In Seth Greenberg's six years at Virginia Tech, no other school has made a serious run at hiring Tech's colorful, hard-working hoops-obsessed coach. That may be getting ready to change, but whether it does or not, our opinion on Seth Greenberg is this: He has done a very good job at Virginia Tech so far, he should be retained, and the fact that he's one of the lowest-paid coaches in the ACC is an embarrassment and should be corrected.

Your opinion may differ, but that's ours.

What brought this on? The New York Post reported last Thursday that St. John's is on the verge of firing coach Norm Roberts, and that Seth Greenberg is their top candidate to replace Roberts. Roberts only makes $650,000 per year, but "multiple highly-placed sources" told the Post that St. John's is willing to offer $1.5 million per year for six years to the right candidate.

No big deal, right? With all the million-dollar coaches in the ACC, surely Virginia Tech is already paying two-time ACC Coach of the Year Seth Greenberg that much, right? Since expansion, VT is 48-48 in regular-season play in the ACC, tied for fourth. Seth Greenberg is clearly one of the better coaches in the ACC, so you would assume he's well-compensated.

You would be wrong.

Greenberg makes $950,000 per year, which sounds good, but is one of the lowest compensation packages in the ACC. We're told that Seth is 11th in the ACC, ahead of only NC State's Sidney Lowe. Digging up current, accurate figures on compensation packages is difficult at best, so we can only estimate, but it's a fact that Greenberg is one of the lowest in the ACC, if not the lowest.

Greenberg's record over the last six seasons classifies him as one of the top six coaches in the ACC, and that's being conservative. You can argue that he's one of the top four. Regardless of exactly where his compensation ranks, if it's close to the bottom (and it is), he is clearly underpaid with regards to his ACC peers.

And $950k is a far cry from the $1.5 million that St. John's might be offering. That's the challenge Virginia Tech is up against, if the Post report is true.

Even if the Post isn't accurate, Seth Greenberg is underpaid, and it's well beyond time to remedy that situation.

From the time Charlie Moir departed following the 1986-87 season to the time Greenberg was hired, Virginia Tech endured some bad basketball coaching. Frankie Allen was a disaster, both from a recruiting standpoint and an X's and O's perspective. Allen was replaced by Bill Foster, a man who certainly knew his basketball but was never intended to be more than a stop-gap hire. Foster recruited one good class, rode it to an NIT championship and an NCAA appearance, and left the cupboard mostly bare.

Foster's successor was the late Bobby Hussey. Tech athletic director Jim Weaver couldn't wait to fire Hussey, who received two seasons of employment before being summarily dismissed following the 1998-99 season.

For all his positive achievements at Virginia Tech, there is no doubt that Jim Weaver royally screwed up the hiring of Hussey's replacement. Ricky Stokes. Nuff said.

Time has shown Jim Weaver's next hire to be one of good fortune. Seth Greenberg was struggling to make headway at South Florida and was rumored to be on the verge of being "run out of town" when Weaver made the call. Greenberg gladly accepted the Virginia Tech job on April 3, 2003. He was hired for the sum of $429,000 annually in total compensation.

At the time, that was a low figure, but reasonable and fair. It was almost $200,000 a year more than Stokes was making, and the Virginia Tech athletic department, which didn't yet have an expanded Lane Stadium to increase revenue, and which was suffering under onerous admission terms of Big East membership, couldn't afford much more.

The Tech men's basketball program was a perennial money loser back then. In 2002-03, the Hokies lost $700,000 on men's basketball, with expenditures of $2.1 million versus revenues of just $1.4 million.

In the first year of Greenberg's tenure (2003-04), the Hokies lost $232,000 on basketball. That was Tech's last year of Big East membership. Since entering the ACC in 2004-05, men's basketball revenue and profitability have exploded.

In the 2008-09 academic year, the most recent year for which TechSideline.com has financial data on Virginia Tech athletics, the Hokie men's basketball program made almost $4 million for the athletic department (revenues of $8.42 million versus expenses of $4.49 million).

Over that same time period, Greenberg has seen his compensation more than double, from $429k annually to $950k annually. But it's still not enough.

Greenberg has been a careful, smart, energetic custodian of the men's basketball program. Is he perfect? No. Is he a really good basketball coach? Yes. Is he the best Virginia Tech has had since Charlie Moir? Yes.

Four years into Frankie Allen's tenure, he was fired. Six years into Bill Foster's tenure, he retired. Two years into Bobby Hussey's tenure, he was fired. Four years into Ricky Stokes' tenure, he was fired.

Six years into Seth Greenberg's tenure, he has rebuilt the program in a fashion you would hope for, he continues to make progress, and he may be on the verge of something special next year. Instead of shopping for a new coach, we should be looking forward to a season that should bring Greenberg's second NCAA bid at Tech and could challenge for an ACC title.

Greenberg is also hitting his stride in recruiting. His 2011 recruiting class could be the best ever at Virginia Tech.

Sure, Tech's performance next season and the quality of its 2011 recruiting class are unknowns, but all signs indicate that things are getting better. This is the most compelling argument for bumping Greenberg's pay and showing him that his effort is appreciated: because he is still gaining momentum, six years in. If you let him get away, everything he has built is in jeopardy, and a step backwards is more likely than a step forward.

Why do I say that? Because if Virginia Tech can't find a way to pay one of the ACC's best coaches a competitive salary, then who is going to want to coach at Virginia Tech? Talk about poisoning the well; what message does it send if a coach can win two conference coach of the year awards, tie for fourth in conference winning percentage during his tenure, run a clean program ... and not be rewarded for his efforts?

It sends the following message: We're not serious about men's basketball. Do your best, and you won't be rewarded. We're a stepping stone program to something better, like, uh ... St. John's. We don't reward good basketball coaching talent when we see it, so don't bother coaching here.

I don't know about you, but that's not what I want out of Virginia Tech's athletic department.

Greenberg deserves to be fairly compensated for his accomplishments, but just as importantly, Virginia Tech needs to take a stand and show that this athletic department is committed to men's basketball, the glamour sport of the conference we now call home. If we want to show that we truly belong in the ACC, we'll act like it, by paying a successful coach what he deserves.

Sources close to Greenberg indicated to us recently that Seth is not looking to break the bank. A reasonable increase in pay, and perhaps an annuity is all the coach is looking for. We're told that he and his wife Karen like it in Blacksburg. Seth has one daughter (Paige) who will graduate from Tech this year, another (Ella) who is a freshman Tech cheerleader, and a third (Jackie) who is a freshman at Blacksburg High School. The family is rooted in the community, and families, even coaches' families, are reluctant to move.

It doesn't take a genius to know that Greenberg really wants to be here next year, when the fruits of his labors will lead to one of the most highly-anticipated basketball seasons in Tech history. The Hokies will return all of their major contributors and will add two freshmen and a transfer (Allan Chaney from Florida) who are all expected to contribute, especially Chaney.

All signs point to the obvious: Pay the man what he's due. Put this behind us, and let's keep building the program. To do otherwise is just foolish, risky behavior.

TSL Poll: Should Virginia Tech Give Seth Greenberg a Raise?