UVa facing two Jacket intimidators
By Jerry Ratcliffe / Daily Progress sports editor
January 14, 2004

Scattershooting around the ACC, while wondering if Pete Gillen’s Cavaliers can finally win on the road Thursday night in Atlanta ...
If they do, they’re going to have to overcome two players who can intimidate them with their shooting and dunking ability. Georgia Tech point guard Jarrett Jack and Tech’s Isma’il Muhammad, have worked on opponents.
Muhammad may be the ACC’s top dunker. Jack is coming off a career-high 22-point effort against Carolina.
Tech coach Paul Hewitt was sold on Jack the first time he laid eyes on him. It was his first trip to Mt. Zion Academy in Durham, N.C., when he ran into a friend, who was an assistant coach at a Conference USA school.
“I don’t think Jack’s that good,” the assistant told Hewitt. “I don’t know why you guys are recruiting him.”
Jack, who was just a junior then, lit it up for 56 points that night, breaking Tracy McGrady’s Mt. Zion school scoring record. Hewitt was blown away.
“Every time Jarrett would make a play, I’d just look over at my friend [the assistant coach],” Hewitt said. “The guy was trying his best to avoid eye contact with me.”
Meanwhile, Muhammad’s thundering dunks are becoming legend in Atlanta. His coaches and teammates have been in awe of his dunking ability, although his best one came in practice where not many people could see.
That was against Chris Bosh, now a rookie for the NBA’s Toronto Raptors. Muhammad has a 41-inch running vertical and is an explosive athlete who can squat 500 pounds and clean and jerk 300. Not a lot of college basketball players can equal those feats.
“I’ve been telling him for a long time that he’s one of the three best dunkers in the whole country,” said Tech teammate B.J. Elder of Muhammad. “The only people that can out-dunk him are Vince Carter and [Cincinnati forward] James White.”
Muhammad said he likes to use his dunks to intimidate opponents, which is something Virginia is going to have to limit. The Cavs have lost 13 of their last 14 ACC road games.
Hooray for J.J.
Duke’s J.J. Redick, who lived in Charlottesville until he was six-years-old, returned to his old haunts Sunday and broke one of the ACC’s oldest records.
Redick broke former Virginia star Jeff Lamp’s 1980 record for the most consecutive free throws made. The two were tied at 48 in a row until Sunday’s Duke win over the Cavaliers, when Redick made both of his two free-throw attempts in the game.
“When I went to the line I knew it was for the record,” Redick said later. “I thought about it. I said to myself this is for the record and I knocked it down.”
He confessed that he felt the tension.
“The last couple of weeks I really have not thought about it, wasn’t tensed up at all,” Redick said. “Today, that first one ... I was tense about it.”
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski had pulled Redick out of the Fairfield game at the end so that Redick could break Lamp’s record when the Blue Devils came to University Hall.
“He wanted me to break it here,” the deadeye shooter said. “It was great to break it here. I had a bunch of people from back home [Roanoke] and Jeff Lamp played here and has his jersey retired, so it was great to break it here.”
Redick had a 61 free-throw streak as a junior at Cave Spring High, and 43 as a senior. His all-time record came in his own backyard.
“Yeah, it was like 107 with my brother,” he said. “It got dark and my mom called me in.”

Selfish Heels. UNC coach Roy Williams has called his team spoiled and selfish and now understands why Matt Doherty had a difficult time coaching the Tar Heels. But Williams is working hard on an attitude adjustment.
He said he has coached selfish players before and thinks it might take the entire season to break the habits. Williams believes it can all work out.
“You know who the most selfish player I’ve ever been around in my life?” Williams said. “Michael Jordan. But he did everything he could for his team to win.
“And everybody’s got to fight it off. I mean, if Michael had 40, he wanted 50. But he wanted to beat you,” Williams said. “And every player I’ve ever coached is selfish to some extent. Great players are the ones that fight selfishness off if it’s hurting their team. That’s the challenge of what we’ve got with this team.”

BC on hold. Apparently Boston College will not compete in ACC play until the 2005 season, which also means the league won’t likely play a championship football game until then.
Conference USA will not release its five teams (Cincinnati, Louisville, South Florida, Marquette and DePaul) to the Big East until after the 2004 season because of financial reasons. In turn, the Big East won’t let go of BC until July 1, 2005.

A little football. Duke coach Ted Roof has filled three positions on his staff, the latest, David Kelly, who will become Duke’s associate coach and work with wide receivers.
Kelly, who worked with Roof at Georgia Tech in 2000-2001, spent the last two seasons as Stanford’s associate coach. He also was an assistant at Georgia and LSU.
Roof previously hired Glenn Spencer off Georgia Tech’s staff and Jerry Azzinaro from Syracuse’s staff.
...Now that Clemson wide receiver Derrick Hamilton has turned pro early, the Tigers will move backup quarterback Chansi Stuckey to wideout, where Clemson has lost three of its top four receivers from last season. ...N.C. State starting cornerback Greg Golden, who was sent home four days early from the Tangerine Bowl for breaking team rules, has been dismissed from the team and will not return.

Free throws. ...Virginia’s class of PG Sean Singletary, WF Adrian Joseph and PF/C Tunji Soroye is ranked the 19th-best in the nation among college basketball’s early recruiting by analyst Bob Gibbons.
...The only problem is, it’s the fifth-best in the ACC, behind No. 3 UNC; No. 7 Duke; No. 9 Georgia Tech; and No. 17 N.C. State. ...New ACC member Boston College, coached by former UVa offensive coordinator Tom O’Brien, is ripping up its artificial turf and will replace it with the more grass-like FieldTurf for next season.
...There has been little mention around Maryland or the rest of the ACC about Len Bias since his 1986 death from cocaine overdose, but the gift store in Comcast Center now features a Bias throwback jersey. Cost: $419.
...Terp freshman Hassan Fofana, from Guinea, is well-schooled and plans to major in international business but he’s going to have to brush up on ACC geography. “I’ve never heard of Tobacco Road,” Fofana said. He will soon. ...By the way, his size 19 shoes are the biggest by any Terp since coach Gary Williams came to town in 1989.
...Best wishes to former Virginia Tech and Clemson hoops coach Bobby Hussey, who is recovering in Denver, N.C., from a stroke and blood clot on his brain last May.
...He is working as a volunteer coach at three high schools, but wants to get a job in the new NBA Charlotte Bobcats organization in some capacity. Hussey is a class guy.

 

WILLIE WILLIAMS' RECRUITING JOURNEY
On trip, FSU has Williams' number
BY MANNY NAVARRO
mnavarro@herald.com


RICHARD PATTERSON / FOR THE HERALD

AT THE TOP: Linebacker Willie Williams of the Class 6A State Football champion Carol City Chiefs is the top-ranked recruit in the state.

Willie Williams' weekend visit to Florida State felt like a scene from Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.

From a ride on a private jet to chowing down hundreds of dollars worth of steaks and lobster tails at Tallahassee's most elegant restaurant The Silver Slipper, Williams ate up the royal treatment.

Williams enjoyed it so much that he says FSU has moved back into a tie with the University of Miami in the battle for his services.

''After this visit, it's 0-0 again,'' said Williams, who will also visit Auburn and Florida. ``UM had taken a lead when they won the Orange Bowl. But I had such a great time [at FSU], I'm torn again. I guess UM and FSU are going to overtime on me.''

THE RIDE

Williams had been on a plane before, but not by himself.

''When I got to Miami International Airport, this guy was waiting for me,'' Williams said. 'He was like `Mr. Williams, right this way.' When I got on the plane, I was like 'Where's everybody else.' It was me, the flight attendant and the pilot. I was bugging out.''

Williams slept most of the flight. When he arrived at Tallahassee Airport, defensive line coach Odell Haggins was there to greet him.

''When he picked me up, he had a box of chicken wings for me,'' Williams said. ``I was starving, but there was only like two wings. I told him `Coach, we're still going to dinner right?'

``He took me to the hotel. This place was beautiful, nicest place I've ever stayed. It was called The Radisson. I was impressed.''

ALL YOU CAN EAT

But nothing impressed Williams more than when he sat down for dinner with nearly a dozen other recruits -- including Northwestern cornerback Trevor Ford and Killian cornerback J.R. Bryant.

''Dinner was tight,'' Williams said. ``We had our own section in the restaurant, but the only thing that bugged me was that I sat all the way in the back -- so I was the last one to get my food.

``Coach Haggins told us to order as much as we wanted. I ordered a steak and a lobster tail. The lobster tail was like $49.99. I couldn't believe something so little could cost so much. The steak didn't even have a price. The menu said something about market value. I was kind of embarrassed so I didn't order a lot.

'But then I saw what the other guys were ordering, I was like, `Forget this.' I called the waiter back and told him to bring me four lobster tails, two steaks and a Shrimp Scampi. It was good. I took two boxes back with me to the hotel.''

After dinner, Williams met his tour guide -- defensive back Antonio Cromartie. But he quickly urged the coaches to find him a new one.

''That boy was on crutches,'' Williams said. ``I would have had to hop around campus everywhere. Besides, I wanted somebody who played my position to take me around.''

Cromartie was immediately replaced by linebackers Ernie Sims, Willie Jones of Carol City and A.J. Nicholson as well as defensive lineman Clifton Dickson of Northwestern.

''After dinner, we hit the clubs,'' Williams said. ``I had a great time with [fellow recruits] Xavier Carter, Xavier Lee, Aaron Jones and Kenny Ingram. All of us really bonded and had a great time. We got back late -- and we paid for it the next day.''

Williams and other recruits were late for Saturday morning's tour of the campus, which was supposed to start at 8 a.m.

''Some guys like J.R. showed up really late,'' Williams said. ``All in all, it was a good day. They talked to us about their tutoring program. If you start struggling with your grades, they have a program set up that can help. To me, you have no choice but to be successful in school. I was impressed with that.''

After the tour, Williams said the players were treated to lunch at Doak Campbell Stadium. But it wasn't the type of meal the players had been treated to the night before. Just sandwiches.

LUCKY NO. 17

Lunch was followed by what Williams referred to as the highlight of the trip.

''They told us to take a walk into the locker room,'' Williams said. ``When we went in there, they had jerseys with our names on it. They even had my No. 17. I told them `Isn't that number retired for [Heisman winner] Charlie Ward? Coach [Bobby] Bowden was like, `For you Willie, we'll bring it back.''

Williams and the rest of the recruits then lived a childhood dream when they were each introduced on the Jumbotron screen as the 2004 starting lineup for the Seminoles.

''We all had our Seminoles jerseys on, and they told us: `Run out on the field about 10 yards,'' Williams said. ``I was so pumped up, I just kept running. I ran the entire field.''

Following a trip back to the hotel and a nap, it was time for dinner again.

''I asked Coach Odell, `Where we eating tonight?'' Williams said. 'He was like, `The stadium.' I thought he was playing. Then we ended up eating at the stadium again. I guess we spent all their money the night before.''

What the recruits didn't know at the time was that they were in for a treat -- a trip to Bobby Bowden's home for his wife's homemade deserts.

''Coach Bowden was cool, but Ms. Bowden was the bomb,'' Williams said. ``I swear, she must be related to Betty Crocker or something. When we walked into that house, it was like walking into a Publix Bakery -- banana pudding, chocolate cake, cheese cake. I had one of everything. I didn't want to leave.''

THE CROCODILE HUNTER

After dessert, Williams returned with his hosts to their dorm room, but quickly learned a few interesting facts about Sims, the top recruit in the nation last year.

''I like Ernie, but there is no way in the world I'd be roommates with him,'' Williams said. ``In fact, I don't know how [Dickson] does it. Sims thinks he's the Crocodile Hunter. It's like the Discovery Channel in his room.

'When Cliff and I walked in, Ernie was sitting on the sofa with a snake around his neck. He was like `Come in, Willie, give me five.' I was like 'Nope. I'm staying by the door.' I kept the door wide open. I was like, `If this man stands up with this snake, I'm outta here.

'I thought I was at the Metro Zoo. He had three snakes, three spiders. Not just any spiders -- poisonous ones. Tarantulas. He had scorpions. I asked Cliff, `How you deal with this.' He said, 'Man, I don't know.' ''

The next morning, Williams and Bowden talked -- one on one -- for nearly 20 minutes.

''We talked about everything,'' Williams said. ``The jersey. The trip. Next year's starting lineup. He told me if I came, they'd leave me at outside linebacker and give me a real good shot at starting next year. That was all I needed to hear.''

 

Gillen borrows footballer Redd
By Dave Johnson
Daily Press
Published January 14, 2004

Undersized and soft under the boards, Virginia's basketball team might get some immediate help.

Vince Redd, who signed with the Cavaliers' football program last winter and redshirted this past season, is expected to join Pete Gillen's basketball team as early as this week. Listed at 6-feet-6 and 243 pounds in the football media guide, Redd would give Virginia some needed bulk in the post.

"We're going to get him in practice hopefully soon and try to get him in shape," said Gillen, whose team faces Georgia Tech on Thursday night in Atlanta. "He wants to play, we want him to play. He's a big strong guy and he can help us. Hopefully he'll be on the team if everything works out. Hopefully this week."

In addition to being a PrepStar All-American linebacker, Redd was a second-team All-State selection in basketball. He averaged 20 points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots for Elizabethton (Tenn.) High.

Another boost for Gillen is the return of 6-8 forward Jason Clark, who was suspended for academic reasons and missed the first 12 games. Clark debuted Sunday against Duke and played five minutes. Virginia's frontcourt can use all the help it can get. The Cavs are last in the ACC in rebounding margin at minus-3 per game.

SOPHOMORE SLUMP. In November, forward Derrick Byars was the early favorite to be Virginia's Most Improved Player. But since the New Year, he's been in a slump.

In his last three games, Byars is 3-for-19 from the floor and has more fouls (11) than points (seven). Byars went scoreless Sunday against Duke in 10 foul-plagued minutes.

"Yeah, I am concerned," Gillen said. "A lot of it's mental, but he's a good player and we hope he comes out of it. He's got to be a little smarter with the fouls, a little more aggressively defensively and offensively."

SUSPENDED AGAIN. For the second time in two seasons, junior Brandi Teamer butted heads with Virginia women's coach Debbie Ryan and lost.

Teamer, the Cavaliers' top scorer and rebounder, has been suspended indefinitely for reasons Ryan won't disclose. Last season, she served a one-game suspension after getting into a postgame scuffle with then-teammate Cherrise Graham.

"It's frustrating," Ryan said. "There's no question about that."

Ryan was encouraged by the way her team handled it Monday night. Missing its best player, Virginia rallied from a 10-point deficit to beat Georgia Tech 60-59.

As for when Teamer might return, Ryan says she doesn't know. "I don't have any more information today than I did yesterday," she said Tuesday.
 

BC has to wait a year
School's entry into ACC, football championship game delayed
By Dave Johnson
Daily Press
Published January 14, 2004

The bad news for the Atlantic Coast Conference is that Boston College won't be coming aboard until 2005, and a football championship game that could net $10 million will wait until then. The good news is that the league won't have to hastily adjust that 11-member scheduling format it unveiled three months ago.

After negotiations between three conferences broke down last weekend at the NCAA Convention, Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese announced that Boston College could not leave until July 1, 2005. That leaves the ACC with 11 members for next football season, one short of the NCAA's minimum to stage a championship game.

ACC officials requested the minimum be lowered, but the NCAA Management Council rejected the proposal 17-7 Monday. Commissioner John Swofford addressed that defeat and the Boston College timetable in a statement Tuesday.

"While we had hoped that agreements could be reached among the various conferences that would allow schools to make their transition at the same time in 2004, it is evident that discussions have not led to a solution that would enable this to happen," he said. "We had some hope that Boston College would join us in 2004, but (we) never had that expectation.

"Likewise, we had not really expected to have a football championship game as an 11-member conference but hoped the NCAA process might give us that opportunity. With these issues now being resolved, we will move forward (as) an 11-member conference for the 2004-05 year and anticipate Boston College joining us in 2005-06. In addition, we'll plan on having an ACC football championship game after the 2005 season."

Boston College was the third Big East member to bolt for the ACC, accepting the conference's invitation last October. Virginia Tech and Miami had been voted in last summer, in time to join for the 2004-05 academic year. But by the time BC was admitted, the Big East had changed its bylaws to require 27 months notice from a departing school.

Upon losing three members to the ACC, the Big East last fall added Louisville, Cincinnati, South Florida, Marquette and DePaul - all Conference USA schools. If Tranghese had pursuaded C-USA commissioner Britton Banowsky to speed up that transition, Boston College would have been allowed to join the ACC for the '04 football season.

Instead, the Big East and C-USA never got close. So on Monday, Tranghese announced he was "shutting down" negotiations and that Boston College would remain in the Big East for one more season.

"We just couldn't get it done," Tranghese told the Boston Globe. "There were a lot of issues involved."

At least the ACC now knows its format for next football season.

With no championship game, the league will simply add Virginia Tech and Miami to form an 11-team alignment before splitting into two divisions when BC is added. The 2004 football schedule is expected to be released by the end of the month.
 

U.VA. NOTES
Richmond Times-Dispatch Jan 14, 2004

FAB FIVE? For the final 2 minutes and 11 seconds Sunday night against Duke, Virginia basketball coach Pete Gillen went with his scholarship freshmen: center Donte Minter, forward Jason Cain, swingman Gary Forbes and guards T.J. Bannister and J.R. Reynolds.

"We wanted to get them some experience," Gillen said after the Cavaliers' 93-71 loss at University Hall. "They're playing well, and some of the others didn't have it tonight. . . . They gave us good minutes on national television."

Freshmen scored 13 of U.Va.'s final 15 points against Duke, and each of the five contributed at least one memorable play.

"They played with electricity, and they played with fire," Gillen said.

U.Va. signed two recruits for 2004-05 during the early period - swingman Adrian Joseph and point guard Sean Singletary, a McDonald's All-America candidate. Another prospect, 6-10 Tunji Soroye, has said he'll enroll at U.Va. if Gillen returns next season.

"We have a tremendous recruiting class coming in," Gillen said.

LATE ADDITION: Freshman Vince Redd, who's at U.Va. on a football scholarship, will begin practicing with the basketball team in the next week. The 6-6, 250-pound Redd was an all-state hoops player at Elizabethton High in Tennessee last season.

"He's a big, strong guy," Gillen said.

Redd, an outside linebacker, redshirted in football. Coach Al Groh doesn't mind him playing basketball but stressed that Redd must keep up with his offseason football responsibilities as well.

"This is a player with a very good future, and our task is to acquire and develop talent," Groh said. "We're all for Vince playing both sports. I think it'll be a great thing for him if he can do that so long as it doesn't interfere with the development of his [football] talent and his academic program."

FIRST-YEAR PHENOMS: Inside linebacker Ahmad Brooks finished the season with a team-high 117 tackles, the most by a freshman in U.Va. history. Linebacker Charles McDaniel (109 stops in 1982) held the previous school mark for a rookie.

Brooks had 10 tackles for loss this season, tying the U.Va. freshman record set by outside linebacker Darryl Blackstock in 2002. Brooks led the Cavs with a career-best 12 stops against Pittsburgh in the Continental Tire Bowl. Redshirt freshman Kai Parham, who started eight of the final nine games alongside Brooks at inside linebacker, had 10 tackles and recovered a fumble late in the fourth quarter.

"Kai and Ahmad are very special players," defensive end Chris Canty said. "To be able to come into this defense and significantly contribute as freshmen is amazing to me."

Brooks was recently named to the Football Writers Association of America's freshman All-America team.

SWITCHING SIDES? James Terry, a standout linebacker for Fork Union Military Academy's postgraduate team in 2003, said U.Va.'s coaching staff has told him he'll probably play fullback in college. The 6-2, 220-pound Terry, who starred at linebacker and running back for Woodbridge High, said he doesn't care where he lines up at Virginia.

"I just want to get there," he said.

Terry, who signed with the Cavaliers last winter, met NCAA eligibility requirements coming out of Woodbridge. U.Va. officials, however, asked him to spend a year at prep school to strengthen his academic foundation.

Because of undisclosed personal matters, Terry didn't report back to FUMA as scheduled last week, but he said he'll resume classes there Monday. Military school has been difficult for him, Terry said, but he's determined to fulfill his obligation. "I've just got to stay focused," he said.

COMING ATTRACTION: Gretna High football star Vicqual Hall, who has committed to U.Va., recently was named The Associated Press' Group AA player of the year for 2003.

Hall, a junior, passed for 2,769 yards and 31 touchdowns. He also ran for 1,665 yards and 25 TDs to help the Hawks finish 14-0 and win the state Group AA, Division 3 title. Hall's 4,434 yards of total offense are a Virginia High School League record.

BACK TO THE FUTURE: Marques Hagans, who gained 12 yards on an end-around and caught three passes for 30 yards in the Tire Bowl, is officially a full-time quarterback again. Hagans, a rising junior, backed up Matt Schaub at QB the past two seasons but saw most of his action at wideout.

Even so, Hagans said, "I think I've learned a lot more mentally preparing for the games, as opposed to physically, this year. Just being able to be behind Matt again and watch the year he's had, to come back from the adversity he's faced, I think I've been able to learn a lot watching film with him and the coaches."

Hagans' goal is to replace Schaub as the starter. If someone else should win the job, however, Hagans didn't sound averse to playing wideout again.

"I think I'll always be a quarterback, but I'm a team player, so whatever helps the team and gives us the best chance to win," he said. - Jeff White
 

BC won't join ACC this year
Eagles forced to participate one more season in Big East before leaving conference
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Jan 14, 2004

Now that the ACC knows it will have 11 members, and not 12, in the 2004-05 school year, the conference can finish work on its overdue football schedule for'04.

The schedule should be released by the end of this month, ACC Assistant Commissioner Mike Finn said yesterday.

Boston College will not accompany Virginia Tech and Miami to the ACC this summer. BC will spend another lame-duck year in the Big East - which loses Tech and Miami on July 1 - and then join the ACC for 2005-06.

In October, Boston College accepted an invitation to become the ACC's 12th member. It wasn't clear then, however, when BC would be able to leave the Big East.

Officials from the ACC, Big East and Conference USA met last weekend in Nashville, Tenn. They tried but failed to strike a deal that would have allowed five Conference USA schools - Louisville, South Florida, Marquette, DePaul and Cincinnati - to join the Big East a year ahead of schedule. That would have enabled BC to become an ACC member in 2004-05.

"There are advantages to staying in the Big East and advantages to going to the ACC this year," Athletic Director Gene DeFilippo told The Boston Globe on Monday. "One of the advantages of staying is that, with Miami and Virginia Tech going to the ACC, it gives Boston College a very, very good shot of going to a New Year's Day bowl to play in either the Gator Bowl or a BCS bowl."

Conference USA wanted significant compensation for the TV and NCAA men's basketball tournament revenue it would lose if its five schools bolted for the Big East this year and not in '05.

"We just couldn't get it done," Big East Commissioner Michael Tranghese told The Globe. "There were a lot of issues involved."

The ACC also has learned that the NCAA will not allow the conference to stage a title game in football with fewer than 12 members. That means the ACC will hold its inaugural championship game in 2005.

"We had some hope that Boston College would join us in 2004, but never had that expectation," Commissioner John Swofford said in a statement last night. "Likewise, we had not really expected to have a football championship game as an 11-member conference but hoped the NCAA process might give us that opportunity."

For the 2004 football season, the ACC will use the scheduling model it unveiled at the conference's fall meeting in Charlottesville. The 11 teams will be split into two divisions, with Virginia, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, Duke and Miami in one, and Maryland, Clemson, N.C. State, Wake Forest and Florida State in the other.

Each team will play eight conference games. Virginia Tech will be home against Maryland, N.C. State, Virginia and Duke. The Hokies will travel to Wake Forest, Georgia Tech, North Carolina and Miami.

U.Va. will play host to Maryland, Clemson, UNC and Miami. In addition to playing in Blacksburg, the Cavaliers will visit FSU, Georgia Tech and Duke.

When Boston College joins the ACC in 2005, it will become Virginia Tech's "primary partner" and be added to the five-team division. U.Va.'s primary partner is Maryland.

Under the 12-member model for football, a team will play the other five teams in its division, plus its primary partner, every season. The other five teams will rotate onto its schedule, two every two years.