About: Mark Berman covers Virginia Tech basketball for The Roanoke Times in Roanoke, Va. He is a Syracuse University graduate who grew up in Trumbull, Conn. He has been at The Roanoke Times since 1998. He covered James Madison for The Daily News-Record in Harrisonburg, Va., from 1989-98. His blog can be read at http://blogs.roanoke.com/courtside.