London turns down ODU to stay with Cavs
By Jay Jenkins / jjenkins@dailyprogress.com
February 9, 2007

The search for a new football coach continues at Old Dominion University.

It does so, however, without Mike London.

On Thursday, Virginia’s defensive coordinator informed ODU officials that he was withdrawing from its search to hire a coach for the program that makes a return in 2009.

London, 46, was unavailable for comment, but he released a three-paragraph statement through the school’s media relations department.

“While honored to discuss the head football coaching position at Old Dominion, I am committed to the football program at Virginia,” London said in the statement. “This is the right place for my family and me. I am very fortunate to work at one of the nation’s leading institutions and in a community that provides a tremendous quality of life.”

Virginia’s desire to keep the popular coach were obvious - sources confirmed that his contract was extended this week after negotiations with the school. Specific details were not available.

“The strides made on the defensive side of the ball last year were impressive and maintaining a level of continuity on that side of the ball is positive,” said Executive Associate Athletics Director Jon Oliver. “Al Groh has very clear goals for the future, and Mike London is an important part of the plan. Mike will definitely be a head coach one day and we are pleased that he has decided to stay at the University of Virginia for the foreseeable future.”

The position at ODU was enticing to London for numerous reasons. He is a Hampton native and has family in the Tidewater area. London also desires to become a head coach, which was part of the reason he left UVa in 2005 after five seasons under coach Al Groh to become the defensive line coach for the NFL’s Houston Texans.

London returned to UVa last January to become defensive coordinator, replacing Al Golden after he was named the coach at Temple.

“Everybody was excited when London came back,” said former Cavalier defensive lineman Keenan Carter. “He was like a father figure to me. He is an amazing coach.”

Under London’s guidance, Virginia’s defense provided excitement during a disappointing 5-7 season - the unit finished fourth in the ACC in total defense and allowed an average of just 17.8 points per contest.

The defense should be even better in 2007 with 10 starters expected back.

“I look forward to continuing to work on coach Al Groh’s staff as we strive to accomplish all of our goals for the football program and the department of athletics,” London added.

 

Tucker fine with his role for Cavs
By Whitelaw Reid / wreid@dailyprogress.com
February 9, 2007

The best sign that a coach has recruited the right kind of player is when that player - no matter who he is - completely buys into the coach’s system.

That appears to be the case with Virginia coach Dave Leitao and his most highly rated recruit, Jamil Tucker.

Tucker, the 6-foot-8 freshman forward from Gary, Ind., has played just 12 minutes in his last five games, including DNPs versus Duke and Maryland.

However, he is by no means down.

“I ain’t got nothing but faith in Coach Leitao and this coaching staff,” Tucker said after Thursday’s practice. “It’s never a grudge when I don’t play. I just know that there’s a better man that can do a better job out there.

“Plus, when we’re winning, there’s no doubt in my mind that Coach is doing the right thing.”

Virginia, which plays at Virginia Tech on Saturday, has certainly been doing that often lately.

UVa, riding a seven-game conference winning streak - its longest in 25 years - is thriving because players such as Tucker are understanding their roles.

“It’s a delicate thing,” said Leitao, when asked about Tucker’s sparse playing time, “because I haven’t forgotten about him. At some point, he’ll have a lot to do in a big game.

“I think the game situations have prevented it more than anything else. In retrospect, I thought to get him in early [against Maryland]. The way they were playing our motion [offense], it would have allowed him to be freed up, but I chose not to.

“As we got deeper into the game, his relative inexperience, especially defensively and the fact [James] Gist and [Ekene] Ibekwe are so prominent in Maryland’s attack - it didn’t allow me to, so we went with a bigger lineup. But by no means have I forgotten about him or don’t think that at some point very soon he’ll be helping us win games.”

Tucker’s best performance came against Gonzaga on Jan. 3 when he was 3 of 5 from 3-point range. He finished with 12 points and five rebounds.

On Jan. 12, in the first meeting versus Maryland, he tallied 12 points again.

However, Tucker hasn’t scored since - a span of six games.

You might think that not knowing how many minutes you are going to play from one night to the next would be tough, but Tucker said that hasn’t been a problem.

“That’s what practice is about - being able to keep your skills sharp and do what you do best,” he said. “When you’re called, you just have to be ready to play and that’s what I do every day - be ready to play.”

Tucker, who possesses a feathery outside touch that could help Virginia immensely against zones come postseason time, knows his biggest room for improvement is on the defensive end.

“Coach Leitao is a pure defensive coach,” Tucker said, “so if I have to step up my aggression and tenacity on defense, that’s something I have to do, because Coach Leitao preaches that before offense.”

Tucker, who was recruited by the likes Indiana, Purdue, Georgia Tech and UCLA, said he has no regrets about coming to Virginia.

“Just look at the people around me,” said Tucker, smiling. “There’s never been a doubt in my mind that I made a bad choice.”

 

Locked and loaded
UVa faces Elon today to open a season that could last well into June
By Jay Jenkins / jjenkins@dailyprogress.com
February 9, 2007

College football has the Bowl Championship Series.

In basketball, and a few other sports, it is the Final Four.

For Brian O’Connor, the postseason promised land is Omaha, Neb.

Entering his fourth season at Virginia, the coach has pounded that goal into the minds of each of his baseball players.

One number - 1,186 - proves that. The mileage from Davenport Field to Omaha’s Rosenblatt Stadium is plastered throughout the program - it’s on hats, T-shirts and a huge sign leading out the Cavaliers’ dugout.

Despite compiling an impressive 132-50 record during the past three seasons, Omaha has been more of a mirage - the Cavaliers have failed to advance past the NCAA Regionals each year.

But as he does annually, O’Connor pushes that magical number and city onto the backburner today as UVa opens its season against Elon in the first game of the four-team Springmaid Beach Resort Tournament in Conway, S.C., at 11:30 a.m.

“Advancing to Omaha is always going to be a goal, and I think it is a goal for any college baseball program that competes at a high level and makes it to the NCAA Tournament,” O’Connor said. “Once we start our season, however, we don’t talk about it at all because that is just so far away.

“You can’t play any game thinking about what you want to do at the end. You have to survive the journey to even have that opportunity.”

O’Connor should like his chances - numerous pollsters certainly do. The Cavaliers are ranked No. 8 by Collegiate Baseball and ninth in the USA Today Coaches Poll and by Baseball America.

Most of those polls - all of which failed to include UVa last year until after a 19-4 start - included the Cavaliers, knowing their pitching staff would rank among the nation’s elite.

Virginia not only returns its 1-2 punch with starters Sean Doolittle and Jacob Thompson, who combined to go 21-6 last year, and closer Casey Lambert, but also welcomes in three left-handed rookies - Neal Davis, Jeff Lorick and Matt Packer, who starts on Sunday against Coastal Carolina.

“We ranked Virginia ninth based mostly on the pitching staff - one of the top staffs in the nation, in my opinion,” said Baseball America collegiate writer Aaron Fitt. “Doolittle gives them a legitimate ace, Thompson is as good a Saturday guy as you’ll find, and [Pat] McAnaney is an experienced Sunday guy who knows how to pitch. Having a senior closer in Lambert is a nice bonus.”

Due to a pair of injuries, O’Connor will soon know the prospects of other arms on his roster.

McAnaney, a southpaw that boasts a 12-1 record and a 2.20 ERA during his two-year career, is sidelined for the next few weeks with a broken throwing hand. Michael Schwimer, a workhorse in the bullpen last year (he made a program-record 36 appearances), is also out with stiffness in his forearm.

“Two of our top six arms are down right now and they won’t be pitching for a couple of weeks. That’s a concern of mine for the next couple of weeks,” O’Connor said.

“When we get everybody back and pitching in a normal rotation, I will feel a lot better, but the positive thing about it is that we are going to get a look at some guys early on in these first couple of weeks that maybe wouldn’t have gotten opportunities had those guys been healthy.”

Sophomore righty Andrew Carraway and junior righty Jake Rule, who sat out last year after transferring from William and Mary, will get extended looks in the bullpen.

“Carraway, although I think a lot of him, is going to have to pitch in what would have been Schwimer’s role,” O’Connor said.

The temporary concerns with the pitching are overshadowed by the return of 11 players with at least 90 plate appearances, which gives O’Connor his deepest roster to date.

Last season, Virginia led the ACC with 114 stolen bases and finished 19th in the nation in batting (.322) and 29th in scoring (7.5 rpg).

“The exciting thing for me with our lineup this year is that we have the ability to score runs 1 through 9,” O’Connor said. “We are going to have a good balance of guys that can steal bases and really swing the bat. I think our offense can come from anywhere in our lineup.

“It remains to be seen how we come out of the gate, but knowing that we had a lot of success and we are a year older gives me a lot of confidence in our ability to score runs.”

While the Cavaliers’ batting order is likely to look similar to what it did last season, O’Connor said he plans to use rotations based on pitching matchups and with the desire to keep his team well-rested during the lengthy season.

For example, sophomore Jeremy Farrell will not only start at first when Doolittle pitches, but also on Saturdays. Patrick Wingfield and Tyler Cannon, a rookie, will split time at third base and both can play other infield positions if needed.

The options in the outfield are endless, too.

“We have four quality outfielders and I think both Wingfield and Cannon can play at a high level, but you can’t get everybody in there at once,” O’Connor said. “I think that we are going to see that we have more than the same nine out there all the time, which will keep guys fresher and give them opportunities.”

That will be needed with Virginia’s schedule in the ACC, a league that boasts not only second-ranked Clemson and third-ranked North Carolina, but also three other ranked teams - Miami (No. 5), Georgia Tech (No. 13) and Florida State (No. 14).

“The ACC is loaded. Having four teams on your schedule that played in Omaha last year is a challenge, and our entire league is a challenge,” O’Connor said. “And I think our mid-week schedule is the toughest it has been.”

In the league’s preseason poll, Virginia was tabbed the third-best team in the Coastal Division, behind UNC and Miami, but Fitt said the staff at Baseball America would not be surprised to see the Cavaliers not only claim the title but perhaps advance to Omaha.

“The Cavaliers have a lot to like in their lineup as well - plenty of speed, and that sophomore class is outstanding. I’d look for breakout years for [second baseman David] Adams and Farrell, two very nice talents,” Fitt added. “The big question is power - Doolittle slumped to just four homers a year ago, though that’s largely because teams pitched around him. They’ll need guys like Adams and Farrell to increase their power outputs this season in order to make an Omaha run.

“Overall, it’s a very balanced team with reliable players all over the diamond, and I could certainly see them winning the ACC this year, even as loaded as the conference will be. Their experienced pitching gives them a leg up over most of the other teams in the league.”
 

Younger Long brother becomes UVa object No. 1
London to stay at UVa. Full statement available on roanoke.com
By Doug Doughty

Virginia football coach Al Groh had barely taken his seat Wednesday when he advised reporters that he might need to interrupt his signing-day news conference to speak to a recruit.

By then, Virginia already had received faxes from each of its 24 signees. The recruits to whom Groh might be talking would be juniors.

The first time his blackberry rang, Groh checked out the number, hit the mute button and kept on talking.

When it rang later in the news conference, Groh’s eyes lit up.

“This is a good one,” he said as he excused himself.

“Kyle, how are you?” Groh could be overheard as he walked out of the room.

Does anybody have to wonder who that was?

Could it have been Kyle Long, a 6-foot-7, 290-pound offensive lineman and defensive lineman who is rated the state’s No. 1 junior by The Roanoke Times?

Long is the younger brother of Chris Long, one of the Cavaliers’ co-captains as a junior this past season and the on-field face of the program for 2007. Their father is Howie Long, a former star defensive linemen for the Oakland Raiders, member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and Fox Sports Analyst.

Chris Long, rated one of the top five prospects in Virginia by The Roanoke Times, owed some of his attractiveness as a recruit to the Long name. Even when he signed with Virginia, there were questions about the level of competition he had faced at St. Anne’s-Belfield in Charlottesville.

The interest that Kyle Long has drawn to this point also has something to do with the Long name, the Chris Long name. The oldest brother has answered any and all questions about private-school players at the college level.

(It’s worth noting that STAB’s opponent in this year’s private-school state championship, Christchurch, boasted a UVa recruit in J’Courtney Williams who is rated the No. 3 linebacker in the country by SuperPrep).

Even on a day when Peter Lalich became the most celebrated quarterback to sign with Virginia during the Al Groh era, the point could be made that the Kyle Long recruiting represents a watershed for the UVa coach.

The Longs live in Albemarle County, an older brother is the star of the team and dad Howie recently voiced his support for the program in an interview with Charlottesville sports editor J. Hootie Ratcliffe (J’Hootie, we call him).

I remember standing on the sidelines during the 2004 Nike camp at Virginia, where Kyle Long was helping with security. More of a baseball player at that point, he had only begun to emerge as a football prospect but said his goal was to play both sports at UVa.

What would it say, then, if Kyle Long rejects Virginia and signs with Ohio State or one of the other perennial national powers that are recruiting him?

Nobody is going to say that Virginia has a better program than Ohio State, but the Cavaliers had made four straight bowl appearances before dropping to 5-7 this year. With the options he will have, Kyle Long doesn’t have to settle for mediocrity.

Virginia’s mission in the days ahead will be to convince Kyle Long that better days are ahead. I have never spoken to Howie Long, but he does not strike me as the kind of guy who will tell his son to go to Virginia or not to go to Virginia.

I can imagine brother Chris talking up the Cavaliers when he goes home, but, as close as the Longs are to the situation, they will know what kind of future son No. 2 faces.

The nature of recruiting noawadays is that recruits commit so early that Kyle Long could make a decision before the 2007 season is under way. That’s where the power of persuasion comes in.

Who could blame Groh for keeping his phone open?
 

U.Va. Baseball
Expectations raise bar Almost all starters return after year with school mark for wins
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Feb 9, 2007

CHARLOTTESVILLE The University of Virginia baseball team set a school record last year for victories in a season, winning 47 games.

Coach Brian O'Connor's fourth team at U.Va. may well be better.

O'Connor, who has guided the Cavaliers to a 132-50 record and three trips to the NCAA tournament, returned nearly all of the starters from a 47-15 team. Among those back are Sean Doolittle, the reigning ACC player of the year, and second-team all-conference selections Brandon Marsh and Jacob Thompson.

Virginia is ranked No. 9 nationally by Baseball America.

"It doesn't change anything about the way we go about our business," O'Connor said of the preseason praise. "We can't worry about the outside expectations. . . . We've still got to go out and do the little fundamental things that it takes to win college baseball games."

U.Va. opens the season today at a tournament in Conway, S.C. The Cavaliers face Elon today, North Florida tomorrow and host Coastal Carolina on Sunday. Elon is the defending Southern Conference champion and, like U.Va., played in last year's NCAA tourney.

"It'll be a challenging weekend," O'Connor said. "Any time you're ranked like we are, the target's pretty big on our chest. It'll be like an ACC weekend right off the bat."

O'Connor will use Doolittle, a 6-3, 195-pound junior, as a pitcher, first baseman and designated hitter. The left-hander from Tabernacle, N.J., will start on the mound today. In 2006, he was 11-2 with a 2.38 earned-run average. Doolittle hit .324 with four home runs and 57 RBI.

"It's hard to do much better than he did last year," O'Connor said. "I think we've got to be careful of setting the expectations for him too high. The reality is, if he comes out and plays like he has been, he'll do a lot for us."

Thompson, a sophomore right-hander, will start tomorrow, with freshman left-hander Matt Packer getting the assignment Sunday. Several other freshmen are expected to play significant roles this season, among them third baseman Tyler Cannon and left-handed pitchers Neal Davis and Jeff Lorick.

Besides Doolittle, U.Va.'s veterans include seniors Marsh (right field), Beau Seabury (catcher), Tim Henry (center field), Mike Mitchell (center field) and Casey Lambert (closer), junior Brandon Guyer (left field) and sophomores David Adams (second base), Greg Miclat (shortstop) and Jeremy Farrell (first base/third base).

"I think we've got threats offensively one through nine in our lineup, and that's exciting," O'Connor said.

SCHEDULE

Feb. - 9, Elon at Conway, S.C., noon; 10, North Florida at Conway, S.C.; 11, at Coastal Carolina, noon; 13, Longwood, 3 p.m.; 16, George Washington, 4 p.m.; 17, George Washington, 2:30 p.m.; 18, George Washington, 1 p.m.; 20, William and Mary, 4 p.m.; 21, Coppin State, 4 p.m.; 23, Bucknell, 4 p.m.; 24, Bucknell, 1 p.m.; 25, Bucknell, 1 p.m.; 27, VMI, 4 p.m.

March - 2, Delaware, 4 p.m.; 3, Delaware, 1 p.m.; 4, Delaware, 1 p.m.; 6, at JMU, 2:30 p.m.; 9, at Wake Forest, 2:30 p.m.; 10, at Wake Forest, 1 p.m.; 11, at Wake Forest, 1 p.m.; 13, Niagara, 4 p.m.; 16, at North Carolina, 3 p.m.; 17, at North Carolina, 1 p.m.; 18, at North Carolina, 1:30 p.m.; 20, at Richmond, 2:30 p.m.; 23, Miami (Fla.), 6 p.m.; 24, Miami (Fla.), 1 p.m.; 25, Miami (Fla.), noon; 27, George Mason, 5 p.m.; 30, at Virginia Tech, 3 p.m.; 31, at Virginia Tech, 1 p.m.

April - 1, at Virginia Tech, 1 p.m.; 3, at VMI , 7 p.m.; 6, Duke, 7 p.m.; 7, Duke, 4 p.m.; 8, Duke, 1 p.m.; 10, at VCU, 7 p.m.; 13, Georgia Tech, 7 p.m.; 14, Georgia Tech, 4 p.m.; 15, Georgia Tech, 1 p.m.; 17, Richmond, 7 p.m.; 20, at Clemson, 7:15 p.m.; 21, at Clemson, 7 p.m.; 22, Clemson, 1 p.m.; 25, JMU, 7 p.m.; 27, Maryland, 7 p.m.; 28, Maryland,, 7 p.m.; 29, Maryland, 1 p.m.

May - 1, VCU, 7 p.m.; 11, N.C. State, 7 p.m.; 12, N.C. State, 7 p.m.; 13, N.C. State, 1 p.m.; 15, Coastal Carolina, 7 p.m.; 17, at Boston College, 2:30 p.m.; 18, at Boston College, 1 p.m.; 19, at Boston College, 1 p.m.; 23-27, ACC tournament at Jacksonville, Fla.

 

Virginia looks to extend win streak
Virginia goes for eighth consecutive win against Virginia Tech
Eric Strow, Cavalier Daily Associate Editor

What a month it has been for the Virginia men's basketball team.

Since Feb. 1, Virginia (16-6, 8-2 ACC) has toppled Duke and Miami at home and defeated Maryland on the road in front of a hostile crowd. Now, the Cavaliers find themselves at the top of the ACC standings, above perennial contenders such as North Carolina and Duke.

With such accomplishments, players are taking pride in their recent success.

"We just found our identity, and we just defended the heck out of the ball every night, and that's what is getting us wins," junior guard Sean Singletary said.

The players have pushed themselves to a first-place tie in the ACC standings, as the win against Maryland added to Virginia's current winning streak of seven consecutive conference games. The sudden surge has left many wondering: What got into the Cavaliers?

"I think what we've done is turn the corner a little bit with our mindset," Virginia coach Dave Leitao said. "We respect what we do in the gym during practice each day and we respect what we're in the middle of."

This weekend's game against Virginia Tech (16-7, 6-3 ACC) may help to clear the crowded picture at the top of the ACC standings. Virginia and Boston College (17-6, 8-2 ACC) are tied for first place, with UNC sitting a half game behind.

The Hokies sit at fourth place in the ACC. They last played Saturday, falling 80-59 to the Eagles in Boston. That loss knocked the Hokies out of the AP Rankings after climbing to No.16, and highlights the inconsistency of the team's season. Virginia Tech beat Duke on the road and North Carolina in January, but lost to Marshall early on and has dropped its last two games.

Tomorrow's game will feature the ACC's fourth-best scoring offense in Virginia against Virginia Tech's second-ranked scoring defense. Neither team's offense is a stranger to the three-pointer, as Virginia Tech has the conference's second-highest three-point field goal percentage (38.4), and Virginia leads the ACC with 8.24 threes made per game. Two of the Cavaliers who frequently contribute to this statistic are Singletary and senior guard J.R. Reynolds, who has led the team in scoring in seven of the last nine games.

Singletary and Reynolds will be matched up against Hokies' senior guards Zabian Dowdell, who leads Virginia Tech with 18.1 points per game, and Jamon Gordon, who boasts a team high 4.43 assists per game. Gordon and Dowdell rank first and third in the conference in steals, with 58 and 53 steals on the season, respectively.

Singletary and Reynolds are ranked second and fifth in scoring in the ACC, respectively, but the Cavaliers' backcourt may not give the team as big an edge against the Hokies as Virginia's frontcourt.

Virginia Tech has the second worst rebounding defense in conference, allowing 34.2 boards per game. Virginia, meanwhile, is currently second best in the ACC with 39.6 boards per game. Based on their recent play, the Cavaliers feel the big men need some credit for the winning streak.

"We definitely have matured in every aspect," Singletary said. "People say we don't have a down-low presence, but [Jason] Cain has been doing a great job on offense, and Tunji [Soroye] is doing a great job on defense. They are just always there for us, and they are the reason we're winning right now."

Last year, the Cavaliers swept the Hokies in all three of their matchups, including one in the opening round of the ACC tournament.The two teams will meet again March 1, in a game that will be televised on ESPN from the John Paul Jones Arena.

 

So UNC is taking kids that Clemson is rejecting?


Studies get in the way of Tigers’ recruiting
Denial of recruits has some taking sides of academics-athletics issue
By PAUL STRELOW
pstrelow@thestate.com
CLEMSON — The rift dividing Clemson's football coaching staff and members of the school's academic administration comes down to trust.

Trust the camp speaking anonymously for coach Tommy Bowden, whose program, from a four-year window, had the fourth-highest graduation rate among last year's top 25 teams.

Or trust president James Barker, whose academic initiatives have positioned Clemson within reach of the top-20 public university ranking Barker covets.

The battle lines were drawn Wednesday when it was learned the Tigers had to turn away two recruits — tailback Jo Jo Cox, a long-standing commitment, and touted receiver Dwight Jones of Burlington, N.C. — in the final days (or in Jones' case, hours) before the national signing period began.

Barker held his ground Thursday in a form e-mail, precipitated by the swell of support in Bowden's corner for the belief Clemson's ability to compete in football had been compromised for greater academic integrity.

Several members of Clemson's Board of Trustees, in Columbia for their annual winter meeting, declined to provide their take Thursday.

But trustees chairman Bill Hendrix disputed the perception the football team has been hamstrung in relation to its recruiting rivals.

"I firmly believe we are on a level playing field with the ACC schools and everybody we compete with," Hendrix said. "There has been no effort to make it more stringent than the NCAA regulations or (those of) any other Division I school."

Sources contend that Bowden, who declined to address the matter, is upset with the people and process that eliminated the recruits and numerous others from Clemson's consideration, especially considering Bowden's academic track record.

Barker continues to maintain the process and standards by which the football recruits are judged has remained the same the past five years.

In a 324-word e-mail, Barker said Thursday the admissions process resulted in a higher percentage of football recruits being approved this year than in 2006.

Barker wrote that the athletic department's rising graduation rate, coupled with new NCAA rules that punish programs with poor rates, was "clear evidence" Clemson's current system is working.

"Although I cannot discuss the academic records of any individual, I can assure you that our admissions process for student-athletes is designed to maintain academic standards while not putting Clemson at a competitive disadvantage," Barker said.

This much is known: Parties close to Cox, whom the Tigers placed at Fork Union (Va.) Military Academy out of high school, were informed Friday he would not be allowed to sign Wednesday because of a ruling by the school's Athletic Admissions Review Committee.

Jones, a standout receiver also considering Tennessee and North Carolina, was told the same thing Tuesday by Clemson's coaches.

He subsequently signed with UNC.

In January, Clemson backed off athlete Billy Chavis of Beaumont, Texas, who wound up signing with Texas A&M.

At least four instate prospects initially turned down by the review board were granted exemptions by Barker to continue being recruited.

"Whether it's Clemson or anybody in the Atlantic Coast Conference, I would want to feel comfortable to know my school and my administration is handling us under the same requirements as everybody else in the ACC that we're competing with to win the championship," Bowden's brother, former Auburn coach and current college football analyst Terry Bowden, said.

"I don't know their situation, but it would be hard to have more difficult entry standards than others in the conference. Just ask Stanford and Vanderbilt."

"I do know Tommy is a company man, and he'll do whatever the university says for him to do."

USC coach Steve Spurrier is not so sure the level playing field exists in terms of the scrutiny he said both USC and Clemson undergo with review boards.

"What's been interesting to me now is that some of the top public universities don't worry about that anymore," Spurrier said. "Florida now doesn't worry about it. When I was there, we'd turn in a transcript and a lot of them would come back, 'Do not recruit this player.' So that's changed. University of North Carolina used to be the same way: 'Do not recruit this player.' So they've changed their attitude.

"We still screen our players. But I believe we want to play football here and I believe our admission people are very good. But if they think a player simply cannot make it here academically, then they'll tell us and we may not be able to get him in, even though he's qualified. We understand that could happen."

What remains unclear is the timing by which decisions were made regarding the affected prospects.

For example, it is unknown when the board first heard specific players' cases, when initial rulings were rendered and how long the appeals processes played out.

Grant Teaff, executive director of the National Football Coaches Association, said it would be out of line to choose sides in a debate like Clemson's because of the missing pieces.

Considering the trouble both coaching staffs and admissions evaluators in general have in procuring test scores and transcripts from high school officials, there is no telling which party has a more legitimate beef.

"It's not a cut-and-dried situation," Teaff said.

CLEMSON STILL POSSIBLE FOR COX

Running back Jo Jo Cox is still trying to land at Clemson and will not look elsewhere until he feels the door is shut, sources familiar with his recruitment said Thursday.

Cox, a Jeffersonville, Ga., native whom Clemson placed at Fork Union (Va.) Military Academy, recently learned he would not be allowed to sign Wednesday with the Tigers for academic reasons.

His mentor, James Grant, had said Cox would spend the next few weeks searching for another Division I program to attend.

One school that has already expressed interest is North Carolina, which took the other player Clemson turned away before signing day, touted receiver Dwight Jones.

Contrary to a report, Cox will not have the option of going to USC. Coach Steve Spurrier said Thursday his class was full and would not add another player.