Reynolds makes ACC mark
Doug Doughty/Roanoke Times

Virginia guard J.R. Reynolds, who generally has deferred to younger teammate Sean Singletary when it comes to postseason honors, is now being viewed in a different light.

"He's [Reynolds] right at the best guard in the conference," second-year UVa coach Dave Leitao said Monday night on his weekly call-in radio show.

"He may be the player of the year in the conference. He needs to be in that conversation."

Reynolds, a senior from Roanoke, was a third-team All-ACC selection in 2006. Singletary was a first-team choice and recently made the cut when a midseason list of Wooden Award candidates was trimmed to 30.

Reynolds is averaging a career-high 18.5 points per game, good for fourth in the ACC, and he ranks first in the ACC in conference games with 21.9 points per game.

Reynolds scored more than 24 points per game during a recent seven-game UVa winning streak and has 1,539 career points. He needs only two points to move past Salem product Richard Morgan for 13th place on the Cavaliers' all-time scoring list.

It would probably take an extended tournament run for Reynolds to overtake mentor Curtis Staples as the Cavaliers' career scoring leader from the Roanoke Valley. Staples is ninth at 1,739, but No. 10 John Crotty will be much easier to catch at 1,646.

Football opening

Three-year Virginia football assistant John Garrett has taken a position on the staff of the Dallas Cowboys, whose new offensive coordinator is his younger brother, Jason.

John Garrett will be responsible for the Dallas tight ends after coaching the Virginia wide receivers for the past three seasons. At UVa, he also served as assistant head coach for offense during the 2006 season.

Garrett helped call plays in the 2005 Music City Bowl following the resignation of offensive coordinator Ron Prince and was seen as a possible successor to Prince before head coach Mike Groh elevated his son, Mike, to that spot.

Garrett is the fifth assistant coach to leave Virginia in the past 15 months, although Mike London returned after a one-year stint with the Houston Texans and now serves as UVa defensive coordinator.

Non-revenue

The Virginia men's lacrosse team will put a 17-game winning streak on the line when it begins defense of its Division I title Sunday in a 1 p.m. game with visiting Drexel, also its opponent in the 2006 opener.

UVa losses included both the attackman of the year Matt Ward and the defenseman of the year Mike Culver, but senior midfielder Drew Thompson is described by coach Dom Starsia as "probably the most versatile middie I've seen in my 15 years around here."

n The Virginia women's lacrosse team has been ranked as high as No. 2 in the country by Lacrosse Magazine and is in the top 10 in two other polls. The current UVa freshmen were rated the nation's No. 1 recruiting class by Inside Lacrosse.

n Other UVa teams that went into the spring with lofty rankings were men's tennis at No. 3 and baseball at No. 8. The baseball team, a 3-2 loser to Coastal Carolina in the title game of the Springmaid Beach Resort Tournament, has seen its home opener pushed back six days by bad weather.
 

Cavaliers seek gold at end of the rainbow
A strong finish could lead to first invitation to NCAAs since 2001
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Feb 17, 2007

CHARLOTTESVILLE - Ask the members of University of Virginia men's basketball team to describe the NCAA tournament experience, and only junior center Ryan Pettinella is qualified to answer.

Pettinella is a transfer from Penn, which represented the Ivy League in the NCAAs in 2005. All that the other Cavaliers really know about the NCAA tourney is that they desperately want to play in it this year. Virginia hasn't advanced to the NCAAs since 2001.

"It's real big, seeing as I've never been there before," senior forward Jason Cain said. "I want to experience that, seeing how this is my last time."

U.Va. is in excellent position to make Cain's dream a reality. With five regular-season games left, the Cavaliers (8-3, 17-7) are in a three-way tie for second place in the ACC. Their final stretch begins this afternoon against Florida State (5-7, 17-9) at John Paul Jones Arena.

Even with a 2-3 finish, U.Va. probably would be assured an at-large invitation to the NCAA tourney. Given that the Wahoos have three games left at the JPJ, where they're 13-1, such a finish should not be unattainable. But Dave Leitao doesn't want his players worrying about the big picture. U.Va.'s second-year coach said he wants them "to live in the present."

Leitao's message seems to have registered with his players.

"Of course it's something we've all been thinking about," sophomore swingman Mamadi Diane said when asked about the NCAA tournament, "but not really anything anybody's talking about. More than anything, everyone is just so focused on the next game, every game, just racking up wins."

Cain said: "We've got to continue going by the same cliché that you've got to take one game at a time and not overlook anybody."

Florida State comes in on a three-game losing streak. Moreover, the Seminoles are missing their top point guard, sophomore Toney Douglas, who's out with a broken right hand. As an Auburn freshman - he transferred to FSU after that school year - Douglas scored 33 points in an 89-87 loss to U.Va. at the Siegel Center.

The 'Noles still have forward Al Thornton in their lineup, however, and that worries the Cavaliers.

"He presents a major, major challenge, and I have a ton of respect for him," Leitao said, "as much as for anyone in the country."

Thornton, Cain said, is by "far the best player in the league, seeing what he means to their team. He's their No. 1 option on everything.

A 6-8, 220-pound senior, Thompson is the only player to rank among the ACC's top 10 in scoring, rebounding, field goal percentage and free throw percentage.

"You've just got to try to contain him as best you can," Cain said. "You've got to realize he touches the ball every possession, so he's going to get his shots, and he's going to make some. You've got to stay focused and try to make as many shots as you can difficult for him."

The Cavaliers pounded Longwood 90-49 on Tuesday night, but this is their first ACC game since being humiliated at Cassell Coliseum last Saturday. Virginia Tech romped 84-57, snapping U.Va.'s seven-game winning streak.

"We went down there thinking that they were just going to fold over for us, it seemed like, and we didn't stay on top of our game," Cain said.

Leitao said: "It's been proven to us and by us, that if we don't have our focus, we're not nearly as good as we need to be."

 

No magical number for NCAA wannabes
Tech in better shape than UVa
By Doug Doughty

Only two ACC teams have ever failed to make a 64-team NCAA field with 9-7 conference records, so you’d have to think that Virginia Tech (18-7 overall, 8-3 ACC) and Virginia (17-7, 8-3) would be guaranteed a spot if they could come up with two more conference victories.

No less of an authority than UVa athletic director Craig Littlepage urges caution when basing NCAA speculation on conference records.

He isn’t sure that 10 ACC victories represent a “lock.”

Littlepage is in his final season on the NCAA men’s basketball committee after serving as chairman during the 2005-2006 season.

“Conference schedules have to be evaluated now the way that non-conference schedules have always been evaluated,” Littlepage said. “Without the double round-robin, the difference in conference schedules can be pretty significant.”

The only major conference in which all teams play each other at home and on the road is the Pacific-10. The ACC has used an unbalanced schedule since 2004-2005, when Virginia Tech and Miami joined the league.

Ex-Big East colleague Boston College joined them in 2005-2006, when Florida State became the second ACC team to finish 9-7 in the league and not get an NCAA bid.

The first was the 1999-2000 Virginia team coached by Pete Gillen.

It could happen to Virginia again this year, provided the Cavaliers don’t win at least two more ACC games.

With the unbalanced schedule, ACC teams have a single game with six opponents and two games with the other five.

The five teams that Virginia will face twice are Virginia Tech, Maryland, Wake Forest, Miami and N.C. State. Those teams were fifth, sixth, 10th, 11th and 12th in the preseason ACC poll (Virginia was eighth).

Maryland, a team that has lost twice to the Cavaliers this season, had a higher power rating than No. 38 Virginia earlier in the week. So did Florida State and Clemson, a UVa victim on the Tigers’ home court.

The five teams that Tech will play twice are North Carolina, Boston College, Virginia, Miami and N.C. State. Those teams were picked first, third, eighth, 11 and 12th (Tech was sixth).

Of course, when it comes to selecting the NCAA field, the men’s basketball committee will look at actual performance and not the preseason predictions. Going into the weekend, Boston College stands in first place in the ACC at 9-3, with Tech tied with North Carolina and Virginia at 8-3.

The Hokies are 3-1 against BC, North Carolina and Virginia. The Cavaliers are 0-3 against BC, Tech and UNC.

Fortunately for the Cavaliers, they only had to play BC and Carolina once each, but both of those games were on the road. Virginia handled Boston College easily last year at University Hall and probably would be favored to beat the Eagles at John Paul Jones Arena, where UVa is 13-1.

While Tech has had the tougher conference schedule, the Hokies have some skeletons in their closet, namely early season losses to Western Michigan and Marshall.

Those losses were comparable to back-to-back Virginia defeats in the Puerto Rico Shootout in San Juan, where UVa was beaten by Appalachian State and Utah.

According to Littlepage, it’s good that those setbacks occurred in December.

“If a team is going to stub its toe, it’s better to stub it earlier rather than later,” Littlepage said. “On the back end of that, it’s better if a team is performing stronger at the end of the season.”

Does Virginia’s seven-game winning streak, stretching from Jan. 16 through Feb. 9, qualify as the end of the season? Not exactly.

The end of Virginia’s winning streak coincided with a Tech surge, but there are five regular-season games remaining for both teams, followed by the ACC Tournament.

Now is not the time to slack off.
 

FSU's Thornton sheds his shell
dslater@dailypress.com 247-4641
February 17, 2007

Al Thornton just wanted a quiet night at the movies with his girlfriend. He likes quiet. It's why he and Kristen Jones caught a late showing last week of "Norbit," Eddie Murphy's new movie.

But quiet is hard to come by for Thornton, whose play since the beginning of last season has, at times, brought attention to the often-overlooked Florida State men's basketball team.

A couple kids spotted him last week on his way out of the theater and rushed over for autographs. Thornton smiled, flashing a mouthful of braces, and scribbled away.

In the past, he would have pulled a hood over his head and shuffled out of the mall before anybody noticed him - just like he ducked out of classes last year to avoid classmates' questions about whether he was leaving early for the NBA. In the past, he would have felt too self-conscious about his braces to smile.

"I think I kinda turned my image to where I'm more approachable," he said.

The way Thornton figured it, he had to. Opening up his personality was as important to his NBA success as developing an outside shooting touch. Those goals and his pursuit of an NCAA tournament berth brought him back to Florida State for his senior season.

Urgency is setting in now for Thornton, a 6-foot-8, 230-pound forward. The Seminoles (17-9, 5-7 ACC) have four games remaining, starting with today's 1 p.m. game at Virginia, as they try to make their first NCAA since 1998. Their fate rests on Thornton. He ranks second in the ACC with 18.7 points per game and should be a high first-round NBA draft pick. "If he ain't energized and ready, it's gonna be a long night," junior Isaiah Swann said. "So every night, he's gotta bring it."

Thornton has led the Seminoles to their biggest victories in the past two seasons, scoring 28 points this season against No. 4 Florida and 21 at No. 8 Duke. Last year, he scored 26 in a win over No. 1 Duke, following up the 37 he had in a loss in Durham. After that game, Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski called him "one of the best players in the country."

When Thornton arrived in Tallahassee in December 2002, few expected such hosannas. Most schools shied away from him because of his shaky academics. He eventually qualified and redshirted in 2002-03.

Basketball was the least of his worries. Coming from Perry, Ga. (population: 10,000), the enormity of college life almost swallowed him. "It was just earth-shaking," he said.

He didn't realize you could sell back your textbooks, rather than just turn them in. He went home almost every weekend. When he stuck around school, he went to movies alone or sat in his room and played a James Bond video game. "I really enjoy being by myself," he said.

His 37 points last February at Duke ensured he'd draw a media crush. After watching Thornton stumble through interviews, Florida State sports information director Chuck Walsh suggested he take a summer class with professor Mark Zeigler on dealing with the media.

Thornton always struggled with public speaking. He and his siblings were so quiet, almost invisible, at family reunions that relatives asked his mom, Philomenia, "Where are your kids?" The nights before making oral presentations in high school, he'd tell his mom, "I don't know whether I can do this."

But he jumped at the chance to take Zeigler's class. Three days a week, Zeigler helped him not say "um" and "you know what I mean." At Thornton's apartment, he and Jones, his girlfriend, did practice interviews, with Jones posing as a reporter, sometimes stopping to remind Thornton about maintaining eye contact.

When Jones met Thornton a year and a half ago, she practically had to pull the words out of his mouth. "It was like, 'Gosh, I don't know what he's thinking,'" she said. "When we first started talking, it wasn't easy."

She slowly got to know a simple kid. He loves eating steak and potatoes at Applebee's. He couldn't care less about matching his sneakers to his shirt to his hat. In his room, he has a few posters of NBA players and a hand-written thank-you poster he received from elementary school students when he spoke at their school. "He's just plain old Al to me," Jones said. She is the chatty one, a cheerleader at nearby Florida A&M. She encouraged him to overcome his shyness, to hang out with teammates more often at Chubby's, a club the Seminoles frequent.

Thornton knows what would've happened if he turned pro after last season, an introverted kid jumping into the showiest league around.

"I think I would have been lost, to be honest with you," he said. Said Jones: "The best way I could describe him is a butterfly. He was in a cocoon. Now, he's blossoming into a beautiful butterfly. His wings are expanding and he's doing different things. He's learning (about) himself and allowing himself to actually open up and meet people."

'Noles face the gloom
The next few games will determine if the Seminoles make the NCAA tourney.
Dave Curtis | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted February 17, 2007

Florida State guard Isaiah Swann knows the numbers, the standings and the doom and gloom most Seminoles fans feel when they see them.

Swann, though, also knows there's time -- four Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season games, to be precise -- for his team to reach its first NCAA Tournament since 1998.

"It's right there for the taking," he said Thursday in a phone interview. "These next four games are very winnable. We just have to go out and be ready for a battle."

The battles, as Swann calls them, start this afternoon when the Seminoles (17-9, 5-7) visit Virginia. Sitting in ninth place in the ACC, FSU figures need to pick up at least three victories in its four-game finishing stretch to keep hope for an NCAA at-large bid.

The next two weeks come with no guaranteed victories. Three of the four games, including today's clash with the second-place Cavaliers (17-7, 8-3), come away from home.

"We just have to have the mentality that our season isn't going to die on the road," Swann said.

"Yeah, they may have a couple of advantages, but we're not going to die."

Of course, the change of venue might help the Seminoles, who have squandered two chances for home victories in the past week. A late fold against Boston College gave the Eagles a 68-67 win Sunday. And Georgia Tech, which sits below FSU in the ACC standings, held the Seminoles to 26 percent field-goal shooting in the second half and won 63-57 on Wednesday in Tallahassee.

Road games mean more pressure to help forward Al Thornton, whose 18.7 points per game rank second in the ACC and make him a conference player-of-the-year candidate. Wednesday's 57 points marked a team low for the season and highlighted the absence of starting point guard Toney Douglas, who continues to sit with a broken right hand.

Thursday, Coach Leonard Hamilton gave no update on Douglas' progress.

"I don't even think we'll evaluate it for a while," Hamilton told the Tallahassee Democrat.

"It's not a displaced fracture, so that's good. Now we've just got to see how long it's going to take for it to calcify and heal completely. But it's not something we're going to rush."

FSU will miss Douglas at both ends today. Cavaliers guards Sean Singletary and J.R. Reynolds each average better than 18 points per game. And Virginia is 13-1 at home, including victories over Arizona, Gonzaga and Duke. A 14th home win for the Cavaliers would further hinder FSU's NCAA chances. Yet that thought doesn't rattle Swann and his teammates.

"I'm thinking about it, but I'm not worried about it," he said. "If we do what we have to do and win these four games, then we'll get there."
 

Hamilton concerned about talent of Virginia's guards
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By Jack Corcoran
DEMOCRAT STAFF WRITER

Exceptional, quick and explosive.

Florida State men's basketball coach Leonard Hamilton wasn't at a loss for adjectives Thursday when describing Virginia's superb guard tandem of J.R. Reynolds and Sean Singletary.

“They are fast, and then they have another gear that they go to,” Hamilton said.

With Reynolds (18.5 points per game) and Singletary (18.4 ppg) both in the top five in the ACC in scoring, Virginia (17-7, 8-3 ACC) finds itself in a three-way tie for second in the conference just a half-game behind first-place Boston College.

The timing isn't ideal for FSU's first visit Saturday to the $129.8-million John Paul Jones Arena, where the Cavaliers are 13-1. The Seminoles have lost three straight and are without point guard Toney Douglas, who scored 22 points and knocked down five 3-pointers against Virginia as a freshman with Auburn in 2004-05.

Incredibly, Reynolds and Singletary have combined to average 41.1 points over the past 14 games. Reynolds ranks third in school history with 202 career 3-pointers. Singletary's 41.2-percent mark from beyond the arc places him second in the conference.

“I think the main thing we have to do is just make sure we don't allow any other players to go off for large numbers,” Hamilton said.

Although Isaiah Swann scored a career-high 23 points in the Seminoles' 63-57 loss to Georgia Tech on Tuesday, FSU's backcourt hasn't produced much of late. Jason Rich has made just 7-of-24 shots over the past two games. Ralph Mims has managed only four assists over two starts in place of Douglas.

“I don't feel like I've particularly played well the last two games,” Rich said.

It's unclear when Douglas might be able to return from his broken hand.

“I don't even think we'll evaluate it for a while,” Hamilton said. “It's not a displaced fracture, so that's good. Now we've just got to see how long it's going to take for it to calcify and heal completely. But it's not something we're going to rush.”
 

Thornton has the last laugh
Noles star confounding the ACC
By Whitelaw Reid / wreid@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
February 17, 2007

When Florida State star Al Thornton is cashing fat paychecks in the NBA next season, he may want to send Maryland coach Gary Williams a thank-you note.

Or maybe not.

It was prior to an FSU-Maryland game in 2003 - during Thornton’s redshirt season -when Williams saw the Seminoles forward working out several hours before tipoff. While chatting with an FSU assistant coach, Williams reportedly questioned Thornton’s skill level.

Unfortunately for the Terrapins coach, the remark made its way back to Thornton.

Woops.

“Coach [Stan] Jones told me that [Williams] said he didn’t feel like I was an ACC player,” Thornton recalled. “It was an insult to me as a competitor and a basketball player. Pretty much then I really decided to become the best player that I could possibly be.”

Thornton has done that - and then some.

This season, the Perry, Ga., native has solidified his status as not only one of the top players in the ACC, but in the country.

Today, FSU rolls into Charlottesville to play Virginia. After dropping their last three games, the Seminoles (17-9, 5-7), just like last year, find themselves on the NCAA Tournament bubble.

“I feel like it’s not over,” Thornton said. “We have four more games and we can make a run. I feel like all the games we play are winnable.

“We definitely know coming in we’ll be facing two great players [in Sean Singletary and J.R. Reynolds] - I consider them pretty much pros. We’re not going to shut them down, but we need to contain them.”

Virginia (17-7, 8-3), barring a late-season collapse, has already done enough to earn an invitation to the Big Dance, but it would love to finish the regular season strong and earn a bye in the ACC Tournament that begins March 8.

UVa catches a break in the fact that FSU will be without the services of point guard Toney Douglas, who is out with a broken hand. However, the Cavaliers still have Thornton to contend with.

“I’m not going to swear,” said Virginia coach Dave Leitao, “but he is really, really good. What makes him good is that he is diverse in his game. He’s a perimeter player. He’s a one-dribble, pull-up player. He can post-up, get into the lane, pass. He’s an extremely hard worker and he [creates] matchup problems every night.

“He is definitely one of the best players in the country in my opinion.”

Not bad for a kid who wasn’t very fond of basketball when he was growing up.

Thornton’s sport of choice was football - until a growth spurt.

“My dad got me into [basketball], but I didn’t necessarily like the game,” said Thornton, with a laugh.

Last season, Thornton had a pair of 37-point performances - at Boston College and at Duke. He averaged 16.1 points and 6.9 rebounds per contest - numbers that made him think about bolting to the pros with former teammate Alexander Johnson, who is now a member of the Memphis Grizzlies.

But the chance to make it to the NCAA Tournament - and complete his degree in social science - drew him back.

This season, Thornton, who helped FSU snap a 15-game losing streak at Duke’s Cameron Indoor Stadium, is second in the ACC in scoring (18.7) and ninth in rebounding (6.7).

“I think I can be physical,” Thornton said, “but I can also hit jumpers, which causes problems.”

Leitao is well aware of this. In truth, the coach has no player who can really match-up with Thornton. He’s too quick for Jason Cain. Too big for Mamadi Diane or Will Harris. Too strong for Jamil Tucker.

“There really isn’t a 4-man who can guard him,” Leitao said. “He plays as a 3-man, but he happens to be 6-foot-9.”

Singletary said Thornton’s motor is what makes him so special.

“He’s an energetic guy,” the Virginia point guard said. “He never lets up on any plays. It’s going to be tough to contain him.”

Thornton, who scored 27 in a 96-59 win over Maryland last month, said Williams has never apologized to him for his remark.

“It would mean something [if he did] because he’s one of the best coaches in the ACC,” Thornton said. “It would mean a lot, but I’ve kind of put it behind me.

“I’ve just tried to keep adding to my game, man, so that I can be the player that I wanted to be.”

Dunks

Virginia leads the all-time series with Florida State, 16-14. The Seminoles have won the last three meetings, including two last season. … Reynolds is averaging 21.9 points in ACC play, tops in the league. … FSU leads the ACC in free-throw percentage and is second in the nation in the category at 78 percent.

INSIDE THE GAME

Scouting FSU: Following a one-point win over Duke, the Seminoles have lost three straight. FSU is without Toney Douglas, who has a broken hand. He was averaging 13.1 points and 2.7 assists.

Scouting UVa: The Cavs are the only team left in the ACC without a home loss in league play.

 

Brown earns some 'free' time
BY DAVID SQUIRES
247-4639
February 17, 2007

LAS VEGAS -- Former Virginia Cavaliers power forward Elton Brown takes an interesting "day off" this weekend.

Between a game Friday and another game Sunday, Brown flies to Las Vegas this morning to participate in the first All-Star game of the National Basketball Development League.

Brown, a Warwick graduate who played a season in Greece, where he was rookie of the year, and spent time in the New York Knicks' training camp, is honored by his selection.

"It's good to be honored for your play, no matter what your league is," he said. "I'm going to put this on my resume and count it among my acccolades."

The game is at 5 p.m. today on Center Court at the NBA All-Star Jam Session at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. The game will air live on NBA TV.

Brown is one of the D-league leaders in rebounding (10.1 per game) and double-doubles.

"It shows that I'm doing more than just scoring, that I'm rebounding and filling the stat sheet," he said.

Brown says he is a more mature person than the "high school kid" who once boasted that he was better than some blue-chip players in AAU ball.

He said the things he wants to achieve today are simple: "Just to let people know I can play at the next level."

And to achieve, he says, "I've just got to keep playing hard and stay focused."

Don't feel too bad for Brown, though, on his long weekend. It won't be all work. After today's game, Brown says he will meet friend Marques Hagans, a former Virginia quarterback from Hampton who now plays for the St. Louis Rams. The plans call for some true Las Vegas fun.

Another player in the game with local ties is former Florida State guard Von Wafer, Brown's teammate on the Colorado 14ers, who spent some of his youth living in Newport News.