Mikalauskas provides Cavs a spark
By Whitelaw Reid / wreid@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
February 15, 2007

Nearly the entire first half of Tuesday night's Virginia-Longwood game had been played and UVa sophomore Lars Mikalauskas, a starter in the previous 12 contests, had yet to peel off his warm-ups. Every scholarship player on the roster - including four freshmen - had entered the game.

What was going through the Lithuanian's mind?

"I felt my performance against Virginia Tech [on Saturday] was really bad, so I wasn't surprised," Mikalauskas said. "I didn't show up to that game."

In the 27-point loss to the Hokies, Mikalauskas only played five minutes and didn't collect a point or rebound.

On Tuesday, in Virginia's 90-49 thrashing of Longwood, junior Tunji Soroye replaced Mikalauskas in the starting lineup.

"As of late, he hadn't been playing as well as he had earlier, and with a little less consistency," said Virginia coach Dave Leitao, "and Tunji had been giving us more of a spark, particularly in the Maryland game, so we made that change."

It was one that seemed to fire up Mikalauskas. The crowd favorite came roaring off the bench with 3:37 left in the first stanza.

The first time he touched the ball, he scored - on a layup off a nifty dish from Sean Singletary.

About two minutes later, after a frenetic sequence in which both teams turned the ball over, Mikalauskas exploded off the floor for a two-handed jam. The 6-foot-8, 255-pounder then closed out the half with an offensive rebound and putback to give Virginia a 53-29 lead.

"It wasn't too hard to score against them," said Mikalauskas, who is averaging 3.9 points and 2.0 rebounds. "We just played. I was there at the right time, in the right moment, in the right place."

The former Blue Ridge School standout finished with a season-high 12 points on 6-of-7 shooting and six rebounds in just 10 minutes.

"I thought he had energy - both he and Ryan [Pettinella] and Tunji all had energy," said Leitao, whose team plays Florida State on Saturday. "Lars was the recipient of some finishes today. He tried to play more offense.

"Now we have to get him more locked in and get him to do it against bigger opponents, which we'll face when we get back to league action, but I was pleased with him."

Mikalauskas said not being in the starting lineup wasn't a big deal.

"It's the coach's decision," he said. "Whoever's playing better at that moment gets to start or play more. All the [big] people playing have the same amount of talent. It's nothing to be worried about."

 

Cavs begin encore
Starsia's squad opens season vs. Drexel
By Whitelaw Reid / wreid@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
February 16, 2007

It was in Philadelphia, after a dominating 15-7 win over Massachusetts in the NCAA title game last May - with nearly 50,000 fans in attendance - that Virginia lacrosse players walked off the field with their index fingers raised high in the air.

Lots of teams do that - but if ever there was a team that truly deserved to, it was the 2006 UVa squad.

Watching Virginia play was like watching the NBA All-Star team play the current Boston Celtics.

UVa annihilated everyone en route to completing the first-ever undefeated season in school history. The Cavaliers, who went 17-0 and claimed the school’s fourth championship, beat their opponents by an average margin of eight goals.

So, what exactly do they do for an encore?

“We’re not really the defending national champions because you defend with the same team, and we’re a vastly different team than we were a year ago,” said Virginia coach Dom Starsia, whose team opens its season at home against Drexel on Sunday. “I don’t feel like anybody’s preoccupied by it. Will we get other teams’ best shots? Probably. Will it make life a little bit more complicated? Probably yes.

“I would just say it’s something you throw in the pot and you stir it up with everything else. We’ve just got to be up for the task.”

It’s one Virginia should be well equipped for.

Yes, UVa lost three first-team All-Americans in Matt Ward, Kyle Dixon and Michael Culver, plus second-team selection Matt Poskay.

However, the Cavaliers return two second-team All-Americans in Ben Rubeor and Drew Thompson, and two third-team selections in Ricky Smith and Kip Turner.

“I think we’ll go into every game with huge X’s on our back,” Smith said. “We’ll get every single team’s best game, but that’s OK. We take that as a challenge.”

Smith, a senior who loves to hit, will be one of the key cogs on defense. This season, he was named as one of the team’s captains (along with Thompson and Rubeor).

“I’m just trying to get the younger guys to buy into the system that’s already in place,” Smith said. “I think Mike [Culver] kind of paved the way for future defenses and I’m just kind of trying to take over his sort of role.”

Virginia has plenty of able bodies in the back in sophomores Mike Timms, Matt Kelly and Kevin Coale, along with talented freshmen Ken Clausen and Ryan Nizolek.

One of the biggest luxuries the team will enjoy is having Turner, a senior, back in goal. Last season, the 5-foot-10, 179-pounder established himself as one of the top net-minders in the country. He posted a 7.12 goals allowed average, best in school history.

The other area Starsia feels really good about is in the attack.

Rubeor, a junior, along with sophomores Danny Glading and Garrett Billings, should be able to go tot-to-toe with anyone in the country.

Last season, Rubeor was third on the team in goals (34) and second in assists (24). As freshmen, Glading and Billings combined for 90 points.

“Everyone in that unit has a little bit different of a role this season,” Starsia said. “Ben is in little bit more of a leadership role. Danny ran alongside [Ward] as a freshman and you know, ‘Hey, life was good. Whatever happens, happens.’ Now all of a sudden he’ll be a little bit more a center of attention.

“Garrett came off the bench last year and had a very good year, but now people will be preparing for him.”

The main question mark for Virginia is in the midfield. In the preseason, Starisa did some experimenting. Now he seems content with a first unit of Thompson, Brian Carroll and Steve Giannone. Starsia believes Giannone is a good fit there.

“I think what we’ve found in looking at the team is that we need every bit of people being able to attack the goal,” Starsia said. “He’s a kid who’s one of our best dodgers.”

Starisa lamented the loss of Dixon.

“He really was a beast at 6-foot-3 and 210. He could just put pressure on a team any time he wanted to, and you always knew you could make something happen because of Kyle. We don’t quite have that now.

“I think we have some real potential there, but it’s unproven.”

But Starsia is playing with a far better hand than a lot of other coaches.

“With the schedule we play, we could get smacked around a little early in the season,” he said, “but I think if we stay in one piece as we get into the second half, we can be a very good lacrosse team and make some noise in the month of May.”

 

Big Ralph was big hit in Far East
By Jerry Ratcliffe / jratcliffe@dailyprogress.com | 978-7251
February 16, 2007

Twenty five years in this business will take you to some interesting and some not-so-interesting places. Did someone mention Pine Bluff, Ark.?

One of the more exotic and memorable trips came in December of 1982 when Virginia’s basketball team, ranked No. 1 nationally and fresh off its epic win over Georgetown and Patrick Ewing, flew 15 hours to play in the Suntory Classic in Tokyo, Japan.

The big assignment

It was my first trip to a foreign country and I actually flew into the Narita Airport a day before the Cavaliers because a snowstorm kept the team stranded in New York. Somehow, I made it to my hotel in Shinjuku-ku.

Not one to appreciate sushi, I combed the streets looking for something familiar to dine on and finally spotted the Golden Arches.

Ahh! Never thought I would be so excited to see a Quarter-pounder.

Because I was the only American sportswriter assigned to cover the event, which featured Virginia with Ralph Sampson, Houston with Clyde Drexler and Akeem Olajuwon, along with Utah, I was actually working for three publications. My main job, of course, was covering it for The Daily Progress. Along the way, I was hired by the Houston Chronicle to cover the Cougars, and Sports Illustrated hired me to write a wrap-up of the event.

Traversing Tokyo

Needless to say, I was pretty busy and spent more time than I would have liked traveling downtown in taxis to the United Press International building (we didn’t have laptops in those days) in order to get my copy sent back to the States.

With the language barrier, if Japanese taxi drivers (all of whom wore white gloves) didn’t comprehend where you needed to go, they would politely pull a handle and open the back door, which was a nice way of saying you’re wasting my time, find another cab. I got tossed out of a lot of taxis that week.

Generally the Japanese people were warm and kind and most of us Americans on the trip were pleasantly surprised how engaging and Westernized the citizens of Tokyo were 25 years ago. It wasn’t unusual for people to stop you on the street and start a conversation so that they could practice their English.

What time is it?

Crossing the International Dateline was a bit of an adventure and messed up my body clock for two or three weeks. Once I returned home, I found myself wide awake in the middle of the night and drifting off during the middle of the day.

How goofy was it? I will always remember sitting in my hotel room watching Monday Night Football live, but it was Tuesday afternoon in Tokyo.

By the way, the Cowboys beat the Oilers, 37-7, in that game, and an interesting note was that Archie Manning (Yes, Peyton’s father) was quarterbacking Houston.

The big drawing card for the games, sponsored by Suntory, which was the largest maker of whiskey in Japan at the time, was 7-foot-4 Ralph Sampson. There were posters of him everywhere in the city, at least one giant billboard. His photo was plastered everywhere.

No sooner had Big Ralph, who had just outplayed Ewing a few nights before, set foot on Japanese soil than UVa’s sports information director Doug Elgin (now commissioner of the Missouri Valley Conference) had at least 10 interview requests.

Japanese media were even more fascinated with Ralph than their American counterparts. Back home, Sampson was as big, probably even bigger than a rock star. In Japan, one newspaper headline read, “Ralph Sampson No. 1 in World of Basketball.”

What the Japanese didn’t know until it was time for the Cavaliers to face Houston, was that Ralph had fallen ill with an intestinal virus and would not play. When Suntory officials did discover that Ralph wasn’t even planning on being at the arena for the game, they threw quite a hissy fit.

Finally, Ralph agreed to make an appearance. He sat on the bench for a while, but was taken back to the hotel.

Virginia showed its grit by beating Houston without Ralph with Rick Carlisle, Jimmy Miller, Othell Wilson, Ricky Stokes, Craig Robinson, Kenton Edelin, Tim Mullen and Dan Merrifield pulling out a 72-63 victory.

The Cavs had some pretty good strategists on the bench with Terry Holland and assistants Dave Odom and Jim Larranaga.

Two things I will never forget about that Houston team, other than the fact it was such a great one. Drexler complained because the 5,000-seat gym (an estimated 10 million Japanese watched the game on TV), was so quiet.

You see, the Japanese weren’t exactly students of the game back then. Because they had no allegiances to either team, if you were handed a yellow pom-pom shaker, you sat on one side of the gym and pulled for Houston. If you were given a silver and blue shaker, you sat on Virginia’s side.

The atmosphere was similar to a tennis match, with polite clapping on good plays. Dunks and turnovers drew the most excitement - well, that is until halftime when the Virginia cheerleaders drew the biggest applause of the night.

The other Houston memory was riding in their bus from the hotel to practice one day and as we were traversing the busy streets of Tokyo, Drexler was explaining how the entire area had been burned to the ground by American air raids during World War II.

About that time, Olajuwon, who had come to Houston from Nigeria, piped up and said, “What was World War II?”

Sampson was the attraction though. Everyone wanted to see him, touch him, talk to him.

One Japanese TV crew followed Ralph everywhere, even into a downtown restroom one day, which left the big man scurrying out the door in protest.

At one of the games where Suntory officials raffled off expensive Japanese electronic equipment to the fans, everyone wanted to trade their winnings for the night’s big prize: a pair of Sampson’s shoes.

The big man recovered, well if you call playing at 75 percent recovered, in time to help UVa beat Utah two days later.

One of the coolest things I ever saw was in the hotel lobby one morning when Ralph met a Japanese player by the name of Okiyadua. It was the only time that I’ve ever seen Big Ralph freaked out by another player.

Okiyadua, at 7-6 1/2, 320 pounds (I actually think he was much heavier) dwarfed Sampson at 7-4, 228 pounds.

Another neat moment came when UVa’s team was stranded outside a nearby Japanese university and the Cavalier players took Doug Newberg’s tape player, pumped up the volume and started dancing on the street.

Jimmy Miller was doing his best “robot,” while Sampson and little Ricky Stokes were doing the bump. Pretty soon all the players joined in and so did a lot of the Japanese coeds who rushed over.

Holland said, “I don’t know you guys.”

We could go on, but that trip could fill volumes of newspaper space.

Little did we all know that a few days later, No. 1 Virginia would stop in Hawaii on its way home only to be shocked by Chaminade in perhaps the greatest upset in the history of college basketball.

 

Garrett off to Dallas
WR coach joins brother with NFL's Cowboys
By Jay Jenkins / jjenkins@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
February 16, 2007

In many respects, Jason and John Garrett have been following each other around for years.

From their playing days in the Ivy League to a stint in the World Football League in San Antonio, the brothers have felt at peace in the midst of one another.

John Garrett reaffirmed that Wednesday night - the 41-year-old wide receivers coach at Virginia accepted a job with the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys coaching tight ends.

Jason Garrett, an offensive assistant with the Cowboys, was hired by owner Jerry Jones on Jan. 25 and is still awaiting his official title with the organization.

“It is really just another page in the memory bank, so to speak. We have had just unbelievable, great memories of being together in all different scenarios and circumstances,” John Garrett said. “It is a unique and special opportunity to work for such a storied franchise such as the Dallas Cowboys, and also coupled with the fact that I can work alongside my brother, such a talented and well-respected young coach in the profession, makes it really special.

“It was an opportunity that I could not pass up.”

John Garrett arrived at UVa in February of 2004 after 13 years in the NFL, most of which was spent with the Cincinnati Bengals. During his time in the professional ranks, he coached the Bengals’ tight ends for two seasons (2001-02).

That familiarity with the position made him attractive to the Cowboys, who boast Pro Bowler Jason Witten and Anthony Fasano at the position.

Garrett informed UVa coach Al Groh of his intentions Thursday.

“I just loved my three years at Virginia and, in fact, I had a real good talk with Coach Groh [Thursday morning] when I notified him of what I was going to do. I told him that I thoroughly enjoyed my time here,” Garrett said. “I became a better coach and that had a lot to do with coach Groh. I got a great taste of what college football was all about here at Virginia.

“It is truly a special place and it was a hard decision.”

Despite losing his sixth assistant in six years to the NFL, Groh said he supported Garrett in his move.

“I think it is a very positive career move for him and his family,” Groh said. “We are pleased for him. Dallas is one of the marquee NFL franchises to be associated with, whether your brother is there or not.”

Garrett’s decision could not come at a better time for Groh and his program. Virginia officially completed work on the Class for 2007 last week on Signing Day, and the start of spring practice is a month away.

“It is not a setback type of thing for us,” Groh said. “As we have done all along, we have tried to bring in people here with ambition and energy and an upward career path. Those people provide a lot of passion and a lot of energy and a lot of drive that becomes part of the personality of the program.

“It goes with it that they are going to move their careers forward and that they are going to be desirable by other organizations.”

Sensing that Garrett may join his brother in Dallas, Groh had already given thought to potential candidates.

“We kind of have a short list for people that we have developed for each position, and we certainly have a short list for this position that we will be working off of,” Groh added. “And in anticipation of a such move, we have already done some work with it.”

Do not expect a current member of the staff to move into Garrett’s vacated spot.

“I think we are going to do this with minimal shuffling on the staff,” Groh said, while adding that the members of his staff are “well-established” at their current posts.

“Plus, everybody has already or has continued to develop a proficiency in those positions. From a continuity and stability standpoint, that is what we are going to do.”

While Groh did not mention potential replacements, one wide receiver has always been linked to Groh.

Ricky Proehl, a graduate of Wake Forest, where Groh coached, and a 17-year NFL veteran, is close with Groh. Proehl also appears headed to retirement, again.

“Heck, Ricky doesn’t seem like he is every going to give it up,” Groh joked. “He was back in another Super Bowl this year with the Colts. He has already told me three times, ‘This is it.’

“Ricky [has] unretired as many times as [Bill] Parcells.”

 

Just win and you're a shoo-in
Teams vying for precious first-round byes in ACC Tournament next month
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Feb 16, 2007

As the regular season winds down in ACC men's basketball, a significant reward is within reach of Virginia Tech and the University of Virginia.

Each is in position to claim one of the four coveted first-round byes in the conference tournament.

The league's 12 teams will gather next month in Tampa, Fla., for the 54th annual ACC Tournament. Four first-round games will be played March 8, with the winners advancing to meet the top four seeds in the next day's quarterfinals.

A first-round bye means a team will be more rested for its quarterfinal. But that's not all.

"If you're in the top four in the ACC," Hokies coach Seth Greenberg said yesterday, "you're going to go the NCAA tournament, so you go to the [conference] tourney knowing you're in. That's as big as anything."

Tech (8-3, 18-7) and U.Va. (8-3, 17-7) are in a three-way tie for second with North Carolina (8-3, 22-4) in the ACC race, a half-game behind leader Boston College (9-3, 18-7). The closest team to those four is Duke (6-6, 19-7).

In the event two teams finish with the same conference record, the first tiebreaker is head-to-head results, and that bodes particularly well for the Hokies. They swept their two games with UNC. Their regular-season schedule included only one game with Duke, which the Hokies won.

Tech is 0-1 against Boston College, which visits Blacksburg on Wednesday night. The Hokies are 1-0 against U.Va. The state rivals meet again March 1 at John Paul Jones Arena.

"From an overall standpoint it's a very interesting race," Cavaliers coach Dave Leitao said yesterday, "and the last couple of weeks will create some terrific intrigue. But it's not something I care to bring up with [the players] or a lot of people."

Leitao wants his players to focus on their next opponent -- Virginia hosts Florida State tomorrow -- and not worry about ACC tourney seeds or NCAA tourney invitations. Greenberg feels the same way. His team plays at N.C. State on Sunday. The Wolfpack upset the Hokies in Blacksburg last month.

The ACC tourney is "not a concern right now," Greenberg said. "Our concern is the next game. This game is not about payback. It's not about, 'Is this the game that gets us in [the NCAAs]?' We played well last week, and now we want to keep playing well."

In 2005, when the ACC held an 11-team tournament, six teams played on the opening day, and the other five got byes. Only one of the three first-round winners -- No. 7 seed N.C. State -- advanced past the quarterfinals. The Wolfpack fell to eventual champion Duke in the semifinals.

In 2006, the ACC tourney adopted its current format. Of the four first-round winners, only No. 12 seed Wake Forest also captured its quarterfinal. No. 1 seed Duke ousted Wake in the semifinals.

"If you look at any conference tournament [that has first-round byes]," Leitao said, "percentages will tell you, if you have any thought of winning that tournament, then having that first day off is a major, major advantage."

U.Va. has five regular-season games left, as does Tech. To Greenberg, ESPN analyst Jay Bilas put it best:

"Win games, and it all takes care of itself."

 

U.VA. NOTES
Richmond Times-Dispatch Feb 15, 2007

BOUNCING BACK: In a basketball game in which Virginia guards Sean Singletary and J.R. Reynolds desperately needed support, they got little from two of their most offensively gifted teammates: junior forward Adrian Joseph and sophomore swingman Mamadi "Mo" Diane. Joseph went 0 for 6 from the floor and failed to score, and Diane went 1 for 5 and had only two points Saturday in U.Va.'s 84-57 loss at Virginia Tech.

"As much as I was upset with the whole team, particularly those two guys, I don't carry it over," second-year coach Dave Leitao said Tuesday night after U.Va.'s 90-49 win over Longwood at John Paul Jones Arena.

"And I used to. Last year, as Mo wasn't playing real well, particularly on the road, it would take him and me a while to get through it. But he's proven himself, both of those guys, a little bit more worthy, so I think they allow them to coach me a lot better now. They understand me a little bit more. They've gotten better, so their ability to bounce back the next day and - in turn me - not let it linger is a whole lot better than it was."

Against Longwood, Diane hit 5 of 8 shots from the floor, as did Joseph. Diane finished with 13 points; Joseph 11. Diane also contributed five rebounds, two assists, two blocked shots and one steal.

LOCAL CONNECTIONS: The 24 football recruits who signed with U.Va. last week include two Central Region stars: Matoaca High's Kris Burd and Henrico High's Corey Mosley.

Burd, the Central Region offensive player of the year in 2006, is a wide receiver whose attitude - as well as his production for Matoaca - impressed Cavaliers coach Al Groh.

Groh recalled on signing day that Burd came to U.Va. on a Saturday last year with a Matoaca team for a seven-on-seven tournament. The tourney lasted from about "10 in the morning till 5 in the afternoon," Groh said. "They played seven or eight games. He played on the corner, he played at receiver, and he ran and he ran and he ran and he ran. As did all the kids in the camp.

"Then he came back Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and took part in the individual instruction camp, and ran and ran and ran and ran. That's a lot of running, and when we had the one-on-one competition on the final day, on Wednesday morning, he was still going."

Burd never complained that his legs were tired, Groh said. "He just went out there and competed hard every day ... We were impressed by his work ethic and his commitment to performance."

AT THE NET: Football isn't the only college sport in which midyear admissions is a big issue. In Division I tennis, top players often seek to start their freshman years in January.

At U.Va., January enrollment for freshmen generally isn't an option. But men's tennis coach Brian Boland was able to add Houston Barrick last month, and the freshman from Brentwood, Tenn., has helped the Cavaliers rise to No. 4 in the national rankings.

Barrick was one of three players to sign with U.Va. in November. One of the others - Jason Jung, a coveted prospect from Torrance, Calif. - also hoped to begin classes at Virginia last month. He wasn't cleared for midyear enrollment, however, and was admitted for the 2007-08 academic year.

U.Va.'s decision angered Jung, and he asked for and was granted a release from his letter of intent. He then picked Michigan, where he won't be able to enroll until this summer.

In tennis circles, critics have hammered Boland, contending he reneged on a promise of midyear admission to Jung in order to save that scholarship for this season. Boland, in a recent interview, didn't want to discuss Jung by name but spoke in general terms about the situation.

"My full intentions were for him to get admitted in January, but at the same time I knew the timing was going to be difficult," Boland said. "The backlash I didn't appreciate. I did everything possible to make it happen and just couldn't get it done."

Jung didn't graduate from high school until the middle of last month, close to the start of U.Va.'s spring semester. Virginia's admissions office didn't have as much time as it wanted to review Jung's academic credentials.

His talent is such that Jung would have significantly improved U.Va.'s chances of contending for the NCAA title this season.

"I absolutely, 100 percent had a scholarship for him," Boland said. "It's very painful that people would say things that are absolutely false."

IN THE CREASE: With U.Va.'s opener looming, men's lacrosse coach Dom Starsia doesn't have a full complement of midfielders. Redshirt freshman Max Pomper recently was diagnosed with a broken bone in his foot. It won't require an operation, Starsia said, but Pomper will be sidelined indefinitely, as will senior Foster Gilbert, who has an ankle injury that concerns Virginia's medical staff.

Moreover, senior Drew Thompson, a returning All-American, missed both of the team's scrimmages with a groin injury. Thompson's status for Sunday's opener - defending NCAA champion U.Va. hosts Drexel at 1 p.m. - is unclear, as is that of sophomore Gavin Gill. - Jeff White
 

Loss of Garrett raises old questions
Who called plays in 2005 Music City Bowl?
By Doug Doughty

The last thing I heard before leaving the office Wednesday afternoon was that assistant football coach John Garrett had just notified Virginia officials of an offer he had received from the Dallas Cowboys.

Inasmuch as a Cowboys website reported at 6:45 p.m. that Garrett had been hired, I’m guessing that the call back to UVa was merely a courtesy.

Clearly, Virginia had almost no chance of keeping Garrett, who will have the opportunity to work with his younger brother, Jason, named Cowboys’ offensive coordinator even before Wade Phillips was named head coach.

What I wonder is, would Garrett have left Virginia if he had been the Cavaliers’ offensive coordinator and not just the receivers coach?

Actually, Garrett was given the title of assistant head coach for offense last March, but that was just one of a mind-numbing myriad of titles distributed by head coach Al Groh on the same day that he elevated his son, Mike, to head coach.

Before Mike Groh was promoted, I believe I wrote that an older Garrett was a better choice for the position, particularly because of the perception of nepotism that would be created by Groh appointing his son.

Various sources are saying that there was friction between Mike Groh and Garrett, although neither of the principals has told me that. I’d still like to know who it was that called plays at the 2005 Music City Bowl, when Mike Groh and Garrett were both position coaches after the departure of previous offensive coordinator Ron Prince for Kansas State.

I’d go so far as to say Virginia’s playcalling in a 34-31 victory over Minnesota was “inspired.” I would not use the same word to describe the playcalling during the 2006 season, although the Cavaliers had the benefit of a multi-dimensional fifth-year senior in 2005 quarterback Marques Hagans.

Garrett came from an NFL background, so it’s not surprising to see him return to the NFL, although it might have been harder to leave behind a Division I-A coordinator’s job. Garrett will coach the tight ends at Dallas, where former Tennessee and Green Bay assistant Ray Sherman will be in charge of the wideouts.

Garrett won’t necessarily be a huge loss for the Cavaliers, although he has a reputation as an outstanding teacher. He seemingly has become more involved in recruiting with the passing of each of his three seasons, and recruits frequently have mentioned his name in website interviews.

At Dallas, the Garretts won’t be the only family connection on the Cowboys’ staff. Wesley Phillips, son of the new head coach, will be an offensive assistant after coaching the quarterbacks at Baylor.

You could say nepotism is the way of the world in college and pro football, but there are still some places where it is frowned upon. When Marty Schottenheimer was fired this week by the San Diego Chargers, one of the reasons given was his plan to replace ex-coordinator Phillips with Kurt Schottenheimer, his brother.

One of the more intriguing posts I saw Thursday on the sabre.com suggested that Virginia bring in a Walt Harris type to coordinate the offense, but I can’t see Al Groh returning his son to his former position of receivers coach, nor do I believe that Mike Groh should be judged solely on the basis of one season.

Another post dealt with the turnover in Groh’s staff and I know that Roanoke talk-show host Greg Roberts will want to dwell on UVa’s loss of a fifth assistant in a 15-month span.

Some would say that Al Groh can’t keep assistants, as if he had some character flaw, but it’s not as if these coaches are going back to high school. Of the last five coaches to leave, two took Division I-A head jobs, Danny Rocco took a I-AA head job and two became position coaches in the NFL.

What’s more, one of those NFL assistants, Mike London, subsequently has returned to UVa as defensive coordinator.

You could say that Virginia should have won more games with all that coaching firepower. For all the debate about his son’s promotion, you could also say that Al Groh has had a good eye for coaching talent.

He’s got another hire coming up. People will be watching.
 

Cavs prepare to host Seminoles tomorrow at JPJ
After crushing Longwood, Virginia looks to add to victories in ACC column by taking on slumping FSU
Carlos Valle, Cavalier Daily Staff Writer

Following a big win Tuesday over Longwood, the Virginia men's basketball team hopes to return to its stellar level of conference play tomorrow afternoon against what will prove to be "a very talented Florida State team," Virginia coach Dave Leitao said.

"They're going to challenge us as much as we've been challenged all year by the way they play," Leitao said. "And they're playing for something."

The Cavaliers (17-7, 8-3 ACC) are playing for something as well. Currently sitting in a three-way tie for second place in the ACC with the likes of North Carolina and Virginia Tech, Virginia needs to pick up a couple more conference wins to land a high seed in the ACC Tournament and a favorable seed in the NCAA Tournament.

The players understand this is a very important game and that the Seminoles will put up quite a fight.

"We know they are a talented bunch of guys," junior guard Sean Singletary said. "They're pretty cohesive, especially on defense. We're ready to go and we want to get another ACC game under our belt."

Although FSU (17-9, 5-7 ACC) comes into Saturday's match up on a three-game conference skid, the Seminoles are indeed a talented bunch. Their stout defense ranks fourth in the conference in turnover margin and is tied for fourth in three-point field goal defense, which is something for which Virginia will have to account.

The Seminoles' offense, however, is not to be overlooked. Senior forward Al Thornton is the ACC's second leading scorer, boasting 18.7 points per game.

Defending Thornton will certainly be a challenge, but the Cavaliers are up for it.

"He's an energetic guy. His motor keeps going," Singletary said. "He never lets up on any plays and he has a lot of energy. It's going to be tough to defend him but I think we can do it."

As a team, Florida State has the ACC's fifth-best overall field goal percentage and averages 74.8 points per game -- good for 6th in the ACC. The Cavs average slightly more, with 78.5 points per game.

Virginia is going to need a strong offensive presence and a lot of patience to get past the Seminoles tough defense. Rebounding should play a big role, as the Cavaliers average the second-most offensive boards in the conference while Florida State sits dead last in that category.

The Cavaliers hope the rebound factor will open up the perimeter for Virginia's premier backcourt including senior J.R. Reynolds and Singletary. The Cavaliers lead the ACC with 8.00 three-point field goals made per game and will look to combine that strength with strong guard play. Reynolds and Singletary are the ACC's fourth and fifth leading scorers, respectively.

Florida State won both meetings with the Cavaliers last year but, with March Madness right around the corner, Virginia is looking to show the nation that it can be a serious contender in the big dance.The Seminoles will meet the Cavaliers again tomorrow at the John Paul Jones Arena, where Virginia is 13-1 and undefeated in conference play.

 

Virginia to defend national No. 1 ranking this weekend
Squad gears up for traditional opening agame against Drexel, Cavs prepare for tough fight from Drexel after long off season
Megan McDonald, Cavalier Daily Associate Editor

The Virginia men's lacrosse team will begin defending its No. 1 preseason ranking Sunday. The season opener pits the Cavaliers against the Drexel Dragons, with face off scheduled for 1 p.m.

"Everybody's ready, everybody's excited and we're ready to bring it to Drexel on Sunday," senior goalie Kip Turner said.

The Cavalier-Dragon season opener has become somewhat of a tradition for the two schools. Unfortunately for Drexel, the Cavaliers have not lost since before the 2002 season, and last year, Drexel fell 15-7 on its home turf. Though the beginning of the second half of that game was tied 5-all, in the third quarter Virginia scored eight unanswered goals and left the Dragons in the dust.

Despite that convincing victory and its historical winning streak over Drexel, Virginia is anything but cocky about Sunday's match. In fact, the Cavaliers are anticipating a feisty Drexel team with nothing to lose and everything to gain by toppling the No. 1 team in the country on its first outing.

"Drexel is going to be a very good team," junior attackman Ben Rubeor said. "This whole week is about preparation and really concentrating on this game."

Rubeor described a game as a week-long process. The team focuses on the upcoming game not only on the field and in the weight room, but also by watching film and gauging the other team. This latter part of preparation is particularly difficult at the beginning of the season because each team has a new crop of freshmen and has had nine months in the off-season to revamp the previous year's game strategies.

"We don't know much about them [Drexel] right now," Virginia coach Dom Starsia said. "And since nobody really knows each other very well in these early games, you are really worried primarily with your own performance. We will have a little film and a report from some things that we saw last year but we really don't know much for the first couple games of the season. It's a time to focus on your own play and not worry so much about your opponent."

This week in practice, Virginia has concentrated on areas that showed room for improvement during pre-season scrimmages against Navy and Georgetown. After last weekend's scrimmage against Georgetown, coaches and players alike conceded that the Cavaliers' full-field game needs to be refined.

"Our sticks were a little off," Turner said. "We just need to get things back together and then I think we will be fine come Sunday."

Turner himself turned in stellar pre-season performances. Entering his third season as the starting goalkeeper, the senior was a major factor in last year's record-breaking season. He is first in school history with a 7.12 goals allowed average and fifth with a save percentage of .584. This spring, with the Cavaliers relying on a fairly young offensive squad, Turner will be key in anchoring the team's defense.

"I thought Kip's play today was exceptional," Rubeor said after the Georgetown game. "I thought he played very well and we are definitely going to need him this entire season."

Turner and the Cavaliers' first test commences Sunday afternoon on the turf field behind U-Hall.

 

Cavs headed to Chicago
Virginia to take on No. 18 Texas today in tournament that features top two teams from every region in the country
Brennan Lowery, Cavalier Daily Staff Writer

The Virginia men's tennis team travels to Chicago for the National Indoor Team Championships this weekend. It will take on No. 18 Texas today to start what the team hopes will be a strong showing in the tournament, which features the top two teams from every region nationally.

The team, led by junior Treat Huey, the ACC player of the week, is looking to build on its impressive 6-0 start and No. 3 national ranking.

Coming off a dominant win over then-No. 23 Michigan Saturday, the team is seeking to prove it is deserving of its No. 3 national ranking.

"Everyone is trying to do their best to show that Virginia is a team to be reckoned with, and not only the team, but every individual, wants to go out and show that they're the best players on this team," Virginia redshirt freshman Dominic Inglot said. "When other people have to look at who they're playing, they don't want to be playing Virginia players."

Having survived brutal road trips to Alabama and VCU already, this year's team should be better prepared for a difficult tournament like this one. Because a slew of other nationally ranked teams will be present, Virginia will face a formidable challenge demonstrating its merit even at a neutral site.

"[Defending champion] Georgia is going to be really strong," Inglot said. "Ohio, they're No. 2 in the country, so they'll be tough. But I guess we have to start with Texas now, so we just have to make sure we focus on them."

Inglot's play has been a strongpoint of the early season for the Cavaliers, but recent struggles with his serve, notably in the match against Michigan, have elicited some concern.

"That [serve] was not going too well; it was pretty much a bad day," Inglot said. "I think usually that's one of my strong points, so I've been trying to work on something other than that and I guess that was the reason I wasn't serving so well."

Despite concerns of an overly difficult schedule tiring the team too early in the season, the Cavaliers take a different stance on what can be gained from such a tough schedule.

"It's definitely the best thing we've done, because we've played five really good teams, so it's helped us get ready, because whichever team we're going to play now is going to be a very good challenge for us," third-year Somdev Devvarman said.

Devvarman views this tournament as not only an opportunity to demonstrate the team's ability on a national stage, but also as a chance to bond with some of the newer teammates.

"Marko [Miklo], Treat and I are the only ones who have traveled from last year, so it will be a good experience for the rest of the guys to see what it's like on a road trip for about five days," Devvarman said. "It'll be great for the team."

With the Cavaliers entering the tournament undefeated, the optimistic view is that this team will make a deep run in the postseason. This tournament could prove a good practice stage for the ACC and NCAA championships.

Virginia returns home to face Pepperdine Feb. 23 and Boise State Feb. 24.

 

Virginia opens season at Davenport against G.W.
Opening day originally scheduled for today, snow forces series to start tomorrow, concluding three-game series Monday
JP Stroman, Cavalier Daily Staff Writer

The Virginia baseball team started out well in its three-game set last weekend, with wins over Elon and North Florida. The Cavaliers' unfortunate loss to Coastal Carolina has left Virginia eager to get back on the field and prove itself again as a top team nationally. Because of the subsequent cancellation of Virginia's game against Longwood, the Cavaliers have had an even longer layoff than usual between games.

"You can't do anything about the weather," Virginia coach Brian O'Connor said. "Anytime you suffer a tough loss, you want to get right back out there, and we didn't get that opportunity, but our guys will be hungry and they'll be ready to get after it this weekend."

Virginia's opponent this weekend will be George Washington. Though the series was originally scheduled for Friday through Sunday, the Cavaliers will instead play Saturday through Monday because of inclement weather. The Cavaliers' experience will be an important asset, as G.W. has been hit hard by graduation the past few years. Four senior pitchers left to play professional baseball, and the new roster features 14 freshmen, the largest number in recent memory.

In addition, G.W. has not played any games yet this year, while Virginia already has the Springmaid Beach Resort Tournament under its belt. The Colonials still have good players, however, including closer-turned-starting pitcher Derek Haese, the lone senior on the pitching staff. Haese posted a solid 2.09 earned-run average but fell three innings short of qualifying for the national top 50. Beyond Haese, G.W. fields a young pitching staff.

The Colonials' top position player is junior outfielder Charlie Kruer, who led the team in the most important offensive categories: hits, home runs and runs batted in.

"We come up with a game plan for the whole team based on the way their lineup is ordered," Virginia junior pitcher Sean Doolittle said. "The 3-4-5 guys are going to get hits just because they're the best hitters on the team. What we try to control is the 1-2, 6-7-8-9 batters as far as trying to keep them off base, so that when the 3-4-5 guys come up, if they hit a double, it doesn't matter. I would imagine that [Kruer] is going to have a handful of hits this weekend, but we've got to control the guys around him and make sure that he doesn't hurt us."

Other impact players on G.W.'s roster include junior shortstop Michael Parker, who has held down the position for the past three years, and Mickey Shupin, senior outfielder and leadoff hitter, who led the Atlantic 10 with 24 stolen bases last year.

George Washington had a surge near the end of last season to finish 25-34, but fell short of its first NCAA Tournament berth since 2002. Virginia plans to attack its young pitchers to gain an edge in the early innings, which would go a long way toward securing three wins in the series.

"You can't let them get comfortable, you've got to jump on them right away, and hopefully take advantage of some mistakes," O'Connor said. "Whether a guy's a freshman or a senior, pitching's pitching."