Body of Work
CHARLOTTESVILLE Elton Brown figured he'd start as a freshman. He'd been all-Group AAA at Newport News' Warwick High, after all, as well as MVP of the 17-and-under national AAU tournament in 2000. He had size, court sense, a soft touch from the perimeter and an array of post moves not often seen at the University of Virginia.
He also had a lot to learn.
"His exact words were, he felt that out of 40 minutes, he'd average between 25 and 28 minutes a game," recalled Ben Moore, who coached Brown at Warwick. "Considering the way he's playing now, he's probably worthy of that. However, as a freshman going in with that kind of seasoned team, you've got to bide your time."
You also need to be in shape. Brown wasn't. He arrived at U.Va. last summer carrying a sloppy 275 pounds on his 6-9 frame and found himself struggling against the team's veterans.
"When I first got here, I felt kind of miserable," Brown said Monday at University Hall. "I was ready to go home. Nothing was going my way."
When the U.Va. players gathered for their nightly pickup games, Brown occasionally suffered the ultimate slight. "Sometimes I didn't get picked," he said. "It started off rough for me, real rough."
Life is smoother now for Brown. He hasn't won a starting job, but he's averaging 9.4 points and 16.1 minutes for the Cavaliers, ranked eighth in The Associated Press poll. He's shooting 54.4 percent from the floor - he's 9 of 17 from beyond the 3-point arc - and 70.3 percent from the foul line.
"He's still got things he's got to improve on, but he's doing a great job as a freshman," U.Va. coach Pete Gillen said.
Against Florida State on Jan. 20, Brown hit all three of his 3-point attempts to spark Virginia to a comeback victory. In a win over Georgia Tech two nights later, he had 20 points and 10 rebounds, the high point of a four-game stretch in which he's averaged 15.8 points, 5.5 boards and 22.5 minutes.
His prospects brightened when Brown stopped feeling sorry for himself and started BROWN working harder.
"I sat down and started thinking, 'I'm doing this to myself,'" he said. "Basically, I put myself in that predicament when I got here. I wasn't focused."
At Moore's urging, Brown met with the assistant who'd recruited him, Walt Fuller, and Gillen. They told him - as had Moore - that the harder he worked, the more playing time he'd get.
"At one point, he was very frustrated," Moore said. "I was in constant contact with the Virginia coaching staff on Elton's behalf, and together we were able to get Elton to see some things that would benefit him."
Brown, 18, started putting in extra time to work with strength coach Lorenzo Rivers. After practice ends each day, Brown heads to the McCue Center for a session with Rivers. They focus on strengthening Brown's abs -"Got to lose some of this gut," he said with a smile - improving his running form and building up his lower-back muscles.
"We try to make it fun, but at the same time we want to get results," Rivers said. "I think when an athlete comes in and starts seeing results, he feels good about himself and wants to keep coming in."
Brown feels great. He's down to 260 pounds and has improved his stamina dramatically. Against Duke on Sunday night, he played a career-high 28 minutes. That wouldn't have been possible in October.
"Not at all," Brown said. "Probably 10 minutes at the most."
He's still a work in progress. He's happy with his weight, but Brown wants to add muscle and reduce his body fat. He'll never jump as high or run as fast as his buddy Jason Clark, another member of the Cavs' freshman class, but a well-conditioned Brown would be a frightening prospect for U.Va. opponents.
"Once I get in top shape, I feel like the sky's the limit," he said.
ACC NOTES
RISING WOLFPACK: N.C. State basketball coach Herb Sendek cautions "there's still so much of the story left to be written." That doesn't make the Wolfpack's tale to date less remarkable.
State, the ACC's third-place team, has its best record after 20 games since the 1975-76 season. The Wolfpack (5-2, 16-4) also has won five straight road games for the first time since 1973-74, when it captured the NCAA title.
"They're good, they're well-coached, and they seem to be playing with a tremendous amount of confidence," said Wake Forest coach Skip Prosser, whose team visits N.C. State tonight.
This was not what many observers expected. State, 13-16 in 2000-01, was picked to finish seventh in a preseason poll of ACC media members, and Sendek's job was believed to be in jeopardy. Now the Wolfpack appears headed to the NCAA tournament for the first time in 11 years, and its long-suffering fans are delighted.
"I think people really appreciate this team," Sendek said. "Win, lose or draw, the one thing we've been able to do is give consistently good effort."
To Maryland coach Gary Williams, a key to State's turnaround has been its "combination of the young guys that are very enthusiastic and the veterans that know what it takes to win in the ACC."
N.C. State's freshmen have made 45 starts, by far the most of any team in the conference, and they include 6-6 Julius Hodge, the probable ACC rookie of the year. The veterans include senior guards Archie Miller and Anthony Grundy.
The 6-3 Grundy, the latest ACC player of the week, is a product of the postgraduate team at Hargrave Military Academy, where his coach was current Virginia assistant Scott Shepherd. Grundy scored 21 and 20 points, respectively, in wins over North Carolina and Temple last week. He shot 64 percent from the floor in those games and also totaled 15 rebounds, seven assists and seven steals.
TROUBLING NEWS: Shelden Williams, who signed with Duke in November, was named, along with two of his teammates from Midwest City High in Oklahoma, in a rape complaint filed Jan. 20 by a 19-year-old woman in Columbus, Ohio. Two other teammates were listed as witnesses.
The five players were suspended from school and kicked off the team. As of Sunday, no charges had been filed against the 6-9 Williams or the other four.
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski confirmed yesterday that he'd spoken to Williams but added, "I think it would be bad on my part to comment on things that I don't know the complete story about. I think you let that take its normal course of action, then make whatever decision has to be made."
Another Duke recruit, shooting guard J.J. Redick of Cave Spring High in Roanoke, injured a tendon in his right foot Jan. 22 and might miss the rest of the season.
BMOC: Duke center Carlos Boozer, who had 25 points Sunday night against Virginia, has scored at least 20 in six straight games. The 6-9, 280-pound junior also averaged 8.2 rebounds and shot 67 percent from the floor and 82 percent from the line during that span.
Boozer, the ACC's third-leading scorer at 18.8 ppg, is averaging 5.5 points more than he did last season. The ACC player who's made the biggest jump in scoring? Clemson senior Jamar McKnight (13.2 ppg). McKnight averaged only 3.4 points in 2000-01.
CHARLOTTESVILLE TEST: Eighth-ranked Virginia (4-3, 14-3) plays host to No. 3 Maryland (6-1, 16-3) tomorrow night. U.Va. senior guard Adam Hall, who hasn't played since injuring his right foot Jan. 12 at North Carolina, is probable, but his availability will depend on how he holds up in practice this week.
The Terrapins have three of the ACC's top shot-blockers. Lonny Baxter, a 6-8 senior, averages a conference-best 1.78 blocks. Chris Wilcox and Tahj Holden, 6-10 sophomores, rank third and seventh, respectively.
"That's an advantage we have, and hopefully we can make it tough for teams to score inside," Gary Williams said.
Tough or not, said Cavaliers coach Pete Gillen, his team must challenge the Terps. "You can't run away from it," Gillen said. "You have to be aggressive."
Virginia's Fresh Faces Are Not Scrubs
By Jim Reedy
Special to The Washington Post
Wednesday, January 30, 2002; Page D04
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Jan. 29 -- At the beginning of the season, Virginia hoped for moderate contributions from its four freshmen. Few observers, however, expected Elton Brown, Keith Jenifer, Jason Clark and Jermaine Harper to make this kind of impact.
The four rookies broke through when two teammates were injured and a third transferred, and their play entering Thursday's home game against No. 3 Maryland has proved them worthy of the increased playing time.
In Sunday's 94-81 loss at No. 1 Duke, the quartet was unfazed by a trip to famed Cameron Indoor Stadium, emerging with nearly half the Cavaliers' points. Brown and Clark, the forwards in the group, combined for 23 points and nine rebounds. Jenifer, who started his sixth straight game at point guard, had eight points and no turnovers in 33 minutes.
"Their young kids played great," Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski said after the game. "Jenifer has really given them a spark. . . . Clark came in and got 11 points in the first half. Brown had two threes. What a spark they're getting from their bench."
Virginia's original plan for this season did not depend so heavily on getting a spark from four rookies. After winning 20 games and reaching the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1997, U-Va. entered the offseason expecting to have eight scholarship players back.
The Cavaliers (14-3, 4-3 ACC) soon learned that point guard Majestic Mapp would miss a second straight season with a knee injury. Two games into the season, sophomore guard-forward Maurice Young (Bishop McNamara) announced his intention to transfer (he later transferred to St. Bonaventure). And senior swingman Adam Hall has yet to return to the lineup after he hurt his foot in a 71-67 victory over North Carolina on Jan. 12.
Those subtractions left Virginia with a rotation of one senior, two juniors, one sophomore and four freshmen. The freshmen quickly showed they were ready for the increased workload. In the five games since the win at North Carolina, with the quartet handling 40 percent of the scoring load, the Cavaliers are 4-1.
Jenifer has not done much scoring, but he has made the largest impact of the four. The 6-foot-3, 155-pound Baltimore native replaced Hall in the starting lineup against the Tar Heels and has remained there since, averaging 6.0 points and 3.5 assists in the last six games. He has kept his poise despite road games at North Carolina and Duke.
"That shows the type of player he's turning into," said junior guard Roger Mason Jr., who played most of the point guard minutes before Jenifer emerged. "Most freshmen coming [into Cameron] would get rattled, but he wasn't at all. He loved the crowd, and he thrived in it."
Jenifer, whose quickness made him a natural candidate when Gillen was looking for someone to attack opponents' zone defenses, has done a better job of playing under control.
"Coach Gillen and the staff, along with Keith, have really improved him in that area," North Carolina Coach Matt Doherty said. "He's a real quick, quick kid, and I think he's just becoming more and more comfortable with that point guard spot."
Brown, a 6-foot-9 power forward-center, has scored in double figures in each of the last four games. His 265-pound frame allows him to work well in the lane, as he did in the final minute in a 69-65 victory at Georgia Tech last week, when he grabbed an offensive rebound and hit a free throw to give Virginia a two-point lead.
He also has shown a deft touch from outside, hitting 7 of 13 three-point attempts in the last five games, including 3 for 3 in a 91-74 victory over Florida State on Jan. 20.
"He's a good offensive player, and his defense is getting better," Gillen said. "He's been very valuable to us. He's still got a lot of work to do; he's a freshman. But he's doing a great job at this stage."
Clark is almost Brown's mirror image, a raw offensive player who uses his athletic ability to excel on defense. At 6 feet 8, 225 pounds, he is among the ACC leaders with 1.7 blocks in 12.4 minutes per game.
"He'll do anything he's asked," Gillen said. "He doesn't have to get 10 shots or be a starter; he just wants to contribute and be a significant part of the team. He's a great shot-blocker and a very fine athlete. . . . We're thrilled with his progress."
Harper, a 6-foot-3, 166-pound guard, can score when needed but also made Virginia's biggest defensive play of the season, a fast-break steal in the final minute at UNC that kept the Tar Heels from tying the game.
"He didn't know he's not supposed to make a big play like that," Gillen said that afternoon. "That was a giant steal."
Such plays offer a glimpse of this freshman class's potential, which the Cavaliers hope to see more of as the season progresses.
Terps, Cavs Reassemble a Rivalry
By Josh Barr
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 30, 2002; Page D04
About 30 years ago, Maryland and Virginia were among the fiercest rivals in college basketball. Their fans loathed each other, and a victory in the series was particularly treasured.
Recently, though, the Terrapins and Cavaliers rarely have fielded top-quality teams at the same time. However, a revival of sorts seems to be in the works. When No. 3 Maryland and No. 8 Virginia meet Thursday night at University Hall, it will be the first time in 156 meetings that both enter ranked in the nation's top 10.
That's enough to rekindle memories of when Lefty Driesell was just starting his tenure at Maryland and opposing fans were learning to despise his foot-stomping sideline antics.
"When I was at Virginia, there was the perfect villain coaching at Maryland," said television analyst Dan Bonner, who played at Virginia from 1972 to 1975. "That's not to say anything bad about Lefty, but Virginia fans wanted our team to beat Maryland worse than any other team."
How bad did the fans want it? Bonner found out one Sunday morning during his freshman year when he attended mass at St. Thomas Catholic Church in Charlottesville. After the rector read the prayer of the faithful, another man spoke up. Typically, this time is used to pray for the health of a family member or a safe journey on an upcoming trip; this man had something else in mind.
"He said, 'I pray for a win over Maryland,' " Bonner said, chuckling as he retold the story.
"You don't pray for that kind of thing in church. I thought to myself, 'Good heavens, these people are serious about this.' "
In Charlottesville, fans are approaching the game with a good heap of passion. Students pitched tents and began camping out in sleeping bags last week in order to have a better shot at prime seats. Some remained outside instead of attending a game against Virginia Military Institute, fearful of losing their place in line.
"What you're finding now in college basketball is when teams are good, there is a rivalry," said Maryland assistant coach Dave Dickerson, adding there was nothing special about the series between the teams when he played during the late 1980s. "They're a very good team [now], and we're a very good team. Now people are looking at this game as a rivalry game."
Geographically, Maryland and Virginia are the two most-northern schools in the Atlantic Coast Conference, separated by a 2 1/2-hour drive. This is the third straight season they have played each other at the end of the conference's round-robin schedule, a spot generally reserved for rivalries, such as Duke vs. North Carolina.
Players on both teams are familiar with each other. Virginia's Roger Mason and Maryland's Juan Dixon and Lonny Baxter played together on the U.S. team in the World University Games last summer. Maryland's Andre Collins and Virginia's Jason Clark and Keith Jenifer played on the same prep school team last year. Three years ago, Maryland point guard Steve Blake and Virginia center Travis Watson prepped together.
The teams also recruit many of the same players. Maryland recruited Mason and forward Jason Rogers, both of whom ended up at Virginia. A few years ago, a center from Norfolk named Joe Smith picked the Terrapins instead of the Cavaliers. Smith helped Maryland become a national contender; now, Virginia is on the road toward the Terrapins' status. Before last season, the teams had met only six times when both were in the national rankings.
"Maryland was always up at the top of the heap," Virginia Coach Pete Gillen said. "Now we're starting to get better. It's starting to develop a rivalry. I can't speak for Maryland, but on our end there is something of a rivalry. I think it's starting to develop."
While Maryland Coach Gary Williams said a high level of competition breeds a rivalry naturally, his players said otherwise. Many of them still point to top-ranked Duke as the Terrapins' biggest rival. Those two teams played four memorable games last season, and their first meeting this season was a thriller. Duke won four of the five games, leaving Maryland something to shoot for in a series many consider the most intense in the nation right now.
"Is [Maryland-Virginia] a rivalry? It used to be," Baxter said. "I don't think it is that much of one anymore. Over the years, it has changed. Now it's pretty much Maryland and Duke. That is pretty much which rivalry we're focused on right now."
Said Maryland guard Drew Nicholas: "We kind of look at [Virginia] as another ACC team. They're pretty good this year."
But apparently it will take a few more heated years before feelings are strong enough to call it a rivalry.
"It has never struck me as being that big a rivalry," Bonner said. "I don't know if the animosity is there that anybody is going to stand up in church and pray for a win over Maryland."
If you take the time to look at Virginia men's basketball coach Pete Gillen after a Cavaliers' game, you would think he just ran a marathon.
After a game, the sweat pours down his face and seeps through his shirt and tie. Sitting in the press room listening to Gillen talk, it becomes rather obvious that he has given every ounce of his energy. Just like his players have.
His work ethic has turned the Cavaliers' program around from the depths of the ACC in only four short years. When he came to the University in the fall of 1998, Gillen inherited a program coming off of an 11-19 season, winning only three ACC games.
Gillen has directed Virginia toward powerhouse status in those four short years, and coaches around the country have noticed.
"Virginia is really good," newly elected Hall of Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski of Duke said after Virginia's latest game against the Blue Devils. "They are on their way up. They are a very well coached team."
While much of Gillen's acclaim stems from the way he operates on the sidelines, no doubt remains that he knows what to do while his team is off the court as well.
After his first season, when his team went 14-16 with only seven scholarship players and seven walk-ons, Gillen proceeded to recruit one of the best classes in the country. That class consisted of Roger Mason Jr., Travis Watson, Majestic Mapp, Jason Rogers and Stephane Dondon, a junior college transfer. This marked an incredible recruiting class for a team that won only four ACC games the year before. Things have changed tenfold.
Now Gillen has students camping out in "Hooville" to see the Cavaliers play Maryland tomorrow night. Only four years ago, students easily could show up at University Hall five minutes before the game and still snag a seat.
"Coach has always been so good to us," Mason said. "He makes it fun to come to practice and work. He is so enjoyable to be around and it is obvious that he is going in the right direction."
Gillen's impact goes beyond the realm of basketball, however, as he looks for ways to improve both the University and Charlottesville community.
Whether speaking at a charity function or standing outside Barracks Road shopping center collecting money for the Salvation Army, Gillen demonstrates his awareness of others.
"It is good to go out and talk to the community and get the community involved," Gillen said. "Whatever we can do to let everyone know how we can be active in the community and promote Virginia basketball at the same time."
But while Gillen may look like a gentle man off the court, if one of his players makes a mistake, Gillen lets him know it. Even over a roaring crowd of fans, you often can hear him screaming the play or yelling at his players to move positions.
And if his team is in the middle of a run when a timeout is called, Gillen is the first off of the bench waving for the crowds to cheer on his team (even though such behavior technically is illegal).
If you glance at the redhead after a referee makes a questionable call against the Cavaliers, Gillen does not lose his cool and blow up at officials like many of his colleagues.
In fact, in all four of his seasons at Virginia, Gillen has yet to receive a conduct technical, which would place his team in an even worse situation. During the Cavaliers' game against Duke Sunday night, several calls looked questionable. But not once did Gillen scream at the referees to change the calls.
"Coach knows how to keep himself under control in situations like that," senior forward Chris Williams said earlier this season. "He knows how to address the referees and make sure nothing bad is happening on the court."
Gillen's up and down style is a favorite among young players coming out of high school, and it shows. He has managed to recruit some of the nation's top players, including 6-foot-7 Derrick Byars from Memphis, Tenn, who will arrive next season. He also has under wraps one of the best players in the class of 2003 - point guard J.R. Reynolds from Roanoke.
With Gillen's newly signed 10-year contract extension, Cavalier fans have plenty to look forward to over the coming years, as he has Virginia pointed in a direction 180 degrees from only three and a half years ago.
While it is Gillen the fans should applaud, the coach from Brooklyn is the one lauding the crowds for their enthusiasm, which he claims helped get Virginia back on the map.
Whether it's wings and donuts for Hooville campers or sending encouraging e-mails to students, Gillen makes the University community feel like they're part of the program. And with the way he has the team headed, that definitely is a good thing.
Stewart ducks Cavs, says he'll be a Vol
By Mike Griffith, News-Sentinel sportswriter
Cornerback Antwan Stewart was bracing for a cavalry of Virginia Cavaliers coaches Tuesday night.Stewart, who played at Potomac High School in Dumfries, Va., announced Tuesday that he will sign with Tennessee on Feb. 6. He said he committed to UT coach Phillip Fulmer two weeks ago, but he kept his decision private to avoid the in-state pressure.
"The Virginia coaches called, and they're bringing just about everybody over," said Stewart, who was expecting six Virginia coaches to visit him. "But I've told coach Fulmer that I'm going to Tennessee, and I'm solid."
So what did he plan to tell the Virginia coaches when they started to ask him why he was leaving the state and planned to sign with the Vols on Feb. 6?
"I'll just say if one of them got offered a job at Tennessee, what do you think they would do," said Stewart, who had attended football camp at Virginia.
As it turned out, it never came to that. Stewart said in a late evening conversation that the Virginia coaches stayed with him for about an hour before leaving.
"They just wanted to see what I wanted," he said. "I told them I wanted to win."
Stewart originally committed to the Cavaliers in November.
"But that was before I saw Tennessee," said Stewart, who visited UT Dec. 14-15. "I really liked the coaches and the players. I got along good with Julian Battle and Jabari Greer."
Like current UT defensive backs Battle and Greer, the 6-0, 180-pound Stewart was also an offensive threat running and catching the ball in high school. He said he had 1,200 yards rushing, 800 yards receiving and 20 touchdowns. On defense, he had three interceptions for his Class 3A school.
Stewart also runs track, competing in "everything from 55 meters to 500 meters indoors, and 100 through 400 outdoors," he said.
"I'm interested in track," he said, "but at first I'll be concentrating on football."
Stewart said he plans to enroll at UT in July.
BRING A FRIEND? Stewart said he lives five minutes from USA Today Defensive Player of the Year Ahmad Brooks, who is from Hylton High School in Woodbridge, Va.
"We've been talking," Stewart said. "I think Ahmad likes Tennessee."
Brooks visited the Vols last weekend and left Knoxville saying UT was his favorite over Virginia, Florida State and Virginia Tech.
"The Virginia coaches coming over were on the way to see Ahmad play basketball," Stewart said.
Brooks, a linebacker, has a visit scheduled for Penn State this weekend.