Miller to enter NFL Draft
Blackstock mulling decision to turn professional
Jay Jenkins / Daily Progress staff writer
January 11, 2005

The player known in Virginia football circles as “Big Money” is apparently ready for the big time.

Heath Miller, a tight end, announced on Monday that he would forego his final year of eligibility at UVa to enter the NFL’s upcoming draft in April.

Miller may or may not be the only Virginia player headed for the draft.

Virginia linebacker Darryl Blackstock was weighing his decision to enter the draft, according to sources.

Miller, who was named the winner of the Mackey Award, given to the top tight end in college football, earlier in December said the decision was “difficult.”

“As you know, I have had a decision to make as to whether to declare myself eligible for the NFL Draft, or stay with the Virginia Cavaliers for another exciting season,” said Miller through a released statement. “This has been a very difficult decision for me, however I believe I am prepared as a player and as a person to enter the 2005 NFL Draft. The past four years of my career at UVa have prepared me for the opportunity to play at the next level.”

Virginia coach Al Groh, who coached 13 years in the NFL, supported Miller’s decision.

“There is a significant difference between a player’s being ready to be drafted and that of a player’s being ready to play well in the NFL. Heath clearly fits into both categories,” Groh said. “We fully support his decision to start his NFL career. Heath is one of the best players to have ever played at Virginia.

“He has done a great deal for our team and we appreciate and admire him. All Virginia fans will enjoy following his NFL career.”

NFL Draft experts have listed Miller as a late first- to second-round draft pick.

Miller was a three-year starter at Virginia and rewrote the school and ACC record book for tight ends. The Swords Creek native set conference and school record for career receptions (144), yards (1,703) and touchdowns (20).

For his career, Miller is ranked second in school history in receptions, fourth in TD receptions and seventh in receiving yards.

The deadline for players to declare for the draft is Jan. 15.

Two Virginia players have made their decisions public.

Virginia offensive lineman D’Brickashaw Ferguson said before the Cavaliers played in the MPC Computers Bowl in Boise, Idaho, that he would return for a senior season.

Sophomore linebacker Ahmad Brooks told the Richmond Times-Dispatch from his home on Sunday that he would return next season as well.

Blackstock hinted to reporters before the bowl game that he would return for a senior season, but has since elected to weigh his options for turning pro.

Groh is at the American Football Coaches Association’s annual convention in Louisville, Ky., and could not be reached for comment.

Diaz is a driving force
BY GEORGE RICHARDS
grichards@herald.com

After Sunday's 67-66 loss to UM, N.C. State coach Herb Sendek was asked whether Miami could have beaten his team without Guillermo Diaz.

Sendek, looking tired and worn out after fighting the flu all week, deadpanned: ``I mean they had him, so it didn't matter.''

The look on Sendek's face, however, gave his true answer: Not a chance.

Diaz, Miami's hard-driving guard, set the tone for Miami's victory against the Wolfpack at the sold-out Convocation Center.

The former Miami Christian star who played on Puerto Rico's junior national volleyball team scored all 26 of his points in the final 28:55 of the game.

When he scored his first point, UM trailed by seven; he scored Miami's last point on a free throw, which game the Hurricanes a four-point lead with 23.5 seconds left.

''Our team started slow,'' Diaz said. ``I made a mistake early and coach took me out, but when I came back, I didn't want to let the team down. I came at them hard.

``When there's a big crowd, that gives me a lot of energy. It allows me to do a lot of things because it feels good when they come to see us.''

It could have been Diaz's signature game in his two years with Miami, although his play Thursday night fueled the Canes' comeback at Georgia Tech.

Diaz came into Sunday's game second in scoring behind Robert Hite, although you wouldn't guess that by the crowd's reaction every time Diaz's name was called.

Diaz, a Big East All-Rookie team selection last year, has become the heart and soul of what has become a very exciting Miami team.

''He's played well all year,'' first-year Miami coach Frank Haith said. ``He's such a tremendous athlete, now he's starting to be a consistent player and do all the little things. Even early in the game, he guarded [leading scorer Julius] Hodge and did a great job.

``He's starting to play with a lot of confidence and a lot of poise.''

• N.C. State's Hodge was hobbled by an ankle injury and missed the Wolfpack's loss to West Virginia last week. He returned Sunday, but Sendek said Hodge was suffering from a stiff back, likely from overcompensating for the ankle.

Hodge, the 2003-04 ACC Player of the Year, scored State's first points for a 2-0 lead but only ended with 12.

• The Wolfpack hit six of its first eight three-point attempts -- including six straight in the opening half.

N.C. State shot 64 percent from beyond the arc in the first half and hit 12 of 24 in the game.

• Players and coaches from both teams left the arena with a small souvenir, a coin marking Miami's first home ACC game. Fans also received a large replica ticket marking the occasion.

• Among those sitting courtside Sunday were Heat owner Micky Arison and UM baseball coach Jim Morris.

The Hurricanes' baseball team opens practice today.

VanGorder going to Jaguars; RB coach Rucker to Texas
By STEVE WYCHE
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 01/10/05

Athens -- Tough as it may be for Bulldog Nation to fathom, it's been a matter of when -- not if -- Georgia defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder would get an opportunity to move on to bigger and better things.

The clock on his tenure at Georgia expired Monday, when it was announced VanGorder was leaving to become linebackers coach with the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars. Georgia coach Mark Richt immediately picked his successor, promoting secondary coach Willie Martinez, 41, to replace VanGorder, 45.

Running backs coach Ken Rucker also left to take a similar position at the University of Texas. He leaves behind an deep, talented well of tailbacks for the security of better retirement benefits, which were more important to him since, at 53, he said he felt he is in the twilight of his coaching career.

"I'm thankful for the job those guys did," Richt said.

Until Monday, running backs coach Tony Pierce had been the only assistant to leave Richt's staff. Richt said candidates wanting to replace VanGorder and Rucker have besieged him before either assistant had left their offices.

Richt left for the American Football Coaches Association convention in Louisville Monday night, where he expected to be inundated with resumes, smiles and handshakes.

Richt said he'd take his time before making his hires, but he planned to have someone in place by national signing day Feb. 2. Along those lines, the departures of VanGorder and Rucker come at a crucial juncture of recruiting. At least four top prospects are scheduled to take their official visits to Athens this weekend and Richt said he and his remaining staff have to be aggressive in assuring players who have issued non-binding commitments and are considering Georgia that nothing with the overall program will change.

He also said the staff has to convince prospects from being swayed by negative recruitment by rival schools that he expects to surface with the coaches' departures.

"We're in a business where people are going to look for anything to cause unrest," Richt said. "I feel very stable where we are right now."

As for VanGorder, the jump to the NFL was something he said could help him reach the head coaching ranks with more credibility than he established at Georgia, where he won the Broyles Award as the nation's top assistant in 2003. VanGorder, whose name has surfaced for several college head coaching openings the last two years, helped shape defenses that were among the country's best in points allowed and overall play.

"There will be a perception that I'm leaving Georgia for a position job in professional football. 'Why would you do that?' " VanGorder said. "It's rather obvious. There's not a lot of defensive coordinators in college football getting jobs as defensive coordinators in the NFL unless you're fortunate enough to follow your coach from college football. This is a progression that needs to be followed.

"The landscape has changed the way college presidents and athletic directors are hiring head football coaches. We see the success of a Pete Carroll [Southern California], for instance. At this time in college football, there is a feeling the combination of the NFL and college experience could be beneficial."

VanGorder is believed to have signed a three-year deal that could pay him a tiered salary that could average $250,000 annually -- $40,000 more a year than he was being paid at Georgia. Georgia made a similar offer to retain him but the NFL's potential benefits were too great, he said.

VanGorder signed a three-year contract before this season at Georgia worth $210,000 a year, making him the Bulldogs' highest-paid assistant.

The decision to replace VanGorder with Martinez came instantly to Richt, who almost named Martinez defensive coordinator over VanGorder in 2001 when Richt came to Georgia from Florida State. Martinez was a former teammate of his at Miami and had been VanGorder's boss in 1995 and '96 when both were at Central Florida.

"I'm very humbled and excited to get started," Martinez said. "I'm just a different guy up front in the room and a different lead. The philosophy, the scheme, the type of defense we want to continue to build and play is going to be the same."

At small school, a big-time coach
College basketball: Wake Forest's Skip Prosser has come a long way since he took Loyola to the NCAA tournament.

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The pachyderm in question has taken on a different context, but the riddle regarding enormous tasks remains operable in the world according to Skip Prosser.

How do you eat an elephant?

One bite at a time.

Prosser posted that inspiration in his office at Loyola College 11 years ago, and he has dusted it off at Wake Forest. Then, it was an allusion to the wildly improbable, the NCAA tournament. Now, the imagery visualizes the daily grind required to aspire to that which goes unspoken.

"We don't talk about trying to win the national championship," Prosser said. "All the things people are saying about us, what's going to happen in March, what's going to happen in April ... we're just trying to take another bite out of the elephant every day."

The fourth-ranked Demon Deacons will try to take a bite out of Maryland tonight at the Lawrence Joel Coliseum. For four seasons under the coaching hand of Prosser, they have gnawed at the generations-old binds that tie most of Tobacco Road's consciousness to three other Atlantic Coast Conference teams.

Prosser spent 16 years in a pretty good college basketball town in Ohio, but found a different ambience here, where Wake Forest has watched wistfully as Duke, North Carolina and N.C. State have combined to win eight NCAA titles.

"The ACC," Prosser says, "has been inculcated in people's lives, not that everybody in Winston-Salem is a dyed-in-the-wool Wake Forest fan. We're dealing with Duke fans, Carolina grads, State grads. In Cincinnati, people tell you where they went to high school. You don't have a very long conversation with anyone in this area without them telling you where they went to college.

"I wasn't in Baltimore long enough to know which connection they make there."

Too short a stay

Prosser spent enough time at Loyola to make history, not absorb it, a twist for a man who coached ninth-grade basketball as a fine-print item when he signed on as a high school history teacher in 1971. He got the Wake Forest job off his work at Xavier, where nine years as an assistant and seven as the head coach were sandwiched around one incredible winter at Loyola.

In 1993-94, Prosser stopped at Charles Street, got some fifth-year seniors eligible and brought the Greyhounds a berth in the NCAA tournament off three wins in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament. Loyola has combined to win that many times in 14 other MAAC tournaments, and two of those came in play-in games to the quarterfinal draw.

It was the Greyhounds' only winning season in the past 17.

No similar miracles were required when Prosser came to Wake Forest, where the program wasn't broken, just in need of an adjustment on the recruiting trail.

Dave Odom lamented the national reputations of Duke and North Carolina, threw in his ACC towel in April 2001 and moved to South Carolina. Wake's high-water mark remains the 1962 Final Four. The Demon Deacons came close in 1996 with Tim Duncan, the best player ever out of the Caribbean, as Odom developed obscure talent and steered clear of McDonald's All-Americans.

Prosser dived into that field.

"We're very stubborn," he said. "We try to recruit the best players we can. We're going to recruit those players until they tell us no."

Staying close to home

Two years ago, the best prospect in the state was a slick guard from a high school 10 minutes from the Wake Forest campus. In decades past, a player like Chris Paul would have headed to Chapel Hill. This time, he remained in the neighborhood and is a contender for national Player of the Year.

North Carolina also wanted junior center Eric Williams, who's from a Raleigh suburb. Justin Gray, Paul's running mate, is a junior out of Charlotte. The top four scorers are from the state.

"They wanted to do something different," Prosser said, "something that hadn't been done before."

Wake Forest wouldn't be this stable if not for a seamless transition from the Odom regime, which signed the senior class that includes Taron Downey, Jamaal Levy and Vytas Danelius. As sophomores, they went 13-3 and finished first in the ACC regular season.

Last year, the Demon Deacons got Prosser his first trip to the Sweet 16. With everyone back, Wake Forest was No. 2 in the preseason and assumed the top spot for the first time in its history on Nov. 22. The sensation lasted nine days and was destroyed by Illinois in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge.

"I trust my guys implicitly," Prosser said of Paul, Gray and sixth man Downey in the backcourt. "I liken it to a quarterback in football. You can have the best defense, a great offensive line and tremendous special teams play, but if the quarterback throws five interceptions, it doesn't matter. I feel very comfortable with all three of those guys."

Combating coziness, Prosser has disciplined five players for a series of minor offenses. When the effort wasn't good enough against Elon last month, he damaged a locker room door.

His players are accustomed to dealing with a 54-year-old original - Prosser went to college to become a seaman.

Instead of spending college summers working camps in the Poconos, Prosser docked in Barcelona and Rio de Janeiro on working cruises out of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy. He works at one of America's best golf colleges but doesn't play. A voracious reader, Prosser offers references from Davy Crockett and William Faulkner to Genghis Khan and Elmer Gantry.

"I'm sure there are still some things they [his players] walk away from and are too polite to say, 'What are you talking about?' That's OK," Prosser said. "Sometimes, the best word I can think of to describe something has more than two syllables. Make them look it up."

Staying put at Wake

Arizona State, Notre Dame, Rutgers, Seton Hall and South Carolina are among the programs that have pursued Prosser. After Year 2 at Wake, he flirted with Pittsburgh, but the appeal of his hometown was negated by the chance to coach Paul and a renegotiated 10-year contract worth a reported $1 million a year.

That April 2003 soap opera played out in public, against Prosser's persona. When Loyola somehow became his first NCAA team, he leaned back on the scorer's table and soaked in the scene. If Wake Forest ever won a national title, he would not run around looking for someone to hug, a la the late Jim Valvano.

"There are no airs about him," Wake Forest athletic director Ron Wellman said. "He fits in well here. He's told our students over and over: This isn't his team, it's theirs. He's changed the environment at our home games drastically, tripled the number of students, 800 to 2,400, at our games."

Prosser has spent his entire college coaching career at small, private institutions. With 3,600 undergraduates, Wake Forest is slightly larger than Loyola, and he works in one of the smallest NCAA tournament-host cities.

"The people are exceedingly friendly," Prosser said. "I hope this is the one place where the friendliness ratio is not in direct proportion to your winning percentage."

Miller opts for NFL, Brooks to stay at UVa
By Andy Bitter / Lynchburg News & Advance
January 11, 2005

Virginia junior tight end Heath Miller declared for the 2005 NFL Draft on Monday, one day after teammate Ahmad Brooks said he will return for another season of college.

"This has been a very difficult decision for me, however, I believe I am prepared as a player and as a person to enter the 2005 NFL Draft," Miller said in a press release. "The past four years of my career at UVa have prepared me for the opportunity to play at the next level. ?

"I am proud to have been a part of Virginia football for the past four years, and I will surely be proud to be a part of the Virginia football family for the rest of my life."

Brooks, meanwhile, told the Richmond Times-Dispatch in a phone interview Sunday night that he is returning for another year of college.

A second-team All-American and Butkus Award finalist as the nation's top linebacker, the sophomore linebacker is the third high-profile underclassmen to announce his return to UVa next season. Offensive tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson and outside linebacker Darryl Blackstock have said they are staying.

"It was kind of a hard decision, but I wanted to stay in school," Brooks told the Times Dispatch over the phone from his family's home in Woodbridge. "I felt I needed to improve on a couple things before I entered the NFL."

Miller, an all-ACC selection and unanimous All-American, set ACC records for touchdowns (20), receptions (144) and receiving yards (1,703) by a tight end in three years as a starter.

He won the Mackey Award as the nation's top tight end this season after catching 41 passes for 541 yards and five touchdowns. His 144 career catches were second on UVa's all-time reception list.

"There is a significant difference between a player's being ready to be drafted and that of a player's being ready to play well in the NFL. Heath clearly fits into both categories," Virginia head coach Al Groh said.

"We fully support his decision to start his NFL career. Heath is one of the best players to have ever played at Virginia. He has done a great deal for our team and we appreciate and admire him. All Virginia fans will enjoy following his NFL career."

Miller is the fifth Virginia player to turn pro with eligibility remaining. The last was Tavon Mason, who entered the NFL Draft after the 2001 season. Other Cavaliers to do so early were Marcus Wilson (1989), Herman Moore (1990) and Ronde Barber (1996).

Miller, who redshirted in 2001 and is on track to graduate with a degree in sociology this May, is expected to be the first tight end taken in April's draft, likely in the first round.

Brooks, an all-ACC selection, led UVa with 90 tackles and had 10 tackles for loss and 6? sacks. He was projected to be a high first-round selection by ESPN draft guru Mel Kiper Jr.

The 20-year-old Brooks is eligible for the draft because he is three years removed from high school, having graduated from C.D. Hylton High in 2002. He spent a semester at Hargrave Military Academy in the fall of 2002 before enrolling at UVa in January 2003.

Brooks, whose father Perry was a defensive lineman for the Washington Redskins, thinks he has something to prove next season.

"As far as playing linebacker ? I don't feel like I've showed the world enough," he said. "I don't really feel I've lived up to the hype yet."

Miller to exit U.Va. early
All-America tight end calls decision to enter draft 'very difficult'
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
Jan 11, 2005

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Ahmad Brooks says he's staying at the University of Virginia, and Darryl Blackstock and D'Brickashaw Ferguson are expected back next season, too. But another U.Va. football star with eligibility remaining, All-America tight end Heath Miller, announced last night he plans to enter the up- coming NFL draft.

A three-year starter, the 6-5 255-pounder ranks as perhaps the finest tight end in ACC history. He holds school and conference career records for receptions (144), receiving yards (1,703) and touchdown catches (20) by a tight end. He's second at Virginia in career receptions (any position).

Miller, who redshirted in 2001, is on track to graduate in May with a bachelor's degree in sociology. In a statement, Miller called his decision to head early to the NFL "very difficult" but said the "past four years of my career at U.Va. have prepared me for the opportunity to play at the next level."

The former Honaker High star leaves the program with the blessing of U.Va. coach Al Groh, who spent 13 seasons on NFL staffs. Miller is likely to be the first tight end selected in April.

"There is a significant difference between a player's being ready to be drafted and that of a player's being ready to play well in the NFL. Heath clearly fits into both categories," Groh said in a statement. "We fully support his decision to start his NFL ca- reer."

In 2001, Miller came to U.Va. from Swords Creek in Russell County. He entered Groh's program as a quarterback but, while redshirting his first season, moved to tight end. He claimed a starting spot in 2002 and was named a freshman All-American. He made the all-ACC first team his sophomore and junior seasons.

In 2004, Miller received the Mackey Award, given annually to the nation's top tight end, and was a unanimous first-team All-American, only the second in U.Va. history.

As a sophomore, Miller had 70 receptions for 835 yards, both records for an ACC tight end. In Virginia's regular-season finale that year, Miller caught 13 passes for 145 yards in a win over Virginia Tech.

He led the Cavaliers in receiving this season with 41 catches for 541 yards and five TDs.

"Heath is one of the best players to have ever played at Virginia," Groh said. "He has done a great deal for our team, and we appreciate and admire him."

Miller said: "I am proud to have been a part of Virginia football for the past four years, and I will surely be proud to be a part of the Virginia football family for the rest of my life."

 

Top U.Va. recruit reneges
Linebacker chooses Oklahoma after initial commitment to Cavs
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Jan 11, 2005

The University of Virginia football team has lost one of its most highly regarded recruits for 2005.

Lamont Robinson, a 6-2, 225-pound linebacker from Salem High in south New Jersey, announced yesterday at his school that he'll sign with Oklahoma next month. Robinson committed to the Cavaliers in June - "They had everything I could ask for," he said at the time - but later re-opened his recruitment and visited other schools.

He was projected to play inside linebacker in Virginia's 3-4 defense.

Robinson also seriously considered Georgia before choosing Oklahoma. Other schools that offered him scholarships included Ohio State, Michigan and Miami (Fla.).

Salem High coach David Lindenmuth said yesterday that he believes U.Va. was the "right fit" for Robinson, but that the tradition and recent success of perennial power Oklahoma proved decisive.

"It was nothing on Virginia's part," Lindenmuth said. "Their coaches were great." - Jeff White

ACC NOTES
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Jan 11, 2005

TAKE THAT: At his postgame press conference Saturday night at Alexander Memorial Coliseum, Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt sat down in front of the microphone and smiled.

"I probably shouldn't do this," Hewitt said, "but . . . Not bad for a team that doesn't play hard."

The Yellow Jackets, whom an Atlanta newspaper columnist had criticized for what he perceived as a lack of effort, had just routed Virginia 82-69. Georgia Tech blocked 14 shots, outrebounded the Cavaliers 54-44 and held them to 29.7 percent accuracy from the floor.

Next up for the eighth-ranked Jackets (2-0, 11-2) is a more daunting assignment: a game tomorrow night at third-ranked North Carolina (2-1, 13-1).

The Tar Heels are coming off an awesome performance in which they crushed then-No. 22 Maryland 109-75 at Chapel Hill, N.C.

"We felt very good, to say the least, after the Maryland game Saturday, but we realize it's just one game," UNC coach Roy Williams said. "We're trying not to get as caught up in it as our fans are doing."

Jackets reserve Ra'Sean Dickey, who had 13 points, five rebounds, two blocks and a steal in 13 minutes against U.Va., injured his knee in the second half, but the 6-9 freshman is expected to play at UNC. Georgia Tech's all-ACC guard, B.J. Elder, IS sidelined with a hamstring injury.

WISE GUY: On yesterday's ACC coaches' teleconference with reporters, the moderator asked Maryland's Gary Williams for an opening statement.

"Well, things are going really well," Williams said.

He paused for effect before adding, "I'm just kidding."

The Terrapins (1-1, 9-3), still reeling from their loss in Chapel Hill, are back on Tobacco Road to face another ACC giant. Maryland plays at fourth-ranked Wake Forest (2-0, 13-1) tonight.

Wake coach Skip Prosser said Maryland is much better than it looked against UNC.

WELCOME TO THE BIG TIME: In his first ACC game, U.Va. freshman point guard Sean Singletary had the unenviable task of facing Wake Forest's Chris Paul. In his second, Singletary was matched up against Georgia Tech's Jarrett Jack.

Singletary has great promise, but Paul and Jack are two of the nation's premier point guards. Against Wake, Singletary had six assists, three turnovers, two points, no rebounds and no steals. Against Georgia Tech, he totaled six points, five rebounds, four assists, four steals and two turnovers.

"He played against two superstar point guards," Gillen said. "Any freshman's going to have growing pains with that.

PERTURBED: Clemson coach Oliver Purnell takes his Tigers to Florida State tomorrow night and to Virginia Tech on Saturday. Clemson still is looking for its first ACC victory after losing 103-68 at home to Wake Forest three days ago.

The loss was the Tigers' worst at Littlejohn Coliseum, which opened in 1968. It was Clemson's most one-sided defeat at home since a 40-point loss to N.C. State 51 years ago. Wake guard Justin Gray scored 25 of his 31 points in the first half. He hit five 3-pointers in the first 4½ minutes.

"Wake is awfully good, and they deserved to win and win in a big way," Purnell said. "I'm concerned with how we reacted in the first half to some adversity. Part of it was Gray shooting it so well. It seemed to take the wind out of our sails.

"It's important that we go back and analyze that game, that we go back and address basic things we need for our team to do well."

ACCOLADES: Miami guard Guillermo Diaz is the conference's player of the week. A 6-2 sophomore, Diaz averaged 26.5 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals against Georgia Tech and N.C. State.

The ACC's rookie of the week is Georgia Tech freshman Anthony Morrow, whose role has increased since B.J. Elder injured a hamstring. Morrow, a 6-5 swingman, averaged 13 points in the Yellow Jackets' victories over Miami and Virginia.

LONG TIME COMING: When Duke guard Daniel Ewing made a 3-pointer in the first half against Temple on Saturday, he ended a streak of 16 misses dating to Dec. 12. Ewing, a senior, hit three more treys in the second half and led unbeaten Duke with 24 points.

"I had been struggling a little bit, and it was just my time to lead the team and make those plays," Ewing told reporters.

Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski told reporters after the game, "The last few days, our teams has focused on making sure [Ewing] gets a fresh start. It's been like, 'Look, you're the heart of our team. Start new.' And he did."

FIT FOR KING: Jeff King, a tight end on Virginia Tech's football team, has joined the basketball team, coach Seth Greenberg announced. King, a junior from Pulaski, began practicing yesterday and will be in uniform when the Hokies host Bethune-Cookman tomorrow. - Mike Harris and Jeff White