| Home-grown talent heads classes |
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By
DOUG DOUGHTY THE ROANOKE TIMES |
Not too many years ago, then-Virginia Tech recruiting coordinator John Ballein said he preferred that all of the top in-state football prospects stayed in state, even those who picked Virginia over the Hokies. That's like those Tech or UVa fans who swear that they pull for both state schools and only root against the Cavaliers or the Hokies when they're playing each other. Call me a cynic, but I don't believe any of them. You could say that Ballein, now an associate athletic director, was just being politically correct. However, Ballein is about as politically incorrect as Bill Maher, the comic who hosts a late-night television show by that name. "I haven't changed my opinion," Ballein said Wednesday. "When I was first saying it, a lot of people disagreed with me." According to Ballein, once prospects got in the habit of signing with Virginia or Virginia Tech, there would be enough good ones to go around. That was certainly the case this year, when a total of 48 players from Virginia had signed Division I-A letters-of-intent by Monday. In 2001, thought to be one of the most plentiful classes ever, there were 35. The high number of Division I-A signees in Virginia was one story in the state this year. Another was the fact that 19 players off The Roanoke Times Top 25 went to either Tech or UVa, as well as 24 of the top 30. If Antwan Stewart had remained committed to Virginia and Patrick Dosh to Virginia Tech, it would have been 26 of 30. Amazingly, longtime plunderer North Carolina and ACC champion Maryland didn't get a single Virginia player between them. The biggest story in in-state recruiting this year, whether you like Virginia's class or not, was first-year UVa coach Al Groh. Groh promised that he would recruit as no UVa coach had recruited before - and he delivered. To some, Groh took a risk when he assembled a staff that included six assistants who were 35 or younger. Groh gambled that he would be able to coach the coaches and they would provide the energy that would translate into recruiting victories. At least one reason that Virginia was able to sign the state's top prospect, Hylton linebacker Ahmad Brooks, was the rapport Brooks enjoyed with 32-year-old UVa assistant Al Golden. Golden was the recruiting coordinator at Penn State before Groh was able to lure him to Charlottesville with a promotion to defensive coordinator. No matter how many hours Golden and Co. spend in the film room or attending clinics, it is players like Brooks, fellow All-America linebacker Kai Parham and cornerbacks Marcus Hamilton and Stefan Orange who will build their reputation. If people want to challenge the No.5 ranking that recruiting analyst Tom Lemming gave UVa's class, it is clear that the Cavaliers had a top-10 class. It is the best class UVa has had and rivals the Hokies' 2001 class, ranked eighth by SuperPrep, as the best by either state school. Tech's class this year was ranked as high as 17th by TheInsiders.com, a recruiting service recognized by Sports Illustrated and CNN. Of the 31 players who made official visits to Blacksburg, Tech signed 20 and the others went to Penn State, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Auburn, Florida State, Wisconsin, Virginia, Florida, Clemson and UCLA. Nevertheless, if the Hokies had lost quarterback Marcus Vick to Virginia on the eve of National Signing Day, there would have been profound disappointment in Blacksburg. To those who question the importance of one player, consider what Vick's older brother, Michael, meant for the Hokies. With Marcus Vick and players like All-America defensive tackle Jonathan Lewis, the Hokies can be pleased with their recruiting, no matter what the Cavaliers did. In Virginia, there's room for more than one elite program. |
Cavs await crucial game
By ANDREW JOYNER
Daily Progress staff writer
When Virginia coach Pete Gillen squared off against former assistant, friend and
first-year Wake Forest coach Skip Prosser, both individuals clearly did not
appreciate all the mentor-against-pupil hype surrounding the game.
They did their respective teleconferences addressing the matchup and exchanging
courtesies and memories, but both brushed aside the extra interest, and
uncomfortable might be the word both would chose for the situation. Prosser even
quipped sarcastically after UVa’s 86-74 win on Jan. 15 that the game was about
the teams and players and that no one would come out to see he and Gillen —
two redheads as he put it — playing against each other.
Tonight, in the rematch the coaches disdain, the wishes likely will be respected
because the focus really will be on the game itself. As Prosser might agree, the
players and teams and not the coaches are why Joel Coliseum will be filled this
evening.
The game could not be more crucial for both teams. Virginia is looking for a
third straight victory after dropping four straight and will also be seeking a
win that could remove it from any NCAA bubble trouble. The Deacons enter the
game having dropped two straight, including a 118-115 double-overtime loss at
Clemson on Wednesday. After tonight’s game, the Deacons host No. 1 Duke on
Thursday and then travel to No. 3 Maryland next Sunday. A loss against UVa
tonight and the Deacons would be staring squarely at a possible five-game losing
streak at a crucial portion of the season.
Both teams also hope to keep pace with N.C. State for the precious No. 3 seed in
next month’s ACC tournament. With its win over Clemson on Saturday, N.C. State
improved to 8-5 in the conference while the Deacons are 7-4 and the Cavaliers
6-5 in the league.
“I’m really looking forward to this. It’s going to be a big game,” said
UVa junior guard Roger Mason Jr. after Tuesday’s 73-63 win over North
Carolina.
Added senior forward Chris Williams: “We beat them here and I think we can
beat them there. We have to come out strong for this game.”
Player availability might be the key ingredient for this evening’s game.
Wake’s Josh Howard, the team’s second-leading scorer (14.3 ppg), has been
battling a high ankle sprain that has severely limited the athletic guard’s
play. Howard did not play in Wake’s loss to Cincinnati last Saturday and
played just 18 minutes against Clemson and appeared to reinjure the ankle when
pressed into action in overtime. Howard is probably questionable at best this
evening.
Virginia senior swingman Adam Hall has missed nine of his team’s last 10 games
with torn plantar fascia tissue in his right foot but could be available to play
this evening.
If there is one clear advantage for the Cavaliers it is in terms of rest.
Virginia has had five days of rest — its longest such stretch of inactivity
since beginning ACC play. Of course, Virginia also did not have to play 50
minutes of basketball as Wake had to Wednesday.
“The rest will be good. I told the guys to regroup a little. Take a look in
the mirror and realize that we have a stretch run right here,” Mason said.
“To be a special team we are going to have to pull some things together and
get ready to go on a run.”
| Cavaliers take time to regroup before final run |
| A five-day break between games helps UVa rest up for its final five regular-season ACC games. |
| By
DOUG DOUGHTY THE ROANOKE TIMES |
When Virginia went weeks without playing games early in the season, the Cavaliers knew the pace would quicken. Twice, UVa has played two ACC games in the space of three days, including Clemson and North Carolina last week. "I think the last two days were invaluable for the program," UVa assistant Tom Herrion said after the players had been given Wednesday and Thursday off. "It gave the kids a chance to exhale and totally get away from it. We just haven't had that chance. "We were in such a grind with the schedule and the pressure of the four [straight] losses. I don't know how we'll play [today], but to see some of the kids come through the office, it's like the weight of the world has been lifted from their shoulders. There's a bounce in their step." When 15th-ranked Virginia (16-6, 6-5 ACC) resumes play tonight at 6:30 at No.19 Wake Forest (17-8, 7-4), the Cavaliers will have had their first five-day break since December. "Not playing Tuesday to Sunday gives us a nice little break," Herrion said. "It's given us a chance to collect ourselves and regroup for the final push." The Cavaliers, playing on Sunday for the fifth consecutive week, can help their NCAA Tournament chances by winning one or both of their road games this week. Virginia visits Florida State on Wednesday before returning home Saturday for a 4 p.m. tip-off with Georgia Tech. Most analysts say Virginia needs to go at least 8-8 in the ACC to make the NCAA Tournament. The Cavaliers probably would be safe with 19 victories overall. "We don't worry about it right now," Herrion said. "We're in control of our own destiny. That's all you can ask for. You go out and try to win as many of the last five as you can. As we speak today, we're in decent shape with our RPI. "We're right in the middle of it. We're a game out of third place right now. It's different if you have to rely on other people, but we don't. We have five conference games left. We all think it's only five, but it's still a lot of games." The importance of the games this week is magnified because the final two games are against No.1 Duke at home and No.3 Maryland in the final game at Cole Field House. UVa won't be favored in either of those games. The Cavaliers won't be favored today at Wake Forest, despite the Cavaliers' 86-74 victory over then-No.14 Wake in Charlottesville. UVa has won as an underdog once all season, when it defeated 16th-ranked Georgetown in December. Virginia has been playing with a makeshift eight-man rotation, including four freshmen, since senior Adam Hall suffered a partial tear of his plantar fascia Jan.12. Hall has played five minutes in one game since then. "He had not practiced up through the Carolina game [Tuesday] but I think he did some work on his own Wednesday or Thursday," Herrion said. "He'll let us know when he's ready. He has not told us he will not be back." Wake Forest has some injury concerns of its own. Second-leading scorer Josh Howard did not start at Clemson on Wednesday because of a sprained ankle, then reaggravated the injury late in the Deacons' 118-15 double-overtime loss. It's anybody's guess how Wake might respond, but after the Cavaliers lost 68-52 at Clemson this season, they won their next five games. UVa is on a two-game winning streak despite blowing a 16-point lead Tuesday night against North Carolina. "It's like Pete [Gillen] said, 'There's no points for style at this time of year,'" Herrion said. "You just turn the page. The good thing is, we're not playing our best basketball yet. There's still hope we can peak again." |
Much on line for U.Va., Wake today
Win, and they're in.
It's not quite that simple for the Virginia Cavaliers, of course, but tonight's ACC game at 19th-ranked Wake Forest has major implications for coach Pete Gillen's squad. The NCAA men's basketball tournament starts in less than a month, and No. 15 Virginia would prefer not to sweat out Selection Sunday.
U.Va. beat Wake last month at University Hall in the first meeting between Gillen and protege Skip Prosser, the Demon Deacons' first-year coach. If the Cavaliers (6-5, 16-6) defeat the Deacons (7-4, 17-8) again and then win at least one of their final four regular-season games they'd be assured of finishing no worse than 8-8 in conference play.
That probably would ensure the Cavs an at-large berth to the NCAAs in the likely event they fail to capture the ACC tourney.
"It's coming down to the end," said junior center Travis Watson, the ACC's leading rebounder. "Right now we're just focused on winning games. A win is a win right now."
Some wins are more significant than others. Its top-15 ranking in the major polls notwithstanding, U.Va. stood a less-impressive No. 30 in Friday's Rating Percentage Index update and has few marquee victories. A regular-season sweep of the Demon Deacons, No. 23 in Friday's RPI, could only impress the NCAA selection committee.
The Cavaliers, 11-30 all-time against Wake in Winston-Salem, N.C., should be as rested tonight as they've been in some time. After U.Va. survived a second-half scare Tuesday night from North Carolina - the Cavs' fourth game in 10 days - Gillen gave his players Wednesday and Thursday off.
"It'll be good," junior guard Roger Mason Jr. said of the break. "I told the guys just to regroup a little bit, look yourselves in the mirror and realize that we got a stretch run right here. And to be a special team, we're going to have to pull some things together and get ready to go on a run."
Senior swingman Adam Hall, who has played five minutes since hurting his right foot Jan. 12 at UNC, could return tonight, but he's indicated he wants to be 100 percent before playing again. Wake probably will be short-handed, too, with junior forward Josh Howard slowed by a high ankle sprain.
The Deacons erased an eight-point deficit in the final 18 seconds of regulation to force overtime Wednesday at Clemson, which had lost its previous eight games. Somehow, though, the Tigers pulled themselves together and prevailed 118-115 in two extra periods.
Afterward, Wake guard Broderick Hicks said Virginia's visit "was going to be a huge game" no matter what happened at Clemson. "But after losing the way we lost tonight, we've got to win."
Two teams, then, with things to prove will meet tonight at Lawrence Joel Memorial Coliseum. It's that time of year.
"You can talk about [struggling North] Carolina being hungry and wanting to win," Mason said late Tuesday, "but shoot, at this point of the season, everybody's hungry, everybody's playing for something."
NOTE: Tip-off tonight will be at 6:47 to accommodate Fox Sports Net's pre-game show.
Cavs Face Bruising Stretch
By Jim Reedy
Special to The Washington Post
Sunday, February 17, 2002; Page D08
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Feb. 16 – Virginia stopped what junior guard Roger Mason Jr. called the "bleeding" of a four-game losing streak with home wins against Clemson and North Carolina last week. But Sunday's game at Wake Forest marks the beginning of a five-game stretch that will conclude the Cavaliers' regular season and likely will determine their postseason fate.
No. 15 Virginia (16-6, 6-5 ACC), the conference's fifth-place team, must still face each of the conference's top three teams: No. 19 Wake Forest (17-8, 7-4), No. 1 Duke and No. 3 Maryland. Mixed in for good measure are a trip to Florida State, where the Blue Devils suffered their only loss of the season, and a home date with Georgia Tech, which handed U-Va. its lone home loss last season.
The Cavaliers are back on track with two straight wins, but they are not up to top speed. Against Clemson and North Carolina, they wasted double-digit leads before coming through in the end.
"You have got to put people away," U-Va. Coach Pete Gillen said after Tuesday's 73-63 win against the Tar Heels. "I was disappointed that we didn't have the killer instinct. . . . [But] the biggest thing is we won. We're not going to dissect it. We'll turn the page and take a breath and get ready for Sunday."
The Tigers and Tar Heels also exposed the Cavaliers' continuing inability to create offense against a zone defense. Gillen juggled the starting lineup before the Clemson game, but he has been unable to find a group that can consistently provide the outside shooting and dribble penetration needed to keep defenders from collapsing on workhorse center Travis Watson.
"Some guys [defenders] just leave alone," Gillen said. "The guys won't shoot most of the time or they're not making them as much."
Mason and, to a lesser degree, senior forward Chris Williams have done their part to keep perimeter defenders honest. Virginia's problems have come at the lineup's other two spots, which have been filled by a rotation of three freshmen and a sophomore – all of whom have been predictably inconsistent.
Freshman point guard Keith Jenifer has the quickness to drive past most ACC defenders, but he has found fewer lanes to the basket since opponents noticed he shoots 35 percent from the field. Jermaine Harper has a more dangerous jump shot, but he played just five second-half minutes against North Carolina because Gillen was not pleased with his assertiveness.
"He was playing not to lose," Gillen said. "He's done some great things for us all year, but [Tuesday] he was a little bit unsure."
At forward, Virginia gets little offensive help against the zone from sophomore J.C. Mathis, who started the season's first 20 games, and freshman Jason Clark, who started the past two.
The Cavaliers might not have to contend with Wake Forest forward Josh Howard, who has struggled with a sprained ankle for the past week, but they also likely will be without senior swingman Adam Hall for the ninth time in 10 games.
Hall injured his right foot on Jan. 12 at North Carolina.
"He still has some pain in the foot," Gillen said. "When he'll come back, if he'll come back, I honestly don't know. . . . He just decided, I'm not going to play until I'm 100 percent healthy. If he'll ever be that way this year, I don't know."
Deacons face 'must-win' game
vs. Cavs
But to get there, he and his senior teammates must shoot some of the roughest rapids to face any college basketball team in the nation.
After tonight's game against No. 15 Virginia - scheduled for 6:30 at Joel Coliseum - the 19th-ranked Deacons will play No. 1 Duke at home on Thursday and then travel to No. 3 Maryland on Sunday.
It's a particularly nasty stretch of the schedule that could capsize even a team playing well.
Unfortunately for Dawson and the Deacons, Wake Forest hasn't been playing well lately, giving up a total of 221 points in back-to-back losses to Cincinnati and Clemson.
Any victory, as Coach Skip Prosser said on Friday, is worth treasuring, especially at this point of the season. But coming off two straight losses, and going into this week's wild whitewater ride against Duke and Maryland, tonight's game is especially critical.
Wake Forest is 17-8 and 7-4 in the ACC. Virginia, which has pulled out of a four-game nosedive with victories against N.C. State and Clemson, is 16-6 and 6-5.
"I think it's a must-win situation," Dawson said.
A month ago, the same three-game stretch left the Deacons dazed, bruised and battered. Wake Forest lost at Virginia 86-74, lost at Duke 103-80 and lost at home to Maryland 85-63 to fall from 14th in the country all the way to No. 24.
Dawson said that the Deacons emerged from that experience convinced they could compete with teams of that caliber. Now they must prove it.
"I don't think any of those games were close to our standards," Dawson said. "But we didn't leave any of those games thinking we weren't capable of playing with those teams - or even beating those teams.
"Now this time around, two of the three games are at home, so we're going to try to take advantage of that.
"So we'll definitely be ready."
The Deacons, a shaky defensive team at their best, have hardly been at their best the past two games. The high-ankle sprain sustained by Josh Howard has hurt Wake Forest in many ways, most obviously on defense.
With Howard sidelined against Cincinnati and limited to 18 largely ineffective minutes against Clemson, the Deacons have allowed their last two opponents to hit 79 field goals on 139 attempts for 57 percent. Opponents have consistently whipped past the Wake Forest guards to drive into the lane, and as a result, three players - Steve Logan of Cincinnati and Edward Scott and Tony Stockman of Clemson - have torched the Deacons for 30 points each.
Howard took a tumble late in the game against Clemson, but head trainer Greg Collins said Friday that no additional damage was done. Howard dressed for practice the past two days, but he mostly watched.
"I thought Josh Howard showed character in wanting to play," Prosser said. "He wasn't himself. That was obvious.
"And he wasn't as effective as you want him to be."
A top priority for Prosser tonight is controlling the Cavaliers' inside-outside tandem of center Travis Watson and guard Roger Mason. Wake Forest was spectacularly unsuccessful in those efforts a month ago in Charlottesville, when Mason nailed seven of 13 3-point shots to finish with 25 points, and Watson plundered the post for 20 points and 17 rebounds.
The Cavaliers shot 57 percent in the second half, and, for the game, hit 10 of 18 3-pointers.
"Travis Watson had his way with us wherever, especially with eight offensive rebounds," Prosser said. "We've got to do a better job with that.
"Mason and Watson sort of dominated us. And it wasn't that we weren't paying attention to them or unaware of their abilities. They just killed us."
| wiuf Player Posts: 196 |
Bristol, CONN:
ESPN announced they have added a new channel next year to their programming. ESPNDUKE will debut to college basketball fans nationwide. This "special" channel will feature Mike Patrick and Dick Vitale doing exclusive coverage of Duke games, as the pair as done for the past decade. ESPNDUKE will feature many special features including the Tommy Duhon cam, live interviews with Duke player parents, a lip reading cam on Coach K for the profanity impaired, and more. Other unique features to the broadcast will include pregame analysis and annotation of the Duke cheer sheets, "special" camera angles into the Cameron Crazies cheering section, an in depth documentary on the Duke cheerleader selection process and never before seen footage of pregame pep talks between Coach K and the ACC officiating teams. Asked to comment on the new channel, Vitale says, "Hey, it's just flat out special, baby, are you serious? I mean c'mon, what is there not to love about ESPNDUKE!". Mike Patrick is equally excited about the move saying, "Hey, are you serious? Getting to watch Johnny Dawkins and Mark Alarie play every night, what a great concept." When asked how ESPNDUKE will differ from Duke broadcasts in the past, ESPN officials had no comment. |