Cavs try to stop Canes
By Whitey Reid
Published: February 26, 2009

Tonight, you can probably expect Virginia to get Miami’s best effort at John Paul Jones Arena. The Hurricanes, after all, are playing for their NCAA Tournament lives.
With just three conference games remaining, Miami sits at 5-8 in ACC play. The Canes likely need to win out in order to have a shot at the Big Dance.
“I think .500 in league play would put you in great position to get an at-large bid,” said Miami coach Frank Haith, whose team snapped a three-game losing streak with a win over Boston College on Saturday, “but for us — we can’t worry about that. We’ve stopped talking about the tournament with our guys and have just gotten back to focusing on winning a game, and that’s what we did on Saturday.
“We have to do what we can to get ready to play a Virginia team that is playing hungry and very well.”
Well, at least that was the case until last Saturday in Raleigh.
In the loss at N.C. State, Virginia (9-14, 3-9) reverted to some old habits. A “lack of energy” — the bugaboo that plagued UVa during its recent eight-game losing streak — was back in full effect.
The Wahoos’ poor starts to both halves forced them to play from way behind for much of the game.
They can’t afford that tonight against Miami (16-10, 5-8), which features one of the best gunslingers in the country in shooting guard Jack McClinton. The senior was recently named among the 30 mid-season candidates for the 2009 Naismith Trophy.
McClinton is the ACC’s all-time 3-point field goal percentage leader (.446). He also leads the ACC this season in 3-point field goal percentage (.477) and 3-pointers per game (3.2), while ranking among the league’s top five in both scoring (20.1) and free-throw percentage (.860).
“Miami is another team, like just about every other team in this league, that is playing for a lot of marbles and will take their best shot,” said Virginia coach Dave Leitao. “We obviously have to figure out a way to defend them both on the inside and especially on the outside with a guy like McClinton. It will take all of our concentration and all of our effort.”
McClinton started out at Siena College, but left following his freshman season when former Virginia assistant coach Rob Lanier — then the head coach at Siena — was fired.
Haith, who had seen McClinton play in high school, said there weren’t very many suitors for McClinton at the time because he was wanting to move up a level (from a mid-major).
Haith thought McClinton could be “a solid player” in the ACC. Then the Baltimore native got on campus and started outplaying the likes of former Miami guards Robert Hite and Guillermo Diaz.
“Obviously, he has exceeded my expectations and turned out to be a great player,” Haith said.
Florida State, which defeated Miami on Feb. 18, did one of the better jobs this season of defending McClinton. The Seminoles held him to 13 points on 5 of 12 shooting.
“They ran a lot of different guys at him,” Haith said, “and just jumped him off screens.”
Virginia didn’t show much defensive aggression against the Pack. Part of that might have stemmed from being away from the friendly confines of JPJ, part of it may have had to do with the fact that UVa — like a lot of other teams at this time of year — is getting worn down.
“We have to continue to watch and maintain ourselves — that we’re getting maximum effort and energy,” Leitao said, “and, at the same point in time, keeping the guys rested.”
Dunks
Miami leads the all-time series with Virginia, 5-3, including a 95-93 win in Coral Gables last season. … UVa junior Jerome Meyinsse hasn’t played in the team’s last five games. Leitao said it was a combination of the players in front of Meyinsse performing well, going with a smaller lineup, and the Baton Rouge native not playing consistently aggressive. “If he were to do that, he would probably be more in the mix,” said Leitao, referring to Meyinsse’s demeanor on the court, “but I would put it much more on the guys who are in than him.” … McClinton is the only ACC player to rank among the nation’s top 30 in four different statistical categories — including third in the country in three-point field goal percentage, and owns three of the conference’s top 10 scoring performances this season — including back-to-back-to-back 30-point games versus Wake Forest, Duke and North Carolina.

 

UVa staff familiar with UM's McClinton
The All-ACC performer for the 'Canes played for assistant Rob Lanier as a freshman at Siena.
By Doug Doughty
981-3129

When he decided to leave Siena University after the 2004-2005 basketball season, Jack McClinton essentially was available for the asking, with one notable exception.

Virginia was not an option, not after former Siena coach Rob Lanier joined the Cavaliers' staff.

"It wasn't going to happen," said McClinton, who will be at John Paul Jones Arena tonight as the star player for the University of Miami, which visits UVa for an 8 o'clock tipoff.

"I had a [condition] in my release where I couldn't go wherever he went. So, when he went to Virginia, Virginia was out."

Otherwise, McClinton might have gone to UVa.

"It would have been a good chance," he said. "Coach Lanier probably was one of the main reasons I went to Siena.

"If [the Cavaliers] had been interested in me, I definitely would have taken a visit. It would have been good, but I've been blessed to come to a great program."

Miami probably feels equally blessed to have gotten him. He was named first-team All-ACC last year after scoring 17.7 points per game and comes to Charlottesville tonight with a 20.1-point average. Ex-Texas assistant Frank Haith had just finished his first season as the Hurricanes' head coach in 2004-05 when he learned of McClinton's availability.

Haith was vaguely familiar with McClinton, who had spent the 2003-04 school year at a Connecticut prep school, South Kent.

"He had already signed with Siena when I saw him," Haith said, "and I thought Siena had a steal. After that first year, I got a tape from his dad, got a release and talked to Rob [Lanier]. Obviously, Jack didn't have a lot of suitors because he was moving up a level.

"I felt real good about him being a solid player, but not being what he is today. Obviously, he's exceeded my expectations."

And, it didn't take long to see that.

"That first year, we had Guillermo Diaz and Rob Hite -- two pretty good guards -- and there were times when he would just dominate our practices," Haith said of McClinton's redshirt season. "I felt he had a chance to be better than I thought. With that said, Jack is one of the best guards in the country."

McClinton went to South Kent not because he needed academic seasoning, but because he had no Division I offers out of Baltimore's Calvert Hall.

"I was definitely a late bloomer," said McClinton, who is listed at 6 feet 1. "My junior year, I played a little but not a lot. My senior year, I had a great season, but it was just too late."

The season barely had gotten underway at South Kent before McClinton signed with Siena in November 2003.

"I didn't want to be playing the season and worrying about finding a school to go to," he said. "I always wanted to play high-major, Division I basketball, but I wasn't going to sit down and be mad that I couldn't go to a Big East school or ACC school."

A recent Washington Post series examining University of Maryland men's basketball recruiting never mentioned McClinton among a list of in-state players who went elsewhere.

"When I was real young, I loved the Terps," McClinton said. "I grew up watching Maryland play -- Terrell Stokes, Exree Hipp, all those guys."

When he transferred, McClinton couldn't have found an ACC school farther from his home. The atmosphere, at least toward Miami basketball, was a little more laid-back.

"When you think Miami, you think football," he said. "We did a good job last year of working hard and winning some games [23-10] and we finally got some recognition. It's hard in Miami. You've got a lot of pro teams down there. Somebody might not want to get up at 1 p.m. and watch a college basketball game."

With a 22-point outing Saturday against Boston College, McClinton went over 2,000 points for his college career and hardly anybody noticed, possibly because the first 408 of those points were registered at Siena. He is the all-time ACC leader in 3-point percentage (44.6) and this year leads the ACC in both made 3-pointers and 3-point percentage.

People would have noticed if McClinton, who turned 24 in January, hadn't returned to Miami this year. Younger and less-distinguished players take the NBA plunge every year.

"I didn't put my name in," said McClinton, who could have announced his candidacy and then removed himself from consideration. "I definitely thought about it. I talked to [Haith], talked to my family, talked to people who had done it. I just thought it was in my best interest and the team's best interest to come back."

McClinton's return may not be in Virginia's best interest tonight, but that's been the story of their relationship.
 

Miami’s McClinton worked to reach goals
By Jeff White
Published: February 26, 2009

He grew up in Baltimore following University of Maryland hoops, dreaming of becoming the next Exree Hipp or Keith Booth.

"I always wanted to be a Terp," Jack McClinton said this week.

Cut Gary Williams a break on this recruiting decision. Maryland didn't offer a scholarship to McClinton when he played at Calvert Hall High, but neither did any other Division I school.

"He wasn't recruited at all," recalled Rob Lanier, then the coach at Siena and now an assistant at Florida.

Lanier and assistant Steye Seymour tried to persuade McClinton to walk on at Siena with a scholarship to follow his second year. The 6-1 guard instead chose to enroll at South Kent, a prep school in Connecticut. He ended up signing with Siena, after seriously considering Hartford, and averaged 13.6 points as a freshman in 2004-05.

After the season, however, Siena fired Lanier. With his coach gone, McClinton decided to leave, too. Lanier landed as an assistant at the University of Virginia, where he was reunited with Seymour.

For various reasons, U.Va. wasn't an option for McClinton. So Lanier recommended McClinton to the coach at another ACC school, Miami's Frank Haith.

Based on what he'd seen of McClinton at South Kent and heard from his friend Lanier, Haith said, "I felt real good about him being a solid player. Not being what he is. I thought he'd be a solid player. Obviously, he's exceeded my expectations and turned out to be a great player."

After sitting out the 2005-06 season as a transfer, McClinton averaged 16.7 points as a sophomore and was named to the all-ACC third team. As a junior, he became the first player in Miami history to make the all-ACC first team.

This season, McClinton has made nearly half of his 3-point attempts - he's in range, it seems, once he crosses midcourt - and ranks fourth among ACC players in scoring (20.1 average). He's first in ACC games (23.1).

So how did so many schools miss on such a talented player? At Calvert Hall, McClinton said, he didn't assume a leading role until his senior season, long after many Division I recruits already had signed. If recruiters overlooked him, so be it. He didn't waste time feeling sorry for himself.

"One thing I never did was stop working," said McClinton, who will lead Miami (5-8, 16-10) against U.Va. (3-9, 9-14) tonight at John Paul Jones Arena.

Lanier, like many others who saw him play in high school, marvels at McClinton's feats in the ACC.

"What I'm not amazed by is his work ethic," Lanier said.

His final season at Siena was tough, Lanier said, "but I really loved going to practice every day, and Jack really helped me get through that year. He worked so hard, and he was so fun to coach."

The 2004-05 version of McClinton didn't differ dramatically from the current model, Lanier said. "He's just a lot better at what he was always good at. For one thing, he got forced into playing the point guard for me, and he's not a true point guard with that mindset, but he is a true competitor. He was just learning the college game."

McClinton, whose older sister, Alisha, starred in track at Georgia Tech, turned 24 last month. That makes him old for a college player. Still, he returned to Miami for his final season instead of entering the NBA draft.

"We talked about [the NBA]," Haith said, "but it never really materialized, because I think Jack knew there were still some things he wanted to work on. . . . The draft was a little guard-heavy last year, too, and he felt like he could come back and have a really good senior year and improve his stock."

Miami's rivals haven't been as happy as Haith to see McClinton back for another year.

"I think he's as good a shooter as there is in college basketball," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "When he shoots, it's splash."

 

Virginia readies for chance to tame Hurricanes, bounce back from loss
Cavaliers have opportunity to play spoiler again in a home game; defense will have to deal with dominant presence of Miami’s McClinton who ranks fourth in scoring in the ACC
Aaron Perryman, Cavalier Daily Senior Writer
Published: Thursday, February 26 2009

Sophomore forward Mike Scott leads Virginia in rebounding and is second in scoring, with 7.3 and 10.6 respectively. Following the Virginia women’s basketball team’s big win against Florida State Tuesday night, the men’s basketball team gets to take its own shot at another Sunshine State squad tonight at John Paul Jones Arena.

The Cavaliers (9-14, 3-9 ACC) will have the chance to damage the NCAA Tournament résumé of the Miami Hurricanes (16-10, 5-8 ACC) in much the same way they did against Virginia Tech last Wednesday, winning 75-61.

Miami is coming off a crucial 69-58 win against Boston College Saturday, ending a tough three-game skid after falling to Duke, North Carolina and Florida State. The Hurricanes own a paltry 3-7 record during their last 10 games, a statistic they will want to improve by Selection Sunday, given the importance the NCAA Selection Committee usually places on recent performance for tournament berths.

After Virginia, Miami finishes up its regular season against Georgia Tech and N.C. State. Including tonight’s game against Virginia, these games against the ACC’s weaker teams are must-wins for the Hurricanes. Though Miami has a ratings percentage index of 46, ahead of fellow ACC bubble teams Maryland (54), Boston College (55) and Virginia Tech (66), all of those teams currently have .500-or-better records in conference play. Miami, however, will have to win all three to achieve an even 8-8 ACC mark.

The Cavaliers, meanwhile, have been relegated to the spoiler role. Virginia, coming off a 72-67 loss to N.C. State Saturday, will have to bring more energy against Miami than it did against the Wolfpack. N.C. State led 24-6 before Virginia closed the first half with a 23-9 run to make it 33-29 heading into the locker room.

“I thought early in the game, we settled for jump shots,” Virginia coach Dave Leitao said. “I told them during one of the timeouts I didn’t want any more jump shots. I wanted to attack, which was our game plan anyway. It has been more of our thought process recently to be more attacking and if you attack more, you get to the line, you get easy baskets and high percentage shots.”

Being back on the home court could help the offense in the early going tonight, but getting out to a quick start will mean slowing down Miami senior guard Jack McClinton, who is averaging 20.1 points per game this season, placing him fourth in the ACC. Miami only has one other player averaging in double figures, junior forward Dwayne Collins at 11 points per game — but the Hurricanes boast five other players averaging at least five points. Collins is a presence on the inside, grabbing a team-leading 7.2 rebounds per game, just slightly behind Virginia sophomore forward Mike Scott, whose 7.3 put him at 10th in the ACC.

As a team, Miami sports the third best scoring defense in the ACC, giving up only 66.2 ppg. Additionally, the Hurricanes are tied with N.C. State for the league lead in three-point percentage (38.4 percent) thanks in large part to McClinton’s incredible 47.7 percent accuracy from long range, far outpacing Clemson sophomore guard Terrence Oglesby (39.5 percent) for first place in the conference.

Leitao has used a revamped starting lineup since the second half against Boston College, but it was largely ineffective during the first half against the Wolfpack. Leitao then retooled the lineup, but he was disappointed in the bench production as well.

“I don’t think [the starters] as a unit came out with the same kind of energy that we had recently,” Leitao said. “Then guys came off the bench and didn’t give us energy boosts either. So it wasn’t specifically the starting lineup.”

Despite the subpar play from the entire team, senior forward Mamadi Diane, who has been largely absent from games this year, was a bright spot, scoring 11 points in the second half and sparking a comeback for the Cavaliers in which they nearly erased N.C. State’s 17-point lead. Earlier in the game, the embattled senior could sense the impending troubles Virginia later faced by watching his teammates’ body language.

“Our bodies were lackadaisical,” Diane said. “Everything we were doing was lackadaisical. When you start out like that, there’s no way you’re going to win.”

Virginia will have to become more energetic if it hopes to knock off a Miami team fighting for an NCAA Tournament berth. Only three Cavaliers scored in double figures against N.C. State, while five and four reached double figures in wins against Clemson and Virginia Tech, respectively.

Zeglinski's stroke turns foul at line
By Doug Doughty
981-3129

Redshirt freshman Sammy Zeglinski has made more 3-point field goals than any other Virginia men's basketball player this season, so why can't he shoot free throws?

Zeglinski is 6-for-16 from the line in ACC games this year and missed both of his free-throw opportunities Saturday at North Carolina State, which may have contributed to a season-low 13 minutes in a 72-67 loss in Raleigh.

"His free-throw shot is still probably too inconsistent from the standpoint of delivery," UVa coach Dave Leitao said. "He has a couple of different releases on it, and I think it costs him. It costs him consistency, which, in turn, costs him mentally in terms of confidence."

"I told him there's no way he should be under a 75-percent free-throw shooter. [It takes] thousands and thousands and thousands of reps."

Free-throw shooting and 3-point shooting don't always correlate. Ex-Virginia star Curtis Staples held the NCAA record for 3-pointers in a career, but Staples was only a 75.3-percent free-throw shooter. Certainly, that's a lot better than Zeglinki's 54.1-percent, but not in the range of a Roger Mason Jr. (86.9) or Sean Singletary (84.6).

Granted, Zeglinski has a small sample size .

"There are those guys on the court that shoot pretty well and don't cash in as much as they should at the line," Leitao said. "Jamil [Tucker] is another one like that."

Tucker is the Cavaliers' most accurate 3-point shooter (43.1 percent) but is hitting only 66.7 percent from the line.



 

Point-counterpoint: Men's basketball
Win or lose, it’s all about the men
Paul Montana
Published: Thursday, February 26 2009

I have covered men’s basketball for The Cavalier Daily the last two seasons. Last year, the women finished in the top 25 in the nation, while the men finished in the bottom three in the conference; this year looks like it will end about the same. And last year, two stories ran after the men’s games, while one story ran after the women’s; this year, again, is about the same. The difference in coverage sure seems unfair, doesn’t it?

In a way, it is. But I am here to defend it.

The main argument for why the men’s team should get more coverage than the women’s is obvious: More people care about the men’s team at this University than the women’s team, period. The attendance at John Paul Jones Arena clearly illustrates the point. Even this season, when fans have absolutely zero expectations of a postseason for the men, the attendance at men’s games is nearly triple that of the women’s games. You can be sure that many more people have heard of Sylven Landesberg than Monica Wright, and I would bet even money that the name recognition of Will Sherill versus Britny Edwards on the bench differs by a similar ratio.

I am not narrow-minded enough, however, to suggest that the attention the general public pays to a sport is the only factor that should determine coverage. The media has a responsibility to cover what has the community buzzing. This relationship, however, can work in reverse. If the media gives sufficient attention to a sport, that attention will make that sport bigger. Just as I am sure that the writer of the opposing column today, Dan Stalcup, would not say that media coverage should be determined solely by win-loss records of the teams in question, I will not claim that public perception should entirely shape coverage. The media can have a degree of flexibility.

Where Dan and I differ, I’m sure, is where we land on that spectrum; I tend to think that while media can generate talk, that relationship can only go so far. Consider the following analogy. A grocery store decides to market a new product — call it product A — while it does not market another product, though it is also on the shelves, product B. The store puts up a banner in front of the store raving about product A and stations employees inside handing out samples of product A. Product B, though still on the shelves at the store, is not promoted at all.

The increased exposure of product A to the general public is obviously designed to increase sales of that product. What if, however, product A is broccoli and product B is Snickers? The store can hand out all the free broccoli they want; most people will still pay to eat candy. By a similar vein, The Cavalier Daily can give all the attention to the women’s basketball team it wants. But the large difference in the fan bases would only be diminished by a relatively small number.

Then, I’m sure, Dan has another counterargument. He has likely said a winning team deserves to get covered more — to a degree. The women’s team, after all, works just as hard as the men’s team does, and if the women get the results, that ought to be rewarded.

But this argument has no merit in and of itself. Teams don’t “deserve” coverage from unbiased media, and The Cavalier Daily — perhaps unbeknownst to some — is unbiased media. Once you start talking about a team deserving something because of all the hard work it puts in, you are no longer an unbiased journalist. You are a fan. This argument only has relevance in that, given two teams of equal stature, fans will prefer a winning team to a losing one. But that goes back to the difference in public perception, which clearly outweighs the effect of the contrast in win-loss records of the men’s and women’s basketball teams. The factor of why the public cares more about one team or another, so long as it carries no ethical dilemma, is irrelevant. All that matters is the end result.

Clearly, I am not the only person with this opinion. The Daily Progress covers men’s versus women’s basketball in exactly the same manner that The Cavalier Daily does. Men’s basketball gets a column and a game story after games, while the women get just the game story. The Richmond Times-Dispatch, which covers the men’s team regularly, doesn’t send a writer to the women’s games; not even when they are at home.

But, you say, this is The Cavalier Daily we’re talking about here! Surely student-writers should have some compassion for their peers of all sports, right?

Wrong. The Cavalier Daily, like most student newspapers nationwide, is as independent of the subject matter it covers as any other professional newspaper. I would be lying if I said there weren’t Virginia fans among the Cavalier Daily staff. This is an inevitable byproduct of students covering the school they know and love.

Other than a staff of students who are largely unpaid, however, The Cavalier Daily is no different than any other professional newspaper. Thus, in as much as possible, we should therefore act like one.

 

Point-counterpoint: Women's basketball
The future is now for the women
Dan Stalcup
Published: Thursday, February 26 2009

The two Virginia basketball teams this year seem to be polar opposites: The men’s team is young and struggling but led by an emerging set of underclassmen. Nothing short of a miracle will bring the men to postseason play this year.

The women’s team, on the other hand, is playing better than it has in more than a decade. With arguably the three best players in the ACC — all upperclassmen — on the roster, the Cavaliers are poised to achieve an excellent seed in the NCAA Tournament and maybe even make some noise during March Madness.

The question of the day is which of these two teams, then, deserves the more prominent coverage?

While both teams are pivotal parts of The Cavalier Daily’s winter sports coverage, it’s ultimately the women who deserve top coverage.
Led by some of the best athletes to grace our University in recent years, the future is now for the women’s team, while the men’s team is, by all accounts, rebuilding.

This is the women’s moment to shine, and we should give them their due. Barring some sort of bizarre turnaround ending, most will forget the 2008-09 men’s basketball season a decade from now, its ultimate role in the history books as part of a prologue for some hopefully great seasons in the near future.

Paul Montana, whose argument sits just to the left of this one, would have you believe that because there are more people who know Sylven Landesberg’s name than people who know Monica Wright’s name, Dave Leitao’s squad accordingly deserves more articles and bigger headlines than Debbie Ryan’s team.

This populist view of journalism — that the papers should choose what to write based primarily on what people want to read — is nice in theory but doesn’t always hold up in practice. Consider for a moment that there are more people who know Britney Spears’ name than people who know Nancy Pelosi’s name, and you’ll start to see where I’m coming from.

Some topics and events are intrinsically more newsworthy than other topics and events. A subpar men’s basketball team that might not win even 10 games is an important part of the University’s culture but does not have the ultimate impact on Virginia athletics that a women’s team with a shot at an ACC title and a long but feasible chance of making a run to the Final Four does.

I’m not trying to imply that The Cavalier Daily should be a fair-weather fan or that we should tuck men’s basketball articles to the bottom of the page. There are plenty of interesting stories to be told about the men’s team, there are readers who want to hear them and The Cavalier Daily should make it a priority to tell them.

I also will not suggest that the paper start choosing its coverage based on who has the most tallies in the win column. Just because the Virginia women’s rowing team has finished fourth or better nationally seven times in the past 11 years doesn’t mean it should get the kind of coverage that, say, Virginia’s football or baseball teams would if they pulled that feat off.

All I’m suggesting is a more holistic view, one that takes into account reader interest along with other things: each team’s success, the legacy each team will leave and, especially, the role of student journalism.

See, student-run newspapers have a special position in the coverage of college sports; no other media source will take the time to cover mid-major sports or so-called minor sports, so it’s up to these student newspapers to pick up the slack. If The Cavalier Daily does not take the time to give the women’s basketball team superior coverage and analysis, no one will. The team’s season, which has the potential to be legendary, will disappear like dust in the wind.

What happens if The Cavalier Daily takes an article or two that would normally go to the men’s team in a more competitive year, and instead covers the women’s team? Nothing bad. The men’s basketball team will get covered well by local and national media no matter what, which isn’t true of the women’s team.

Montana argues that other papers covering men’s basketball more justifies The Cavalier Daily doing the same; I say it’s irrelevant. The Charlottesville Daily Progress and Richmond Times-Dispatch are from the outside looking in. They’re concerned with determining what coverage behooves their respective communities. This paper you’re reading is a paper about the University, and it’s up to this paper to decide — independently from other newspapers — what stories University students want and should read about.

When you’re taking your kids to JPJ 15 years from now, and they ask about that big banner that says “Women’s Basketball — 2009 ACC Champions” or something along those lines, how do you want to answer?

“I’m not sure, honey, but I can tell you about our men’s basketball team that year! It finished 11th in its conference!”

Every sport has stories worth telling, and The Cavalier Daily shouldn’t miss its opportunity to tell a great one this year.

 

Gasp! ACC tickets available for once
David Teel
February 26, 2009

One year ago, the Dow hovered near 12,700, unemployment stood at 4.9 percent, and ACC schools profited from unprecedented demand for tickets to the conference's men's basketball tournament.

Today, the Dow is mired below 7,400, unemployment rests at 7.6 percent, and ACC schools can't sell out the tournament for the first time in 43 years.

"We've been spoiled," said Dirk Katstra, the University of Virginia's lead athletics fund-raiser.

Not to equate the gravity of a 42-percent market decline and wrenching job losses with the frivolity of a sports event. But there's no doubt that our economic plight has caused much of the decline in ACC tournament demand.

"I would say it's 100 percent the economy," said Jack Winters, director of Duke's athletics fund-raising arm.

In this the ACC is far from alone — most businesses reaching for our discretionary dollars are pinched. Yet Tuesday's announcement that the conference is offering public sale of tournament tickets for the first time since 1966 was a jolt.

Public sale? For decades, the event has been reserved for member schools' most generous donors. So intense was demand that booster clubs established point systems to determine who did and did not qualify to purchase tickets.

And trust me, many a high roller did not qualify.

Demand crested last year as the ACC's three newcomers — Virginia Tech, Miami and Boston College — completed their initiations and received a full share of tickets. Moreover, the tournament was staged at the Charlotte Bobcats' arena, where the capacity of 20,035 was the event's smallest since 1989 at Atlanta's Omni (16,723).

But in 1989 the ACC had eight members, leaving each approximately 2,000 tickets. With 12 teams, last season's per-school allotment in Charlotte was fewer than 1,500.

Given the short supply, prosperous economy and convenient locale, Duke made tickets available in 2008 only to donors whose annual gift was $15,000 or more.

This year, another perfect storm, but the antithesis of last season's.

Folks are fretting, Atlanta is pricier, and the Georgia Dome will seat 36,000. Winters said Duke sold its 2,653 tickets only after offering them for the first time to all donors, graduates and university employees.

Or as Comrade Fairbank theorized, "Anyone who can spell 'Duke.' "

Contrast that to 2001, the tournament's first year at the Georgia Dome, when capacity was more than 40,000 and Duke moved about 5,000 tickets to donors.

The only school to quickly sell out this year was North Carolina, a public institution with a first-place team and more than 250,000 alumni. Virginia and Virginia Tech have sold fewer than 2,000, the latter despite a public offering that began two weeks ago.

Virginia made tickets available to all 9,500 of its $100-plus contributors but still returned approximately 750 to the league office.

"We knew coming out of Charlotte last year that a segment of our fans might not go to Atlanta," Katstra said. "The tournament atmosphere isn't as good as Greensboro or Charlotte, and the seats are not great."

Nor is Virginia's team, Katstra conceded, which also affects demand.

Everything is relative, of course. While approximately 10,000 tickets remain, 26,000 are spoken for, more than at any other conference tournament, and more than enough to fill next season's venue: 23,000-seat Greensboro Coliseum.

(Anyone who does fork over the greenbacks for tickets will see at least two coaches, Clemson's Oliver Purnell and Maryland's Gary Williams, hit by university-imposed furloughs. Neither figures to take the mandatory five days off, but both will lose a week's pay — petty cash for them but symbolic nonetheless.)

This season's last 10,000 seats, however, likely will be difficult to unload. The ACC does not sell tickets to individual games or sessions, and a book good for all six sessions, 11 games, costs $363.

That's $1,452 in tickets alone for a family of four, pretty decadent even for the Atlanta-area residents targeted by the ACC's public sale. Add lodging and/or long-distance transportation and the tab gets rather steep, particularly if you dared to open this month's 401(k) statement.

All this for an upper-deck seat in a football stadium with lousy sightlines when configured for basketball.

The good news is, fans previously shut out of the ACC tournament have a chance to crash the party. The bad news is, the Dow shed 80 more points Wednesday.

David Teel can be reached at 247-4636 or by e-mail at dteel@dailypress.com. For more from Teel, read his blog at dailypress.com/teeltime.

 

Virginia’s underrated dynasty
By Jerry Ratcliffe
Published: February 26, 2009

Perhaps the most underrated of Virginia’s 23 varsity sports is Mark Bernardino’s men’s and women’s swimming teams.
The Cavalier men are in College Park, Md., attempting to capture their 10th ACC championship in the last 11 years. You want a dynasty? Look no further.
The women just claimed their second straight title last weekend with a remarkable total of 800-plus points. It was their seventh conference crown overall.
The leader of this tribe of underappreciated athletes is Bernardino, who has quietly made a big splash in the world of collegiate swimming for 30 years.
By the numbers
His numbers are eye-popping: more than 430 combined wins, 18 conference championship trophies, 21 top-25 finishes in NCAA championships by the men, 18 of 25 for the women.
If this were any other sport, there would be a bronze bust of Bernardino somewhere on campus and probably a street named Bernardino Way.
Perhaps the most impressive statistic that bears out the success of his program is that at the most recent Olympic Trials, there were 35 athletes competing that were either past, present or future Wahoos.
“That’s a staggering number,” Bernardino admitted. “We were proud to realize we had that many quality athletes that had reached such a level of excellence. A bunch of them are still on this team, hoping to put one more ring on their finger, one more championship banner up on the board.”
Hard work sets the table
There’s really no secret to his program’s stature as Mei (pronounced May) Christensen, a junior from Reston, will readily profess. She won the 100 backstroke and the 200 backstroke individual titles at the ACC’s last weekend and she holds the ACC and Virginia record in both (51:79 in the 100; 1:52:22 in the 200).
Besides those two crowns, she was also part of four winning relay teams and also finished fourth in the 50 freestyle.
“The key to my success is just hard work,” Christensen said. “People ask me what am I doing differently from a year ago and I can’t pinpoint anything other than just working hard every day.”
That’s the deal when an athlete reports to Bernardino.
“The calling card of this program for a number of years is we have an extremely hard work ethic,” the coach said. “We look for athletes who embody that.”
While he gets his share of the highly-ranked top 50 to 100 swimmers in the country, he and his staff also recruit some athletes just a notch below that and coach ‘em up to Grade A standards.
And, oh yeah, there’s the team thing, too.
The better swimmers push and pull the others until they’re all the same, or close to it, which makes Virginia hard to beat in any meet: thus all those
championship trophies.
“If they come to UVa, we flat out tell them the team is No. 1 and you will do whatever it takes to help your team be good, regardless of the personal sacrifice involved,” Bernardino said. “Really it’s a team sport. It’s hard for a lot of people to understand that, but it truly is. Well sell it this way: There’s more at stake and more reason to be good when you’re being your best for 24 people instead of being your best for just one.”
Clearly, his team gets the message.
When the women’s meet ended in such celebration and confusion the other day, when the most valuable swimmer award was announced and Christensen was the winner, she wanted senior captain Megan Evo to accept the award.
After 30 years in the business, Bernardino had never seen that.
“I think that very much speaks to the kind of team we have,” the coach said. “They could have cared less about individual awards at that meet. They just cared about their teammates.”
He said that either one of the girls deserved the award. Evo also won two individual titles, swam on the relay squads and was a big part of the repeat.
“I can’t take credit for all that we did in winning the championship,” Christensen said. “The award was such a big honor, but I’ve been training with these girls for the last three years and I owe them so much, especially the captains.”
The women don’t compete again until the NCAAs in Texas in a few weeks, where Evo’s career will likely come to an end. Christensen, who has international aspirations, plans to compete in the world championship trials in July, then help inspire her UVa teammates for an unprecedented three-peat for the women’s title.
For the men, they still have work to do and Bernardino expects a tough meet with North Carolina and Florida State supplying the major competition, along with surging Virginia Tech.
“Tech is coming on with a fury,” Bernardino said. “Becoming part of the ACC has really helped their Olympic sports across the board.”
Still, when you’ve won nine of the last 10 titles, there’s no intention of allowing that to slide.
“They’re here to win and I think they harbor every intention of bringing home the title,” Bernardino said. “As a coach, going into an event with a group that has won championships gives me the sense of peace that they know how to perform when the pressure is on them most.”
He’s seen that before in squads. His best over all these years has been the men’s teams of 1999, 2000, 2001. The worst finish they had nationally over that span was No. 12. That 2000 squad boasted four Olympians, including medallist Ed Moses.
“Last year’s team and this year’s team (which has carryover) is closing in on that level of excellence,” Bernardino said. “That’s the kind of talent that we’ve had the last six or seven years.”
That’s what creates dynasties.

 

800 Freestyle Relay Team Sets ACC Record
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 02/25/2009

COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Virginia’s 800 freestyle relay team of John Azar, David Karasek, Scot Robison and Matt McLean shattered the Atlantic Coast Conference record with a time of 6:15.02 as the Cavaliers opened the 2009 ACC Championships Wednesday in College Park, Md. The meet is being held at the Eppley Recreation Center Natatorium.

With two events in the books, Virginia leads the 10-team field with 74 points. Georgia Tech is second (72) and Florida State is third (66).

UVa’s 800 free relay time of 6:15.02 is the fastest in the event in the NCAA this season. Auburn previously had the best time (6:18.15, set at SEC Championships last week). The previous conference, school and meet record was set in 2008 when Azar, Robison, Darren Ankosko and McLean clocked a mark of 6:22.93.

“It was an exceptional performance and was a little bit beyond where we thought I might be,” Virginia head coach Mark Bernardino said. “My main hope is that we will be able to continue that kind of swimming throughout the rest of the meet. No question that was a very impressive relay. Each and every guy was outstanding.”

The Cavaliers took second in the 200 medley relay, the opening event of the meet. The team of Eric Olesen, Ryan Hurley, Lee Robertson and Peter Geissinger teamed up to finish with an NCAA B time of 1:26.12, just .12 behind first-place Georgia Tech.

“Our medley relay was outstanding,” Bernardino continued. “Georgia Tech did an outstanding job and they deserve the credit. They have a tremendous breaststroker and we just couldn’t hang with that leg, but I am still thrilled with the time.”

Day two of the ACC Championships continues Thursday with preliminaries scheduled for 11 a.m. ACC Select will provide live video streaming of the championships starting at 5:15 p.m. There is no charge to watch the webcasts. ACC Select coverage will continue Friday at 5:15 p.m. and Saturday at 7 p.m.

“We have to get a good night’s rest and start to do some mental preparation,” Bernardino said of preparing for day two. “We’ll talk about our strategies. I think we are really fit and I feel really good about that."

Day two of the ACC Championships continues Thursday with preliminaries scheduled for 11 a.m. ACC Select will provide live video streaming of the championships starting at 5:15 p.m. There is no charge to watch the webcasts. ACC Select coverage will continue Friday at 5:15 p.m. and Saturday at 7 p.m.


 

Cavs crush Spiders as Orange loom
Seniors Weymouth, McCulloch combine for eight goals as Cavaliers keep record unblemished
Ben Gomez, Cavalier Daily Associate Editor
Published: Thursday, February 26 2009

Senior midfielder Ashley McCulloch was selected as the Nike/Inside Lacrosse Player of the Week for her play Feb. 16-22. The No. 4 Virginia women’s lacrosse team easily pushed its record to 17-1 all-time against Richmond at home, defeating the Spiders 16-7 last night.

The Cavaliers (3-0, 1-0 ACC) continued their offensive dominance to start the season by scoring two goals in the first two minutes of the game. Richmond (0-4) hung with the Cavaliers until about halfway through the first half, when Virginia’s overpowering offense sprung to life and put in six unanswered goals.

“I think we were excited that we didn’t let Richmond back in the game,” Virginia coach Julie Myers said. “I think for 15 minutes or so there was some life in the Richmond team. I was glad that we made a stance and we started to bury Richmond in the second part of the first half.”

Senior midfielder Blair Weymouth led the Cavalier attack with five goals. It was a collaborative effort, though, that defeated the pesky Spiders. Assisting Weymouth was senior midfielder Ashley McCulloch, the reigning national and conference player of the week, who gave an impressive all-around performance with three goals and three assists.

The collaboration was not limited to individual players, however, as Virginia’s entire offensive and defensive schemes worked in harmony, each putting on an impressive show. The defense was led by redshirt sophomore goalie Lauren Benner, who collected a career-high 12 saves in the cage. The Spiders were only able to score seven times, keeping alive the Cavaliers’ trend of not allowing an opponent to score double digits this season. The Virginia defense also kept the 2008 Atlantic 10 Offensive Player of the Year, senior attack Allison Furstenberg, in check, only allowing her to score once. Last weekend against Duke and North Carolina, she tallied eight goals combined.

“We knew what they were doing, especially Allison with her crease roll she likes to do,” Weymouth said. “I think our defense read them well and knew when to tighten up on them and knew when to back off and give them a little bit of space.”

The game against Richmond was a good warm-up for the Cavaliers as they turn around quickly and head to New York to take on No. 2 Syracuse (3-0) Friday for an early season test. Virginia will travel outside of the commonwealth for the first time this season to face a team it defeated 13-8 last year in Charlottesville.

“I think playing well tonight against a good Richmond team was our first step in preparing for Syracuse,” Myers said. “Playing well tonight and handling a couple dominant players that Richmond does have I think helps us prepare for Syracuse, who has two or three pretty dominant players.”

The Orange has had an impressive start to its season as well, scoring 44 goals in its first three games. Syracuse also defeated No. 17 Stanford 15-10 last weekend in Palo Alto, Calif. for a noteworthy early season victory of its own.

The Cavaliers will have their hands full on defense as Syracuse is led by several outstanding offensive players. The Orange attack line is dominated by junior Halley Quillinan and senior Katie Rowan, who have notched 12 goals each this season. Rowan also is tied for the team’s lead in assists with four.

Weymouth said the Cavaliers look forward to the challenge of an exciting game early in the season and are eager to get to New York and get on the field.

“We will be ready,” Weymouth said. “We are not scared.”
 

Cavaliers Cruise Past Richmond
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 02/25/2009

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - The No. 4 Virginia women’s lacrosse team extended its streak of easy wins with a 16-7 victory over Richmond Wednesday night at Klöckner Stadium. With the win, the Cavaliers move to 3-0 on the young season, while the Spiders fall to 0-4.

Senior All-American Blair Weymouth got the scoring started at the 28:15 mark with her first of five goals on the evening. Junior Yeardley Love tallied her first 13 seconds later, before Richmond’s Mandy Friend got the Spiders on the board with a goal at 26:44.

Love put Virginia up 3-1 with another score, but Richmond cut Virginia’s lead back to one with a goal from Mary Flowers at 20:57. Senior All-American Ashley McCulloch tallied her first point and Weymouth converted a free position shot to make it 5-2 in favor of Virginia by 16:51.

Allison Furstenburg tallied another score for Richmond, but the Cavaliers answered with six-consecutive goals for an 11-3 advantage with 35 seconds on the clock. The Spiders’ Caitlin Fifield then cut into Virginia’s lead with two seconds remaining in the half, allowing Virginia to take a seven-goal advantage into the intermission, at 11-4.

The Virginia offense found its rhythm in the second half, with senior All-American Jenny Hauser, Weymouth, and junior Kaitlin Duff scoring three unanswered goals in less than two minutes.

Sam Tajirian of Richmond found the back of the net at the 23:31 mark halting the Cavaliers’ run and bringing the score to 14-5. Kalkstein and Hauser teamed up a few minutes later for another goal, extending Virginia’s lead to 10. Five minutes later, Weymouth scored her fifth goal of the evening after outrunning the Spiders’ defense and going one-on-one with the goalie.

The Richmond offense pushed in the last few minutes, with Friend scoring at 9:32 and Fifield notching a goal from a free position shot as the clock wound down, accounting for the final score of 16-7.

Overall, Weymouth led the attack with five goals, while McCulloch, the current national and conference player of the week, tallied three goals and three assists for a game-high six points. Hauser, in her season-debut, had two goals and three assists. Junior Brittany Kalkstein tallied two goals - her firsts of the season - while redshirt junior Whitaker Hagerman and Duff rounded out the scoring with a goal apiece. Freshman Josie Owen contributed an assist.

Defensively, Duff and redshirt freshman Ainsley Baker collected a game-high four ground balls each, while Kalkstein won a game-high six draw controls. Duff also caused four turnovers, while senior Sarah Hackman collected a career-high three caused turnovers.

In goal, redshirt sophomore Lauren Benner collected a career-high 12 saves, while allowing just six goals.

For Richmond, Victoria Roebuck relieved starter Erica Marrocco and stopped five Cavalier shots while allowing just one score.

The Cavaliers will return to action on Friday, facing No. 2 Syracuse at the Carrier Dome. Opening draw is slated for 4 p.m.

Ex-NFL assistant joins Groh's staff
Doug Doughty

Virginia’s sports information office has yet to identify Bob Trott as the newest member of its football staff, but Trott already is listed in UVa’s directory as a “faculty” member in the football office.

Trott, most recently a member of the defensive staff of ousted Cleveland Browns coach Romeo Crennel, was an All-ACC defensive back at North Carolina when Virginia head coach Al Groh was a Tar Heels assistant in the 1970s.

Trott, 54, has been a defensive coordinator at Arkansas, Clemson, Baylor, Duke and Louisiana-Monroe. He also has coached in the NFL with the New York Giants and New England Patriots and has a background in the 3-4 scheme that Groh favors.

As a position coach, Trott mostly has worked with the secondary and it remains to be seen if he will fill the linebackers vacancy created by Bobby Diaco’s departure for Cincinnati. Groh, who could not be reached for comment, said in an interview last week that he might handle the coordinator’s duties himself and not give the title to another coach.

 

Al Groh checks in/Doug Doughty

I just got off the phone with Virginia football coach Al Groh, who was surprised to hear that new assistant Bobby Trott has been added to the UVa Directory.

You can do a people search and find that Trott has a "faculty" position in the athletic department, specifically the the football office.

"I hadn't been notified that it was official," Groh said. "It's probably not always safe to assume, but it's hard to believe there would be two people in the office with the same name."

Groh said he has a statement from Trott and that he has a statement of his own that he is ready to release as soon as sports information director Jim Daves gets the go-ahead from Human Resources.

Trott will coach the linebackers and perform some of the standard duties of a defensive coordinator, but will not have that title. Trott, most recently a member of the Cleveland Browns staff, will coach the linebackers.

Groh said that Trott, 54, coached outside linebackers for the Browns. He also has been a defensive coordinator for five Division I-A programs.

Rich Bedesem, entering his second season as a graduate assistant, also will work with the linebackers.

 

The Times They Are A-Changin’
Jeff White
Feb 25, 2009

CHARLOTTESVILLE – Not so long ago, it seemed that most of the players on the top Division I men’s lacrosse teams were from one of three areas: Long Island, Baltimore or Central New York.

The explosion of participation in youth lacrosse has changed that. The sport is now offered in high schools around the country, and the caliber of play in places not known as traditional hotbeds has improved dramatically.

Check out Virginia’s 2009 roster. Coach Dom Starsia has players from 12 states – Virginia, New York, Maryland, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Illinois, New Jersey, Ohio, Florida, Rhode Island and New Hampshire – as well as Canada.

Moreover, U.Va.’s recruits for 2010-11 include a player from North Carolina and one from – get this – California.

Rob Emery, a 6-2, 175-pound midfielder from St. Ignatius, a Jesuit school in San Francisco, recently committed to U.Va. Inside Lacrosse ranks him No. 3 among players in the Class of 2010.

Heath Miller: From Honaker to Super Bowl Champion
February 25, 2009

Honaker, Va., is a long ways from Pittsburgh, but a native of that small town played a very big role in this year’s Super Bowl victory by Pittsburgh on February 1.

In that game, Honaker native Heath Miller was lauded for his blocking by TV color analyst John Madden and he made clutch catches throughout the game. He had five catches for 57 yards, including a pair of 11-yard grabs during a second-quarter drive that gave Pittsburgh a 10-0 lead. All of his catches resulted in either first downs or in significant gains.

Incredibly, in only four years in the NFL, Heath Miller has played on two Super Bowl winning teams, a rare accomplishment for any player. But his greatness as a player didn’t start in the NFL.

In high school, Miller played quarterback at Honaker. He earned his nickname “Big Money” by scoring first downs and touchdowns in clutch situations. At Honaker High School, Miller was an All-Group A performer, both as a quarterback and on the defensive side of the ball. And although he was also an outstanding basketball and baseball player, having only one error in his four years on the team, Miller chose football as his sport.

Miller was initially recruited by the University of Virginia as a quarterback. But when he was redshirted as a freshman, he decided that he wanted to play at a position of need for the team, even if it was not quarterback. The Cavaliers happened to need a tight end and Heath was willing to oblige.

Once Miller got on the field, he made an immediate impact at Virginia. He caught 144 passes and collected 30 touchdowns, and he earned the Mackey Award as a junior, signifying him as the top tight end in college football. In 2004, Miller was named as the top Tight End in the Nation for that season. He shattered record after record at UVA, including most touchdowns in a single season (9) for an ACC tight end. He is often considered to be the best tight end from the Atlantic Coast ever and in the top five of current NFL tight ends.

After a great career at UVA, the former Honaker star decided to go pro. He considered himself to be very lucky to be drafted by his favorite NFL team, the Pittsburgh Steelers. In his rookie year, Heath was a major candidate for Rookie of the Year, falling just short. While he doesn’t catch as many passes as many other tight ends, he’s known as one of the top blocking tight ends in the league. And with Heath, when he does make a catch, it is usually a clutch first down or touchdown catch.

There is nothing flashy about Miller. But he plays a fundamental role in both the running game and the passing game of the Pittsburgh Steelers, who are at their best when both are in balance. Head Coach Mike Tomlin admits that Miller is one of the keys to the Steeler Offense. “Without Heath, we would be a different team on offense, with much fewer options,” said Tomlin. "Heath is one of those guys when you look at all the stuff he's done on film, he is, in my opinion, one of the better tight ends in the AFC."

The 6-foot-5, 256-pound Miller has caught 168 passes and scored 21 touchdowns in his four-year career for the Steelers. He does more than just catch footballs or block. He leads, in his own understated way.

Miller is the son of proud parents Earl and Denise Miller, who still live in tiny Swords Creek, Va. According to Miller’s High School Head Coach Doug Hubbard: “I’m probably as proud of his character as his excellent play”. Coach Hubbard attributes much of Heath’s success to his training by his parents at an early age and how he conducted himself on the field at Honaker High School.

“He is a quiet leader; he leads by action,” Hubbard said. “He led by action in high school with his work habits and the way he approached the game and the way everybody followed him and I bet money that in the Steeler locker room, if you ask the players, they’ll say he is one of the quiet leaders.”

And the Steeler fans love him too. If you don’t believe it, just look at all of the number 83 jerseys in the stands at Pittsburgh.

“You take a look at Heath, he is a perfect example of one of the things that you would want your kids to have,” Hubbard said. “He’s got every quality that you would want your child to have …and the best …is his work ethic.”

Honaker athletic director Trevor Coleman said: “It’s just great for a small town, the kids here can see that somebody from a small town can make it so it’s good for everybody.”

Heath Miller still has a lot more years to buckle up his chin strap and play at a high level in the NFL, but one wonders after two Super Bowl rings in his four NFL seasons, how much more could Heath Miller achieve. The answer is yet to come, but I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see yet another Super Bowl ring on his finger before he calls it quits.