Outlook gets bleaker for Gillen, Cavs
By Jerry Ratcliffe / Daily Progress sports editor
January 20, 2005

COLLEGE PARK, Md.- Pete Gillen must be wondering how can it get much worse after Wednesday night’s fifth straight ACC loss, an 82-68 setback at Maryland.

Gillen’s Virginia team came to snowy College Park looking for some answers, hoping to snap out of its conference tailspin, but left town in worse shape than it arrived.

Another big loss

The coach’s day started out badly when he learned that starting senior forward Jason Clark was declared an academic casualty and will miss the rest of the season. He already knew that backup power forward Donte Minter had fractured a finger and wouldn’t be available.

Undaunted, Gillen believed his team had a reasonable chance to steal a big road win against the Terrapins. For at least one half, it looked like the Cavaliers might have a chance as they took a 41-40 halftime lead.

Without warning, Virginia imploded in the second half after stretching its lead to seven early on. It was the typical Wahoo second-half collapse as the Cavs suffered through myriad problems.

Their shooting touch abandoned them in the second half as they connected on only 7 of 31 attempts from the field, a measly 22.6 percent.

They couldn’t hold onto the ball, committing nine costly second-half turnovers, which led to 10 Terrapin points.

They made only one field goal over a 10-minute span and Virginia watched a five-point lead evaporate into an 11-point deficit.

UVa couldn’t seem to get a shot off and when it di, the shot was often rejected. Maryland, whose roster isn’t exactly dotted with seven-footers, swatted away 11 Cavalier shots. In its last four games, Virginia has had 45 shots blocked, most of them from inside the paint.

Defense? Still an issue. Maryland converted 48.4 percent of its second-half shots (15 of 31), meaning that all five of UVa’s conference opponents have converted no less than 47.6 percent of their field goal attempts in the second half.

Adding insult to injury, the Cavaliers have become inept at covering an inbounds play as Maryland scored three consecutive times in that situation as the Terps raced away to their 11th win in their last 12 home games against Virginia.

Second-half woes

As has been the case, Maryland blew out the Hoos in the second half, outscoring the visitors by 15 (42-27) during that span. The second half has been particularly troubling for the Wahoos against ACC teams, having been outscored by 17, 17, 15, 14 and 11 in those games.

Gillen said turnovers were the biggest issue in the second-half collapse Wednesday.

“It was bing, bang, boom,” Gillen said. “They weren’t pressing us. [Turnovers] came in transition and half-court. We made mistakes. We didn’t take care of the ball.”

Gillen admitted it was a game his team could have won, “but we let it slip through our fingers.”

Both literally and figuratively.

All this resulted in UVa’s sixth loss in its last nine games, and a miserable Oh-for-Five start in the ACC, the Cavs’ worst league start since Gillen’s first season.

One has to wonder if the Cavaliers can dig out of this hole and just how safe Gillen’s job may be if they don’t soon pull out of this tailspin.

If the theory is true that Gillen must return the Wahoos to the NCAA Tournament in order to keep his job, then his future appears bleak.

The worst record a league team could likely gain a berth with would be a 7-9 league record, which means the Cavs would have to go 7-4 the rest of the way.

Considering UVa’s inability to win on the road (10-41 in ACC games under Gillen, and 17 losses in its last 19 league road trips), then something needs to happen quickly.

Virginia’s next chance is a home game Saturday night against Clemson.

Cavaliers slide to 0-5
Terps use 24-5 second-half run to bury Virginia
By Andrew Joyner / Daily Progress staff writer
January 20, 2005

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The dreaded second-half meltdown was out there lurking and finally it surfaced to sink the Cavaliers once again.

Maryland, trailing by as many as seven early in the second half, responded with a decisive 24-5 run to send the Cavaliers to 0-5 in the ACC with an 82-68 decision Wednesday night at the Comcast Center.

Nik Caner-Medley had 26 points for the Terrapins (11-4, 2-2 ACC), who made a significant stride in recovering from their own poor ACC start.

Elton Brown led Virginia (9-6, 0-5 ACC) with 18 points despite making just 4 of 18 shots from the floor. Devin Smith had 17 and J.R. Reynolds added 12 for the Cavaliers (9-6, 0-5 ACC), who lost their fourth straight and have dropped each ACC contest by at least 11 points and by an average of 16.2 points.

“The big story was in the second half and we had a lot of turnovers, they had some baskets and we had trouble scoring,” said beleaguered Virginia coach Pete Gillen, who has repeated a similar line after each ACC loss. “We need consistency. This was a game we could have won but we let it slip through our hands.”

The loss completed a triumvirate of bad news Wednesday for the Cavaliers.

Prior to the game lost senior forward Jason Clark for the remainder of the season because of academic reasons and were also without reserve forward Donte Minter who broke a finger in his left hand last Friday. The announcement ends the career for Clark, who had also been suspended the first semester of last season for academic reasons. Clark, one of the team’s captains, averaged 6.7 points and 5.2 rebounds in playing 13 of 14 games this season.

“We found out before the game. That is disappointing,” said Gillen, whose team remains the only ACC school without a league win.

In each of its ACC contests this season, Virginia was ahead or within striking distance at halftime but faded rather quickly at the dawn of the second half.

This script had one major alteration as Virginia actually expanded a 41-40 halftime lead to a 49-42 advantage with 18:52 remaining after Sean Singletary connected on back-to-back treys.

For a split second, the Cavaliers appeared one the verge of reversing the recent trend but that was a very false hope.

“Man, we had it right there. It was there for us to grab but got out of reach,” Reynolds said.

Virginia still held a 53-51 advantage with 15:00 left in the contest but that was its last lead of the game. The Terps rattled off a 9-0 spurt and when Ibekwe converted a three-point play, it was a 60-53 Maryland advantage.

“It was bing, bang, boom. We kept turning the ball over, missed some shots and then they made theirs,” Gillen said.

Typically, that lead only grew as the Terps’ advantage expanded to it to 70-56 with 5:14 left to play. Virginia showed little resistance to the Maryland surge and only briefly cut the lead under double digits the rest of the way. At one point during that stretch, the Cavaliers went more than seven minutes without a field goal.

The Cavaliers shot just 22.6 percent and committed nine turnovers in the second half. The Terps also blocked 11 shots against the Cavaliers, another nagging trend besetting the team at the moment. Opponents have totaled 45 blocks against the Cavaliers in the last four games.

Virginia rallied for a nine-point first-half deficit to hold the 41-40 advantage at intermission.

The Terps led 32-23 when Ekene Ibekwe made one of two free throws with 7:45 left in the half.

The Cavaliers, however, responded with a 12-0 run and when Reynolds buried a trey off the break, they led 35-32 with 5:41 remaining.

The Cavaliers surrendered that advantage but ended the half with a mini six-point spurt to snare the lead. Smith paced Virginia with 15 points in the opening 20 minutes and that figure was matched by Caner-Medley for the Terps.

Terps add to Cavs' woes
Maryland blocks 11 UVa shots as the Cavaliers remain winless after five ACC contests.
By Doug Doughty
981-3129
The Roanoke Times

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Virginia must be approaching some sort of record for blocked shots.

Shots had blocked, that is. Seemingly oblivious to recent trends, the Cavaliers continued to take the ball to the hoop Wednesday night and were victimized by 11 Maryland blocks in an 82-68 Terrapins' victory at Comcast Center.

It was the fourth straight loss for Virginia, which dropped to 0-5 in the ACC, matching the worst start of the seven-year Pete Gillen era. All five of the losses have been by double figures.

"We've just got to continue with a set lineup," said Gillen, who learned earlier Wednesday that co-captain Jason Clark was academically ineligible for the remainder of the season. "We're not too far away."

Indeed, Virginia (9-6 overall) took advantage of a 12-0 run in grabbing a 41-40 halftime lead, and the Cavaliers stretched their lead to 49-42 following a pair of Sean Singletary 3-pointers and two Elton Brown free throws.

It was 51-46, in favor of Virginia, before the Cavaliers went 11 straight possessions without scoring from the field.

Virginia had four turnovers during the stretch and Jason Cain missed free throws. Mostly, it was an inability to get the ball to the basket that doomed the Cavaliers. UVa should have known better.

Opponents have blocked 51 Virginia shots in the past five games.

"I knew we were getting a lot of shots blocked," UVa sophomore J.R. Reynolds said. "I didn't know it was that many."

Senior center Elton Brown had a team-high 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Cavaliers - his ninth double-double of the season - but he was 4-for-18 from the field. Maryland blocked seven of his shots Wednesday night, and Brown has been victimized for 19 blocks in the past five games (28 for the season).

"We're getting the ball inside," Gillen said. "Elton is a terrific player, but he's not a high-walker."

Brown said Maryland surprised him with its shot-blocking prowess, but he didn't feel that the blocked shots were the difference in the game.

"That's part of basketball," said Brown, who went to the free-throw line 13 times, converting 10. "You're going to get dunked on, you're going to get crossed over, you're going to get scored on. That's part of the game. I don't think that's the reason we lost. Turnovers beat us."

The Cavaliers had 15 turnovers, including nine in the second half. Devin Smith, who has practice sparingly while rehabilitating a sprained ankle, had a career-high six turnovers but finished with his second double-double of the season, with 17 points and 10 rebounds.

Virginia outrebounded the Terps 46-39 but could not overcome 34.3 percent shooting from the field. UVa has shot as high as 40 percent from the field only once in the past five games.

"I really didn't know how many shots teams had been blocking," said Smith, who missed three games, "but I don't think we want to become tentative."

Maryland shot only 43.8 percent from the field, including a 3-for-14 night by junior point guard John Gilchrist, but junior forward Nik Caner-Medley continued his torrid play with a game-high 26 points. Caner-Medley had scored 35 points Saturday in an 80-69 victory over Temple.

The Terps (11-4, 2-2) defeated Virginia for the 11th time in their last 12 meetings in College Park."I knew we were getting a lot of shots blocked. I didn't know it was that many."

Going up . . . going down
Cavs' woes include just seven field goals in second half of loss
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
Jan 20, 2005
MARYLAND 82 UVA 68

COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Wait till next year? When the opponent is Virginia, that's not the appropriate rallying cry for other ACC basketball teams. This is more like it: Wait till the second half.

Second-half fades in conference games have become the trademark of Pete Gillen's seventh team at U.Va., and the trend continued last night against Maryland. The Cavaliers led by seven early in the second half, only to collapse yet again.

The Terrapins won going away, 82-68, before 17,960 at Comcast Center.

The loss drops the Cavaliers to 0-5 in ACC play for the first time since 1998-99, Gillen's first season in Charlottesville. In what might well have been his last visit to Comcast Center as Virginia's coach, Gillen saw his team shoot 22.6 percent from the floor and commit nine turnovers in the second half.

U.Va. made only seven field goals after intermission, and three came in the final 3:40, by which time Maryland was comfortably ahead.

"It was a game we could have won," Gillen said, "but we just let it slip through our hands."

Senior forward Devin Smith, still nursing a sore ankle, finished with 17 points, 10 rebounds, two assists, two steals and one blocked shot for Virginia (9-6 overall). But he also had six turnovers and scored only two points in the second half.

"He ran out of gas," Gillen said.

Senior center Elton Brown led the Cavs with 18 points and 10 rebounds, but he made only 4 of 18 field goal attempts. Moreover, seven of Brown's shots were blocked. Maryland (2-2, 11-4) finished with 11 blocks, becoming the third ACC opponent to reject at least 10 Virginia shots this season.

The Cavaliers' average margin of defeat in their ACC games: 16.2 points.

Junior forward Nik Caner-Medley, coming off a career-best 35-point performance against Temple, scored 26 for the Terps. Virginia continually left Caner-Medley open on the perimeter, and he buried 4 of 8 shots from 3-point range.

Neither team was at full strength. Maryland announced yesterday that key reserve D.J. Strawberry has a torn ACL and will miss the rest of the season. U.Va. announced last night that its best power forward, senior Jason Clark, won't play again this season because of academic issues.

"We're going to miss him a lot," sophomore guard J.R. Reynolds said.

The Cavaliers also were without reserve post player Donte Minter, who had surgery Monday to repair a fractured finger on his left (shooting) hand.

Even short-handed, though, Virginia had ample opportunity to beat the Terps for only the second time in their past 12 meetings in College Park. After trailing by nine in the first half, U.Va. led 41-40 at the break, and freshman point guard Sean Singletary opened the second half with a 3-pointer. Another Singletary trey made it 47-42, and then Brown hit two free throws to stretch Virginia's lead to 49-42 with 18:18 left.

But then came a flurry of turnovers and defensive breakdowns that let Maryland back in the game. Caner-Medley, uncovered on an inbounds play, sank a 3-pointer that made it 51-51 with 15:15 play. Virginia answered with two Brown free throws, then promptly surrendered nine straight points. Five came on inbounds plays by Maryland.

"We didn't communicate [on defense]," Gillen said.

In Clark's absence, Jason Cain, heretofore a seldom-used reserve, played 16 minutes, and the 6-10 sophomore from Philadelphia contributed seven points and four rebounds.

Virginia got little, however, from starting forward Gary Forbes. The 6-6 sophomore, who'd posted his first career double-double (17 points, 10 rebounds) Sunday at Duke, grabbed six boards last night but missed all five of his shots from the floor. Forbes fouled out with 45 seconds remaining.

 

Clark's U.Va. career over
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Jan 20, 2005

The news keeps getting worse for University of Virginia basketball coach Pete Gillen.

Senior Jason Clark. a team captain, will miss the rest of the season for academic reasons, U.Va. announced in a two-paragraph release distributed before last night's game at Maryland. And so ends a college career in which Clark showed great potential as a freshman but never came close to realizing that promise.

The 6-8, 240-pound power forward from Virginia Beach 12 games and averaged 6.7 points and 5.2 rebounds this season.

In the most memorable performance of his abbreviated final season, Clark scored a career-high 16 points and grabbed nine rebounds Jan. 5 in a double-overtime win over Western Kentucky. He scored on the final play of regulation to force OT.

Academic problems were a recurring issue with Clark, who was ineligible for the first semester in 2003-04.

An exceptional athlete, Clark started 47 games and averaged 4.6 points and 3.5 rebounds during his college career. He ranks fifth at U.Va. with 112 career blocked shots.

-- Jeff White
 

Terps rally by Virginia, win, 82-68
Emotional hosts ride Caner-Medley's 26, get lift from pained McCray; 'We have our confidence back'; Ibekwe hits 7 in 19-3 run as UM ends ACC skid; Cavs fall to 0-5 in league
By Jeff Zrebiec
Sun Staff
Originally published January 20, 2005

COLLEGE PARK - D.J. Strawberry, Maryland's sixth man, was on the bench in street clothes. Chris McCray was in so much pain an hour before tip-off that he didn't know if he'd be able to play. John Gilchrist suffered through an awful shooting night.

But once again, the Terps proved that they are at their best when confronted by a little adversity. Junior forward Nik Caner-Medley continued his torrid play with 26 points and McCray gave the Terps a lift with his effort and his defense as Maryland downed Virginia, 82-68, before an announced crowd of 17,950 last night at Comcast Center.

The Terps (11-4, 2-2 Atlantic Coast Conference), who fewer than 10 days ago were answering questions about the future of their season after blowout road losses to Wake Forest and North Carolina, put away Virginia with a 19-3 run that started about 5 1/2 minutes into the second half.

"We have our confidence back," said Gilchrist, who shot just 3-for-14 from the field, but did score 13 points, dish out seven assists and commit just one turnover. "We have guys that have really come off the bench and stepped up. It started in the second half of the Wake Forest game."

It was Maryland's 11th victory over the Cavaliers (9-6, 0-5) in the past 15 meetings, and the Terps also have beaten Virginia 11 of the past 12 times they've met in College Park.

Virginia, which led by a point at the half, got a team-high 18 points from senior Elton Brown, but the center was harassed, primarily by the Terps' Will Bowers, into 4-for-18 shooting from the field.

It also was Terps coach Gary Williams' 326th win at Maryland, tying him for fifth place among the league's all-time winningest coaches and fourth place for strictly league wins (134).

"I know it wasn't pretty, but it's not supposed to be," said Williams, whose team hosts North Carolina State on Sunday. "We had to get the win and we did. It was a good team effort. A lot of guys played well."

When he heard just hours before tip-off that Strawberry would miss the rest of the season with a knee injury, Caner-Medley took the news hard.

"Emotionally, it was very tough," said Caner-Medley, who shot 8-for-17 from the field and again played with the aggressiveness that he exhibited in his career-high 35-point effort against Temple on Saturday.

McCray, who was with Strawberry in the trainer's room on Tuesday night when the sophomore guard learned the extent of his injury, admitted that he arrived at the arena three hours before game time thinking that he probably wouldn't play either. The bruised tailbone that kept him out of the Temple game simply hurt that much.

However, he was in the starting lineup, and had 12 points and seven rebounds. It was his defense, though, that was especially critical for the Terps. McCray held Virginia's Devin Smith, who had 15 first-half points, to just two in the second half and he took a charge, landing on the sore tailbone.

"I just had to gut it out," said McCray, who did some light running before tip-off before telling Williams he would try to play. "I was dying, but I had to do what I had to do."

Added Caner-Medley: "The way he played tonight shows what kind of person and player he is. That's a tough dude right there. We need that kind of mentality on our team."

McCray and Bowers, who had three of Maryland's 11 blocks, tying a season high, buoyed a Terps defense that held the Cavaliers to 27 second-half points on 7-for-31 shooting.

At the 14:30 mark, Caner-Medley hit a jumper to tie the game at 53 and the Cavaliers would score only three points over the next nine minutes.

"We didn't take care of the ball and were a little careless," said Virginia coach Pete Gillen, whose team played without starter Jason Clark, who will miss the rest of the season because of academic issues. "We have some young guys in there at times, but that's no excuse."

With Gilchrist struggling to find his touch and freshman James Gist not even playing in the second half (Williams was displeased with how hard he played in the first half), Caner-Medley and Ekene Ibekwe shouldered most of the scoring burden in the Terps' 19-3 run that gave them a 70-56 lead with just over five minutes to play.

Ibekwe's struggles have been well-documented lately, but he scored seven straight points during the run and also blocked a shot. Then after Mike Jones knocked down a three-pointer, Ibekwe threw down a dunk on a ball that Bowers kept alive on the offensive glass.

Ibekwe finished with 12 points, six rebounds and two blocks.

"My emotion was up, my adrenaline was up and I just played hard," said Ibekwe, who claimed he was inspired by a pep talk from Strawberry before the game. "D.J. told me I play best when I play that way."

In closing out Virginia, the Terps benefited from some solid offensive execution down the stretch and also some good fortune.

Caner-Medley jumped out of bounds to save an errant pass and his desperation pass found a cutting McCray, who scored and was fouled. The three-point play gave Maryland a 75-61 lead, and the crowd started filtering out of Comcast Center.

"We've been positive ever since we lost those games on the road," Caner-Medley said. "That's in the past. I think we've proven ourselves over the last two games."

Terps Regroup to Overtake Cavs
Maryland Struggles In First Game Minus Injured Strawberry: Maryland 82, Virginia 68
By Eric Prisbell
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, January 20, 2005; Page D01

Chris McCray and D.J. Strawberry were together in Maryland's training room Tuesday when Strawberry was told he needed to undergo season-ending knee surgery.

At that moment, McCray, who was nursing a bruised tailbone that had kept him out of Saturday's game against Temple, knew he had to play against Virginia, healthy or not. McCray provided 28 minutes of all-around sound play last night, helping Maryland earn an 82-68 victory over struggling Virginia before 17,950 at Comcast Center.

Ekene Ibekwe slams in two points to help the Terrapins overcome a seven-point first half deficit at Comcast Center. (Joel Richardson -- The Washington Post)

_____From The Post_____
• Michael Wise: Maryland coach Gary Williams uses adversity to his advantage.
• D.J. Strawberry will miss the rest of the season with a torn ACL.

"We couldn't have had both of us sit out," said McCray, who wasn't cleared to play until less than an hour before the game.

Maryland (11-4, 2-2) received other inspired efforts in the absence of Strawberry, who tore the anterior cruciate ligament of his right knee in Monday's practice.

Nik Caner-Medley followed his 35-point game against Temple with 26 points.

Ekene Ibekwe was particularly aggressive, scoring 12 points and grabbing six rebounds. And McCray scored 12 points, collected seven rebounds and drew a key charge near midcourt.

But Strawberry's injury poses yet another challenge for a Maryland program looking to earn a 12th consecutive berth in the NCAA tournament.

The Terps already have been forced to deal with a humbling two-game road trip to North Carolina, in which they were outscored by a combined 49 points, and an apparent rift between Coach Gary Williams and star player John Gilchrist that now appears smoothed over.

Maryland players united last night when it was most needed. They wrapped arms around one another in the team huddle.

"When the game gets rough, sometimes players point fingers at each other and do their own thing," said Gilchrist. "But we needed to show that we're together."

The Cavaliers now are losers of four straight games and in a far more dire situation than Maryland. Virginia (9-6, 0-5) also played with a depleted roster after it was announced before the game that senior Jason Clark, who had started 12 games, would miss the remainder of the season because of academics.

Tuesday, Gilchrist gave a detailed scouting report of Virginia, saying the Cavaliers don't always play with discipline and sometimes try to "intimidate you. . . . You can't let their antics bring your level of play down." He expected Virginia to be competitive and then wilt, which is exactly what happened.

Maryland unleashed a 14-2 run midway through the second half and held Virginia standout Devin Smith, who scored 15 first-half points, to only two in the second half. McCray was one of the players who guarded Smith in the second half.

Virginia Coach Pete Gillen said Smith hasn't been able to practice much because of a sprained ankle, which has led to early fatigue in games.

The Cavaliers, though, didn't seem intimidated by the Comcast Center crowd. At the start of the second half, freshman Sean Singletary made back-to-back three-pointers during a run that gave the Cavaliers a seven-point lead.

Running back down court, Singletary raised his hands and glanced into the crowd.

But Maryland wore down Virginia. By the time Travis Garrison emphatically blocked a layup attempt by T.J. Bannister, the Terps' lead had swelled to double digits and Virginia appeared to have little left.

"We just fell apart in the second half," said Singletary, whose team shot 22.6 percent after halftime.

Maryland's season clearly took a sudden and dramatic turn yesterday, when the Terps lost their best on-ball defender in Strawberry. Afterward, the sophomore said the news was a "shock" and that, "the way I was feeling, I thought I'd be able to play tonight."

The victory did little to offset the shock to the team. For one game, as Gilchrist said, the Terps "pulled through." But the future is uncertain.

Said Williams, "It's going to be a big challenge."
 

Without Clark, Gillen doesn't stand a chance
Joey Mancini, Cavalier Daily Associate Editor
COLLEGE PARK, Md.

The road toward an NCAA tournament berth for Virginia continued to crumble yesterday after an afternoon announcement that tri-captain Jason Clark will not play the remainder of the year for academic reasons. As a senior, Clark's collegiate basketball career effectively ended just nine games into the 2004-2005 campaign.

"We just have to adjust and get used to playing without him," senior captain Devin Smith said. "We have to take it as if he got injured and other players have to step up."

Following the loss of Clark, Virginia must fill two major holes -- game performance and the daunting problem of replacing a tested leader.

With five conference losses, Virginia lies deep in the cellar of the ACC, peering ahead to the remainder of their schedule with an increasingly bleak outlook for the postseason.

After last night's loss to Maryland, players and coaches were similarly quiet and apparently distraught at hearing of Clark's exodus earlier in the day.

"It's frustrating," Virginia coach Pete Gillen said of Clark's situation. "It's one of those things -- you have to deal with it."

In the coming semester, you may find Jason Clark at the Dell or Slaughter, as the powerhouse of an intramural basketball team or impressing onlookers with two-handed dunks. Now a former member of the basketball team, Clark is simply a student at Virginia.

Sad is the only way to describe Clark's demise. It is sad for a student, with the uncertain road to graduation considerably extended or possibly ended. It is sad for a player, whose talent on the court should have contributed to his success off of it. Finally, it is sad for a team, in the middle of their season, to lose a captain.

It will not be determined until after the months ahead, but the exodus of Clark will spell a domino effect for the rest of Virginia basketball.

Without Clark, the Cavaliers will have overwhelming problems winning in a difficult conference. If Virginia does not finish in the top-seven ACC teams, they will not earn an NCAA berth. And if the Cavaliers do not make the national tournament in March, then the community can count on the replacement of coach Gillen for next season.

Ultimately, however, this domino effect could end in a happy ending for most parties involved.

In the years ahead, Jason Clark may earn a diploma and a coaching job somewhere as result of a change in focus from hoops to homework. Players receiving playing time in the place of Clark may develop into stars where they would not had they sat on the bench. And Virginia may hire a new coach who will return the basketball team to glory in the John Paul Jones Arena.

Yet, of all situations, Gillen's is almost guaranteed to end negatively. The final domino of Clark's departure could very well be Gillen's replacement. Here, the reality of a coach's challenging responsibility for his players on and off the court is exemplified with this very sad result.

You can bet old Pete wishes Clark could have brought the same intensity to the classroom that he brought to the basketball court.