Patient London could have eye on Falcons assistant as U.Va. offensive coordinator
David Teel
January 21, 2010

New Texas Tech football coach Tommy Tuberville hired his offensive coordinator in three days. Charlie Strong dithered for all of two weeks before appointing his play-caller at Louisville. Skip Holtz hasn't designated titles but assembled his offensive staff at South Florida in four days.

What's up, then, with Virginia?

The Cavaliers introduced Mike London as their head coach Dec. 7, more than six weeks ago. National Signing Day looms Feb. 3.

Still, at last check, no offensive coordinator.

Is London fiddling while Charlottesville burns? Paralyzed by indecision? Lacking quality candidates?

None of the above. His search has been virtually stealth, but I suspect that London is patiently stalking his prey:

Atlanta Falcons quarterbacks coach Bill Musgrave.

London is not texting hints in the dead of night. Nor are athletic-department deep throats dropping names in darkened parking garages.

This is merely a hunch, and as such could be more misguided than early forecasts of the Massachusetts Senate race. But consider:

Defensive coordinator Jim Reid boarded London's Cavaliers train two weeks ago, shortly after his previous team, the NFL's Miami Dolphins, concluded their season outside the playoffs. Six other members of London's nine-man staff — the omniscient NCAA dictates the number of assistant coaches — are in place.

But the essential position, offensive coordinator, remains vacant.

Essential because offense lures recruits and fans. Essential because Virginia's attack has been feeble for the last four seasons: three under Mike Groh's direction, one under Gregg Brandon's.

London has neither explained the delay nor revealed his wish list, a silence that feeds the Internet beast. One poster suggested that Dallas Cowboys offensive coordinator Jason Garrett might be a candidate, perhaps forgetting that Garrett's $3-million salary (as reported by ESPN) is nearly twice London's and at least six times more than Virginia will pay a coordinator.

Musgrave has been available since Jan. 3, when the Falcons' season ended with a victory at Tampa. He's a former college (Oregon) and NFL (49ers and Broncos) quarterback, accomplished coach and coordinated Virginia's offense from 2001-02 before Al Groh's micromanagement drove him back to the pros.

In short, Musgrave is a natural. So what's the holdup?

Most likely, Musgrave, 42, has been trolling for an NFL coordinator position. The most logical was with the Houston Texans, where Kyle Shanahan exited to join his father, Mike, with the Washington Redskins.

In Houston, Musgrave would have reunited with quarterback Matt Schaub, who in 2002 at Virginia was the ACC Player of the Year. Schaub led the NFL with 4,770 passing yards this season, the sixth-most in league history, as the Texans posted their first winning record (9-7).

But Houston coach Gary Kubiak, a former Denver Broncos offensive coordinator, hired Broncos line coach Rick Dennison for the position. Dennison and Kubiak played and coached together in Denver.

Musgrave has run NFL offenses for Jacksonville, Carolina and Philadelphia. He's coached quarterbacks such as Peyton Manning, Matt Ryan, Mark Brunell, Steve Beuerlein, Jeff George and Michael Vick. He played for Mike Shanahan and Mike Holmgren, and backed up Joe Montana, Steve Young and John Elway.

By osmosis alone, the guy should be a savant.

Musgrave also has been a coaching gypsy. His current four-year stay in Atlanta is his longest, and that, too, may help explain the delay.

Perhaps Musgrave prefers an NFL life absent the concerns of recruiting and academics. Perhaps he considers himself the heir apparent to Falcons offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey.

Regardless, given Musgrave's history, Virginia would be wise to include a pricey escape clause in his contract were he to return to Charlottesville. The Cavs need and crave stability, particularly on offense after 2009's aborted attempt at a spread attack.

If Musgrave remains in the NFL, Minnesota Vikings quarterbacks coach Kevin Rogers, a former Virginia Tech assistant and a 1974 William and Mary graduate, would be a first-rate choice.

Failing either, London still could turn to Mike Faragalli, his offensive coordinator the past two seasons at the University of Richmond, where the Spiders won a national title and ranked 23rd and 25th nationally in scoring. Faragalli, who's also been a coordinator at Lafayette (Pa.) College, Bowling Green and in the Canadian Football League, has joined the Virginia staff in a position yet to be determined.

But Musgrave appears to be London's first choice, and if he accepts, he'll have far more autonomy and make much more money than eight years ago.

Absent another Schaub, Billy McMullen and Heath Miller, what else could an offensive coordinator want?

London’s former boss looks to overhaul defensive effort
Following coaching stint in NFL, Reid will help to guide Cavaliers’ defense
Andrew Seidman, Cavalier Daily Senior Associate Editor
Featured / Football / Sports
January 21, 2010 0

When Jim Reid entered college coaching, he made a promise to his wife: Football would not be a “transient” profession. He spent the first 19 years of his collegiate career at the University of Massachusetts, where he planned to “live and die.”

Eighteen years and seven different coaching jobs later, it may be time for Reid to deliver on that promise.

After spending two years as the outside linebackers coach for the Miami Dolphins, Reid bid the Florida sunshine goodbye and joined the Virginia coaching staff. New Virginia head coach Mike London named Reid defensive coordinator and associate head coach Jan. 7.

“Coach Reid brings passion and energy to the program and is an excellent people person guy,” London stated in a University press release. “He is a former head coach and is a well respected person throughout the state of Virginia. I feel confident our defensive players will come to love and respect him.”

The two coaches are quite familiar with each other. Fifteen years ago, it was Reid, then-head coach at Richmond, who brought London onto his staff as the recruiting coordinator and outside linebackers coach. And though London is known for taking Richmond to its highest peak — winning the Football Championship Subdivision national championship in 2008 — Reid had his own share of success during his nine-year tenure. A two-time Atlantic 10 Conference Coach of the Year, Reid left Richmond after the 2003 season as the third-winningest coach in program history with 48 victories and captured the Spiders’ first-ever 10-win season in 2000.

Now subordinate to the man he once hired, Reid may be unsure as to what his position as associate head coach entails, but he said he is confident about working with London to fulfill his vision.

“Any coach I’ve ever hired has never worked for me — he’s worked with me,” Reid said. “I believe coach London has the vision, he has the plan, he has the detail, and now we’ll all work with him to make sure that plan gets implemented.”

Reid’s ties to the University extend beyond his relationship with London. As an assistant coach at Syracuse for two years during the early 1980s, head coach Dick MacPherson instructed Reid to observe “the finest coach in America” during Spring Break. Reid assumed he would travel to Oklahoma, Nebraska, Michigan or Ohio State to pick the brains of college football behemoths. To his surprise, Reid was sent to Navy, the then-home of future Virginia coach George Welsh.

Reid said MacPherson gave him several specific instructions: “‘I want you to watch coach Welsh. I want you to watch his organization. I want you to watch the detail with which he runs the program, the energy which the players play with. I want you to listen to him and I want you to observe that. You’ll become a much better coach.’”

When Welsh moved on to Virginia in 1982, he welcomed competition from Reid’s Spiders. Welsh’s successor, Al Groh, allowed Reid to work his camps and watch film.

“I was able to get a flavor of the University, up close and a little bit personal,” Reid said. “So you have a little bit more of a feeling for the University than just playing them and leaving or driving through, and you get a chance to meet some folks. It’s a terrific opportunity.”

But with this opportunity comes many challenges — first and foremost, converting a Virginia defense that operated in the 3-4 scheme under Groh to a 4-3, which London has said he will implement.
Reid has employed both schemes throughout his career. Though he used a 4-3 at Richmond, he worked most recently with the 3-4 while coaching for the Dolphins. He has not yet been able to look at tape of his new defense — which ranked sixth in the ACC in total defense in 2009 — but he did offer his general defensive philosophy regarding the front seven.

“The idea of defense and defensive line play is that you gotta be tough,” he said. “You gotta be able to use your hands and you gotta be able to get up the field — whether you’re trying to defeat a block in two-gap in 3-4 or whether you’re trying to one-gap and get up the field and defeat blocks on the edge. They’re interchangeable, and certainly from a technique standpoint, a 3-4 defensive lineman can be a shade 4-3 defensive lineman.”

Reid has added different defensive wrinkles to each team he has helped coach during the last 36 years — Massachusetts, Richmond, Boston College, Syracuse, Bucknell, VMI and finally the Dolphins. And at 59 years of age, he would like to think he has hit his final road stop at Virginia.

After this last coaching move, Reid received a reminder from his wife: “‘You remember that promise you made to me several years ago?’”

With a chuckle, Reid said he gave her his word — one last time.

“I had to make that promise again, so as long as we can do a good job here — no, no, I know we’ll do a good job — as long as I do a good job here for the University of Virginia and coach London and I’m able to stay here and win some championships — I remember George Welsh telling me when he redid the facility here, ‘We did it right, we can win a national championship,’” Reid said. “So, that’s the goal.”

Injured Brady out of Pro Bowl, replaced by Schaub

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP)—Tom Brady(notes) has pulled out of the Pro Bowl after a season in which he played with rib and finger injuries. He has been replaced by Matt Schaub(notes) of the Houston Texans.

The NFL announced the change of AFC backup quarterbacks Wednesday. Brady and the rest of the New England Patriots had physicals after their 33-14 opening-round playoff loss to Baltimore on Jan. 10.

Brady played in all 16 regular-season games and completed 371 of 565 passes for 4,398 yards, 28 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. His completion percentage of 65.7 was seventh in the NFL and his passer rating of 96.2 was ninth.

In the playoff game against the Ravens, he completed 23 of 42 passes for 154 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions. Brady was asked about the Pro Bowl after the game and said, “We’ll have to see. We have our exit physicals tomorrow, so we’ll see what comes up.”

Schaub, named to his first Pro Bowl, completed 396 of 583 passes for 4,770 yards, all the most in the NFL. He ranked fourth with a 67.9 completion percentage and seventh with a 98.6 passer rating. He threw for 29 touchdowns, including the game-winner in Houston’s 34-27 victory over New England in the final regular-season game, and 15 interceptions

Brady was chosen for his fifth Pro Bowl but withdrew for the second straight time. He and Patriots receiver Randy Moss(notes) pulled out of the 2008 game with ankle injuries on Feb. 4, the day after the Patriots lost 17-14 to the New York Giants in the Super Bowl. Brady threw an NFL record 50 touchdown passes that season.

Patriots wide receiver Wes Welker(notes), who suffered a serious knee injury in the regular-season finale at Houston, initially was replaced in this year’s Pro Bowl by Moss. Then Moss withdrew with an injury and was replaced by Chad Ochocinco(notes) of the Cincinnati Bengals.

Patriots guard Logan Mankins(notes) and nose tackle Vince Wilfork(notes) are scheduled to start in the game in Miami on Jan. 31. Safety Brandon Meriweather(notes) is a backup.

The return of JPJ
Eric Strow, Cavalier Daily Columnist
Sports
January 21, 2010 0

If John Paul Jones Arena were a basketball player, you could say that it had a great rookie season, abruptly retired and took two years off and is now back in the game at the same high level it was at three years ago.

As a fourth-year student, I have to say that I’m practically giddy about how life has returned to JPJ. The ghost town has returned to being a packed house, a palace that again boasts one of the best home-court advantages in all of college basketball. Games at JPJ haven’t felt like this since the 2006-07 season, when the arena first opened its doors and the Cavaliers went 16-1 at home (with the lone loss coming during Winter Break).

Why, all of a sudden, has JPJ emerged from its retirement? The obvious answer is that, for the first time since the 2006-07 season, Virginia is playing winning basketball. So, let’s dig deeper and see why that is happening.

The first reason for this is defense. Virginia is third in the ACC in scoring defense, holding its conference opponents to a meager 64.7 points per game. Defense is clearly the most marked improvement the Cavaliers have made with the leadership of first-year coach Tony Bennett. The transformation of Virginia’s defense is a huge accomplishment for which Bennett deserves a ton of credit. But, for selfish reasons, I won’t go into that anymore. (That’s the subject of a future column.)

Another reason that helps explain Virginia’s refound success is the emergence of multiple scoring threats. During the 2006-07 season, Virginia had arguably the nation’s best backcourt in Sean Singletary and J.R. Reynolds. Singletary and Reynolds averaged 19 and 18.4 points per game, respectively, and were complemented by Mamadi Diane and Adrian Joseph who each knocked down 42 three-pointers. The Cavaliers went to the NCAA Tournament on the shoulders of those two guards and with help from Diane and Joseph’s contributions from behind the arc.

But Reynolds graduated after that season, and nobody stepped up to take on a significant part of the load he handled, forcing Singletary and the Cavaliers to scrap to get into the third-tier postseason tournament — the CBI — in 2007-08. And I’ll just skip over last year because the memory is enough to make upperclassmen cringe.

Virginia once again has a power duo, but this time in the form of a guard-forward combo. Sophomore guard Sylven Landesberg and junior forward Mike Scott have powered the Cavaliers into first place in the ACC with clutch shots and altogether impressive play. Landesberg and Scott are averaging 17.5 and 13.2 points per game, respectively, and are also the team leaders in rebounds per game (but in reverse order).

Sophomore guard Sammy Zeglinski has joined Scott and Landesberg to form a dynamic scoring attack. All three have each scored 10 or more points in Virginia’s three ACC contests, and Zeglinski is shooting a ridiculous 48.7 percent from three-point range while averaging 10.6 points per game. But the offense doesn’t stop there. Additionally, junior guards Jeff Jones and Mustapha Farrakhan have contributed to an offense that is first in the ACC with a 41.5 percent accuracy from behind the arc.

When a team is shooting as well the Cavaliers are, and playing defense as well as the Cavaliers are, good things are bound to happen — and so far, they have been. Clearly, when Virginia plays good basketball, JPJ is rocking. And when JPJ is rocking, Virginia plays good basketball.

Now, that’s how things should be.

Virginia’s Renaissance man gets his chance
By Jerry Ratcliffe
Published: January 21, 2010
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Until this season, Virginia basketball fans knew senior Jerome Meyinsse more for his brains than his brawn.

Thanks to myriad circumstances and Meyinsse’s (pronounced Me-yin-see) own drive, that perception has changed. Now, the senior from Baton Rouge, La., is known for both.

Wahoo lovers couldn’t help but notice his contribution in UVa’s last-second win over UNC-Wilmington on Monday night. Meyinsse scored a career-high 14 points while tying a career-high in minutes played (27). Otherwise, he’s one of those guys that does a lot of things that often go unnoticed, like setting the screen that allowed Sylven Landesberg to knock down the winning shot with two seconds to play.

Court contributions

Those accomplishments came as a complete surprises to those who follow the program, particularly based on Meyinsse’s history. He came to UVa as a 6-foot-8, 230-pound forward who lacked the strength to face the rigors of combating ACC big men.

He may not have helped UVa’s RPI, but he certainly didn’t hurt its GPA.

The kid’s academic credentials coming out of McKinley High were impeccable. His basketball needed a little work.

Meyinsse labored in obscurity the past three years, scoring a combined 96 points over that span. When new coach Tony Bennett arrived last spring, it was like a breath of fresh air for Meyinsse, who has already scored 74 points in 16 games this season.

“When Coach Bennett came in, everybody had a clean slate,” Meyinsse said after the UNCW win. “I definitely saw it as an opportunity for me in my last year to make something of my career. Everyone felt rejuvenated.”

Mind and muscle

The kid’s no dummy. He was going to make the most out of that opportunity. So, he hit the weight room — hard. Under the direction of new strength coach, Mike Curtis (a former UVa player), Meyinsse shed excess weight (from 245 to 233) while adding muscle and strength.

Bennett was impressed with what he saw as the process evolved.

“I remember after workouts when I first got here, it was hard to tell because we didn’t do a ton of team stuff, but most individuals,” Bennett said. “When we started again in the fall, I thought, ‘You know what? He’s solid.’ He’s so physically strong.”

That wasn’t enough to convince Bennett to give the senior, who has since been named a tri-captain, playing time. The coach wanted to see how the player could handle getting up and down the floor in some five-on-five work.

Meyinsse held up through the additional tests, and Bennett realized that he could help the team.

“He’s a smart player, heady player in his ability to think the game,” Bennett said.

That’s important because Bennett plays a thinking man’s game of roundball.

“Jerome doesn’t try to do things he’s not capable of ... he understands who he is as a player, and we talk about that a lot,” the coach said. “It’s screening, it’s rebounding. It’s banging defensively, and then if he gets in scoring position, to try and make his move.”

Meyinsse actually has a decent touch if he gets deep enough toward the basket.

The big man — who now measures 6-9, 233 — is shooting around 58 percent from the field, around 70 percent from the line, is a decent rebounder and knows how to bang (he leads the team in personal fouls with 37).

Added strength has helped him earn playing time. He battled in practice the first few years against guys like Tunji Soroye, Lars Mikalauskas and Ryan Pettinella, so he knew what was required to go against the ACC’s best.

“I’ve been in some battles down low for the last four games,” Meyinsse said of matchups against N.C. State’s Tracy Smith, Georgia Tech’s Gani Lawal, Miami’s Dwayne Collins and UNCW’s John Fields. “They’re all big, strong guys. I would have been pushed around out there [in the past], but I put in the work over the spring and summer so that I could hold my own.”

However, the brawn is only one part of Meyinsse,. The brains are even more impressive.

“He’s the total package from the academic perspective, from the leadership perspective, being involved with the student-athlete advisory committee [Meyinsse is president of that organization],” said UVa’s Jim Booz, associate director of athletics for academic affairs. “Quite frankly, Jerome demonstrates the type of qualities we would hold from any student at the University of Virginia.”

Just get a load of this.

Meyinsse is majoring in economics with a minor in math, which as Booz points out, is no small task at any institution.

“I won’t get into his specific GPA, but he exceeds the student body average GPA of the university, so he’s doing more than just carrying his own,” Booz said.

Meyinsse is a two-time UVa scholar-athlete of the year, a big deal around the school.

He’s been named to the All-ACC Academic Team each of the last two seasons in addition to being a member of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars, was UVa’s representative at the 2009 NCAA National Student-Athlete Development Conference, named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches Honor Court for his academics, and represents UVa at ACC academic functions.

If that doesn’t impress you, read on.

Just for fun, Meyinsse proofread and edited a book on the economic crisis of 2008-09. He also updated and edited a textbook on financial market theory.

Every Friday possible, he goes out to Walker Upper Elementary for an hour of volunteer work with one of the school’s physical education classes. During the fall, he organized a UVa men’s basketball effort to volunteer at the Habitat for Humanity store.

Athletics, academics, and helping the community represents quite a workload and time demand on a young man.

“I think it’s challenging and incredibly difficult to excel at the level he does in just one of those areas,” Booz pointed out. “But to do it in all areas of his life and to do it so humbly, that’s what sets him apart. He’s well-liked and respected by his teammates and his classmates.”

Most of his academic work is behind him now that he’s done with his majors as he heads into his final semester, which has given him some freedom to focus on his last go-round in basketball and to branch out and take different kinds of classes.

For Meyinsse, it’s all coming together.

“The basketball part of it really means a lot to me,” he said. “I stayed with it. That was hard to do my first two years, not getting the playing time I would have liked. Being patient and working hard has paid off for me and I’m making the best of it.”

The best of both worlds. That’s Jerome Meyinsse — Mr. Brains and Mr. Brawn.
 

Men's Basketball: Meyinsse solidifies role

The Cavaliers Journal archive presents a revealing look at the evolution of Jerome Meyinsse this season.

He started in the preseason as a player who could receive a fresh opportunity with Coach Tony Bennett. That turned into a player the Cavaliers needed to call upon with Assane Sene, Jamil Tucker and Mike Scott all missing from the lineup early in the season. Around the New Year, it became clear that Meyinsse had earned a role in the rotation.

Now, he's a starter and has solidified his spot as the Cavaliers' "banger" in the post.

"I expect to have that role," Meyinsse said. "It's helped us succeed the last few games."

He has played at least 20 minutes in each of the last three games and scored a career-high 14 points in Monday's win over North Carolina Wilmington. Meyinsse has been asked to guard the opponents' toughest interior player, such as North Carolina State's Tracy Smith and Georgia Tech's Gani Lawal.

When Bennett turned to a four-guard lineup late against the Seahawks, it was not Scott and four guards; it was Meyinsse and four guards. Although he does not have a vast offensive skillset, Meyinsse can score with his back to the basket and has proven able and willing to play tough in the post. That is not often revealed in his rebounding numbers, but he has cleared the lane for guards to snag rebounds.

Before the season, Bennett predicted that a player without a large role in the past could emerge this season. So far, Meyinsse, Will Sherril and Mustapha Farrakhan have all fit that description.

By Zach Berman

Men's Basketball: Three-point shooting a surprise

Before the season, Tony Bennett was asked about Virginia's struggles from the three-point line last season. The Cavaliers were returning only one player who made more than 35 percent of his three-pointers in 2008-09, and Bennett joked that there are a lot of shooters, but not a lot of makers.

He said the players worked hard on shooting during the offseason, but added that the team needed to prioritize what it could improve during practice time.

"That'll be an area to watch," Bennett said at the time. "Are we a lights-out shooting team? I don't see that yet. That would certainly be nice."

He added that he did not know "for sure", although he did not sound convinced.

At the midpoint of the season, Virginia's outside shooting has actually become a strength. The Cavaliers are No. 9 in the nation in three-point shooting percentage, connecting on 41.5 percent from beyond the arc. That is the top percentage in the ACC.

Sammy Zeglinski leads the conference with 48.7 percent from three-point range. Jeff Jones has made 46.8 percent of his three-pointers, while Will Sherrill and Mustapha Farrakhan are both shooting 40 percent. Sylven Landesberg is not far behind with 38.1 percent.

"I know I want us to get good looks," Bennett said. "The key to shooting the ball from the perimeter is are you getting quality looks? Are we getting guys the looks that they can make? When you're not forcing shots, when guys are getting open with their feet set, good looks, that's when you shoot them with confidence."

On top of that, Virginia has made clutch shots. Zeglinski, Jones and Farrakhan have all hit clutch three-pointers during the Cavaliers' winning streak.

"The right guys are shooting them at the right time," Bennett said.

By Zach Berman

Geaux Saints
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 01/20/2010
Jan. 20, 2010
4:58 p.m.

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- At John Paul Jones Arena, in the office of the head men's basketball coach, is a football. It's inscribed "To Dick and Tony" -- the Bennetts -- and signed by Brett Favre.

Wisconsin native Tony Bennett grew up in Green Bay, starred for his father, Dick, at UW-Green Bay and, not surprisingly, still roots for the Packers. And though Favre is now in Minnesota, old loyalties die hard.

"I'm twisted," Bennett said after UVa's practice Wednesday. "I wish he were at Green Bay, and I'd love to have seen him there, but I still think Brett Favre is an amazing quarterback."

The New Orleans Saints host Favre and the Vikings at the Superdome on Sunday night, with the winner clinching a spot in the Super Bowl XLIV.

Rest assured, Virginia center Jerome Meyinsse will be watching. Born and raised in Baton Rouge, La., Meyinsse said he's not some casual observer who hopped on the local team's bandwagon this season.

"I'm a long-suffering Saints fan," said Meyinsse, who's in his fourth year at UVa. "I'm glad they're having success this year."

To celebrate, Meyinsse added, "I went out and bought me a Drew Brees jersey. I've rubbed it in all my friends' faces -- Redskins fans, Eagles fans, Giants fans, all those people."

He has yet to engage in any trash-talking with his coach, but Meyinsse didn't seem especially worried about No. 4 heading into Sunday night.

"It might be Brett Favre's last game," he said, smiling.

­-- Jeff White

 

Rise and Shine: 'Hoos Keep New Hours
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 01/20/2010
Jan. 20, 2010
10:28 p.m.

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- The spring semester started Wednesday at UVa, but you wouldn't have found any men's basketball players in class that morning.

They weren't out of town, and they weren't sleeping in. Their coach, Tony Bennett, decided before the semester to alter the Wahoos' practice schedule.

They'll practice from 9 to about 11 a.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays, except on game days, for the rest of the regular season. The rest of the week, the 'Hoos will practice in the afternoon as usual.

"We'll evaluate it and see how it goes," Bennett said after a spirited practice Wednesday morning.

"It's not like it's [former Temple coach] John Chaney, practicing at 5 or 6 a.m. We're at the point where our practices are intense and around an hour-and-a-half, where we get in and we get out. And then the kids, they're up, and it gets them ready for classes."

Senior center Jerome Meyinsse has no issues with the new practice schedule.

"I've been here for four years," he said. "I've done a lot of 6 a.m. [workouts], things like that.

"We used to have breakfast [as a team] every day. This is just like days that we have to get breakfast. No problem for me."

The Wahoos have no more Monday games. They play four more times on Wednesdays: Feb. 3 (N.C. State), Feb. 10 (at Maryland), Feb. 17 (Florida State) and March 3 (at Boston College). For the N.C. State and FSU games, the morning practices will be walk-throughs.

"So it's really not that many times," Bennett said. "It's not a big deal."

On Mondays and Wednesdays, the players have afternoon classes.

When practice ended Monday, the players gathered around Bennett, who reminded them of their academic responsibilities.

"Have a good first day," he said. "Let's get off on the right foot."

Virginia (3-0, 12-4), which leads the ACC, plays Saturday at Wake Forest (3-2, 13-4). The Demon Deacons whipped North Carolina in Chapel Hill on Wednesday night.

"We're going on the road to play a heck of a team, so it's how we prepare and how focused we are in practice," Bennett said. "Today they were intense and focused, and that was good."
-- Jeff White

 

More seats for UVa banquet
By Jay Jenkins
Published: January 21, 2010
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Due to rapid ticket sales and confirmation that at least 67 former Virginia baseball players would be in attendance, Brian O’Connor was forced to think outside the box.

The most important thing to the Cavaliers’ baseball coach was offering the opportunity to baseball fans from Central Virginia to hear one of the best ambassadors for his sport speak.

With that in mind, a new ticket option was created Wednesday for Virginia’s annual Step Up to the Plate banquet to held Friday at John Paul Jones Arena. Having sold out of floor seats, a general admission ticket option was created, which is being offered for $20 for adults and $10 for youth (12 and under). It offers admittance to the arena at 7 p.m. and a seat in the stands to hear guest speaker Dave Winfield speak.

“Once we reached a sell-out situation, there was a decision to try to give more people the opportunity to enjoy the evening and to have an opportunity to hear a Hall of Famer like Dave Winfield speak,” he explained. “It is something that not many people have, so we just wanted to provide an additional opportunity.”

O’Connor admitted that he has coveted Winfield as the event’s keynote speaker for some time and was finally able this year to land the member of the Baseball Hall of Fame and the College Baseball Hall of Fame.

“Not only is Dave an accomplished athlete and a Hall of Famer, but he is of the highest character,” O’Connor said. “He is very articulate and he enjoys being around people. He loves to talk about baseball and I think he is going to deliver a great message. He is a great person.”

The event was moved to JPJ after a long-standing tradition of having the event at Memorial Gymnasium. Following the Cavaliers’ first trip to the College World Series last year and continued interest in the program, a decision was made to move the event to a larger venue. It will also provide improved audio-visual effects with the large scoreboard screeens inside JPJ.

Tickets are available by calling the ticket office at (800) 542-8821 until 3 p.m. on Friday and at the main entrance at JPJ at 6 p.m. later that day.

Virginia opens its season on Feb. 19 at East Carolina.
 

Best of the decade: Coaches
Dan Stalcup, Cavalier Daily Senior Associate Editor
Sports
January 21, 2010 0

If you read any magazine or newspaper during the weeks leading up to the new year, chances are high that you encountered at least one ranked list of “The Best of the Aughts.” No topic was spared from these insufferable countdowns. Why must everything be ranked and quantified? Why can’t we just agree that good is good, bad is bad and that there’s no need for one thing to be better than the other?

Because that’s no fun, damn it! Everybody loves an entertaining and thought-provoking list. The broader the content, the more compelling and philosophical the ensuing arguments. So I encourage you to disagree with me, formulate your own opinion and revisit these Virginia varsity athletics high points as I attempt to compare apples to oranges. During my next few columns, I will be counting down my top 10 personal choices for the greatest coaches, seasons, games, moments and athletes of the aughts.

I certainly haven’t seen every player or game from the past 10 years but I have done a fair amount of research into the recent history of all of Virginia’s 23 varsity teams. Essentially every stat, record and ranking I present can be found on VirginiaSports.com and the media guides available online.

There are no hard and fast criteria for what makes someone or something great because success can take many forms: steady accomplishment (swimming) or bizarre flame-outs (2006-07 basketball), reliability (Sharneé Zoll) or sheer dominance (Somdev Devvarman). But, in general, what I value most are titles, awards, difficulty of competition, numbers, exceeding expectations and entertainment value, approximately in that order. Some marks against greatness might be late-season faltering, struggling in conference, lacking a defining moment or personality and numbness — that is, the shrug-inducing sensation that being too predictably good for some time can induce. That’s why a national semifinal lacrosse team won’t be ranked as high as basketball team that misses out on the Sweet Sixteen. You can decide for yourself whether you agree with these values.

This week, I’ll count down my choices for the greatest coaches. Next week, I’ll take a look at the best team seasons. At the conclusion of each list, I’ll give a special salute to someone who doesn’t really fit the mold of banner success for the aughts but who holds a special place in my heart nevertheless.

Top 10 Virginia Coaches of the Decade

1. Mark Bernardino, swimming

Consistency isn’t particularly exciting, especially in a sport that’s already repetitive. But Bernardino has been staggeringly reliable.

During the past 10 years, he has garnered 12 ACC Coach of the Year awards — nine for the men’s program, three for the women’s — and has coached an astonishing number of successful swimmers.

All of his numbers are bewildering. His men have won 103 individual and relay conference championships this decade, while his women have won 54. Name any conference swimming award — Swimmer of the Year, Freshman of the Year, Scholar-Athlete Award — and Bernardino-coached swimmers have probably dominated it the past 10 years.

That presence is felt nationally, too. There have been dozens of All-Americans and two national champions since 2000, Ed Moses and Cara Lane.

What are the marks against Bernardino? He coaches in a sport that is individual-driven and is won through regular, miniscule improvement. He didn’t win a team national title, though the dynamic of team success in swimming is very different from other sports. There’s a certain level of numbness to methodical victory of this magnitude that makes it harder to process and appreciate than a lesser but more dramatic victory. But not enough for me to bring him down a notch.

Trying to understand Bernardino’s decade is like trying to understand Pat Summitt’s win percentage or Wayne Gretzky’s assist records. It’s almost too much to fathom. But it’s certainly convincing enough for me to comfortably name him the Coach of the Aughts.

2. Dom Starsia, lacrosse

Dom not at number one? It’s ludicrous and difficult to justify, I know. Bernardino’s accomplishments are so mammoth that I couldn’t deny him the top spot, but Starsia’s success gave the swimming coach a run for his money. Here’s a rundown of his biggest accomplishments this decade.

First, Starsia orchestrated perhaps the greatest season in the history of college lacrosse — the undefeated 2006 national championship.

Second, he mentored some of the best college lacrosse players ever. Matt Ward, Chris Rotelli, Ben Rubeor and — perhaps most memorably — Tillman Johnson.

Third, he made sure Virginia excelled during lacrosse’s transition from hippie pasttime to a sport demanding enough to rival football and hockey in terms of physicality.

Fourth, he crafted teams that showcased riveting, fun lacrosse every year. Who will ever forget, as long as they are alive, the seven-overtime game from last year? Anyone?

No matter how you slice it, Starsia is one of the best Virginia coaches of the decade and, frankly, one of the best to ever set foot on Grounds.

3. Brian Boland, men’s tennis

The Virginia men’s tennis team has been in existence for 104 years and has competed in the ACC for 56 years. During that time frame, the Cavaliers have won the conference championship only four times, and those have been four of the past five years.

Boland took charge of a good program in 2002 and made it great — even made it arguably the best program in the nation the second half of this decade. His players have racked up a pair of individual NCAA Championships — both to Somdev Devvarman — and a smorgasbord of other indoor and outdoor titles.

Notably absent from that list is a team championship from the outdoor season, which is the “real” season. That’s really been the only blemish on Boland’s otherwise incredible record. His two best teams — 2008 and 2009 — were both upset in the national semifinals.

The tantalizing dominance of Virginia tennis during the regular season both overrides the postseason mishaps and makes them all the more frustrating. After he gets the championship monkey off his back, we can start talking about him in the same breath as Starsia and Bernardino.

4. Julie Myers, women’s lacrosse

The women’s lacrosse team had an incredible stretch from 2003 through 2008, during which the Cavaliers ended the season as some combination of national champions, national runners-up or ACC champions.

Consistency like that is only possible with impeccable recruiting and coaching, both of which Myers brings to the table.

Three national runner-up performances — 2003, 2005, 2007 — is frustrating, but at least the 2004 team brought home a trophy to hold the aughts’ legacy.

5. Kevin Sauer, women’s rowing

Rowing is in a different, smaller world apart from most other sports, so it’s more difficult to comprehend the significance of big accomplishments. But there are some things you just can’t argue with: five conference coach of the year awards, four boats earning national championships and nine consecutive conference championships — all this decade. I don’t pretend to be an expert about rowing but I can tell you that number, the longest consecutive stretch of ACC championships for any sport in Virginia history, is not something to sneeze at.

6. George Gelnovatch, men’s soccer

There’s absolutely no question that the soccer team’s terrifyingly good 2009 postseason, culminating in Gelnovatch’s first national title, did a lot to bolster the coach’s placement in this ranking. But he was a great coach even beforehand, though his teams’ leaps to greatness were only intermittent.

7. Brian O’Connor, baseball

Arguments in favor of O’Connor: The baseball team took a 2009 trip to the College World Series, and O’Connor earned a selection by some media as the national coach of the year. The team immediately improved when he was hired, bouncing to 40-win seasons year-in and year-out. Arguments against O’Connor: His teams never won when it mattered before 2009 and were continually overrated. There was a detectable complacency with being merely decent before the urgent and exciting burst last year. Without 2009, O’Connor might not have scraped onto this list.

8. Debbie Ryan, women’s basketball

The biggest win of the decade for Ryan came when doctors pronounced her cancer-free in 2002 after a two-year struggle with pancreatic cancer, but her teams have been no slouches on the court, either. With her new lease on life, she reinvigorated the program by recruiting and mentoring role models who have changed the shape of the Virginia women’s basketball from middle-of-the-conference to nationally-respected contender.

9. Michele Madison, field hockey

Too soon? I don’t think so. Madison just finished her fourth year at the University, yet has already left an indelible mark. With incredible batches of recruits becoming the norm and serious contention for a national championship becoming the Virginia way, Madison immediately had improved Virginia’s record. Look for sophomore Paige Selenski to continue making big leaps forward.

10. Steve Swanson, women’s soccer

The Nolan Ryan award of being near-great and painfully consistent for a really long time goes to Mr. Swanson, whose team went to at least the second round of the 64-team NCAA Tournament every year of the aughts but never advanced past the quarterfinals.

Dan’s Salute: Steve Garland, wrestling

I do little to hide my enthusiasm for Garland. If there’s any coach pushing his or her program in the right direction, it’s Garland — a strategist and player’s coach. Barring an unlikely collapse, Garland is a near-lock for the Top-10 Coaches of the 2010s.