Shields, Smith commit to Virginia
Cavs gain 6-foot-5 tight end from Boston and 270-pound nose tackle from Raleigh, N.C.
By Jerry Ratcliffe / Daily Progress sports editor
January 23, 2006

The next-to-last recruiting weekend of the month was productive for Virginia's football program as the Cavaliers gained two important commitments on Sunday, boosting their overall total to 24 as the Feb. 1 signing date draws nearer.
Jack Shields, a 6-foot-5, 255-pound tight end from Boston College High School in Massachusetts, and Gavin Smith, a 6-3, 270 nose tackle from Raleigh, N.C., both announced they will play for the Cavaliers.

Smith, who had committed to N.C. State early in the recruiting process but later changed his mind, had narrowed his choices to Steve Spurrier's South Carolina program and UVa as he headed to Charlottesville. It didn't take him long to make a decision.

"When I came here I was feeling pretty strong about South Carolina," Smith told The Daily Progress on Sunday afternoon. "I knew I needed to take this visit just to be sure, so that I came here and saw it and made a good decision."

Once he stepped foot on Wahoo soil, it was all over.

"Things just changed," Smith said. "I liked it. I even went to a store and bought a pair of orange cords."

A three-star prospect as rated by Rivals.com, Smith was ranked the No. 43 defensive tackle in the country and the No. 13 overall prospect at any position in the state of North Carolina. With a 320-pound bench and 5.0 speed, one recruiting analyst said that he's a good fit for Virginia's 3-4 defense. A strong heavyweight wrestler (state runner-up as a junior and 7-1 so far this year), he's a powerful athlete "with a little mean streak."

For Shields, things were a little different. He was attracted to Vanderbilt early in the recruiting process, but had such a good senior season that Virginia, Boston College, West Virginia and other schools offered him late. In fact, the Cavaliers just recently offered him a scholarship.

"When I arrived at Virginia, I pretty much knew I was going to commit here," Shields told The Daily Progress on Sunday night. "It wasn't even close between the two schools. I had considered Boston College a little, but that campus is only about 15 minutes from my high school, so it would have been like going to high school again for another four years."

Shields played tight end and defensive end for BC High School and caught around 25 passes and scored six TDs. Defensively he had nine sacks.

Both Shields and Smith spent an extensive amount of time with Cavalier players on Friday and Saturday in addition to meeting with Groh, touring the stadium, and taking in an academic presentation.

Their time with players convinced both that UVa was their future.

"At South Carolina, I hung out mostly with my host and that was it," Smith said. "But all of Virginia's players hung out with us. They all hung out together like a big family. They're cool guys."

Shields agreed.

"I fell in [with] the players," Shields said. "They were all great to us. And then Coach Groh was an NFL head coach. If you put those two factors together, it doesn't get much better than that."

Shields said he was lying in his bed Saturday night, thinking that he was going to commit, but contemplated waiting until he returned to Boston to make it official. He changed his mind on Sunday.

"I knew that Virginia only had a few scholarships left, so I didn't want to lose my spot," the big tight end said. "Coach Groh told me to take a few hours to think it over, and so I left his room. When I stepped off the elevator, I told myself 'You know what? Why not just do it now?'"

Shields immediately returned to Groh's room and told him the good news.

"Coach was excited and so were all the other coaches, so I couldn't help but be excited too," Shields said. "All the coaches were clapping when Coach Groh told them."

Shields said that coaches from all the schools liked his size and his experience. He played wide receiver as a freshman and sophomore and some as a junior, although he was more just like a tight end that split out.

"I know how to get open as a wide receiver, which should help me as a tight end," he said. "Four years of blocking will only help me. I went from 225 pounds to 230, then 240 as a junior before going to 255 as a senior and outgrowing the wide receiver position."

Meanwhile, Smith said he played defensive tackle as a freshman and sophomore, then both ways as a junior before becoming exclusively a defensive tackle as a senior at Wakefield High School.

"Coach Groh talked about my toughness a lot," Smith said. "He said he saw that when he watched my game film and really liked it."

At Virginia, Smith will play nose tackle and hopes to earn playing time as a true freshman.

"I'm planning on going in and doing all I can to get on the field," he said. "I've been told by a few people that I have good feet, which will only help. Coach Groh and [defensive coordinator] Coach [Mike] London went over tape with me, explaining to me how I could play defensive tackle in some sets and as nose tackle in others."

Smith said he is completely satisfied with his choice this time and will not be looking elsewhere. He said the main reason he reneged on his early commitment to N.C. State was that he felt the school was not a good fit for him.

"I looked a little bit deeper into the school part and realized I was overlooking that," Smith said. "It was a tough decision but I had to look past football. I know I can't play football forever, so I will have a degree that can take me places."

 

Byars enjoying success at Vandy
Former Cavalier swingman averaging 11.5 points, 4.1 rebounds
By Whitelaw Reid / Daily Progress staff writer
January 23, 2006

Listen to Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings talk about Derrick Byars for a few minutes and one thing becomes quite clear: Byars would have been a perfect fit in Virginia coach Dave Leitao's system.
The 6-foot-7 swingman played two years at Virginia under former Cavaliers coach Pete Gillen before transferring to Vanderbilt. The Memphis native averaged 7.5 points for the Cavs as a sophomore before he seemed to fall out of favor with Gillen.

Vanderbilt was the happy beneficiary.

"We tried very hard to recruit Derrick out of high school," Stallings said. "We actually thought we would be right there and have a chance to get him. Virginia got him, but we felt like he was a very good player."

Byars, who still keeps in touch with current Cavs T.J. Bannister and Jason Cain, along with former Cavs Devin Smith and Gary Forbes, said he's very happy in Music City. He said he doesn't think about his time at UVa much.

"My years in Charlottesville are in the past and I tend not to dwell on it anymore," said Byars, speaking by phone from Nashville. "Initially, I expected to have an enjoyable career at Virginia, but things worked out the way they did."

After sitting out a season (as mandated by NCAA transfer rules), Byars is a main reason why the Commodores (12-4, 3-2 SEC) are off to one of their best starts in recent years. (Vanderbilt also features Charlottesville native Aubrey Hammond - a Woodberry Forest alum - who has appeared in five games as a walk-on.)

Byars, whose versatility has allowed him to play almost every position on the floor for the Commodores, believes sitting out a year was a blessing in disguise.

It gave him plenty of time to rehab a shoulder injury, and improve his upper body strength.

Byars' impact on Vandy has been huge. He's second on the team in scoring (11.5), third in rebounding (4.1) and first in assists (3.7).

Byars is shooting 49 percent from the field - and a very impressive 45 percent from 3-point range (28-62).

But that's not what has impressed Stallings most.

"What we didn't anticipate was that he would be as good on the defensive end as he is," Stallings said. "He's a very complete offensive player in terms of his ability to handle the ball, shoot it, pass and post up - all those things, but he's been a very good defensive player.

"He has natural instincts about where to be. He's just a naturally very good defensive player."

Byars said defense has always been one of his strengths - even while at Virginia.

"My freshman year, I was matched up with guys like Julius Hodge and Dahntay Jones from Duke," Byars said. "I took that challenge kind of personal. My sophomore year, I got matched up with a lot of the power forwards in the league, which got me into a lot of foul trouble."

Byars said he's not really sure what went wrong in his relationship with Gillen.

"I can't put the blame on Gillen's coaching style or whatever," Byars said. "I have to admit I got better in some aspects there, but I also dealt with a lot of inconsistencies there."

Does Byars feel like he had a fair chance to showcase his skills in Charlottesville?

"Honestly, no," Byars said, "but I just tried to work hard in practice. A lot of people might say that my effort and production in games were inconsistent, but that might have been due to inconsistent treatment. Honestly, I think that's what happened."

Byars said he loves his new coach's "drive and honesty."

"He won't settle for us just having good talent," said Byars of Stallings. "He emphasizes hard work and it's not something he takes lightly."

This season, Vanderbilt has notched road wins at Georgetown and at Kentucky. Byars is looking forward to a possible run in March Madness.

The Commodores last trip to the NCAA Tournament came in 2003-04 season when they made it to the Sweet 16 (before losing to eventual National Champion Connecticut).

"We definitely have a great chance and an opportunity to make it to NCAA postseason play," Byars said. "The thing that encourages me is that I'm a big part of it. I just feel a lot of inclusion.

"I have to say that some of the teams at Virginia had the same amount of talent, but I didn't feel like I had enough influence to help. I do here."

Byars admitted he still keeps an eye on the Cavs.

"I met coach Leitao in my high school recruiting years and he seemed like a very good guy," Byars said. "I keep up with how their doing. From time to time, I look at a score, things of that nature."

 

Cavaliers add pair of big guys
Virginia given verbal commitments by a tight end and a defensive tackle
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Jan 23, 2006

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- National signing day for football is Feb.1, and the University of Virginia still has room in its 2006 recruiting class. But the Cavaliers yesterday filled two spots, receiving verbal commitments from Gavin Smith and Jack Shields.

Each spent the weekend at U.Va. on an official visit. Smith is a 6-3, 270-pound defensive tackle from Raleigh, N.C. Shields is a 6-5, 255-pound tight end from Duxbury, Mass., who runs well but might grow into an offensive lineman.

Smith committed to N.C. State during the summer before his junior year at Wakefield High but recently re-opened his recruiting. He visited South Carolina last weekend and liked Steve Spurrier's sales pitch, but Smith said yesterday that U.Va.'s mix of football and academics won him over.

Basketball also played a role in Smith's decision.

"I love ACC basketball, and that was another selling point," he said. "I got to stay in the ACC."

Shields attends Boston College High in Dorcester, Mass. His school sends numerous students to nearby Boston College, but the Eagles recruited another tight end for 2006, Shields said, and that was fine with him.

"I always wanted to go to school down south," he said.

Shields chose U.Va. over Vanderbilt, which he recently visited.

"Football is a big priority," he said, "but the academics also had to be up there."

The Cavaliers, who have 24 commitments for 2006, might take letters of intent from as many as 28 players next month. At least three would then have to attend prep school for an academic year before being admitted to U.Va.

 

Cain, Mikalauskas enjoy spoils of victory
Adrian Vigil, Cavalier Daily Senior Associate Editor

As the student section rushed the court at University Hall to celebrate Virginia's 72-68 win over No. 23 North Carolina, there was a Virginia player in the middle of the mob -- freshman Laurynas Mikalauskas. The 6-foot-8 forward was jumping wildly as students swarmed around him.

"We gave the University a good win," Mikalauskas said of the post-game celebration. "And we appreciate all the fans, especially the student support."

It was a celebration that was earned in part by the efforts of Mikalauskas and fellow forward Jason Cain. The two forwards were able to slow Tar Heels freshman Tyler Hansbrough and also provide enough offense for a victory. With a diminished frontcourt, the two will have to play well if the Cavaliers are to have a successful season.

Cain has been stepping up his play recently. He is currently the fourth-leading scorer on the team after struggling to score early in the season. Since scoring 15 points against Georgia Tech on Dec. 4, Cain has played well on both the offensive and defensive side of the court -- well enough that Virginia coach Dave Leitao has inserted Cain into the starting line-up. Cain has made more starts in this season (9) than he had in his previous two seasons (7).

"More playing time, more confidence, different coaching," Cain said when asked what has changed in his play. "And [Leitao] is always there to help me out, so in games I can figure out what's wrong and correct it."

Cain has certainly made changes to his game this year. Heading into Thursday's game, Cain was the ACC leader in offensive rebounds, with an average of 3.71 per game. In Cain's previous two years at Virginia, he averaged 2.2 total rebounds per game.

Leitao's emphasis on defense and rebounding also has brought a change in Cain's play. Thursday Cain had an emphatic slam dunk in the second half and was quick to get back down the court afterwards instead of taking in the crowd's enthusiasm.

"Actually, I was thinking about getting back on defense after I dunked it," Cain said. "So I wasn't really thinking about [the cheers]."

Mikalauskas received a lot of praise for his performance on Thursday night. The freshman scored in double figures for the third time in his collegiate career and showed how effectively he can play when he is not in foul trouble. Fouls have limited Mikalauskas' playing time in various games this year, and Leitao mentioned foul trouble as one of his chief concerns in regards to Mikalauskas heading into the North Carolina game.

"The thing that worried me the most was foul trouble because of the last few games and because Hansbrough draws so many fouls," Leitao said. "A lot of times [Mikalauskas] was just battling him by himself, and then he was energized enough and asked for the ball enough to make a difference on offense."

Mikalauskas played well in the post against the Tar Heels and also displayed an ability to tip in missed shots from his teammates. In the second half, Mikalauskas had two key tip-ins that helped Virginia maintain its lead.

"I was just trying to get a rebound and get my hands on the ball," Mikalauskas said. "Anytime you deflect a ball, good things can happen."