U.Va. wants to end streak
By Jeff White
Published: February 4, 2009

CHARLOTTESVILLE - To University of Virginia men's basketball coach Dave Leitao, it's one of 16 ACC games. Important, yes, but not necessarily more so than any other regular-season game.

Leitao's players see tonight's test at John Paul Jones Arena differently. As point guard Sammy Zeglinski put it Sunday afternoon in Durham, N.C.:

"I think it's a must-win for this team . . . I feel like we gotta go back home and get this win."

The Cavaliers (1-5, 7-10) are reeling. They've lost five consecutive games since beating Brown on Jan. 6, and visits to third-ranked North Carolina and Florida State - teams that routed U.Va. last month - are looming.

First, however, the ACC's 11th-place team hosts Boston College (5-3, 17-6) and its all-ACC point guard, former L.C. Bird High great Tyrese Rice. BC upset then-No. 1 UNC in Chapel Hill early last month. Three days later, however, the Eagles lost to Harvard, so they're not invincible. Moreover, U.Va. swept BC last season.

"It's a very big game," Virginia forward Mike Scott said.

Maybe so, but Leitao said he believes "must-win" should be attached to a game only when "if you don't win, you don't get to practice or play the next day. Then you must win. As long as you still have games on the schedule, I think you have to continue to look at it as you do everything humanly possible to prepare and then to go out and win basketball games. They're so precious."

The Wahoos are coming off a 79-54 loss to then-No. 1 Duke in which they got 20 points from freshman Sylven Landesberg, 10 from Scott, eight from Zeglinski and scant contributions from anybody else.

Still, Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski said afterward, the Cavaliers are "a dangerous team. I think I've watched five games of theirs in the last few days. I thought they played hard every game."

Leitao has several players, Coach K continued, of whom it could be said, " 'He's a wild card. He could do this, he could do that.' And then all a kid has to do is do it a couple of times, and all of the sudden that's who he is. I think that's where they're at."

Krzyzewski quickly amended that statement. "Except for Landesberg," he said. "He's pretty much who he's going to be. I mean, he'll get better, but you know he's a really good player right now."

That Virginia has so few certainties and so many wild cards is a major reason it is struggling. No one knows from game to game what to expect from most of Leitao's players. To wit:

Junior forward Jamil Tucker scored 21 points against Maryland, zero against Duke.
Sophomore guard Mustapha Farrakhan scored 17 against Virginia Tech, zero against FSU.
Senior swingman Mamadi Diane, who had 14 points in the opener and 13 in U.Va.'s second game, hasn't scored in double figures since.
Sophomore guard Jeff Jones, who'd made 6 of his previous 12 field-goal attempts, was 1 for 7 from the floor against Duke.
Additional examples of Virginia's inconsistency abound. And unless things change, the team picked to finish last in the ACC will end up there.

 

Soaring Eagles battle waning Cavs tonight
With help from teammates, Rice leads streaking Boston College into JPJ against struggling Virginia team looking for answers
Ernie Washington, Cavalier Daily Sports Associate
Published: Wednesday, February 4 2009

Freshman Sammy Zeglinski’s performance against Duke was encouraging for Virginia, as he shot 4-of-9 for eight points and added five assists; in his previous three games, he shot 5-of-24 and dished two assists. After coming off of a 79-54 defeat at the hands of Duke on Super Bowl Sunday, the Virginia men’s basketball team is looking to get back on track and achieve their first win since Jan. 6. The good news for the Cavaliers is they have the chance to do so at home; the bad news is they’re playing against Boston College — a team that has legitimate NCAA tournament aspirations.

The Eagles (17-6, 5-3 ACC) scored the first major upset in NCAA basketball when they went into Chapel Hill last month and upset then-No. 1 North Carolina. After the victory propelled Boston College into the top-25 rankings, however, the Eagles proceeded to lose four straight consecutive games, starting with an 82-70 home loss against Harvard. They rebounded with four straight victories, most recently including a 67-66 win against Virginia Tech, when a Rakim Sanders tip-in with 0.4 seconds left won the game.

“Boston College is a good team,” junior guard Calvin Baker said. “We know it’s desperate times now; we need a win.”

The Eagles’ offense starts with senior guard Tyrese Rice. An in-state product out of L.C. Bird High School in Chester, Va., Rice is averaging 17.9 points per game while also chipping in 3.7 rebounds and 5.7 assists per game. Rice is in contention for first team All-ACC honors, and he is a player Virginia will have to key on defensively. Lately, the Cavaliers have shown a lot more zone looks on defense, but Virginia coach Dave Leitao said he still saw problems on defense for the Cavaliers in their recent game against Duke.

“We didn’t play zone very well [against Duke],” Virginia coach Dave Leitao said. “We weren’t active, more than anything. The things you give up playing man-to-man, you give up at least as much if not more in a zone. Lift fakes, when you go up for it or rotations or not communicating, those kinds of things.”

One major reason that Boston College struggled last season en route to a 14-17 record was that Rice was often playing on his own. This season, however, Rice has received more assistance from his teammates. Four Eagles are averaging more than 10 points per game compared to two from last season, and there is more of an inside presence for Boston College this season. Sophomore forward Joe Trapani, a transfer from Vermont, has been a big factor in the team’s recent success. Trapani is second on the team in scoring with 13.7 points per game and leads Boston College in rebounding with seven a contest. Sophomore forward Corey Raji has improved as well and has increased his scoring and rebounding outputs from last season. Sanders, a sophomore guard and the only other Boston College player other than Rice to average double digit scoring last season is still producing well this season, averaging more than 12 points per game.

If Virginia is going to have any chance of defeating the Eagles today, it needs to get off to a good start. Leitao does not exactly know why the Cavaliers are struggling to get out of the gates, but he said he has some ideas.

“The reasoning [for the slow starts] I can’t put my finger on other than that you have to combine the physical preparedness with the mental preparation, and somewhere along the line those two things are not coming to together,” Leitao said. “As we start games we try to address it and try to change our strategy a little bit in how we prepare, but it’s hard to put your finger on it.”

The bottom line is that Virginia is struggling in ACC play, and Leitao realizes that this year, struggling will not be enough to win in the much-improved conference.

 

Reeling Cavs host Eagles
By Whitey Reid
Published: February 4, 2009

One of the toughest parts of a long losing streak can be the snowball effect.

After a team has been non-competitive in a certain number of games, it can develop bad habits. Literally, it can forget how to win. When it finally puts itself in a position to break the slide, it has no idea how.

This is one of many dilemmas facing Virginia as it hosts Boston College tonight at John Paul Jones Arena.

For a second, forget about the fact that UVa is the worst defensive team in the ACC and the second-worst shooting outfit. Right now, the most glaring stat is that the Wahoos have won just once in 2009 — and that came against an opponent from the Ivy League (Brown).

Virginia, which has lost five straight ACC games after winning its opener on the road at Georgia Tech, desperately needs a victory.

“Must-win,” said Virginia freshman Sammy Zeglinski. “We’re 1-5 coming back home and coming off five losses in a row. It’s definitely a must-win.

“We’ve got to get this one.”

If Virginia (7-10, 1-5 ACC) doesn’t find a way, things only get tougher. Games versus North Carolina, Florida State, Clemson (twice) and Wake Forest loom. All except FSU are ranked in the top 25.

That’s not to say beating Boston College will be easy. The Eagles (17-6, 5-3) have won four straight, including a 67-66 win over Virginia Tech on Saturday.

“They’re a very good team that plays very well on the road,” said Virginia coach Dave Leitao. “After going through a little bit of a stretch of losing, they’ve turned it around.”

BC is led by senior Tyrese Rice. The former L.C. Bird (Richmond) High standout is seventh in the league in scoring (17.9) and second in assists (5.7).

“Most teams in this league have trouble with him,” Leitao said. “He’s very experienced, very good. He’s multi-dimensional and is playing very, very well right now — not just scoring the basketball, but leading his team and getting other guys involved and making them better.”

Leitao called Rice’s supporting cast “vastly improved.” It’s a young one that features four sophomores and a freshman.

Sophomore Joe Trapani, a transfer from Vermont, is averaging 13.7 points and 7.0 rebounds, while fellow classmates Rakim Sanders and Corey Raji are also putting up nice numbers, averaging 12.2 and 10.9 points, respectively. It was Sanders’ put-back that led to the Eagles’ victory over Virginia Tech.

Meanwhile, freshman Reggie Jackson has had a nice first year. The athletic guard from Colorado is averaging 7.9 points and 3.6 rebounds.

For Virginia, getting off to a good start will once again be a key. In its last six losses, UVa has gotten down by double-digit deficits in the first half.

“We just have to bring the intensity in the second half that we bring in the first half,” said Virginia freshman Sylven Landesberg, who had a game-high 20 points in Sunday’s loss at Duke. “The scores in the second half are pretty even with every team we’ve played.”

Virginia sophomore Mike Scott has been extremely frustrated by the team’s slide.

“We practice harder than it shows in the games,” Scott said. “We just need to have carryover.”

Leitao disagreed with Zeglinski’s notion that tonight is, in fact, a ‘must-win.’

“My view is probably a little bit different than everybody else’s in that I think when you play 16 of these games, they’re all very, very important and very difficult,” he said. “When you use the term ‘Must-win,’ I only use it [in the sense] that if you don’t win, you don’t get to practice or play the next day. Then you must win.

“As long as you still have games on the schedule, I think you have to continue to look at it as you do everything humanly possible to prepare and to go out and win basketball games because they’re so precious. If you start weighing the importance of games over a 16-game stretch, then that becomes a very dangerous proposition.”

Dunks

Virginia leads the all-time series with BC, 6-1. UVa won both meetings last season. … Scott scored in double figures for the 11th time and the eighth time in the last nine games after his 10-point outing against Duke. … Mustapha Farrakhan is perfect from the line this season (18 for 18). It’s the second longest streak to open a season. Jeff Lamp made 32 consecutive free throws to open the 1980-81 season.

 

Cavaliers boost state recruiting
DARRYL SLATER AND JEFF WHITE TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITERS
Published: February 4, 2009

It's national signing day for football, and letters of intent from recruits should start arriving at Virginia Tech and the University of Virginia around sunrise.

Nineteen high school seniors are expected to sign with Tech today, and at least 23 with U.Va. Virginia is among the finalists for Meadowbrook High offensive tackle Morgan Moses, a Parade All-American who will announce his college choice this afternoon.

The Hokies next season also will have four players who first signed with them last year: running back Tony Gregory, tight end Eric Martin, multi-purpose player Ben Barber and wide receiver D.J. Coles (Goochland High).

Gregory, Martin and Barber enrolled at Tech last month. Gregory and Coles played last fall at Fork Union Military Academy. Martin and Barber took college courses on their own.

At Virginia, 2009 recruit and defensive end Will Hill enrolled last month after graduating in December from Lafayette High in Williamsburg.

As usual, Tech's class consists mostly of players from this state. Fifteen of the 19 high school seniors who committed to the Hokies are state recruits. Last year, 22 of the 31 players signed by Tech were Virginians.

The Cavaliers, meanwhile, fared considerably better in Virginia than they did a year ago, when Al Groh's program added only three recruits from the state. Including Hill, 14 members of U.Va.'s 2009 class are from the state, and that total could grow today with Moses' decision.

Also, all-Group AAA kicker Drew Jarrett, a senior from Cox High in Virginia Beach, decided this week to attend U.Va. as a recruited walk-on. Jarrett could receive a scholarship as early as 2010.

According to recruiting Web site Rivals.com, Tech will add 11 of the state's top 30 prospects, including two of the top four: No. 1 David Wilson and No. 4 Logan Thomas. Wilson, a running back, is from George Washington High in Danville. Thomas, a tight end, is from Brookville High in Lynchburg.

U.Va. has landed six of the top 30, according to Rivals.com, led by No. 8 Dominique Wallace, a running back and linebacker from Chancellor High, and No. 10 Tim Smith, a wide receiver from state Group AAA, Division 6 champion Oscar Smith. Moses is ranked No. 2 in the state by Rivals.com.

Virginia already has commitments from Central Region stars Jake Snyder and Bobby Smith, each of whom made the All-Metro first team. Snyder, a defensive end from Deep Run High, will join his brother Matt, a wideout at U.Va. Smith, a wide receiver from Varina High, chose Virginia after visiting last weekend.

The 12th-graders who will sign with Tech today include four from the Richmond area: quarterback Antone Exum (Deep Run), safety Theron Norman (Hermitage), defensive end Duan Perez-Means (Hermitage) and defensive tackle DeAntre Rhodes (Varina).

Last year, Tech signed three Richmond-area players, including Coles. In 2007, Tech signed six, though running back D.J. Thomas (Patrick Henry) never enrolled.

If all of Frank Beamer's current local players return, the Hokies will have 14 scholarship players next season from the Richmond area. Virginia will have at least six: Smith, Jake Snyder, Jameel Sewell, Corey Mosley, Kris Burd and Rod Wheeler.

 

Signing day special: Blue chips and dip
Aaron McFarling

National signing day has arrived for college football, which begs the question: Where's the party?

Sadly, not here.

Oh, today there will be signings, letter faxings, updated tickers, bios, photos, all that official stuff.

But where are the buffalo wings? The beers? The heavy hors d'oeuvres?

And most importantly, where's the excuse to blow off work?

Virginia and Virginia Tech are not providing those things. This is a gross failure on the part of both institutions.

National signing day is growing, evolving, becoming the must-see event of the offseason.

And you're telling us we can't get loaded among friends while it's happening?

Portland State's not saying that. Vikings fans are invited to Buffalo Wild Wings in downtown Portland tonight to tip a few back and listen to coach Jerry Glanville extol the virtues of each signee.

Portland State went 4-7 last year in Division I-AA. Tech, as you might recall, won the ACC and the Orange Bowl.

Western Kentucky's offering food, drinks and tours of the football facility. Georgia Tech's breaking out "light appetizers" and a cash bar at its gathering. Tulane's slinging free food and beverage on campus at 6 p.m.

Tech and UVa? Nothin'.

OK, that's not entirely fair. Tech is having a "signing ticker" on its Web site today. It updates automatically. And -- get a load of this -- "fans can view a complete roster as it builds" each time a national letter of intent is received by the coaching staff.

(Feel free to view this at work. Then, when a new player is added, turn to an office mate, high five him or her and shout, "This party rocks!")

Virginia coach Al Groh is holding a press conference this evening. That's good for the media and by extension the fans, and we do appreciate it. But the small gathering that follows the press conference is by invitation only -- no public festival.

Regular fans want bleu cheese, too.

Mississippi State supporters will get plenty. That program is holding three separate national signing day parties around the state today -- one in Meridian, one in Tupelo and one in Jackson. So you've got an enviable choice there. Take off work to go to The Chili House, or head to campus to wolf down Bulldog Deli sandwiches. Either way, you get a football fix with a side o' good times.

Southern Miss is having two parties. One's at a casino and will feature former standout Reggie Collier. You're telling me we couldn't get Bryan Randall back to Blacksburg or Shawn Moore to Charlottesville?

In Tallahassee, they're having something called the "2009 Florida State Football National Signing Day Spectacular." Obviously, ol' Bobby Bowden still knows how to get down.

UNLV's having a party. So is Maryland. Wofford had one last year.

Wofford!

Frank and Al, are you paying attention?

Rickey Bustle is. The former Hokies offensive coordinator, now the coach at Louisiana-Lafayette, will see his campus in a festive mood tonight. The Ragin' Cajuns party, sponsored by a bank, will feature free food, soft drinks, alcohol, a raffle and an auction.

The signing ticker's feeling a little intimidated now.

And don't tell us we already know who the signees are. That makes no difference. If people will take off work to watch a groundhog see his shadow, you'd better believe Hokies and Wahoos would find a way to be at a signing party -- surprises or not.

The gold standard of signing day parties, of course, is at LSU. The "Bayou Bash," held annually since 1996, likely will be attended by thousands today.

Tickets are $40, and nobody minds.

We're not asking for that kind of shindig yet. We'd settle for a 12-pack of Mellow Yellow, some free hot dogs and a little fellowship. Hold it at the Merryman Center, next to the empty trophy case.

Heck, for one merry day, we'll pretend that thing's not even there.
 

UVa staff readies for final battle
By Jerry Ratcliffe
Published: February 4, 2009

On the eve of National Signing Day, Virginia’s football offices in the McCue Center were dark except for two rooms: coach Al Groh’s lair and just down the hall, the Cavaliers’ version of an NFL “war room.”

That’s where Virginia’s coaching staff stores all its recruiting treasures, a place that will be hopping this morning when all those signed grant-in-aid offers come rolling in on the fax machine.

Groh was getting ready to head home for the evening, expecting no fewer than 24 players to sign, and possibly more. While coaches are prohibited from talking about any recruits until those prospects actually sign, there was no secret that the Cavaliers’ class could get a major addition at 1 o’clock today when coveted Meadowbrook offensive lineman Morgan Moses is set to announce his college choice.

The biggest prize

Moses, a mountain of a young man, is rated as one of the top offensive line prospects in the country. The gut feeling of many national recruiting analysts is that Moses will choose Virginia over North Carolina.

Should that happen, the loud noise you hear outside your office window will likely be the celebration set off at the McCue Center.

Tuesday night’s setting was much the opposite. The entire football office area was dead quiet except for Groh’s operation of a computer that had tons of junior prospects and their full profiles ranked in alphabetical order.

Inside the war room

There are three major boards in the recruiting room.

The first one includes all the criteria in which Groh and his staff use to evaluate prospects. Groh would rather surrender his playbook to you than to divulge that criteria. All prospects are measured against one another via this list of requirements.

Once the assistant coaches evaluate each player in their area, then they recommend to Groh what players on their list should receive an offer. The head coach has to approve that offer and then, should that approval come, the offer to that prospect is made in person.

That covers the first big board.

The second big board is the largest and stretches nearly the entire length of the room.

It rates all those prospects: fives, fours, threes or 3-minus. Five is the highest grade and so on. All these players are rated by position, so the quarterback column on the board has the fives at the top, the 3-minuses at the bottom. Same for tight ends, linebackers, etc., through every position on the team.

Once any player commits to a program, Virginia’s or any of the schools that are normally in competition for prospects the Cavaliers recruit against, then Groh and his staff have a list under that school’s logo, listing each school’s entire, up-to-date list of commitments.

That allows UVa to keep up with what its rivals are doing and who those schools are recruiting, whether they’re overloaded at one recruiting position, and the like. Each prospect on that board from the state of Virginia is an orange tag, while every out of state player is a white tag.

This particular year, Virginia’s column is dotted with orange tags.

Currently, the Cavaliers’ recruiting effort is ranked No. 37 in the country by Rivals recruiting service, which is seventh among ACC schools, but ahead of such successful programs as Oregon, Utah, TCU, Wisconsin, Pittsburgh, Georgia Tech and BYU.

Should the Cavs get Moses, it might jump a few spots, but Groh and his staff don’t pay attention to those rankings. If the prospect fits their system, that’s all that matters.

It should be noted that of the 25 first-team Associated Press All-Americans last season, only 32 percent of them were rated as a Top 100 recruit by Rivals coming out of high school. Forty-eight percent of them received three stars or less out of a possible five stars.

Forty-four percent of the All-Americans were ranked Top 10 at their position in high school by Rivals. Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford, who happened to win the Heisman Trophy, was only a three-star and rated the No. 12 pro-style quarterback prospect in the class of 2006.

Wake Forest corner Alphonso Smith was ranked No. 48 among all players in the country at his position in high school. Teammate Aaron Curry was a two-star.

Anyone basing their entire impression of a school’s recruiting class merely on rankings by recruiting services may be surprised some time down the road.

One thing is for sure, Groh must be happy with the speed that is coming in with his class, rated one of UVa’s best in the Groh era.

Certainly, the talent coming in has more speed than any class that Groh has brought to Virginia and rivals the speed of any class in Wahoo history.

Today should be fun. Keep your ear to the window at 1 p.m.

 

With Signing Day upon us, it's time to seal the deal
Posted to: College Football Sports
Database: Search players' commitments, stats and positions
The Virginian-Pilot
© February 4, 2009

There may be a few surprises left for today, but by now, just about everyone knows where just about every high school football player in America is planning to play in college. The results are all but in, save a few hat-switching theatrics and the finality of faxes and signatures.

National Signing Day is all about making official what has been in the works for months. This is the day when teams hope a plan comes together - at least on paper.

For the state's two Division I-A programs - Virginia and Virginia Tech - and South Hampton Roads' two I-AA teams - Norfolk State and Old Dominion - the plans vary widely.

The Monarchs have yet to play a game, but that doesn't mean they aren't scheming. In fact, planning is about all they've done so far.

In recruiting, plans change from year to year, based on both needs and limitations. Here's a glance at how these teams attacked the Class of 2009 - and how they expect to fare when the ink has dried by the end of the day:

VIRGINIA TECH

THE PLAN The Hokies had fewer scholarships than usual (15-20) to work with this year, so they needed to be selective, address specific needs and get a little creative. They offered several greyshirt options - asking some prospects to enroll in January 2010 to count toward next year's class. For August enrollment, Tech targeted quarterbacks - a key need with Tyrod Taylor's top two back-ups graduating - and linemen on both sides of the ball. Given Tech's offensive woes the past two seasons, playmakers were also a must.

THE CHANGE The Class of 2008 was all about size. The Hokies signed 31 players last February, taking advantage of a deep in-state class that leaned heavily toward Tech. That allowed the program to stockpile talent - 17 of Rivals' top 30 state prospects signed with the Hokies - but caused a numbers crunch this year that kept Tech out of the mix with many talented players around the state.

THE RESULT Tech landed verbals from the state's top player (RB David Wilson) and the nation's top tight end (Logan Thomas). The Hokies also expect to sign South Carolina's top defensive back, Jerrodd Williams. The Hokies got commitments from at least seven prospects who could play on the defensive line, a pressing need. The greyshirt approach was successful, too, as Tech took pledges from at least three players expected to count toward the 2010 class. The Hokies' big misses, however, were at QB and OL. Only one of the blockers who committed will join the program this fall. And while the state produced three QBs rated top-five nationally by Rivals, each has committed elsewhere: Kevin Newsome (Penn State), Tajh Boyd (Clemson) and Bryn Renner (North Carolina). Antone Exum, a versatile all-state athlete from Richmond, has committed to Tech and could be the team's answer under center, but many schools recruited him as a WR or DB.

THE GRADE B-plus. The Hokies got their game-changers on offense, solidified the defensive front for the future and managed their numbers well. But without a marquee QB, this class leaves a little to be desired.

- Kyle Tucker

VIRGINIA

THE PLAN After signing just three in-state players in 2008, the Cavaliers clearly needed to do better on their home turf. They were also looking for more speed all over the field and for playmakers on offense. And no Al Groh class would be complete without big, athletic offensive linemen, a handful of linebackers to stock Virginia's 3-4 defense and a tight end or two.

THE CHANGE Last year's class was small in numbers (18 signees) and not highly rated. It was also short on obvious playmakers. RB Torrey Mack was considered the jewel of the class, but the real find might have been Austin Pasztor, a lightly recruited offensive lineman from Ontario who became the starting left guard.

THE RESULT The Cavaliers re-established themselves on the in-state scene, landing verbal commitments from 15 players from the commonwealth, including a half-dozen from Hampton Roads. Speedy receiver Tim Smith of state champion Oscar Smith was considered the biggest local catch, but teammate Perry Jones - the Group AAA Player of the Year - also bears watching. RB Dominique Wallace is rated the No. 8 player in Virginia and could get a shot at playing right away. A very good haul of offensive linemen would become great if massive (6-7, 347) tackle Morgan Moses, who is rated the No. 2 player in the state and entered the day uncommitted, signs with the Cavaliers today. Even without Moses, tackle Oday Aboushi and fellow commits Sean Cascarano and Luke Bowanko are an impressive group. On the playmaking front, Smith and Quintin Hunter, a high school QB who could end up at WR, bring speed to U.Va's new spread offense. Maury High's Laroy Reynolds heads up the defensive back prospects who have committed. Virginia also expects to add several of the long, quick and lean defensive-end prospects Groh looks for in his 3-4 scheme, led by Jake Snyder of Glen Allen.

THE GRADE B-minus. Upgrade this to a solid B if Moses commits. Virginia added speed and playmaking ability and may have shored up its offensive and defensive lines.

- Ed Miller

 

The pride of Matoaca
Jeff White
Feb 02, 2009

The Pittsburgh Steelers’ heroes in their Super Bowl victory last night included linebacker James Farrior, who first made headlines as an All-Metro performer at Matoaca High and later starred for coach George Welsh at U.Va. Farrior led Pittsburgh with six unassisted tackles against the Cardinals. And he did it despite playing most of the game with a strained groin.

Steelers coach Mike Tomlin, at his news conference this morning, said Farrior suffered the injury in first quarter but wasn’t interested in rest.

“No way he was coming out of that game,“ Tomlin said. “We gave some consideration to relieving him ... when [the Cardinals] had multiple receivers on the field, in an effort to try to preserve him throughout the course of the game. But he had none of that. He assured us that he was going to be fine.

“He played the way James Farrior plays. This guy is a spectacular leader for us. How he handles his business, how he conducts himself, is the Steeler way. He doesn’t say much. He’s a very diligent and detailed worker. He leads by example. He’s a guy that’s an accountability guy. He mentors, he challenges. He holds the young guys accountable, they look up to him. He’s a 12-month professional. It won’t be long before he starts the process of preparing himself for the process again to play football again in ‘09.

“That’s one of the reasons we made a commitment, from extending the contract to a middle linebacker that’s been around for a little bit like he has, because he is that special. I’m glad he’s a Steeler.“

 

Stumbling block for Sene
Jeff White
Feb 02, 2009

DURHAM, N.C.—Assane Sene’s career high in scoring for U.Va. is a modest six points, largely because of his troubles at the foul line.

After making 5 of his first 6 free throws this season, the 7-foot freshman from Senegal has missed 13 in a row. In a span of about 80 seconds in the second half yesterday at Cameron Indoor Stadium, Sene thrice went to the line for a one-and-one. Each time he missed.

In a game that top-ranked Duke won 79-54, a 6-for-6 effort by Sene wouldn’t have changed the outcome. But he easily could have doubled his scoring output (four points) against the Blue Devils.

Sene, who’s left-handed, has played most of the season with a heavily wrapped sprained left thumb, and that’s hurt his accuracy from the line. But the problem is not all physical at this point.

“It’s probably part mental, because he’s such a prideful kid,“ U.Va. coach Dave Leitao said after yesterday’s game.

The injury “has affected the way he catches the ball at times,“ Leitao said. “Even in practice, we’ll run a great pick and roll or something and, boom, bounce pass, he catches it and bobbles it, doesn’t complete the play. And he’s not one of those big guys that has bad hands.“

Leitao added: “Free-throw shooting is 75 percent between the ears, and I think, especially as a young guy, he’s worried about it a little too much.“