No early entries hurts Cavs
By Jerry Ratcliffe / jratcliffe@dailyprogress.com | 978-7251
January 19, 2007

Virginia’s football program recently lost two recruits because of the school’s policy that denies early admission to qualified prospects.

Big deal you say. Well, yes it is when you consider that UVa coaches are competing with one hand tied behind their backs against the rest of the ACC. Research revealed that 10 of the other 11 schools in the conference permit early admissions, some much more than others.

Bottom line is that in college football, where there’s already a less than level playing field in terms of academics, UVa has fallen behind the times with this antiquated policy. The school needs to reexamine the issue and consider that the old guideline has put its football program at a competitive disadvantage.

The spark

The issue flared up in the past couple of weeks when the Cavaliers failed to snare two recruits from nearby Fork Union Military Academy.

Most shocking of the two was offensive tackle Anthony Castonzo, a 6-foot-7, 255-pounder, who recorded a “perfect score” on his standardized college admissions test and carried a 4.4 GPA.

FUMA post graduate coach John Shuman, a UVa alum, did his level best to direct Castonzo to his alma mater, but to no avail.

Virginia would not budge on its “no early enrollment” rule. So, the kid will sign in the coming weeks with either Stanford, Vanderbilt or Boston College.

A look at UVa’s peers

Now, the last time I checked, none of those schools were in the habit of accepting stooges. Neither does Duke or Wake Forest, both of which have taken football prospects early.

Lo and behold, even the University of California (Berkeley), which battles with UVa annually to determine the top two public institutions in the United States, has taken at least two football prospects for early admissions in the last five years.

Far as I can tell, the academic integrity of those half dozen aforementioned schools have not been compromised by the act, nor have any of those players cried that they didn’t benefit from the total college experience, which is one of Virginia’s most lame excuses toward denying early admissions.

Turning away talent

Castonzo’s Fork Union teammate, linebacker Jarrell Miller, who was considered one of the top five prospects in the state a year ago, signed with North Carolina last February but didn’t qualify academically. He enrolled at FUMA, did the work, and decided he wanted to attend Virginia, but with one stipulation, which was the same as Castonzo’s.

They wanted early entry so that they wouldn’t have to sit around from now until August to start their college education and their daily involvement with their football team.

While Miller wasn’t as academically affluent as Castonzo (how many people get perfect scores on their SAT?), he was no slouch.

“He improved his SAT to 1050, moving them from 890 out of high school,” Shuman said. “He matured in a lot of ways and we believed his momentum from here would have helped him through the second semester at Virginia.”

Shuman said that “if [early admission] could have been done, Virginia is where they both would be.”

Virginia director of athletics Craig Littlepage said that, while the school has no written policy, there is a process in place in which prospective student-athletes whose circumstances might dictate it, would be evaluated for mid-year enrollment.

But Cavaliers’ football coach Al Groh said that the message had been clearly sent to his coaches not to even go down that road.

In fact, Groh said that when a prospect points out that early admissions will be a factor in his college choice, his coaches immediately eliminate themselves from the process, knowing they are fighting a fruitless battle.

“We understand the university’s mission to become the No. 1 public institution in the country and we support that in every way,” Groh said. “At the same time, we’re trying to fulfill our mission, which is to put the same type of team on the field that our competitors in the ACC put on the field in terms of results.”

Groh said the early admissions policy clearly becomes a disadvantage because it eliminates some players from the pool available to the program.

It wasn’t long ago that Notre Dame legend Paul Hornung created a stir with comments regarding how the Irish needed to relax some standards in order to increase the quality of football players at the school.

Well, this is the second year in which a limited number of mid-year enrollees were allowed under the Golden Dome, and suddenly the Irish were back in the national limelight the past two seasons. Consider that with Heisman candidate quarterback Brady Quinn graduating, that Notre Dame’s major position will be up for grabs this coming fall.

Also consider that the nation’s No. 1 high school prospect, Jimmy Clausen, enrolled in classes at Notre Dame this past Tuesday and will now compete for the starting job because he’s gotten a jump start on his career. Had he waited, he would probably not become a candidate for the starting job until midseason if at all.

Groh said he realizes early admission isn’t for everyone and that a player has to be academically sound enough and mature enough to handle the challenge.

Littlepage said that UVa uses various guidelines in reviewing such cases, but noted that there has been a small number of mid-year enrollees in several sports at the university in the past three to four years. He also noted that the sports, thus the prospects, are all reviewed through the same process, including football.

However, only one football player, All-America linebacker Ahmad Brooks, has been allowed early admission during Groh’s seven seasons on the job. The fact that Brooks screwed up and was booted from the football program before he could finish his junior season has not impacted other football prospects since, Littlepage stated.

“In looking at exceptions to the University’s practice of not admitting [first-year] students in January, there has to be special circumstances and has to be an exemplary student,” Littlepage said. “In recent years, prospects were not enrolled mid-year exclusively for athletic reasons (transfer students are a different matter in that a number of them are admitted from other schools).

“An example of what happens here, is if a prospect is selected to participate on an Olympic or national team and the team is out of the country from August through September, that prospect could not enroll in the fall due to a unique situation,” Littlepage stated. “That would be seen as a special circumstance and that prospect could request mid-year enrollment.”

That is probably the case with two men’s tennis players who were admitted at the break and are already making a contribution to UVa’s program in a matter of days.

However, that situation would appear to apply even more pressure to an athlete jumping directly into competition and the college environment than say a couple of football players, who experience the entire winter conditioning program, spring practice and perhaps summer school and summer workouts, prior to August training camp, before even stepping into a game situation.

Littlepage said that the bottom line of mid-year enrollment is “not necessarily in the best interest of every prospective student-athlete. Such prospects relinquish important aspects of their senior year experience (prom, winter and spring sports competition for example), and they arrive on a college campus not connected to a freshman class.

They haven’t gone through orientation and other experiences that make their transition to the college environment easy.

“Many of us that work on college campuses become critical of the professional leagues when they reach out to entice college athletes to leave early for the pros,” Littlepage said. “That is not much different, in my view, than those of us on college campuses supporting mid-year college enrollment of high school students in that we are behaving much like professional sports. Ironically, we sometimes question the pros’ processes intended to secure college talent and we do much the same thing with high school prospects.”

I can see where Littlepage is coming from, but I don’t buy the view that these athletes are missing out on some of those aspects of college life. Nor do I agree that taking high school or prep school athletes that have already graduated can be paralleled to pros robbing college athletes, who by the way, haven’t graduated.

Perhaps Virginia will take a closer look at the situation in the coming months.

“There is a discussion about what the University does in the context of what’s best for the University of Virginia,” Littlepage said. “What’s in the best interest of the student and the sports programs. We are polling other schools to see if what we do is out of the mainstream in Division I sports programs.”

Well, if the ACC, which considers itself perhaps the most prestigious academic league in the country (outside of the I-AA Ivy League) has at least 10 of its 12 members supporting early admissions of football players, then polling the rest of the conferences could be a rather eye-popping experience.

It’s time for Virginia to join the party.

 

Tucker emerging as top-producing freshman
Meyinsse hasn’t played in four games
By Doug Doughty

In planning for today’s UVa Insider while being prepped for a colonoscopy, I was away from the computer unaware of the Jamil Tucker story that Chris Wallace had written on the rivals.com UVa website.

As we used to say during the era when there were no websites, don’t assume that your readers are always reading what’s being written in Richmond or Washington, D.C. or Norfolk. So, why overlook it?

Clearly, Tucker has been an emerging story for the Cavaliers, topped by his contributions Tuesday in a 103-91 victory over Maryland, when he had 12 points in 17 minutes.

It tied a season and career (duh) high for Tucker, who also had 12 points in Virginia’s 108-87 victory over Gonzaga. He was 3-for-5 on 3-pointers that night and went 3-for-4 from behind the arc Tuesday.

Maybe more impressive, he had a team-high nine rebounds Saturday in a 78-73 loss at Boston College.

If Tucker (6 foot 8, 230 pounds) can rebound, if he can play passable post defense, and if you toss in the 3-point threat, he’s going to get a lot of minutes.

Oh, wait, he already is.

Will Harris leads UVa’s freshmen in minutes per game with 16.0 per game, but it hasn’t been close lately. Tucker has averaged 16.3 minutes over the past seven games; Harris has averaged 7.3 minutes over the last three games.

Preseason debate centered around Harris and Solomon Tat as UVa’s top recruits, but their ballhandling was so shaky against Maryland’s press on Tuesday night that coach Dave Leitao couldn’t afford to keep them on the floor. They had five turnovers in a combined 14 minutes.

Tucker had 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions while Virginia was building a 20-point first-half lead, but his biggest bucket came in the second half, after Maryland had closed to 58-55. That was as close as the Terrapins got, thanks to a Tucker 3-pointer that made it 61-55 with 14:03 left.

Tucker’s 3-for-4 night from behind the arc put him at 50 percent (13-for-26) for the season. Remarkably, he is shooting a higher percentage on 3-pointers than he is at the free-throw line, where a 3-for-4 night left him at 47.8 percent (11-of-23).

“He’s growing and [he’s gotten] more confident,” Leitao said. “I thought he could have played more confident than he did and gotgen more shots. He passed up a couple. He can really make shots and I think he will when he’s feeling good about himself.”

UVa’s fourth scholarship freshman, 6-8, 230-pound Jerome Meyinsse, has not played in the last four games, which brings up the obvious question of whether he should have been redshirted. Even so, when you look at the 84 minutes that Meyinsse has played to date, that’s an eternity when compared to some of the bad redshirting decisions made by UVa over the years.

ONE DECISION THAT hasn’t backfired on Virginia to date is its effort to get 2006 recruit Andy Ogide to attend Hargrave Military Academy. Ogide, an academic qualifier out of Dallas, Ga., balked at that idea and instead signed with Mississippi.

As anticipated, Ogide probably would not have helped the Cavaliers this season because he’s played in only four games for the Rebels (12-6). He has played a total of 23 minutes, although he’s attempted 15 free throws, making six. He has started one game.

THERE HAVE BEEN some interesting developments in UVa football this week, including the move of strength coach Evan Marcus to the Atlanta Falcons, where he will be the No. 1 guy. Rivals is reporting that news out of Lynchburg reserve UVa offensive lineman Marshal Ausberry will transfer to Division I-AA Liberty for his fifth year and media gadfly Jeff White in Richmond reporting that Hargrave linebacker Almondo Sewell has come to a mutual parting of the way with the Cavaliers.

 

U.VA. NOTES
Richmond Times-Dispatch Jan 18, 2007

OFFER HE COULDN'T REFUSE: When Evan Marcus started work with the Atlanta Falcons this month, classes were not back in session at the University of Virginia.

"That's the sad thing. I don't get a chance to say goodbye to the guys," Marcus said Tuesday from Atlanta, referring to the U.Va. football players he's helped get bigger, stronger and faster.

Marcus, who took over in January 2003 as U.Va.'s head strength coach and director of the McCue Center weight room, recently was hired as the Falcons' head strength coach. He worked with Atlanta's new coach, Bobby Petrino, at the University of Louisville.

"I loved the guys at Virginia," said Marcus, 39. "The players there were unbelievable, and I made some incredible friendships. . . . But this was always the ultimate goal: to try to be a head guy in the NFL, and I was fortunate enough to get this opportunity."

Before coming to U.Va., Marcus spent three seasons as an assistant strength coach with the New Orleans Saints. He's also worked in that capacity for five Division I-A football programs: Arizona State (1991-92), Rutgers (1993-94), Maryland (1994), Texas (1995-97) and Louisville (1998-99).

For personal and financial reasons, the move to Atlanta is a good one for him, said Marcus, whose wife, Lori, is from New Orleans, where her parents still live.

Among the U.Va. football players he'll remember fondly, Marcus said, were Brian Barthelmes, Heath Miller, D'Brickashaw Ferguson, Alvin Pearman and Josh Zidenberg. Of the freshmen who redshirted in 2006, Marcus said, defensive back Trey Womack and linebacker John Bivens (Prince George High) in particular impressed him.

In a release Tuesday, U.Va. said a national search for Marcus' successor would begin immediately.

RAISING CAIN: The U.Va. basketball team's heroes in its 103-91 win over Maryland on Tuesday night included a 6-10 senior who'd been struggling recently.

"Cain finally showed up," senior guard J.R. Reynolds said with a smile late Tuesday night.

Jason Cain entered the Maryland game last having grabbed more than 10 rebounds Dec. 3. He hadn't scored more than 10 points since Dec. 16.

Against Maryland, Cain totaled 13 points, 16 rebounds and two blocked shots in a season-high 36 minutes.

"I don't think any player in the league brings more effort to the game than Cain," Terrapins coach Gary Williams said.

"That's why Cain is so valuable to a team. I don't see every game Virginia plays, but the games I've seen him play, I've never seen him lack effort when he's on the court."

FACES IN THE CROWD: Maryland's visit drew 14,765 fans to John Paul Jones Arena. Among those in attendance were Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr.; author John Grisham; former U.Va. guard Majestic Mapp; former Cavaliers football player Ryan Kuehl; former Maryland coach Lefty Driesell, whose son, Chuck, is one of Williams' assistants; Paul Tudor Jones, whose money helped build the JPJ, which is named for his father; and U.Va. basketball recruit Jeff Jones (no relation).

Jeff Jones, a 6-4 shooting guard, signed with the Cavaliers in November. He has ties to Maryland, too. Jones committed to the Terps early in his recruitment, only to change his mind.

RECRUITING UPDATES: With Almondo Sewell no longer in the mix, U.Va. has 23 football commitments for the 2007 season.

Sewell, an inside linebacker from New Jersey, signed with Virginia last February but failed to meet NCAA eligibility standards. He enrolled in Hargrave Military Academy's postgraduate program, with the intention of signing with U.Va. again next month after raising his standardized-test score. Sewell still has considerable ground to cover, however, and wasn't likely to clear admissions at U.Va. So both parties decided recently that he should look at other schools.

U.Va. received a commitment on the weekend from 6-6, 235-pound long-snapper Danny Aiken, a Cave Spring High graduate who's now at Fork Union Military Academy.

"Danny Aiken is exactly like Zac Yarbrough," said FUMA's postgraduate coach, John Shuman.

Yarbrough played tight end and snapped for Shuman at FUMA and later, after bulking up, became a standout center at U.Va.

"It wouldn't shock me if [Aiken] goes in there, long-snaps, lines up at tight end a couple times, and then [gets moved] closer to the ball," Shuman said.

Another member of FUMA's 2006 team, offensive tackle, Anthony Castonzo, this week dropped U.Va. from the list of schools he's considering.

"The family felt Virginia had cooled on him," Shuman said. Castonzo, who's from Illinois, is likely to choose from among Boston College, Stanford and Vanderbilt.

ON HOLD: Andrew Pearman still hopes to return to U.Va., but apparently that won't happen this semester. Pearman, a wide receiver from Charlotte, N.C., who began his college career at Hawaii, withdrew from U.Va. for personal reasons in November. His next chance to re-enroll probably will come during summer school.

Pearman has two seasons of eligibility remaining. - Jeff White
 

Raising Cain's game
Senior big man looks to sustain momentum after big night vs. Terps
By Whitelaw Reid / wreid@dailyprogress.com | 978-7247
January 18, 2007

What is the one thing that separates Virginia’s Jason Cain from Motel 6 - other than the fact that one is a 6-foot-10 college basketball player and the other is a hotel chain?

Clearly, only one leaves the light on.

Since Dave Leitao took over at Virginia, Cain has been - without a doubt – the team’s biggest enigma.

Virginia fans know the pattern all too well.

In one game, Cain will look like one of the top big men in the ACC. In the next game, he’ll look lost.

In Virginia’s 103-91 victory over Maryland on Tuesday night, Cain knew exactly where he was.

The senior scored 13 points and tied a career-high with 16 rebounds.

“It’s just taken awhile for the light bulb to click - to actually be able to fit in and feel like I’m a contributor offensively,” Cain said.

“The last couple games I feel I had been playing well. The foul trouble just knocked me off my block a little bit.”

Against Maryland, Cain logged a season-high 36 minutes.

“It was critical that he stayed out of foul trouble,” Leitao said. “It was critical that he was active.”

Cain, who also had two blocks, helped set the tone early with his offensive aggressiveness.

On Virginia’s first possession, he drove hard to the basket and scored on a runner in the lane. Three possessions later, Cain knocked down a 15-footer off of nice dribble penetration by Sean Singletary.

“When he made that first [jumper], I pointed at him, and he nodded his head back,” Leitao said. “I’ve just been imploring him to let it all hang out and let his talent show, and I think he did that [Tuesday] - both with a little bit more offense and a lot more defense and rebounding.

“It was obviously a big lift for us.”

Cain even showed off his passing skills in the second half when he helped beat the Maryland press with a nifty pass to a cutting Adrian Joseph, who went in for a crowd-pleasing dunk.

Despite his strong game, Cain knows it’s consistency that Leitao is after.

“Let me get a couple games in a row where I play well, then I’ll jump out and say [I’m good],” Cain said. “Little by little I’ve been stepping up. Hopefully I can continue to step up.”

And leave the light on.

Mo better

Speaking of leaving the light on, Leitao is certainly hoping that sophomore Mamadi Diane can have more performances like Tuesday night’s.

The former DeMatha Catholic (Md.) standout, who was recruited by Maryland, had a career-high 26 points on 9-of-16 shooting.

“He was extra-aggressive, and as a result extra-special,” Leitao said. “He made his open shots. He rebounded. He played really good defense on different guys. He guarded point guards, [Eric] Hayes and [Greivis] Vasquez. He was just all around a very good player for us.”

Who shot J.R.?

With 3:33 remaining in the game, Virginia guard J.R. Reynolds sprawled to the floor in agony. Reynolds stayed down for a few minutes as a trainer examined his left ankle then walked gingerly into the locker room.

Less than a minute later, the senior co-captain reemerged and checked back into the game to chants of “J.R. Reynolds” from the JPJA crowd.

“I just twisted it a little,” said Reynolds, who had 17 points and four assists. “Everything’s OK.”

Gotta have faith

After the victory, Singletary talked at length about his growing confidence in his teammates - and how their improved play makes his job as floor general so much easier.

Nowhere was Singletary’s confidence in them on display more than in the second half. With less than five minutes remaining, Singletary single-handedly broke Maryland’s full-court press and zinged a pass to a wide-open Lars Mikalauskas. The ball bounced right off of Mikalauskas’ hands and went out of bounds.

Two possessions later, Singletary once again broke the Terrapin press and showed no hesitation in throwing to Mikalauskas. This time, the Lithuanian caught the ball and converted an easy layup.

 

Pair of Cavaliers decide to transfer
Ausberry enrolled at Liberty; Best looking at Liberty, Temple, Rutgers
By Jay Jenkins / jjenkins@dailyprogress.com
January 19, 2007

Weeks before the 2006 season started, Virginia offensive lineman Marshal Ausberry spoke openly of his goals for the months that awaited.

Sure, Ausberry wanted to play as much as he could for the Cavaliers, but his priority was to secure his diploma.

While the playing time never materialized like it had when he started 11 games in ’05 under former offensive line coach Ron Prince, Ausberry completed the requirements for his degree in sociology in December.

Having reached his No. 1 goal, Ausberry elected to look elsewhere to finish his final season of eligibility. Ausberry, who played in 27 games for UVa, has already enrolled as a graduate student at Liberty University.

“He is already down there,” his mother, Robyn, confirmed on Thursday.

Ausberry played in 10 games this season, most of which came on special teams, after rising senior Ian-Yates Cunningham took over the starting duties at right guard, the position Ausberry manned in ’05.

Ausberry may have some company playing for Liberty coach Danny Rocco, a former assistant at Virginia.

Ryan Best, a safety that played sparingly last season, confirmed that he will not practice this spring with the Cavaliers. He said he is looking at Rutgers or Temple, which are closer to his home in Williamstown, N.J., in addition to Liberty.

A move to Liberty would not only allow him to join Ausberry, but also two other former Cavaliers - defensive end Vince Redd and offensive lineman Eddie Pinigis.

Best, however, will need to take two classes this semester at UVa to secure his degree in sociology. That remains his priority.

“I won’t be practicing football,” Best said, “but I will be working out around Charlottesville throughout the spring with [former UVa players] Fontel Mines and Deyon Williams.”

The situation, Best said, is not easy.

“It’s definitely a tough decision. The decision is still up in the air and I have a lot of friends that I’m going to have to leave if I do make that decision,” he added. “But I think it would probably be better for myself and my future.”

Best joined the football team as a walk-on tailback in 2004 after starting eight games at goalie on Virginia’s soccer team in 2003. After failing to appear in a football game his first season, Best was shifted to safety and emerged as a contributor in 2005 - he made 14 tackles, including five in an upset win over No. 4 Florida State.

Best, who is 5-foot-11 and 205 pounds, was forced into action that season to help Virginia’s depleted secondary. He saw most of his playing time on third downs in the Cavaliers’ nickel package late in the year after the team’s two starting safeties - Tony Franklin and Nate Lyles - were unable to play.

Franklin, who had been suspended by coach Al Groh, and Lyles, who suffered a season-ending injury against Georgia Tech, returned this season, however, knocking Best off the team’s two-deep.

Most in ACC circles know of Best for his miraculous story off the field. In February 2005, Best was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease. Successful surgery removed malignant cervical lymph nodes, and chemotherapy started soon after.

Despite his medical condition, Best often joined his teammates in practices and workouts. He was declared cancer-free just prior to the start of training camp in 2005.

For his bravery, Best was named the recipient of the 2005 Brian Piccolo Award by the ACC.

Snelling an all-star

Former Virginia running back Jason Snelling is scheduled to play in the 2007 East-West Shrine All-Star Game in Houston at Reliant Stadium on Saturday.

Snelling, who rushed for 772 yards this season, will play for the East team and legendary coach Don Shula.

He will be joined on the East team in the backfield by running backs Steve Baylock (UMass), Alonzo Coleman (Hampton), Tyrone Moss (Miami) and fullback Jesse Allen (Virginia Tech).

Two other former Hokies, placekicker Brandon Pace and offensive lineman Brandon Frye, are also on the East roster.

The game will be televised on ESPN2 at 7 p.m.

 

Virginia looks to build on recent win when facing Wake
The Cavaliers should be very confident as they are playing on their home turf
Campbell Grant, Cavalier Daily Senior Staff Writer

The Cavaliers look to build on a strong performance against Maryland as they take on Wake Forest in John Paul Jones Arena Sunday.

Virginia will need to continue to focus on several key areas to beat the Demon Deacons. One of the main reasons the Cavaliers were so successful against Maryland was their ability to get to the line and make free throws. With another home game, Virginia could gain a big advantage by attacking the basket and forcing Wake Forest into early foul trouble.

"We do very good when we emphasize something specific," Virginia coach Dave Leitao said. "We didn't give up a lot of transition baskets against Carolina because we talked about it."

Virginia continued to play good transition defense against Maryland, only surrendering six fast break points to the Terrapins.

The Demon Deacons currently occupy the cellar of the ACC standings, and have lost two in a row at home to Boston College and N.C. State following a road win over Miami.

Leitao noted that Maryland will be the fourth straight game in which Virginia will battle more than one "really good post player."

"I'd like to see our interior defense get better," he added.

Interior defense may be the one area where Wake Forest might be able to exploit the Cavalier defense. Maryland was able to outscore Virginia in the paint 42-30, and the Cavaliers have struggled this year to contain skilled post players such as Purdue's Carl Landry, North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough and Boston College's Jared Dudley and Sean Williams.

Wake Forest will try to feed the ball to 6-foot-11 senior Kyle Visser early and often to try and wear down the interior defense of Virginia. Visser is averaging 18.3 points per game and 7.8 rebounds per game. Virginia could neutralize Visser if senior Jason Cain can get Visser in early foul trouble. Visser has finished with four fouls in Wake Forest's last two games, and if he is in early foul trouble the Demon Deacons do not have many other options.

Wake Forest is still trying to find a second scorer on a young team that has seven freshmen and features four freshmen who are averaging 17 minutes per game or more, including freshman 5-foot-11 guard Ishmael Smith, who is second on the team with 8.9 points per game and leads the team with 6.3 assists per game.

A win over Wake Forest could help Virginia turn the corner for this season and help the Cavaliers build a résumé for a postseason tournament. Currently Virginia is not even listed as a bubble team by ESPN.com, but wins over Wake Forest, on the road against N.C. State and against a suddenly slumping Clemson team could give Virginia some confidence heading into a showdown against Duke at home.

To win those games Virginia will need to continue to get offense from more than just senior J.R. Reynolds and junior Sean Singletary. If sophomore Mamadi Diane can continue to build on his career-best game against Maryland, Virginia could have a three-headed beast that would be hard to stop.

"It makes my job a little bit easier" when other players contribute to scoring, Singletary said. "I still have other things to do like lead, but it definitely makes my job easier."

 

Cavs need to discover key to winning away
First half of season features puzzling trend of exuberant wins at John Paul Jones Arena, disappointing losses on the road
Anders Sleight, Cavalier Daily Associate Editor

The 2006-2007 Virginia men's basketball season is just past the halfway point and one distinct observation can be made about the season thus far: The Cavaliers are supremely affected by home court advantage. Thus far, Virginia has compiled a 10-6 record (2-2 in the ACC). But nine of the team's 10 victories have come in the John Paul Jones Arena.

Basketball is traditionally seen as a sport in which home games are much more valuable. To put it simply, the home crowd atmosphere has a much greater effect on a basketball team's play than most other sports. So Virginia's success at home this season seems perfectly logical. As is often the case, however, the real story is a bit more complex.

Virginia has posted many impressive home victories over quality opponents such as Gonzaga, N.C. State, Maryland and Arizona. Additionally, Virginia's only home loss came during Winter Break against a perennial contender -- Stanford. The Cavaliers lost that game 76-75 on a last-second shot.

"I just think we're more aggressive at home," senior guard J.R. Reynolds said. "We are more relaxed and more comfortable at home."

Furthermore, Virginia has been lighting up the JPJ this season. The Cavaliers are averaging a staggering 89.8 points per game at home. To put that in context, 89.8 points per game as an overall average for home and away games would rank Virginia as the top team in the ACC in scoring, ahead of No. 1-ranked North Carolina.

But the Cavaliers are averaging only 68 points per game on the road, making Virginia's overall scoring average 81.1 points per game. That total is good enough for fourth in the ACC.

The disparity in offensive production was particularly evident in Virginia's holiday trip to Puerto Rico. The trip did not go as well as expected. Virginia lost two games by double digits to somewhat unheralded opponents. Virginia was defeated by Appalachian State and Utah and only pulled out a close victory over Puerto Rico-Mayaguez.

Tuesday's victory over Maryland further widened the gap between this season's home and away games. Coming into the game Maryland was ranked as one the best defenses in the ACC. The Terrapins rank first in defensive field goal percentage (36.3) and blocked shots (7.9 per game).

But Virginia was able to thwart Maryland's stout defense. The Cavaliers scored 103 points against Maryland -- the third time this season the Cavaliers have broken the 100-point barrier. Interestingly enough, all three 100-point games have occurred at JPJ. After a tough three-game road stretch, Virginia was glad to get back to Charlottesville to face the Terps.

"We're very pleased and happy after losing three games in a row," Virginia coach Dave Leitao said. "We were helped a little bit by the home crowd -- just to get energy back."

The most interesting fact is that Virginia's defense has remained virtually the same at home and on the road. Virginia surrenders an average of 73.8 points per game at home and 74 points per game on the road. Virginia is averaging 66.5 points per game on the road, which is 23 points below the team's home scoring average. After Tuesday's game against Maryland Leitao reflected on the team's season thus far.

"We've got to be able to enjoy this and know that we're capable," Leitao said. "When we're aggressive on both ends, there are a lot of things that we can do. But we've got to figure out the other side of it. It remains a work in progress."

 

It’s time to let Vick go
By Jeff Schultz | Thursday, January 18, 2007, 07:47 PM
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The diminishing potential of Michael Vick tomorrow is no longer worth the reality of Michael Vick today.

Say goodbye.

Now.

Arthur Blank talks about a “Falcon filter” that his players must pass through. Well, Mr. Blank, filter this: Your quarterback is no more ready to lead a football team to a Super Bowl than Jeff Spicoli was to lead the Ridgemont High debate team.

Vick has a $130 million contract. He has lucrative endorsement deals (pending) that alone could feed and clothe small countries. Yet, he tried to sneak a fake water bottle that appeared to have been used to conceal marijuana past airport security.

Let’s put the debate on pot usage aside for a minute. What, Michael Vick couldn’t afford another secret spy bottle and dime bag when he got back home? (Quoting Spicoli as he smacked his head with a shoe: “That was my skull! I’m so wasted!”)

It’s never pretty when arrogance and stupidity collide. With Vick, it has collided too often.

This isn’t about the revelation that one pro athlete possibly likes to get high. Here’s a news flash for you: A lot of people like to get high. Quarterbacks. Plumbers. Your precious angel who just got his college acceptance letter.

Rather, this is about all of the crucial things that Vick lacks after six NFL seasons, and 26 years on earth, and endless reminders about his visibility from the most image-conscious owner in sports: Maturity. Leadership. Common friggin’ sense.

There is a point at which you say, “Enough.” Vick just stumbled right past that point, while trying to get through Miami airport security on his way to a free Air Tran flight (a company that slaps him on billboards).

This comes after a 7-9 season, during which Vick seldom took any responsibility for the ills of the team. He took criticism so well that he gave the finger to home fans.

He ducked several opportunities to defend coach Jim Mora after the season-ending loss in Philadelphia — and whether you believe Mora deserved to be defended or not is beside the point. Leaders step to the forefront. Leaders take the hit.

The file has become too thick. Vick should be trying to impress a new coach, Bobby Petrino. Given the way the last two seasons unraveled, he should be more worried about how to evolve, not how to escape. Taken separately, incidents can be minimized. Collectively, they’re like falling bricks. Training camp this season opened with a Web site running a picture borrowed from the “MySpace” page of Vick’s girlfriend. It showed Vick sitting in a limo, holding what was alleged to be a joint. Vick said it was a small cigar. If he got the benefit of the doubt then, he doesn’t deserve it now.

A woman claimed Vick gave her a sexually transmitted disease. She sued. Vick claimed innocence, but he settled out of court. His legacy? A video game company, Midway Games, liked his clinic alias, “Ron Mexico,” so much that it has a left-handed quarterback playing for the “Washington Redhawks” named “Mike Mexico” on its football game.

There have been guilt by association incidents, most notably when a member of Vick’s traveling party was caught taking a watch from an airport security checkpoint.

Tired of it all? Imagine if you were writing the checks.

Charges have not been filed against Vick. It shouldn’t matter. Vick hasn’t grown up and there’s no reason to believe he ever will. He has had enough time.

When critics pointed to his stats, Vick used to point to his record as a starter. That was the correct thing to do. He was 23-12-1 through 2004.

This year when things fell apart, Vick pointed to his rushing record and increased touchdown passes. Excuse me? His record as a starter the last two years: 15-16.

Vick has talent. But that’s not what his position is about. Quarterback is about all of those intangibles that you can’t measure at the scouting combine.

If Vick has those intangibles, they’re hiding in a mysterious cloud of smoke.

I’m tired of waiting.

The Falcons should be tired of waiting.

Say goodbye.