amoore set a league record for assists last night in beating North Carolina. At guard, she is the team's leader and with that smile, its most attractive and outgoing personality.

Does that deserve a statue in front of the Queens' Cassell? Yes, it does. Coach Kenny Brooks, who has built the program and recruited its stars, deserves his own notice, if not his own statue. But his career is young and there is plenty of time for that.

Amoore and Kitley not only set a standard on the basketball court, but also in the classroom, where they shine. And don't ever believe that playing basketball at a high level and getting a graduate degree (which Kitley is pursuing) at the same instant is easy. But these women don't do easy. 

Their efforts have helped Tech's image nationally and that eventually could lead to more and better students and well-funded programs. A few years ago, I was sitting in the press box for a football game between Tech and South Carolina. The game was close and near the end, Tech driving driving for the lead. It fumbled and eventually lost. "That fumble cost us $1 million," said Tech's top PR guy, emphasizing the overall benefit of a good program. 

If that fumble was worth $1 million, imagine what a dynamic assist from Amoore or that beautiful fall-away jump shot from Kitley could mean in the short and long runs.

And that deserves a bronze statue.

Let me suggest that some of you wealthy, die-hard Hokies get together, talk to Bechtel and pump in about $25,000 or so for a statue that would gain national attention for Tech in a wildly positive way. You could also pass the hat at Tech's regional home games coming soon. My bet is you'd almost get the money necessary with the hat.