Gimme five! - Part III

Can't wait for Friday's season openers? Then check out our week-long preview - five thoughts on five topics each day for five days.

Previous editions

Monday

Tuesday

5 intriguing non-conference games



Anne Donovan



5. Radford at George Mason, Nov. 26 - Highlanders, meet Jeri Porter and Taleia Moton. Porter and Moton, Highlanders. What? You guys have already met? Never mind.



4. Seton Hall at William and Mary, Dec. 5, - New Seton Hall coach and all-time Lady Monarchs great Anne Donovan returns to Virginia. Unfortunately, ODU fans have a prior commitment (See No. 2).

3. Duke at James Madison, Nov. 30 - The Dukes take their best shot (we hope) at the most acclaimed team that will set Nikes in the Commonwealth this season. That is, until....

2. Tennessee at Old Dominion, Dec. 5 - It's always fun to have the Lady Vols in town - unless of course, you're a Lady Monarch.

1. Virginia at James Madison, Dec. 20 - The Dukes think they've got the best team in the state. What are you going to do about it, Cavaliers?



Jasmine Parker



5 nearing milestones



5. ODU's Wendy Larry: 12 wins shy of her 600th career victory

4. Beth Dunkenberger: 1 win shy of 100 victories at Virginia Tech

3. Richmond's Michael Shafer: 16 wins shy of 100 career victories

2. Dawn Evans is 216 points away from becoming JMU's all-time leading scorer

1. Jasmine Parker is 96 points away from scoring her 1,000th point at ODU



Venus Williams



5 born on the same day (June 17)

 5. Jelena Antic, Liberty

4. Ashley Buckhannon, Radford

3. Kahealani Vick, Radford

2. Debbie Smith, James Madison

1. Venus Williams (we only had four but bet she could play basketball)

5 rule changes we'd like to see

5. Add a 10-second backcourt count. No more killing time in your own end. Get it and go, or give it up.

4. No more alternate possessions. Bring back the jump ball, and stop punishing teams that make a good defensive play just because it's not their turn to get the ball.

3. Extend the 3-point line. This way, perhaps the wannabe gunners (you know who you are) will stop jacking up 3s, and only the real long-distance gunners will fire away.

2. One timeout per half per team. Radical? Not really. There are already timeouts every four minutes for media. That's plenty. No one's paying to see coaches micromanage. Have some instructions for your players? Yell 'em out. But let's keep the game moving.

1. Lower the rim. Just kidding, folks. Save those angry e-mails.

5 promotions we'd love to see

5. Hot Dog Night:Virginia packed 'em in against Tennessee thanks to all those wieners.

4. Hamburger Night: Hey, if the 'dogs work, think about the future in burgers.

3. Turn Back The Clock Night: $1 tickets and cheap food sell out minor league baseball in Norfolk

2. Student Club Nights: How about letting campus clubs get into the marketing act? At the end, the club that brings in the most fans would be awarded a prize by the university.

1. This one is personal, but we'd love to see a promotion for pancreatic cancer awareness and research. The pink initiative for breast cancer is a wonderful tradition. Pancreatic cancer flies under the radar and Virginia coach Debbie Ryan, a tireless activist in cancer fund-raising, is a survivor of the disease.



TUNE IN TOMORROW FOR: Arenas that rock, people we'd love to chat with and more fun with some of the really cool names in the game.