Singletary splash
Guard scores 37 as Cavs rock Gonzaga at home
By Whitelaw Reid / wreid@dailyprogress.com | 978-7247
January 4, 2007

You think the University of Virginia men’s basketball team takes its New Year’s resolutions seriously?

Following a putrid performance near the end of 2006, which almost included losing to a winless Division II team from Puerto Rico, Virginia started 2007 on a much more positive note.

UVa, behind some new-found defense and an out-of-this-world display by guard Sean Singletary, officially put the debacle that was the San Juan Shootout in their rearview mirror.

Playing its first game in the new year, Virginia hammered Gonzaga, 108-87, in front of 13,827 at John Paul Jones Arena.

Coach Dave Leitao said it was one of the best overall efforts by any team that he has ever coached.

“I think it goes without saying that I am really, really pleased with our effort today,” Leitao said. “To play as well as we did on both ends of the floor, it was truly a magnificent performance.”

UVa, which improved to 8-0 in its new $130 million arena, was led by Singletary, who dropped a career-high 37 points in just 25 minutes of playing time.

Mamadi Diane had a season-high 22 points. J.R. Reynolds chipped in 15. Freshman Jamil Tucker scored a surprising 12 points off the bench, a career high.

Singletary, whose previous career high of 35 came against Gonzaga last season, set the tone, scoring Virginia’s first nine points, all on 3-pointers. Each attempt seemed from further back than the previous one.

“He’s a terrific player,” said Gonzaga coach Mark Few. “We tried to get our guys ready for [him], but obviously it didn’t show.”

Singletary was so unconscious in the first half that you half expected him to turn to the television cameras and shrug his shoulders, kind of like Michael Jordan did in the NBA finals some years back.

“I just like playing in big games. … I’m trying to get that consistency where I’m playing that way every game,” Singletary said.

For the game, Virginia (9-3) shot 51 percent from the field, including a ridiculous 18 of of 34 (53 percent) from 3-point range. The 18 3-pointers was a new school record.

UVa led 60-26 at the half. At that point, Gonzaga players looked shell-shocked.

“I don’t have a whole lot to say,” Few said. “That’s as bad as we’ve been beaten in the eight years that I’ve been head coach.

“Virginia’s effort level, execution level and toughness was far superior.”

From the opening tip, Virginia, which was playing in front of a national television audience on ESPN2, had an extra bounce to its step.

Almost every player who got on the floor made an impact - and it all started on the defensive end.

Gonzaga had trouble getting off quality shots. Reynolds did a great job of holding Derek Raivio, the Zags’ leading scorer, in check. Raivio finished with 26 points, but 21 of them came in the second half after the game had already been decided.

Tunji Soroye, Lauris Mikalauskas and Jason Cain played superb interior defense. The trio combined to block four shots, and altered several others. Gonzaga big man Josh Heytvelt, who came into the game averaging 16 points, was practically invisible. He had zero points and three rebounds in 15 frustrating minutes.

“I thought the game against American was our best defensive effort,” Leitao said, “but this was against better competition.”

Dunks

Leitao had a new starting lineup: Singletary, Reynolds, Diane, Will Harris and Mikalauskas. It was Harris’ second start of the season and Mikalauskas’ first. … Solomon Tat returned to the lineup for the first time since the season opener. The freshman swingman had two points and five assists in eight minutes. Former Virginia player Scott McCandlish was honored with a moment of silence prior to the game. McCandlish, a Cavalier from 1969-72, passed away this week after a long illness.

 

A night to remember at 'The Jack'
By Jerry Ratcliffe / jratcliffe@dailyprogress.com | 978-7251
January 4, 2007

From the opening minute, you knew that it was going to be a special night at “The Jack.”

For the second straight game, Virginia point guard Sean Singletary energized the Cavaliers and a crowd of more than 13,000 with a spectacular shooting exhibition to launch his teammates to a blowout over visiting Gonzaga, 108-87.

Old-fashioned rout

Call it the Beatdown in C’Town. Singletary turned John Paul Jones Arena into his personal shooting gallery as he machine-gunned the Zags with a career-high 37 points in only 25 minutes.

It was the second consecutive 30-plus scoring night for the junior guard, the first Cavalier to enjoy back-to-back games of 30 points since Norman Nolan in 1998.

Gonzaga, which had beaten North Carolina earlier this season and gave Duke a dogfight recently, was stunned by Virginia’s early 26-8 getaway. Just like last week when Singletary scored 13 of UVa’s first 15 points against American, he hit three straight 3’s against the Zags and the onslaught began.

He lives for it

Virginia coach Dave Leitao said he was chatting with assistant coach Rob Lanier during the shoot around earlier in the day when Lanier stopped the head coach in mid-sentence and said, “Sean lives for games like this.”

Lanier couldn’t have spoken any truer words. Singletary, who is his healthiest in two years, was on target from the beginning, hitting 9 of 16 shots from the field, 7 of 12 from Bonusphere and 12 of 14 from the free throw line.

“Somebody asked me why I didn’t leave him in to get 40, and I didn’t even think about it,” said Leitao afterward. “Sean’s performance right out of the gate was nothing short of magnificent.”

Singletary and his teammates combined for a Virginia single-game record of 18 3-pointers, smashing the old mark of 15. The Cavaliers scored at such a frenzied pace that they left school statisticians reaching for the White-Out all night, and left Gonzaga coach Mark Few grasping for an explanation of how his Zags were dismantled.

“That’s as bad as we’ve been beaten in the eight years I’ve been head coach,” said Few. “When they start banging in 3’s like that, you’ve got your hands full. Those two guards (Singletary and J.R. Reynolds) are a hand full.”

Big defense

What pleased Leitao the most and surprised Few the most was Virginia’s defensive play.

Leitao is a firm believer that defense is the blueprint to success and pines for that to be the trademark for his program. When things recently went awry in a two-game losing streak in the San Juan Shootout, the coach traced all his team’s woes to defense.

“They defended much better than what we had seen on film,” Few said of the Cavaliers, now 9-3 on the season. “They got into us and took us out of our offense. We just never got into rhythm.”

Leitao was proud that his team played good defense for the second straight outing, bouncing back from the Puerto Rican nightmare. He called the first half performance the best on the defensive end of the floor by any team he had ever coached, resulting in a 26.7 shooting percentage by the Zags and a 60-26 halftime lead for the Cavs.

The coach was almost speechless at halftime.

“I didn’t have a 34-point lead speech planned,” Leitao deadpanned.

He did have something to complain about at game’s end, even though his Cavaliers had scored 90 points with eight minutes still left to play. He wasn’t pleased with the team’s loss of defensive intensity, but that was somewhat understandable considering the game was all but over.

The lopsided win was pleasing for Virginia fans, who had harbored thoughts of revenge against the Zags ever since a first round NCAA defeat in 2000, the last time the Cavs made it to the tournament.

UVa lost at Gonzaga last season in a game that Singletary scored 35 points.

“Sean has a long memory and he didn’t like losing to them last year,” said Leitao.

This time, revenge was sweet.

 

Singletary, Cavs make treys pay
U.Va. hits record 18 3-pointers; Singletary soars against Gonzaga
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Jan 4, 2007

CHARLOTTESVILLE - When Sean Singletary finally missed a 3-pointer, the basketball bouncing off the side of the rim with 8 minutes left in the first half, the crowd's disbelief was audible at John Paul Jones Arena.

The University of Virginia's all- VIRGINIA 108 GONZAGA 87ACC point guard had hit his first five shots from long range, and so locked in was Singletary that it wouldn't have been a shock it he'd stayed perfect all night.

He cooled off as the game went on, but not much. The 6-0 junior from Philadelphia had 21 points in the first half and finished with a career-high 37 - in only 25 minutes - as U.Va. destroyed Gonzaga 108-87 before an ESPN2 audience and 13,827 fans at the JPJ.

Singletary's previous best? Thirty-five in a loss at Gonzaga last season.

"Sean's performance right out of the gate was nothing short of magnificent," Virginia coach Dave Leitao said.

Until last night, U.Va. never had made more than 15 treys in a game. By halftime, the Cavaliers had buried 12 and led the shellshocked Zags 60-26. They finished with 18, led by Singletary, who had a career-best seven 3-pointers.

In the first 20 minutes, Singletary made five, and senior guard J.R. Reynolds, sophomore swingman Mamadi Diane and freshman forward Jamil Tucker had two apiece. Junior forward Adrian Joseph had the other one.

"It was truly a magnificent performance for that stretch, where we got up by 30," Leitao said.

Virginia (9-3) improved to 8-0 at its new arena.

Not since Nov. 29, 2000, in a 101-87 loss at Arizona, had the Zags allowed as many as 100 points in a non-overtime game. They met U.Va. in the NCAA tournament's first round that season and won 86-85 at Memphis, Tenn.

"Not a lot for me to say," Gonzaga's Mark Few said. "That's as bad as we've been beaten, certainly, in the eight years I've been coach."

Gonzaga (9-6) has lost four straight games for the first time since the 1996-97 season. The Bulldogs, who shot only 26.7 percent from the field in the first half, heated up after intermission, but victory never was in doubt for U.Va.

Virginia's lead grew to 36 points before Gonzaga rallied in the second half behind Derek Raivio. The senior guard lived up to his billing as one of the nation's premier outside shooters, scoring 21 of his team-high 26 points in the final 20 minutes. His barrage, though, came with the outcome long since decided.

Singletary, who missed 10 of 11 shots from beyond the arc as Virginia went 1-2 at the San Juan Shootout, shot well for the second straight game. He was 9 for 16 overall and 5 for 9 from 3-point range in a Dec. 28 romp over American, and it was more of the same last night.

Diane was hot, too, making all four of his 3-point attempts en route to a 22-point night.

When the teams met last season in Spokane, Wash., Gonzaga rallied to win 80-69. The Zags didn't have Adam Morrison to rescue them last night. After scoring the game's first points on a stickback by Abdullahi Kuso, Gonzaga never led again.

Solomon Tat played for the first time since U.Va.'s season-opening upset of Arizona. The freshman swingman from Nigeria, who'd been sidelined by a groin injury, contributed five assists and two points in eight minutes off the bench. Classmate Tucker made three treys and scored a career-high 12 points.

Three Bulldogs came in averaging at least 12 points per game: sophomore guard Jeremy Pargo (12.3), sophomore forward Josh Heytvelt (16.1) and Raivio (18.7). Heytvelt went scoreless, and Pargo had only three points in the decisive first half.

Next up for U.Va. is a Sunday night game against Stanford at John Paul Jones Arena. The Cardinal ended the Cavaliers' season in 2005-06, beating them 65-49 in the NIT's opening round.

NOTE: Before the game, the crowd observed a moment of silence in memory of former U.Va. basketball player Scott McCand- lish, who died Saturday at the age of 56. He lived in New York.
 

Cavs' PG zigzags past Zags
BOB LIPPER
TIMES-DISPATCH COLUMNIST Jan 4, 2007

CHARLOTTESVILLE Hold the scalpels, forceps and rubber gloves, please. We interrupt Gonzaga's autopsy to offer a two-word definition of golly.

Sean Singletary.

Can it safely be said that the slump is over? Or, if not over, at least discontinued? Suspended? Stalled? Arrested?

William Tell'd into smithereens?

The hangover from that 8-for-36 tailspin in Puerto Rico? No mas. Virginia's aces-high playmaker torched American a week ago with 33 points on 9-for-16 marksmanship. He flame-broiled Gonzaga last night with a career-high 37, again on 9-for-16 accuracy. He is - shall we say? - muy caliente.

Singletary nailed his first five 3-pointers last night and 7 of 12 all told. He'd basically matched his pre-Zags average (17.5 per game) a mere 11½ minutes beyond tip-off. He was a little bit spectacular and a lot deadeye, and U.Va. rooters can only hope this surge continues into next week, when the competition will become a tad more rugged.

Getting back to the postmortems, U.Va.'s 108-87 demolition job was impressive stuff. Yeah, this isn't a vintage Gonzaga entry. It's now 9-6. It doesn't have much quickness or any Adam Morrisons, meaning it lacks a go-to scorer and a slow-you defense. Singletary shot the Zags out of their zone, and everyone in orange and blue sliced through their man-to-man.

The result was 59.4-percent precision during a decisive 60-26 first half. Bottle it. That's what the Cavs should do with the formula - high-percentage shots, good ball movement, sticky defense - that got them into rout territory. Because next week - following a Sunday visit from Stanford, U.Va. takes to the road for back-to-backers at North Carolina and Boston College.

That's tough duty - tougher than anything Gonzaga offered. Its first 15 possessions degenerated into two baskets, nine misses, five turnovers and a 24-6 deficit. It was all visions of jet lag after that.

Along those lines, these Zags probably should've gotten a two-dunk handicap just for showing up.

You think the commute to town from Short Pump is rugged? This was the Zags' third cross-country sprint of the year. Not to mention their eighth start in the past 11 games away from their impregnable McCarthey Center (aka, The Kennel), where they've won 45 in a row - No. 29 being last season's 80-69 conquest of U.Va.

They fly more frequently than Michael Jordan in his prime. Fact is, by the time they get back to Spokane today, the Zags will have put 15,865 air miles on the odometer while tussling with the likes of UNC, Texas, Washington State, Washington, Georgia, Duke and Nevada.

Why all the heavy lifting? Because they need an annual computer-ratings boost beyond the nudge their West Coast Conference provides. And because they can.

Modest by size and mid-major by birthright, the Zags became hoops darlings and TV bankables by reaching three straight Sweet 16s from 1999 to 2001 as double-digit seeds. They slayed a No. 2 Stanford here, a No. 2 St. John's there and - whoops, those Cavs again - a No. 5 Virginia along the way. Reputation and bona fides established, they've been a 2or 3-seed the past three NCAAs - but haven't made the sort of splash they did as party-crashers.

They don't have the makeup of faves for your 2007 office pool, either. Then again, anyone would've looked wooden and ordinary against Sean Singletary last night. He was, purely and simply, sensational. He was seated as well for the closing five minutes. Gotta save a little petrol for next week, you know.
 

Cavaliers go off on tired Gonzaga
Virginia point guard Sean Singletary scores a career-high 37 points in the lopsided victory.
By Doug Doughty
981-3129

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Virginia went a long way toward restoring its credibility and enjoyed a little payback in the process Wednesday night at John Paul Jones Arena.

The Cavaliers scored 60 points in the first half en route to a 108-87 triumph over a Gonzaga team that had been favored until several hours before game time.

"There's not a whole lot I can say," Bulldogs coach Mark Few said. "That's certainly as bad as we've been beaten in my eight years as head coach."

Virginia junior Sean Singletary, whose previous scoring high had come when he scored 35 at Gonzaga last season, finished with 37 points in 25 minutes.

The Bulldogs (9-6) had won both previous meetings between the teams, including a 2001 NCAA tournament game, but their first trip to Virginia was over after the opening minutes.

Singletary connected on his first five 3-point attempts and the Cavaliers (9-3) were 12-for-20 from behind the arc in taking a 60-26 halftime lead. They finished with a school-record 18 3-point field goals. The Cavaliers made 15 in a 1983 game.

"To make 18 3s is phenomenal," UVa coach Dave Leitao said. "Obviously, you're not going to make 18 3s a game, but you've got to admire it when you do."

Singletary had 21 points at the half despite sitting out the final 4:47 after picking up his second personal foul.

After a turnover on the Cavaliers' first possession Wednesday, Singletary hit 3-pointers on the next three trips down the floor.

"Sean's performance right out of the gate was nothing short of magnificent," Leitao said. "I'm not saying he'll get 33 or 37 every game, but he's getting to the point where performances like this are not out of the norm."

Gonzaga came to town with one of the nation's most dangerous 3-point shooters in senior guard Derek Raivio, but Raivio could not get untracked against J.R. Reynolds and picked up three fouls in the first half. Raivio sustained foul No. 4 with 18:44 remaining.

Gonzaga had eight field goals in the first half, when it shot 26.7 percent.

"When we're playing good 'D,' we make shots," Leitao said. "That's what I've been telling you. I said that our first half against American was the best I'd seen here. This topped that."

Raivio eventually rediscovered his touch, but the Cavaliers had stretched their lead to 84-48 before he made three straight 3-pointers. He finished with a team-high 26 points.

Singletary, who did not play in the final 4 12 minutes, was one of four UVa players to score in double figures. Mamadi Diane had 22. Reynolds scored 13 and freshman Jamil Tucker, who had three 3-pointers and a three-point play, added a career-high 12.

Gonzaga had every reason to be tired after making their third trip of the season from Spokane, Wash., to the East Coast, but no amount of rest could have altered the outcome Wednesday night.

Less than three weeks after dropping two games in the San Juan Shootout UVa looked almost unbeatable, which it has been at the JPJ Arena, where it is 8-0.

Few used three of his five timeouts in the first half, the first with 15:42 remaining in the half, by which time UVa led 16-4.

After Few's third timeout, with 5:48 left before halftime, Virginia coach Dave Leitao inserted Solomon Tat, a freshman guard who had not played since the Cavs' Nov. 12 opener against visiting Arizona because of sore groin.

 

Virginia crushes Gonzaga
A torrid first half of shooting, especially by Sean Singletary, helps Virginia beat Gonzaga.
BY DARRYL SLATER
247-4641
January 4, 2007

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Another flick of the wrist, another swish of the net, and for Sean Singletary, just another night of grabbing the Virginia men's basketball team by the neck and pulling it to a victory.

It all seemed so routine Wednesday night for Singletary when he made his fifth consecutive 3-pointer to start the game and calmly walked back toward midcourt, only slightly shaking his head in wonderment.

"I was wondering why they didn't play more defense," Singletary said, shocked that Gonzaga's players failed to get a hand in his face.

He had found the rhythm he sought during December, and so, too, had his teammates. In their most significant game since the season's first, the Cavaliers rode one of the best first-half shooting performances you'll ever see to a 108-87 win over Gonzaga at John Paul Jones Arena.

Virginia (9-3) shot 19 of 32 in the first half, including 12-of-20 on 3-pointers. The Cavaliers finished with a school-record 18 3s. The previous record was 15.

No one on the floor played better than Singletary, whose first-half statistics were the stuff of driveway dreams: 6-of-9 shooting, including 5-of-7 on 3s, for 21 points. He made his first five shots, all 3s, and also went 4-of-4 on free throws in the first half.

When the game was over - though, in reality, it was over when Virginia walked off after the first half, leading 60-26 - Singletary had nailed nine of 16 shots, including seven of 12 3s, and scored a career-high 37 points. His previous high was 35 last year against Gonzaga.

This, after Singletary's shooting was spotty during a five-game stretch last month. He shot 17-of-61 (27.8 percent) during December before going 9-of-16 Thursday against American. He was unable to practice as often as he'd like because his right hip felt sore. He had surgery on the hip during the offseason.

"Sean's performance right out of the gate was nothing short of magnificent," Virginia coach Dave Leitao said.

Same for the Cavaliers. In the game's first five minutes, they didn't miss a shot, going 5-of-5 and 2-of-2 on free throws. By then, the Cavaliers led by 12 points. Their advantage only grew - 39-19 at 6:49, 48-20 at 4:11 - as Gonzaga (9-6) failed to muster anything that resembled an offense. The Bulldogs shot 8 of 30 in the first half. (Virginia's lead swelled to 36 midway through the second half.)

The Bulldogs have now lost four consecutive games since Dec. 16, and it seems hard to not attribute some of that sluggishness to their travel schedule. By the time the Bulldogs return from Charlottesville, they will have traveled 15,865 miles by plane since Nov. 21, including three separate trips to the East Coast.

But make no mistake: Virginia needed Wednesday's win. The 91-70 dismissal of American surely was not enough to alleviate Leitao's concerns, especially about defense, that surfaced during a miserable 1-2 effort last month at the San Juan Shootout.

Gonzaga has played in eight consecutive NCAA tournaments, advancing to the Sweet 16 four times in that span. Why, on Nov. 22, the Bulldogs traveled to Madison Square Garden and beat North Carolina, now ranked second nationally.

The Bulldogs rate as the highest-profile team Virginia played since opening the season against then-No. 10 Arizona. And it came as little surprise that Singletary succeeded in such a marquee game. He scored 25 against Arizona, and in last season's win over No. 11 Boston College, he had 16 points and five assists.

"That's as bad as we've been certainly in the eight years I've been the head coach," Gonzaga's Mark Few said. "Now, (Virginia) didn't hit any resistance, so I couldn't tell you how good they were, but they were good. ... It didn't look like we were tough enough to go from the tip, to me."

Wednesday's victory was all the more important for Virginia considering it begins a difficult five-game stretch over the next two weeks. Virginia plays Stanford at home on Sunday, then travels to North Carolina on Wednesday and to Boston College on Jan. 13. The Cavaliers host Maryland Jan. 16.

Singletary just hopes this five-game run compares - or exceeds, even - this season's first five games, in which he shot 37.7 percent, comparable to his career average before this year of 38.8.
 

Virginia lights up Gonzaga
By Andy Bitter
Lynchburg News & Advance
January 4, 2007

CHARLOTTESVILLE - The running joke before Christmas was that the Virginia basketball team forgot to pack its offense for the San Juan Shootout.
The Cavaliers apparently remembered where they left it.

Sean Singletary scored a career-high 37 points and Virginia made a school record 18 3-pointers in a 108-87 rout of Gonzaga at the John Paul Jones Arena on Wednesday.

The Cavaliers (9-3) topped 100 points for the second time this season. The 108 points were the most scored by Virginia since a 112-67 win over Grambling in 2001.

"We didn't prepare for this," Virginia coach Dave Leitao said. "To come out and play as well as we did at both ends of the floor, it was truly a magnificent performance."

In toppling the mid-major giant, the Cavaliers now have two marquee non-conference wins on their r?sum? (they handed current No. 7 Arizona its only loss of the season in November), something that should catch the eye of the NCAA tournament selection committee come March.

Gonzaga (9-6), which had climbed as high as No. 16 in the Associated Press poll three weeks ago, has lost four straight for the first time since 1997.

"There's not much to say," Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. "That's as bad as we've been beaten in my eight years as head coach."

The Bulldogs never stood a chance Wednesday. Virginia blistered the nets in building a 60-26 halftime lead, shooting 59.4 percent (19-for-32) from the field. UVa hadn't scored 60 points in a half since last year's Loyola game.

Singletary led the way. One of the main offenders off the mainland, where he scored 14, 11 and 7 points as the Cavaliers lost two out of three games and faded to a seventh-place finish, the junior guard started things right Wednesday, swishing three 3-pointers in the first three minutes and helping the Cavaliers storm out to a 24-6 lead by the second TV timeout.

Singletary, whose previous high of 35 points came in an 11-point loss at Gonzaga last year, didn't stop there. He made his first five 3-point attempts and finished with a career-best seven for the game, draining an open 3 to set a career high before heading to the bench with just under five minutes to play.

He's scored 33 and 37 points in Virginia's two games since returning from the Puerto Rico trip, his two highest outputs of the season.

"I don't look at him like performances like this are way out of the norm," Leitao said. "He's been spectacular. ... He energizes us with his play and his spirit."

Mamadi Diane and J.R. Reynolds joined in on the fun. Diane made all four of his 3-point attempts, finishing three points shy of a career high with 22. Reynolds added 15.

The Cavaliers have scored 91 and 108 points in their two games since returning from the San Juan Shootout, where they averaged 63.7 points a game.

The big lead also gave head coach Dave Leitao a chance to clear out the bench. Forward Solomon Tat scored two points and had five assists in eight minutes in his first action since the season opener. The freshman had missed the last 10 games with a groin injury.

Freshman forward Jamil Tucker set career highs with 12 points and five rebounds in 20 minutes, his most extensive playing time of the season.
 

Former U.Va. player McCandlish dies
Started on the first Cavaliers squad to reach postseason; graduated as top rebounder
Richmond Times-Dispatch Jan 4, 2007

Scott McCandlish, the starting center on the first University of Virginia basketball team to participate in a postseason tournament, died Dec. 31 in Freeville, N.Y. Mr. McCandlish, 56, had dealt with the effects of multiple sclerosis most of the second half of his life.

He scored 1,026 points and averaged 9.6 rebounds per game in his college career, graduating in 1972 as Virginia's all-time leading rebounder. He was chosen by the Portland Trail Blazers in the ninth round of the 1972 NBA Draft, played two years professionally in France and returned to Virginia as a graduate assistant coach.

Mr. McCandlish was later an assistant coach at the University of South Florida, an insurance agent based in Richmond and a coach and math teacher at Charlottesville High School.

Mr. McCandlish came to U.Va. in 1968 as part of a recruiting class that also included Frank DeWitt, Chip Miller and Richmonder Tim Rash. The next season, Cavaliers coach Bill Gibson was able to add guard Barry Parkhill, a future ACC player of the year, and forwards Jim Hobgood and Larry Gerry. These players were the foundation of a team that posted a 21-9 record in 1971-72 and earned a berth in the National Invitation Tournament.

"For all that Scott went through, I never heard him complain," Parkhill said. "He had the biggest heart and was the most genuine guy you'd ever want to meet. He was a great friend and a great teammate."

Mr. McCandlish is survived by his wife, Holly, five children and two stepchildren. A memorial service for Mr. McCandlish will be held Feb. 3 at the U.Va. Chapel beginning at 12:30 p.m.
 

Illinois lineman opts for Cavs
Richmond Times-Dispatch Jan 3, 2007

At 6-7, 245 pounds, Matt Conrath is a formidable left-handed pitcher for St. Rita High School in Chicago. Conrath's best sport, however, is football, and he committed yesterday to play at the University of Virginia.

Conrath, a senior who helped St. Rita win the Class 7A title in Illinois this season, chose U.Va. over Stanford. He also had scholarship offers from Vanderbilt, Purdue, Duke and Miami-Ohio.

"I just felt really comfortable with U.Va.," Conrath said last night, "and I realized they were down to only two more spots, and I didn't want to miss out."

Conrath, an exceptional student, carries a 4.3 grade-point average and scored 29 on the ACT. He becomes the 22nd member of the Cavaliers' recruiting class for 2007.

At defensive end, Conrath made 145 tackles, including 16 sacks, this season, the Chicago Tribune reported. He was named first-team all-state. He wasn't a two-way starter for St. Rita this season, but Conrath could end up at offensive tackle at U.Va.

"I'm going to come in [as a defensive end]," he said, "and whatever happens, happens."

-- Jeff White