Hall of Famer Bill Dudley of Lynchburg dies at 88
By Darrell Laurant | Lynchburg News-Advance
Published: February 4, 2010
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They called him Bullet Bill, because he was fast.

He had to be. Bill Dudley, who died Thursday at the age of 88, never weighed more than 175 pounds during a football career that earned him All-American, All-Military and All-Pro honors. His elusive running style was less about flash than it was about survival.

“He was such a competitor,” said Jim Candler of Candler Oil in Lynchburg, who was a guard on the University of Virginia football team when Dudley served his alma mater as an assistant coach. “Virginia used to have an exhibition game every year between the varsity and an alumni team, and in, I believe it was 1958, Dudley announced that he was finally through playing in it.

“So he stood on the sideline in street clothes during the first half. But when the second half started, he was back there receiving the kickoff. He ran about 40 yards, zigzagging back and forth across the field until his legs gave way under him. I was amazed that he could still make tacklers miss like that.”

At the time, Dudley was close to 40 — still fit, but playing on balky knees that had ended his professional career five years earlier.

He grew up in Bluefield, where he starred at Graham High School and accepted a scholarship to UVa at age 16. The Cavaliers thought they had recruited a placekicker and punter. What they got was the most versatile and dramatic running back in UVa football history, as well as a ferocious tackler on the defensive side of the ball.

Lynchburg was first introduced to Dudley in 1942, when the movie “The Vanishing Virginian” — a biopic about former city Commonwealth’s Attorney Robert Yancey — staged its premier here. The publicity people for Ruth Hussey, the lead actress, decided to ask Dudley to be her escort at the event, hoping to gain a little extra buzz from the appearance of the nation’s top football player (Dudley had won the Maxwell Award, emblematic of that status).

“They were all staying at the Virginian hotel,” recalled Max Feinman, “and we snuck up to the floor where he was. I can’t remember specifically what he said, but he was very cordial. It was a thrill for us.

“I remember the first time I met him, I was 10 years old, lived on Memorial Avenue and there was a good-looking blonde-headed senior named Dot Davis who lived three houses down from me. Us kids were walking from Fort Hill school, which is now closed, and walking by Davis’ house there was a convertible with two or three college students, typical old Saturday Evening Post college guys, V-sweaters, a couple of girls, and of course we all knew who Bill Dudley was, it was roughly 1941. We flipped over it and got excited he spoke to us.”

Eventually, it was also a woman who brought Dudley back to the Hill City for good. In 1947, he married Elizabeth Leininger of Lynchburg, moved to her hometown, and never left, except for his fall jobs with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Detroit Lions and Washington Redskins.

Dudley settled in quickly and seamlessly. Although Lynchburg was always proud of him, he became a success in the insurance business — and, by extension, politics — while rarely if ever flaunting his former athletic prowess.

“He didn’t have to,” said retired Lynchburg physician John Risher, a longtime acquaintance. “Everybody knew what he’d done.”

Still, those who came to know Dudley from the 1970s on found it hard to connect this slender, bespectacled businessman with the only man ever to lead both college and pro football in four different categories. Had Dudley not left the game for three years of wartime military service (he was a pilot who flew supply missions for the Army Air Corps and a star player for the Army’s football team), he would have put up record numbers for later NFL ball-carriers to shoot at.

“In 1942, I was just getting out of Walter Reed Army Hospital,” said Risher, “and the Pittsburgh Steelers were playing the Washington Redskins. I think I was the only person there rooting for the Steelers.

“Washington had Sammy Baugh, who was a great quarterback, and I told some Redskins’ fans that the Steelers had a pretty good ball player, too, Bill Dudley. They said ‘Never heard of him.’ Bill had hurt his ankle in the first half, but he took the second half kickoff back all the way for a touchdown.”

It galled his competitive nature that Dudley played for two of the worst teams in the NFL at the time.

“I consider the years I spent playing pro football as among the best years of my life,” he said in a 1978 interview, “but playing on a championship team would have topped it all off.”

After that, he turned his knack for victory into other arenas, being elected to the Equitable Insurance Hall of Fame and serving four terms in the House of Delegates — two as a Democrat, two as a Republican.

“Everything he did, he approached it like a contest,” said Feinman.

Bill Dudley died four days after suffering a major stroke. A visitation is set for the Duiguid Funeral Home in Lynchburg on Sunday (3 to 5 p.m.), with a memorial service Monday at Holy Cross Catholic Church (11 a.m.).

EARLIER

Bill Dudley of Lynchburg , who became a football giant despite his slight frame and modest origins, died Thursday after suffering a severe stroke on Saturday morning. He was 88.

Dudley, who is survived by his wife Libba, two daughters and a son, retired from football in 1952 and coached for several years on the college and professional levels before giving full attention to the Lynchburg insurance agency he established in 1951. He also spent eight years in the state’s House of Delegates from 1966-74 and was a member of U.Va.’s Board of Visitors as well as a fixture on Saturdays in Scott Stadium. An annual award to the state’s best college player is named in his honor.

Nicknamed “Bullet Bill,“ the 5-10 Dudley was neither exceedingly fast nor very large. But he was instinctive, elusive and fearless, and those qualities translated into a legendary career at the University of Virginia, nine highly-successful seasons as a running back in the NFL and election to both the college and professional halls of fame.

“The good Lord gave me a brain, and I think I was able to use it,“ Mr. Dudley said a few years ago. “And I could cut. I never tried to run all out. I tried to keep my faculties. I felt I might have to cut back, do something to set up my blockers. I wasn’t big enough to run over anybody.“

Born on Christmas Eve in 1921 in Depression-era Bluefield, William McGarvey Dudley was only 16 when he graduated from Graham High and entered U.Va. He weighed 150 pounds at the time and never topped 175 during his NFL days. His competitive fire — honed on the sandlot fields of Bluefield — more than compensated for his lack of bulk or height.

“Every time I went on the football field,“ he said, “I felt I had something to prove.“

At Virginia, Dudley became a starter as a sophomore and played well enough during a loss at Tennessee his junior year to earn praise from famed Vols coach Bob Neyland. It wasn’t until his senior year, however, that he became a national figure.

U.Va. had an 8-1 record in 1941, and Dudley was the unqualified star. He led the country in scoring and all-purpose yardage that season, was a consensus All-America, won the Maxwell Award and finished fifth in the Heisman Trophy vote. He put an exclamation point on his college career by running for three touchdowns and passing for another in a 28-7 win over North Carolina that ended an eight-year losing streak against the Tar Heels.

For the year, Dudley ran for 968 yards and passed for 856, was responsible for 29 touchdowns, had six receptions, averaged 17.2 yards on 28 punt returns, intercepted four passes, kicked 23 extra points and a field goal and averaged 35.8 yards per punt.

Dudley graduated from Virginia in 1942 and was the first player selected that year — by the Pittsburgh Steelers — in the NFL draft. He led the league in rushing as a rookie with 696 yards and also passed, punted and place-kicked for the team and played defense. He then missed nearly three seasons while serving during World War II with the Army Air Corps but returned to become the league’s MVP in 1946, when he again was the NFL’s leading rusher.

“Oh, Bill Dudley was a hell of a great player,“ said the late Sammy Baugh, once a rival and later a teammate on the Washington Redskins. “We always wondered how in the hell he gained as much yardage as he did. But he had that instinct. He would do things that always amazed me — how he could get out of trouble. I admired him when we played against him. I was happy as hell when we got him.“

When he was 78 years old, Dudley said, “You know, I’ve often wondered how I took up football . I only know I’ve loved the game ever since I started playing. It’s a great game. I wish to hell I could still play it.“
 

Dudley was one of a kind
By Jerry Ratcliffe
Published: February 4, 2010
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Fate brought Bill Dudley to the University of Virginia in 1938 when he was one of a handful of Southwest Virginians to receive a scholarship thanks to a barking politician representing that area of the state.
As Dudley recently pointed out in an interview with this columnist, “the scholarship didn’t say anything about playing football, just keeping up my grades.”
A Cavalier legend
Little did anyone realize that this kid from Bluefield’s Graham High School would become the greatest player in Virginia history.
Why would they? He was a lightweight at 150 pounds and only 16 years old when he enrolled as freshman.
The coaching staff didn’t even take him seriously enough to find him a uniform at first and when his first varsity season rolled around in 1939, the sophomore opened the campaign as the fifth-team tailback.
He may have arrived an unknown, but he left as a legend.
Dudley, who died Thursday at the age of 88, was a humble man who never liked to talk about his own feats, preferring to just tell stories. One of his favorites was how he got his first break as a Cavalier.
A defining game
In the opening game of the ‘39 season, UVa’s top two running backs were injured. The third-string back was injured in Monday’s practice, leaving coach Frank Murray with only two backs for the upcoming Navy game.
One of ‘em was Dudley.
“The coaches actually flipped a coin to see who would start,” Dudley recollected. “I started the Navy game. I had a lot of help that day, but ran a reverse 45 yards for a touchdown (as a wingback). Then I ran a punt back (43 yards). That led the coaches to believe I could play even though I didn’t weigh very much.”
Oh, how he played.
By the time he left Virginia (1941) Dudley became the youngest All-American in history as a 19-year-old senior. He won national player of the year honors from the prestigious Philadelphia Maxwell Memorial Club and the Washington Touchdown Club’s Walter Camp Memorial Trophy.
That senior season he led the nation in scoring (a record 134 points) and in total offense (2,467 yards). Somewhat overlooked was that he was a pretty darned good punter and kicker and an outstanding defensive back on a unit that allowed only 42 points all season.
Nothing defined “The Bluefield Bullet’s” career like the last college game he ever played, Nov. 20, 1941.
It was Thanksgiving Day and a national radio audience listened in as the South’s oldest rivals, Virginia and North Carolina, met in their then-traditional turkey day clash.
Dudley was one of three Southern backs fighting for one spot on the All-America team, along with Georgia’s Frank Sinkwich and Duke’s Steve Lach.
While the Bullet’s memory faded about many of the details of his playing career — we really think he didn’t forget, he just didn’t want to boast — that day in Chapel Hill was infinitely clear to him.
“We stayed at the Carolina Inn there in Chapel Hill and when we woke up on game day, someone had slipped little cards under our doors,” Dudley said. “The cards read: Nine Long Years.”
It had been nine seasons since Virginia had beaten the Tar Heels, and although Dudley said he never learned who placed those cards, he and the rest of the Cavaliers surely got the message.
Most Virginia games began with the Bullet running off tackle or a quick opener, but Coach Murray noticed that Dudley was wired to the max and ordered quarterback John Neff to avoid giving the star the ball until Dudley could settle down.
Finally, Dudley had enough and asked Neff why he wasn’t getting the ball, to which Neff answered, “I guess you’re settled down now.”
Much to the Tar Heels dismay in a 28-7 UVa win in which Dudley had a hand or a foot in every UVa point. The Bullet scored three touchdowns, passed for the fourth, and kicked all four extra points. He gained 215 yards rushing on 17 carries, completed 6 of 11 passes for 118 yards, and punted eight times for a 39.3 average.
Afterward, respected Richmond Times-Dispatch sports editor Chauncey Durden wrote of Dudley’s exploits: “He came, They saw, He conquered.”
Charlotte, N.C., sports editor Burke Davis, wrote that Dudley should take his rightful place alongside other noted Virginians such as Washington, Jefferson, and Lee.
Even the Tar Heel crowd gave him a standing ovation when he came out of the game for the last time.
He was a remarkable man, who during three of his prime years as an athlete, fought for his country in World War II, went on to become a star in the NFL and was named to both the Pro Football and College Football Halls of Fame.
Dudley dearly loved UVa and the football program. He hardly missed a game or Cavalier football function, and up until his passing still received about five requests a week for autographs through the mail from all over the country.
“I’m prejudiced, but there’s something about playing at the University of Virginia that’s not like playing at any other school,” The Bullet often said. “You get something here you don’t get anywhere else and I don’t think that’s changed a lot over the years.
“There’s an aura about Charlottesville, the University, Jefferson, and the way athletics have been taken along with an education,” Dudley said. “Football is important because it’s part of the overall education ... and there’s nothing wrong with being the best in medicine, the best in law, and having the best football and basketball teams.”
The Bullet remained humble until the end.
When his hometown of Bluefield declared Aug. 18th of 2009, “Bullet Bill Dudley Day,” and honored him with day-long festivities, he was just thankful to be remembered by the place he grew up.
Rarely he would acknowledge his own greatness, and even then it would be in a teasing, tongue-in-cheek manner.
William McGarvey Dudley, you graced us with your presence and your greatness. There will never be another like you.
Bullet, we will miss you.
 

Remembering "Bullet" Bill Dudley: The Greatest Virginia Cavalier of All Time
Ben Gibson

They just don't make them like this anymore.

"Bullet" Bill Dudley, a Cavalier legend, an NFL Hall of Famer, and an icon to the Commonwealth of Virginia, died this morning at age 88 from a short-term illness.

While Dudley played generations ago, his mark is still felt in Virginia. Every year the Dudley award is given to the top football player in the state, an honor since 1990.

The Bullet did absolutely everything in his career. After being drafted with the No. 1 overall pick by the Pittsburgh Steelers, Dudley led the league in rushing as a rookie.

Then he went off to serve in World War II, defending his country and leaving the gridiron behind for possible death and dismemberment in the name of honor and country.

When he returned to the Steelers in 1946, he picked up right where he left off. Dudley led the league in rushing yards, punt returns, and interceptions, earning him NFL MVP honor that year.

The Hall of Famer in both college and the NFL finished his professional career with over 3,000 rushing yards, nearly 1,500 return yards, 23 interceptions, and 33 field goals made.

However, Dudley's mark on professional football simply is not the same as the mark he made on the University of Virginia. He is, without question, the greatest Cavalier football player of all time.

At the time Virginia was beginning to pick up steam with its football program. Coach Frank Murray was looking for a program-defining player to catapult the Cavaliers into the national spotlight.

Of all the candidates, "The Bluefield Bullet" was probably near the bottom of everyone's list entering the 1939 season. The 150-lb., 16-year-old freshman began the year seventh on the depth chart.

Yet after injuries throughout the season whittled down the candidates, Dudley got his chance on the biggest stage, against the Navy Midshipmen.

Despite losing 14-12, Dudley had two big plays, including a 45-yard touchdown that had the coaching staff convinced they had found their future.

The Bullet Train took a while to pick up steam, but by his junior year, everyone was on board.

As a junior, Dudley earned third-team All-American honors and had the most yards of anyone in the South, second in the country.

In 1941, Dudley was an All-American and led the Cavaliers to an 8-1 season—perhaps the greatest season in the history of Virginia football.

Just as important, Dudley fulfilled Coach Murray's goal of making Virginia relevant on a national scale. Before the entire country on Thanksgiving weekend, Dudley's final game was against archrival North Carolina.

Despite not beating the Tar Heels in the past 14 years, Dudley singlehandedly brought the Cavaliers to victory 28-7. Not only did he run it in three times, but he also threw the passing touchdown and knocked in all four extra points.

No wonder he was an All-American.

As Chauncey Durden of the Richmond Times-Dispatch wrote of the game: "He came, they saw, he conquered."

Dudley is a legend, so to imagine that the mythic hero is actually human comes as somewhat a shock to Virginia fans today as they mourn a transcendent figure.

While his career may be long over and the game has long since changed, Dudley's memory will stay in the hearts of Cavalier fans as they move forward in a new era.

As they try to move forward and reclaim the glory Dudley brought them so many years ago, they can take pride in knowing that there's one more Wahoo in heaven.

All aboard!

From the archives: Dudley Award Honors U.Va.Stars, Past And Present
JENNINGS CULLEY
Published: February 5, 2010
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(Dec. 6, 1990)

In the fall of '41 when Bill Dudley was taking his first steps toward becoming a football legend, a kid sports writer in high school saw him and felt compelled to write a column.

"Why in the world," the faculty advisor asked, "does a high school newspaper in Newport News need a column on a University of Virginia football player?"

"Because he's good," the young scribe replied. "So good, ma'am, they'll probably name a football trophy for him some day." Well, he was . . . and they did.

In festivities last night, the Downtown Club presented its first Dudley Award to Virginia's Shawn Moore as the state's outstanding football player this season.

Bullet Bill Dudley, the Cavaliers' first All-American and a member of the college and the professional hall of fame, was here to do the honors and stir memories of many fans, including a kid reporter grown old.

It was signal that the two greatest backs in Cavaliers' history would share the spotlight. They are from different eras, but each dominated his time. Each left pages in the record book. And each looks at the other with admiration.

"This is special," said Moore, whose days are filled with award dinners.

"It feels good to honored at a ceremony like this because of the individual's name on the trophy."

The two first met this past summer during a photo session for the Cavaliers' promotion department.

"We clicked; we established a friendship right off the bat," said Moore.

"He said he saw a lot of me in him. He was such a versatile athlete and went on to do so much in the pros.

"I don't know if I can achieve all that, but I can sure give it a heck of a try."

Moore's college days have been every bit as glittering as Dudley's. His records are numerous -- most yards in total offense (7,897), most career passing yards (6,629), most career touchdown passes (55). This season, he led the nation in passing efficiency.

Impressive numbers, but so were Dudley's in his heyday.

Granted, the game was different a half-century ago, but Dudley came out of Bluefield, Va., as a slight 16-year-old, to become one of the nation's glamour backs.

As a senior, still just 19, he gave one of the finest performances in Cavaliers' history. In a 28-7 victory over North Carolina, Dudley ran for 215 yards, passed for 117, scored three touchdowns, passed for a fourth, kicked four extra points and punted for a 39.9 yard average.

No wonder he won the Maxwell Award that year and was fifth in the Heisman Trophy balloting.

But it was in the National Football League, especially in the post-World War II years, that Dudley won lasting national acclaim. He was all-pro five times in a 10-year career with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Detroit Lions and Washington Redskins.

He was the league's MVP in 1946 when in a show of versatility, he led the league in rushing and in interceptions -- a double that by nature of the game will never be repeated.

Dudley came to Charlottesville as a quiet, religious young man. He was first dubbed "The Deacon" because of his upright, dignified manner. Later, he became Bullet Bill -- but not because he was fleet afoot.

Dudley was not the swift, gifted, natural athlete you see today.

In an all-star game once, he was 15th among 16 runners in a sprint test. But in the game, he ran a kickoff back 98 yards for a touchdown. He knew how to use his blockers, how to find the holes, how to elude tacklers.

He threw the ball with a funny, sidearm delivery, but with uncanny accuracy. He had an unorthodox style of kicking, planting his left foot and taking no steps. He kicked the ball with a pendulum swing of the leg.

Strange? He once kicked 82 consecutive extra points.

Through all the years, Dudley was the same -- nothing flashy, just coldly efficient.

Paul Christman, the quarterback on the 1947 championship Chicago Cardinals, once summed it best.

Said Christman of Dudley: "He ran like he was staggering, threw the ball like it was a loaf of bread and kicked clumsier than anybody I've ever seen. But he could beat you."

It was a tribute to the competitive nature that separates the good and the great.

Dudley had the fire to excel, the tenacity to overcome. It carried him to success as an insurance executive, as a legislator in the General Assembly and a pro scout.

Anybody who has been cornered in a $2 Nassau with him on a golf course learns quickly of competitiveness. He'll scratch and claw, get up and down from the boondocks and beat you.

"It's one of those things man can't explain; I don't know where it comes from," Dudley said. "I just love to compete."

The fire is just as strong now as the day in 41 when coach Frank Murray got word Dudley had been named to the All-America team.

Murray found Dudley and some other players in a pool parlor at the university. He rushed in, excited and proud, and shouted: "Bill, you made it, you made it, you got on the All-America . . . "

"Thanks, Coach," said Dudley. "Quite an honor isn't it?"

Then turning back to the challenge at hand, he said: "Eight ball in the side pocket."

He made it. He always did.
 

From the archives: ‘Flat Top’ Dudley never lost in a fog
CHAUNCEY DURDEN
Published: February 5, 2010
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(March 28, 1982)

The late great sports columnist Jimmy Cannon, when in a wheelchair following a stroke, told fellow columnist Jerome Holtzman "how I found out I was getting old. Or I was old. I was on the train one day with Mickey Mantle and Whitey Ford. I was telling some Lefty Gomez stories, and Mantle looked at me in amazement. It was his first year. He was about 18 or 19 and he says, 'Did you see Gomez pitch?'

"Did I see Gomez pitch? I traveled with the Yankee ball club when he was pitching. He was my running mate on the road.

"Mantle looked at me with great astonishment, and the thing that hit me was that Gomez was about the same age as I am. And I realized that he was being regarded by Mantle as I used to listen to Damon Runyon and Warren Brown talk about guys like Moose McCormick and Amos Rusie. They were some guys lost in the fog of time."

Last month, Milton Parlow, who was a sophomore.tackle on the remarkable Bill Dudley-captained 1941 University of Virginia football team, mailed a clipping of a column by Robert T. Smith in the Minneapolis Tribune. Smith's column was about a veteran radio and TV broadcaster Ray Scott.

Scott, one of the top men in the sportscasting business, may have been the first to discover that silence sometimes can be golden on the tube. He has been going for many long seasons, baseball and football.

"So who is Scott's choice for alltime greatest athlete?" wrote the Minneapolis columnist. "Why, Bullet Bill Dudley, of course. OK, so you never heard of him. Neither had I.

"But Dudley, in the Canton, Ohio, Pro Football Hall of Fame, came out of the University of Virginia. He later played for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Detroit Lions and Washington Redskins.

"Those were the days (the '40s and early '5Os] when players were on both offense and defense." Scott says. "Dudley was rookie of the year, later became all-pro. He set a record for ground gaining, did the punting and placekicking and was one of the best defensive backs in the business.' ''

Scott, on reading Smith's column, must have felt the way Cannon did when the young Mickey Mantle "aged" him. Since Dudley played his last pro game in 1953, it would be understandable that a still youngish sports columnist "never heard of him." Only it would seem that in "Vikingland," a sports columnist would be reasonably familiar with all the Pro Football Hall-ofFamers. As just part of the job.

Here, in our Commonwealth, Bill Dudley will never be come a "guy lost in the fog of time." He was THE one in Virginia football history, another Red Grange when leading the Cavaliers and the "Little Bronko" (alter Bronko Nagurski) of the National Football League. He was the most remarkable football player I've ever seen, the unforgettable back. As Scott said, Dudley was one of the best defensive backs, college or pro football. He won the outstanding player trophy in the 1942 (Jan. 1) East-West All-Star Shrine game on his defensive play. He is proud of the fact that in 1946 he led the NFL in rushing yardage and in pass interceptions. the only NFL back to score that double.

But backs are remembered for offensive performances. In 1941, when he was unanimous All America, Dudley led the nation in scoring. He was the Maxwell Trophy winner and runnerup in the Heisman Trophy balloting. And he didn't turn 20 until after his senior season. He was the No.1 choice in the NFL's 1942 draft. While awaiting his call to World War II service (he'd earlier enlisted in the Air Force), Bill played the '42 season with the Pittsburgh Steelers. A 20-year-old rookie, he led the league in rushing, was rookie of the year and All-NFL halfback.

The following year Bill was busy learning to become a pilot, but in 1944, playing for the Randolph Field team, he was All-Service back. Back with the Steelers (by then coached by Jock Sutherland) in 1946, Bill again led the league in rushing yardage, pass interceptions and was the leading punt returner. He was, of course, All-NFL and won the Joe F. Carr Trophy as the NFL's most valuable player.

Although stockily built, Dudley never weighed more than 180 pounds. Playing tailback in Sutherland's single-wing attack was the most punishing task in all pro football. The pro salary of that time wasn't worth the punishment. Dudley told Pittsburgh owner Art Rooney he was retiring. Bill accepted an offer to become then-Virginia coach Art Guepe's backfield coach.

Bill next married the beauteous Elizabeth Leininger of Lynchburg, who remains a knockout to this day. Meanwhile, however, the Detroit club had worked an arrangement with Pittsburgh whereby the Lions could negotiate with Dudley.

"And there was Mammon, in the form of Fred Mandel Jr., wealthy owner of the National Professional League's Detroit Lions," a Richmond sports editor wrote in a magazine piece, "trespassing on Eros' territory and waving a contract no sane young man of 25 summers and robust health could turn down."

Bill's contract with Detroit was for $25,000 a season, which made him the highest paid player in all the NFL. Bill played for the Lions for three years, and then it was on to the Redskins.

The Lions and the 'Skins were impotent teams during Dudley's years with them, but Bill went on earning the admiration of fans and the respect of his fellow pros. No picture-book back, he was once described by Paul Christman, quarterback of the 1947 championship Chicago Cardinals, in these words:

"He ran like he was staggering, threw the ball like it was a loaf of bread and kicked it clumsier than anybody I've ever seen. But he could beat you.

"Dudley is the finest football player I've ever seen, man, boy, live or on TV. Look it up. He once led the league in pass interceptions.

"He used to get creamed so bad playing that old Steeler single-wing we called bim 'Flat Top.' He's the only breakaway runner I know who could get you that yard when you needed it He punted good enough, kicked off, kicked field goals, extra points, threw passes, fielded punts, tackled with more guts than brains, and ran the ends or up the middle, depending on what you needed."

That was Bill Dudley, the best back Ray Scott, Paul Christman and Doghouse Durden ever saw. Better still, Dudley is an ever-green. One feels young, rather than old, writing about him.
 

Virginia football legend Dudley dies at 88
"Bullet" Bill Dudley played for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Detroit Lions and Washington Redskins.
By Doug Doughty

Bill Dudley never knew how he got the nickname, "Bullet Bill."

All he did was make it fit.

Dudley, who went to the University of Virginia as a 16-year-old recruited off the back of a Nehi soda truck, became a college and professional football hall-of-famer. He died Thursday at 88.

A funeral service Monday at Holy Cross Catholic Church in Lynchburg will be preceded by a visitation Sunday from 3-5 p.m.

"Pre-Super Bowl, obviously," said son Jim in a fond and sometimes humorous remembrance of his father. "I guarantee, if it had been one of his friends, he'd have told us to go and tell him how it was, [that] he had a ballgame to watch."

Dudley suffered a stroke Sunday and passed away five days later in Lynchburg, where he had worked in the insurance business since 1961.

Dudley also served two terms in the Virginia House of Delegates and was a staunch UVa football supporter, even raising the flag at a Cavaliers' home game this past season.

In December, he attended a Richmond banquet at which Virginia Tech's Cody Grimm received the Dudley Award, given annually to the state's top college football player.

Dudley was a graduate of Graham High School in Bluefield, where he was a three-sport standout but not a phenom by today's standards. According to one tale, it took the efforts of a family friend and legislator, Jack "Doc" Whitten, to get Virginia's attention.

"The story I got was that Doc Whitten got up before the [state] finance committee and said, 'I'm not going to give them a damned dime until they come out to our part of the state and give some boys some scholarships," said Dudley in a 2007 interview for The Roanoke Times.

"I'd never been to Charlottesville. All I knew about the University of Virginia was that people went up there for essay competitions in the springtime."

Freshmen were ineligible to play varsity football when Dudley arrived at UVa in 1939 and it was his junior year before he became a starter. Few people, least of all Dudley, were predicting the kind of season that resulted in 29 touchdowns -- rushing and passing -- in 1941.

"I had no more idea than the man in the moon," he said. "I played every damn game like I had to make the team, just about."

The Cavaliers lost at Yale in the third week of the season, 21-19, and then won their last six games to finish 8-1.

In his final game, Dudley carried 17 times for 215 yards and three touchdowns and also passed for a touchdown in a 28-7 victory at North Carolina.

After the season, the Pittsburgh Steelers made Dudley the No. 1 pick in the National Football League Draft, a distinction held by no other UVa player.

Of course, that was in the pre-ESPN era and it would be sometime later before the Steelers made him aware of his selection.

He played one year for the Steelers before joining the service, mostly serving as a flight instructor, although he was the co-pilot for one World War II mission. He played in the last two games of the 1945 NFL season; then, in 1946, he led the league in rushing, interceptions and punt returns.

"I'm one of the few people around who knew Bronko Nagurski, Red Grange and Jim Thorpe," said Dudley, who chuckled at the memory of running into Thorpe in the White House men's room.

Dudley was an assistant football coach at Virginia for a brief period following his retirement from football in 1953 and said there were two or three instances when he was approached about serving as the Cavaliers' head coach.

The money wasn't good in those days; in fact, Dudley said he never made more than $20,000 per year as a player.

He hadn't played golf since last spring, but he attended three or four UVa games this past fall and was "as vocal as ever," said son Jim, one of three children who survive their dad.

Dudley's wife of 62 years, Libba, was holding his hand when he died.

"Daddy's energy had been lagging, but he could still put his game face on," said Jim Dudley, who could tell the end was near when his dad pulled a feeding tube from his mouth.

"He had played the game and played it well and played it hard and played it long. If he couldn't suit up and get back in the game, it was time to go to the final locker room."

Steelers Legend "Bullet" Bill Dudley, Rest in Peace
Steeler_tiny by maryrose on Feb 4, 2010 4:44 PM EST Comment 11 comments

The history of the Pittsburgh Steelers prior to the Immaculate Reception was a well-documented series of painful memories. Sometimes the woes of the team were self-inflicted, sometimes it seemed like the football gods were just not going to let them succeed and sometimes they just couldn't find the right chemistry. In the case of Bullet Bill Dudley, one of the greatest players ever to wear a Steelers uniform, it was a combination of all three. Dudley passed away in his home state of Virginia after suffering a massive stroke at the age of 88.

After nine years of failing to field a winning ballclub, the Steelers found themselves with the first pick in the 1942 NFL Draft, coming off a one-win season in which three different head coaches took turns losing football games. With that first pick, the Steelers took a running back out of Virginia, Bullet Bill. Dudley came into the NFL and proceeded to lead the league in rushing when that was basically all the league did. His 696 yards were alot back then. The Steelers finished 7-4, a substantial upgrade from their 1-9-1 mark of 1941.

As fate would have it, when the Steelers finally had the crown jewel of the NFL, World War II gutted NFL rosters for more important matters. Dudley became a fighter pilot in the Pacific for the next two and a half years. Dudley came back to play for the Steelers in 1945. The next season, 1946, he might have had the finest season any player has ever had in the NFL. On offense he led the league in rushing with 604 yards, on defense he led the league with 10 interceptions, and on special teams he led the league in punt returns. No one before or since has ever come close to that trifecta. He led the league in 12 categories in all three phases and was obviously the NFL's Most Valuable Player.

Dudley never left the field. Over the course of his illustrious career interrupted by war, he scored 18 touchdowns as a receiver, 44 as a runner, threw six touchdowns as a quarterback and scored four as a return man. On defense, he intercepted 23 passes and scored on two of them. He successfully kicked 33 field goals and 121 extra points.

As the Pre-Immaculate Reception Curse would have it, Dudley and his new head coach in 1946, Jock Sutherland, could never get along. Dudley's strong suits as a great athlete were instincts and creativity. Sutherland insisted upon precision and standardized repetition. The oil and water were just never going to mix. I had a chance to visit with Bullet Bill in New York City in late 1997 and told him what a huge Steelers' fan I was. He was adamant about the Steelers being a championship team in the late 1940s if only he and Sutherland could get on the same page. "All the elements were in place and we were a hungry bunch who was primed to win it all," he lamented.

Art Rooney reluctantly sided with the coach in agreeing to trade Dudley to the Detroit Lions. The Steelers, under duress, received peanuts in return. Dudley continued his Hall of Fame career elsewhere. Adding insult to injury, Dudley had some of his best games against the Steelers after he left them.

"I really don't know why," said Dudley. "Jock was gone and I loved Art Rooney, so there was no animosity or hard feelings. Somehow I had my best games against the Steelers, touchdowns, interceptions, everything." Go figure.

After football, Dudley was elected to serve four terms in the Virginia House of Delegates. Dudley was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1966. Rest in peace, Bullet Bill.

Landesberg's Game Continues to Grow
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 02/04/2010
Feb. 4, 2010
2:02 p.m.

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Sylven Landesberg entered the game averaging 2.6 assists, second only to Sammy Zeglinski (2.9) among UVa basketball players, so his performance Wednesday night wasn't exactly a revelation.

Still, Landesberg offered more proof that his game continues to expand in his second season at UVa. The 6-6 swingman had a career-high 9 assists in Virginia's 59-47 win over N.C. State at John Paul Jones Arena.

"Sylven did a great job of making the next pass," Tony Bennett said.

With the Wolfpack determined to limit Landesberg's scoring, he "got "guys wide-open looks," Bennett said.

Landesberg, the ACC rookie of the year in 2008-09, had scored at least 10 points in each of the Cavaliers' first 19 games this season. He had only 7 against the Wolfpack, but could not have appeared much happier after a victory that moved UVa (5-2, 14-6) into a tie for first in the ACC.

"The game's a lot easier than it seems," Landesberg said. "It might have seemed like it was tough tonight, because they were crowding me every time I got the ball.

"They were just doing a lot of things to try to stop me, but the fact is, we got a lot of players on this team who could score and could contribute, and I was just able to find them in the right places, and they were knocking the shots down."

Zeglinski had only 2 assists against the Wolfpack, which means he's now looking up at Landesberg in that statistical category.

Landesberg leads the Wahoos in scoring (17.6 ppg) and assists (2.9) and is second in rebounds (5.1). Before Wednesday night, he never had had more than 6 assists in an ACC game.

-- Jeff White

Cavs play Bennett ball

Virginia finally looked like a Tony Bennett basketball team last night.

Stingy half-court defense, deliberate offense, score in the 50s, minimal turnovers: They were the hallmarks of the teams Bennett coached at Washington State, and of the Cavaliers' 59-47 victory over visiting North Carolina State on Wednesday.

Virginia harassed the Wolfpack into 37.5 percent shooting, 29.2 in the second half. State was even less effective from beyond the 3-point arc, connecting on just two of 11, or 18 percent.

Entering the game, the Cavaliers were 11th among the 12 ACC teams in field goal percentage defense at 42.5 percent. They were 12th in 3-point defense at 31.8 percent.

“I was proud of how we stepped up and defended," Bennett said. "We were way too indecisive in the first half and gave up way too many points in the paint. We did not have a sense of urgency.

"At halftime I really challenged them hard, I said, ‘That’s not who we are or who we have to be.' They worked a lot harder and were more together defensively in the second half, and I thought that with some of (our) guys being a little cold (shooting) tonight, that second half defense won it for us. I like to see that, it was good how much they battled.”

The Wolfpack's 47 points are the fewest the Cavs have yielded to a conference rival since a 55-46 win over N.C. State 13 years ago. The last time Virginia scored under 60 points in a Division I victory was four years ago, 54-49 at Virginia Tech.

Such scores were common during Bennett's three seasons at Washington State.

His Cougars led the nation in scoring defense last season (55.4 points per game). They ranked 10th in field goal percentage defense (38.7) and 14th in fewest turnovers (11.4 per game).

In 2008, when Washington State advanced to the regional semifinals of the NCAA tournament, it ranked third nationally in scoring D, fifth in field goal percentage D and third in fewest turnovers.

Naturally, Bennett's first Virginia squad isn't as proficient at his style. The Cavaliers rank 37th in scoring defense, 170th in field goal defense and 11th in fewest turnovers.

But thanks to a more productive offense, Virginia (14-6, 5-2) shares first place with Duke in the ACC. In all but one of their first six ACC games, the Cavs scored at least 70 points, and they are 141st nationally in scoring (70.6).

Washington State never cracked the top 200 in scoring or averaged more than 67 points under Bennett. The worst of Bennett's offenses was last season's as the Cougars averaged 59.2 points, 314th nationally.

With better athletes at Virginia, Bennett wants to accelerate the pace, but his defensive principles are constant.

"I thought they won in a way today that they haven’t before in the second half," Bennett said last night. "It was with our defense and with some of our key guys not shooting well, so that is a good sign. We won with some foul trouble and cold shooting, but the defense clamped down, and we will take it.”

Next up for Virginia is a Saturday home game against Wake Forest. The Deacons beat the Cavaliers 69-57 on Jan. 23.

"It is a good place to be in," Bennett said of first place, "but by no means does that mean that we have arrived. I just want them to keep improving."

Posted by David Teel

Virginia back in NCAA tournament discussion?

Virginia is tied with Duke atop the ACC standings, so let’s take a closer look at its tournament resume. All records reflect games only against Division I competition.

Virginia (14-6, 5-2 ACC)

Best wins: Georgia Tech (26), Alabama-Birmingham (28)
Worst losses: Penn State (218), Stanford (137)
RPI: 79
Strength of schedule: 102
Nonconference strength of schedule: 278
Record vs. top 50: 2-2
Record vs. top 200: 9-5
Road/neutral court record: 3-4
As of today: First four teams out

Pros: The conference record is impressive, and more than a slight surprise after seven league games. The Cavaliers have two top 50 victories – one more than Maryland, two more than Virginia Tech – even though one of the victories, against Alabama-Birmingham, looks a little less impressive now than UAB has lost two straight games.

Cons: The Penn State loss will continue to be the biggest black mark on Virginia’s resume, and there is little the Cavaliers can do about that. The RPI has gradually risen but remains too poor in the 70s. The nonconference strength of schedule is a weakness, as well, although not quite as bad as Virginia Tech’s out of conference schedule. Squandering a 10-point lead with three minutes to play at home against Virginia Tech will be a missed opportunity that could prove costly down the road.

Outlook: There is room on the bubble for Virginia. The pool of bubble teams is weak enough that the Cavaliers – who did a lot to play their way out of a chance at an at-large bid during nonconference play – can find themselves in most mock brackets with a victory in their next game. The league schedule is softer than most, but the next five games could include four NCAA tournament teams. Ten wins in league play should be enough for Virginia and its first-year coach, Tony Bennett, who could run away with ACC coach of the year honors.

By Eric Prisbell

Baker glad to be back contributing
By Whitey Reid
Published: February 4, 2010
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One of the most surprising aspects of Virginia’s 59-47 victory over N.C. State on Wednesday night was UVa senior guard Calvin Baker supplanting freshman Jontel Evans in the lineup to start the second half.
Baker, whose college career seemed in jeopardy just two games ago after he was suspended against Wake Forest for disciplinary reasons, played all the key minutes down the stretch for Virginia coach Tony Bennett.
Evans, meanwhile, never got back into the game.
“They really were laying off of [Evans] and I thought Calvin might be able to stretch the defense to get some of those guys off of Sylven [Landesberg],” said Bennett, when asked about the decision. “When there was penetration, with Calvin’s experience, I thought he could make some good plays.”
Baker finished with five points (1 of 2 from 3-point range), one
assist and one turnover in 23 minutes. The Newport News native fed Sammy Zeglinski for a 3-pointer to put Virginia up by 13 with just over three minutes but was mysteriously gipped out of that assist.
No matter.
Baker, a team captain who was frustrated at losing his starting spot to Evans six games ago against Miami, said he’s just glad to be back contributing, especially for a first-place squad that is in the process of shocking the college basketball world.
“It was definitely very tough, especially being away from basketball because basketball is what I do all the time,” said Baker, when asked about his suspension. “And being away from the guys was very tough.
“But everything happens for a reason. That’s how I looked at it. I just tried to stay positive because I definitely wanted to be back and be part of the program. Now I’m just trying to take the right approach to everything we do, every day.”
Baker said he never feared that his Virginia career might be over.
“There are ups and downs in the seasons all the time anyway,” he said. “I was just going through a tough stretch, but that’s what time away will do for you.
“I just talked to the coaches and now everything is going really good.”
Baker’s teammates seem glad to have him back. There certainly doesn’t appear to be any resentment on their parts.
“Man, it feels good [to have Baker back],” said Virginia junior Mike Scott. “You know he’s a captain and we need him. He’s definitely a leader and has the experience.
“We play Wake Forest Saturday, so he’ll be ready for that game.”
Bennett didn’t leave the impression that Evans’ trip to the bench was because of poor play. It was a matter of matchups, he said.
“We said that if [Javier] Gonzalez started the second half, we were going to match Jontel up on him,” Bennett said, “and it they started [Julius Mays], we were going to start Calvin. That’s why we went that way…you just try and go with what’s working.”


 

Recruits' Unselfishness Impresses London
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 02/04/2010
Feb. 4, 2010
11:48 a.m.

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- The nation's top high school football team in 2009, according to USA Today's rankings, was Don Bosco Prep of Ramsey, N.J.

The best players for the Ironmen -- great nickname, by the way -- included Ryan Cobb, a 6-0, 220-pound senior who signed Wednesday with U.Va.

During his career at Don Bosco, from which current UVa baseball standout Steven Proscia graduated, Cobb played cornerback, safety, defensive end, middle linebacker, slot receiver and tight end.

His position at UVa?

Stay tuned.

On the weekend last month when most of UVa's 2010 recruits were in town for their official visits, new coach Mike London recalled Wednesday, "I had all the players stand up, introduce themselves, their parents, where they're from.

"Ryan stood up and said, "I'm a linebacker/fullback, but I'll play whatever you want me to play, Coach.' Obviously, I appreciated that. You appreciate players that will go anywhere and play anywhere ... We're looking forward to holding Ryan to his words and putting him in positions that can help us win."

Another recruit, Chris Brathwaite, has impressed London with a similar attitude. It's too early to say where the 6-1, 250-pound Brathwaite will line up in UVa's new 4-3 defense -- he'll be a defensive end or a linebacker -- but "he's all gung-ho about wherever we put him," London said.

"He wants to play. It goes back to what we said about Cobb: 'Coach put me somewhere. I just want to play.'"

Brathwaite lives in Brooklyn, N.Y., but attends Holy Cross High in Queens. That's the same school from which Willie Dersch, Kevin Ogletree and Sylven Landesberg graduated before enrolling at UVa.

In 2009, Brathwaite was named to the New York Daily News' All-City team as a defensive lineman. He also received the Vincent O'Connor Award as the top defensive player in the Catholic High School Football League's Class AAA.

-- Jeff White

 

West's Parks to Virginia Thursday, February 04, 2010 12:00 AM | Printer friendly version | E-mail to a friend | 5 Comments
West Rowan held a signing party for five of their football players in the library. Kevin Parks and Sherry Parks watch as their son, K.P. Parks, signs to go to Virginia. Photo by Jon C. Lakey, Salisbury Post.
By Ronnie Gallagher
rgallagher@salisburypost.com

MOUNT ULLA — Sometimes, K.P. Parks surprises even himself.

He knew he was in for a big day on Wednesday. A large gathering assembled in the West Rowan library for National Signing Day to watch Parks put his signature on the papers that would officially make him a Virginia Cavalier.

It became bigger when he was told he was now the Old Spice Red Zone National Player of the Year.

"I didn't know anything about that," Parks marveled. "That's another big thing. Dang."

There was nothing bigger in the prep football world this past season than Parks, who exploded his way into the national record books while leading West Rowan to a 16-0 record and its second straight 3A state championship.

He finished his career with 10,895 yards, the best in North Carolina history and the third-most nationally.

His 55 100-yard games was easily a national record.

He carried the ball more than anyone in the history of prep football: 1,370.

He finished with 158 career touchdowns.

And now, thanks to Old Spice, the sweet smell of success has found him again. He leaves West Rowan as the best prep football player in America.

When told there would be a full page ad this morning in USA Today, he beamed, "I'll get one. Probably at 6 a.m."

New Virginia coach Mike London will probably get one as well. He feels Parks' talent level will carry over to the ACC because of the person inside the pads.

"Everyone looks at his on-field accomplishments, his rushing yards, Parade Magazine All-American, the national player of the year awards, MVPs of all-star games, but even more than that, he's a great young man," London said Wednesday. "He has an infectious smile, and he's going to be one of those guys that rally people around him because of his demeanor and, of course, his abilities."

Amazingly, Parks wasn't recruited heavily by in-state schools. West coach Scott Young said it was the perception of being undersized (5-foot-7, 195) and a step slow.

"But it's really all about character," Young said.

Parks didn't let up after the 28-21 win against Eastern Alamance in the 3A title game. He was the offensive MVP in North Carolina's Shrine Bowl victory and was MVP in a national bowl game in Myrtle Beach.

That's when the interest suddenly grew.

"There were some other ACC schools in here other than Virginia trying to get him to flip on them," Young said. "I commend those schools for doing that. But I commend K.P. for honoring his commitment.

"I believe when he gave the University of Virginia his word, he was a man of his word."

Parks added, "The other schools, I felt like I should've had offers from them. Virginia showed me love from Day 1. In my heart, I said that's who I am going to stick with."

The coach who offered Parks, Al Groh, was fired after the Cavaliers had their third losing season in last four years, including 3-9 in 2009. London kept all 17 of Groh's recruits and brought in six of his own. Parks is the only North Carolina product.

London doesn't seem to have a worry about Parks' size.

"I looked at the Pro Bowl and saw a bunch of 5-9 running backs there having phenomenal days and years," London said. "Size doesn't matter to me. That's probably one of the things people have talked about, his size. He's a man on a mission, and I'm glad he's on our team so he can prove his mission."

Parks, wearing a Virginia pullover, says he won't disappoint his new coach, teammates or fans.

"I've still got some more points to prove," he said. "When I get to college, hopefully, I'll do it.

Snow Day
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 02/04/2010
Feb. 4, 2010
7:40 p.m.

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Sammy Zeglinski was heartbroken after getting the news from Ronnie Wideman, Tony Bennett's right-hand man.

Or maybe not.

"I'm so happy," the sophomore guard said Thursday evening at John Paul Jones Arena. "I had an 8 a.m. [class] tomorrow."

Zeglinski and the rest of the UVa student body can sleep in Friday. With another major snowstorm headed for Central Virginia, the University announced that Friday classes have been cancelled.

The men's basketball team got word from Wideman after practice Thursday.

"Ronnie came in and said he had some bad news," sophomore swingman Sylven Landesberg said, "and I thought the bad news was the game was cancelled. He said it was just no classes."

UVa (5-2, 14-6) is scheduled to host ACC rival Wake Forest (5-3, 15-5) at noon Saturday at JPJ. As of Thursday night, the game was still on.

With no Friday classes, Landesberg said he's looking forward to a "good day of rest, but I hope we get to play."

-- Jeff White

 

UVa Insider - Doug Doughty | Roanoke Times

They say that absence makes the heart grow fonder, which is a good reason for Virginia to take the first step in welcoming former men's basketball coach Pete Gillen back into the Cavalier community.

Now would not be a good time to hold a welcome-home bash for Al Groh.

UVa fans have to be curious about the process involved in cornerback Louis Young from Our Lady of Good Counsel signing with Georgia Tech earlier this week.

Virginia had devoted considerable attention to Young when Groh was the Cavaliers’ head coach, only to watch as Young committed to Stanford. But, then, Young re-opened his recruiting.

There were reports that Young had narrowed his choices to Stanford and Virginia before he committed to the Cardinal for a second time.

Even when Young made his second oral commitment to Stanford, there was talk that he might take a late January visit to Virginia, at least partly as a back-up plan if he was not admitted to Stanford.

In the end, Young did not receive confirmation of his acceptance to Stanford, so he decided to sign with another school. But, by the end, Virginia no longer was in the picture.

The Cavaliers had been replaced by Georgia Tech, the program that had hired Groh as its defensive coordinator when he was fired by Virginia.

Rightly or wrongly, there are going to be people who wonder if Groh used the Georgia Tech opportunity as a way to get back at Virginia. That’s hard to say. You’d have to know what kind of chances he had of gaining a spot on the Miami Dolphins’ staff.

(The Dolphins’ defensive coordinator’s job would be preferable to the Georgia Tech coordinator’s job, but Yellow Jackets’ coach Paul Johnson has given Groh full autonomy. The Georgia Tech coordinator’s job would be preferable to the Miami linebackers’ job vacated when Jim Reid went to UVa).

But, what I’d really know is what kind of conversation took place between Groh and Young before Young’s commitment. Is it realistic to think that Groh told Young the same thing that he told Charlottesville sports editor Hootie Ratcliffe?

“Clearly, Georgia Tech has it going,” Groh told Ratcliffe after accepting his new job. “There’s four teams on this side of the ACC that are pretty heavily invested in trying to win this thing, so it’s going to be a challenge to do that, but Georgia Tech has the wherewithal to do that as much as anybody.”

By “this side of the ACC,” Groh was referring to the Coastal Division, whose members are Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, Miami, North Carolina, Duke and Virginia. So, who do you think the four teams are that “are heavily invested?” Is there any question that Groh was implying that Duke and Virginia are not heavily invested?

I doubt that Groh will ever say which school is which, but I’m pretty sure that UVa officials are furious at Groh’s continued innuendoes that the school or the athletic department somehow undermined his effectiveness.

Personally, I find it hard to believe that Georgia Tech has made a commitment to football that is any stronger than Virginia’s. To me, the biggest reason for the demise of the Virginia program during the Al Groh era was Al Groh.

If Groh led Louis Young to believe that the Cavaliers’ program is a mess, who do you
think put them there?

I will concede that the administration pulled the plug on starting quarterback Peter Lalich early in the 2008 season, but who’s to say that Lalich could have stayed out of trouble and nobody knows yet how good he really was.

The inference in listening to Groh is that UVa’s admissions department did the Cavaliers no favor but I keep coming back to the 2008 recruiting class that yielded only three in-state signees. If it was full of prospects who couldn’t get into school, then why did Virginia make offers to 20 of them?