'Hoos Ready for Rematch with Wake
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 02/05/2010
By Jeff White

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- In a perfect world -- at least from UVa's perspective -- John Paul Jones Arena would be full Saturday afternoon, packed with orange-clad fans bent on creating a challenging atmosphere for Wake Forest.

Alas, Mother Nature has ensured that won't happen. But the Cavaliers will appreciate whatever home-court advantage the hardy fans who make it to JPJ provide, because this is a game of great significance for Tony Bennett's team.

A victory over Wake (5-3, 15-5) would lift UVa (5-2, 14-6) into a tie for first in the ACC with Duke (6-2, 18-4), if only for a couple of hours. Duke meets Boston College at 2 p.m. in Chestnut Hill, Mass.

A win over the Demon Deacons, who got to town Thursday night, would do more than that. It would increase the likelihood that UVa will be playing after the ACC tournament.

"We definitely want to be able to play in the postseason," sophomore swingman Sylven Landesberg said after practice Thursday night -- preferably in the NCAA tournament.

"We know every game matters right now," Landesberg said. "We lost some games we should have won, and then we got a lot of good wins, so every game is very important to us."

Of the Wahoos' six defeats, only two were not close. On Nov. 16, South Florida routed UVa 66-49 in Tampa. On Jan. 23, Wake whipped Virginia 69-57 in Winston-Salem, N.C.

That game was much more one-sided than the score suggests. Wake led by 24 points with eight minutes to play. Senior point guard Ishmael Smith had 21 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 blocked shots for the Deacs.

"They took it to us down there," Bennett said. "They're a load inside with quickness on the outside.

"We'll just have to do a lot better job in almost every area. We were awfully cold against them. They defended us well. They kind of hit us in the mouth. We'll go to work and hopefully come with a better performance."

At Lawrence Joel Coliseum, UVa's best player, Landesberg, spent the final 12:28 of the first half on the bench after picking up his second foul. Virginia's second-leading scorer, 6-8 junior Mike Scott, joined Landesberg for the final 7:53 after being called for his second personal.

Bennett didn't want either player to collect a third personal before halftime and gambled that the 'Hoos could remain competitive without Landesberg and Scott. It didn't happen. Wake scored the final 15 points of the half.

Scott said he's looking forward to the rematch.

"Most definitely," he said Wednesday night after totaling 15 points and 10 rebounds in UVa's 59-47 win over visiting N.C. State.

"Mentally, I don't think I was in the game. As a team, I don't think we were in the game mentally. We just didn't play good defense. The second time around, we've just got to come out and execute on defense and offense."

Wake's center, 7-footer Chas McFarland, averages 7.4 points and shoots 42.2 percent from the floor. Against UVa, he had 16 points and made 7 of 9 field-goal attempts.

"I think we made some mistakes defensively in the post," Virginia center Jerome Meyinsse said Wednesday night. "We let them execute their high-low too effectively, and we'll look to do some things differently on that and hopefully have a better outcome."

Bennett's big men weren't the only Cavaliers off their games in Winston-Salem. Only once in Sammy Zeglinski's past 15 games has the sophomore guard not hit at least two 3-pointers. That was at Wake, where he was 0 for 5 from the floor (0 for 3 from beyond the arc) and 1 for 3 from the line.

"I struggled that game, just never got in the flow," Zeglinski said. "I'm excited for this game. They're coming here, and we're going to have the crowd behind us."

He made those comments Wednesday night, before the arrival of the latest snowstorm to hammer Central Virginia. The crowd now figures to be well below capacity.

Still, even if surrounded by thousands of empty seats Saturday, the 'Hoos won't lack motivation against the Deacs.

"We owe them one," Zeglinski said.


 

Cavs’ Farrakhan: searching for consistency
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By Michael Phillips
Published: February 6, 2010
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CHARLOTTESVILLE -- There haven't been a lot of average days on the court for Mustapha Farrakhan.

Since ACC play started, he's scored in double-digits four times. In the other three games, he made a total of one basket.

Wednesday counts as one of the good days -- 11 points and a dunk over N.C. State's Javier Gonzalez that was named the top play of the day by ESPN SportsCenter.

The Virginia guard said after that performance he'd been working with coach Ritchie McKay on building some consistency into his game.

"He's been working with me mentally," Farrakhan said. "I was thinking a little too much on my jump shot, so I just tried to let it flow and shoot the ball."

The Cavaliers have been able to win without Farrakhan knocking down the jumper, but they'll want him in a rhythm today when they take on Wake Forest's Demon Deacons for the second time this season.

In the first meeting, on Jan. 23, Wake Forest gave Virginia its second-worst loss of the season, but the 69-57 defeat was in a game that was well out of reach for most of the second half.

As of yesterday afternoon, officials at John Paul Jones Arena said the game would be played as scheduled despite winter weather conditions. Updates will be posted to the school's Web site, VirginiaSports.com.

Virginia head coach Tony Bennett said that when he shows his team tape of the game in Winston-Salem, there won't just be minor adjustments.

"They took it to us down there," he said. "They're a heck of a team, and we'll have to do a heck of a job in just about every area."

One of those areas will be guard play, which will involve keeping Sylven Landesberg out of foul trouble and working out the rotation between Jontel Evans and Calvin Baker.

Evans, a freshman, has been starting recently because of his defensive prowess, but has proven to be a liability on the offensive end in recent games. Baker, a senior, provided the team with a lift during Wednesday's victory against N.C. State, and figures to get some playing time today.

The other guard position belongs to Sammy Zeglinski and Farrakhan. The key for Farrakhan will be to get into a shooting rhythm early, as his recent production has demonstrated. Bennett said Farrakhan did a better job at shot selection on Wednesday.

"I thought he let it come," the coach said after that game. "He's worked hard on his shot the last few days, really hard. It was good to see him make them."

Of course, even with a shot that's working, that's no guarantee of success, as he learned last Sunday against North Carolina. Farrakhan attempted three shots against the Tar Heels and missed them all.

"I'd been shooting the ball well in practice, and in the UNC game I was shooting it well," he said. "So when it wasn't going down, it was frustrating."

In the grind of a long season it's foolish to get too excited after one good outing or too down after a bad one, which is why Farrakhan is looking to build some consistency into his game.

If he can keep the momentum rolling today, it would go a long way towards keeping the Cavs competitive.

UVa's Meynisse: A leader for the Cavs, a fan of the Saints
Louisiana native Jerome Meyinsse has been a pleasant surprise for UVa this season.
By Doug Doughty
981-3129

If the New Orleans Saints were looking for somebody to carry their banner in the Mid-Atlantic, Jerome Meyinsse was the guy.

At 6-foot-9 and 233 pounds, Meyinsse is hard to miss as he walks around the University of Virginia grounds in his oversized No. 9 Drew Brees jersey.

Meyinsse was wearing his official gear proudly for an interview Jan. 24, one day after the Saints had beaten Minnesota in the NFC Championship, and wasn't sure when he would remove it.

The jersey was gone by Wednesday, when Meyinsse had 10 points and four rebounds in a 59-47 victory over North Carolina State, "but it's coming back out for the weekend," he promised as Super Bowl XLIV approached.

Meyinsse, a senior from Baton Rouge, La., has every right to cheer for his home-state team. And, the Saints, if they were aware of his accomplishments, would be equally proud to have Meyinsse as one of their backers.

By almost standard, Meyinsse was the consummate student-athlete during his first three years at UVa, but events of the past two months have cast his basketball career in a brighter light.

Meyinsse, who never played more than 200 minutes in a season and had made one career start in three years, has been a major contributor in Virginia's turnaround season.

Meyinsse had never scored in double figures in an ACC game until Wednesday, but it was only a matter of time. When he took the opening tip against the Wolfpack, it marked his seventh consecutive start and 13th of the season.

The Cavaliers (14-6 overall, 5-2 ACC) already have surpassed their victory totals from a 2008-09 season, when Virginia was 10-18 and 4-12 under Dave Leitao, who was then relieved of his duties.

A coaching change isn't the best-case scenario for a rising fourth-year reserve, but Leitao successor Tony Bennett was intrigued by Meyinsse during sessions in the spring and fall when coaches can work with up to four players at a time.

"I was talking with one of my assistants, Jason Williford, and we said, 'You know, he's not bad,'" Bennett said. "But he hadn't played a lot and we thought, 'Well, maybe he's one of those workout guys.' "

Still, Bennett could see that Meyinsse was strong, followed directions well and "battled," not unlike another seldom-used frontcourt returnee, Will Sherrill.

"I call them our 'X' factor guys," Bennett said. "He's [Meyinsse] been a pleasant surprise."

Just the circumstances of Meyinsse's spring 2006 recruiting would suggest that he would be a project. He was a reserve for most of his career at McKinley High School, where he was a teammate of future LSU star and first-round NBA draft pick Tyrus Thomas.

"In Jerome's senior year, the Tyrus Thomases of the world and everybody else had gone," Meyinsse's mother, Patricia, said. "He was the only senior on the team. They were picked to finish last in the league, but nobody had taught Meyinsse that. He was able to rally the troops and they finished at the top of their league."

Patricia Meyinsse is a professor of agricultural economics at Southern University, where her husband, Joseph, is dean of the graduate school.

Joseph Meyinsse is from Ghana, and his wife is from Jamaica.

"Not having been born in this country, I grew up around cricket and soccer and those type of things," Patricia said. "At first, we put him in T-ball. He was an only child and we wanted him involved in team sports and not thinking the world revolved around him." The Meyinsses were delighted in the fall of 2005, when Jerome was offered a scholarship by Rice and pushed for him to sign with the Owls.

"My husband and I never thought that anyone would ever offer him a basketball scholarship," Patricia said. "We had seen the other players and seen that they were far better than he was.

"I took him to the games and I was in the gym most of the time, but with my nose in the Wall Street Journal. We were like, 'Wow,' somebody actually noticed him."

Jerome thought that Rice, with its enrollment of approximately 5,000, was too small. Plus, he wanted to play in a more prestigious conference.

When the fall ended without Meyinsse signing a basketball letter-of-intent, he started to apply to colleges solely for his academics. He was accepted at Duke, apparently without the knowledge of the men's basketball staff. He also was accepted at Davidson, but not Harvard, added his mother in the spirit of full disclosure.

"Virginia was one school we never researched," she said. "He said he didn't want to go anywhere where there was cold weather. I went to Ohio State but he always told me, 'I will not be a Buckeye.'"

So, here Meyinsse is, digging out from the third major snowstorm of the winter "and we've never heard him complain once," his mother said.

Maybe he's been too busy to worry about the weather.

Meyinsse is majoring in economics, with a minor in math. He has made the ACC All-Academic team in parts of the last two seasons and said he takes his greatest off-court satisfaction from his position as president of Virginia's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee,

Still, if not for his increased on-court contributions, he thinks there might have been a void in his college experience.

"The reason I came here was a basketball scholarship," he said.

"I have never put anything but my best efforts into basketball. It's gratifying to see that hard work and dedication pay off."

Conversely, Meyinsse has never been defined by basketball, going back to high school, when he played trumpet and was named outstanding bandsman at McKinely High School, where he was also a member of the Science Quiz Bowl team.

"We are very proud of him," his mom said, "but, you know, the foundation for this was laid a long time ago."

Focus key for UVa players
By Whitey Reid
Published: February 6, 2010
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The temptation for Virginia fans to daydream is obvious. After beating N.C. State on Wednesday, UVa already has five ACC wins — one more than all of last season, with nine games still to play.

Even if the Cavaliers were to go 4-5 the rest of the way, they would finish with nine league victories, which, historically, has been good enough to get teams into the discussion for the NCAA tournament come March.

But clearly Virginia players can’t let their minds do any such wandering. Not with Wake Forest (15-5, 5-3 ACC) in town this afternoon.

UVa (14-6, 5-2) was thoroughly outplayed when the teams met two weeks ago in Winston-Salem, N.C. The game wasn’t nearly as competitive as the final score of 69-57 would indicate.

“They took it to us down there,” said Virginia coach Tony Bennett, whose squad will be looking to win its third straight. “They’re a load inside, with quickness on the outside.

“They’re a heck of a team. We’ll just have to do a lot better job in almost every area. We were awfully cold against them and they defended us well. They kind of hit us in the mouth.”

The major problem in the first meeting was containing Demon Deacons floor general Ishmael Smith. The senior seemed to be able to get into the paint and dissect Virginia’s defense at will.

Jontel Evans looked overmatched versus Smith. It will be interesting to see how the freshman fares today in his second go-around.

In the win over N.C. State, Evans, who had started six straight games, was benched in favor of Calvin Baker to start the second half. However, Evans probably matches up better with Smith than anyone else on Virginia’s roster, so look for him to play a key role.

Another UVa guard worth watching will be Mustapha Farrakhan, who electrified the home crowd on Wednesday with nine second-half points.

Can Farrakhan, whose dunk on Javier Gonzalez was named ESPN’s top play on Wednesday, put forth another strong effort?

“As you could see, the kid has hops,” said Virginia junior Mike Scott. “But he also can shoot. He just gets that confidence going and nobody can stop him.”

Virginia will also have to pay more attention to Wake Forest big man Chas McFarland, who really took it to Jerome Meyinsse and Mike Scott down low. Scott, who got into early foul trouble with teammate Sylven Landesberg in that first meeting, is looking forward to today’s rematch with the Demon Deacons, who have won three of their last four games.

“Personally, myself, I don’t think I was that mentally into the game, and as a team, I don’t think we were that much, either,” Scott said. “We didn’t play defense in the second half, so we just want to come out and play hard.

“[But] we can’t get into foul trouble like we did last game.”

Landesberg, who scored 18 points before fouling out down in Winston-Salem, is also stoked for Round 2.

“Oh man ... we got to get back at them,” Landesberg said. “They got the win back at Wake. It was a tough game to be in.

“Hopefully the same circumstances don’t happen again and we’ll be able to pull this one out.”

Landesberg pooh-poohed the notion that Virginia’s 5-2 start to the conference season is any kind of major surprise.

“Everyone on the team knew we were a lot better than what we showed,” he said. “I think we have more maturity and just another year of experience in the ACC, and I think we’re showing it.”
 

Deacs try to sweep Cavs
Wake Forest is hoping to beat Virginia, along with the predicted winter weather
By Dan Collins
JOURNAL REPORTER
Published: February 6, 2010

Wake Forest made it to Charlottesville on Thursday night safe and sound, but getting home from today's snow-marred game against Virginia will be harder.

And getting home with a win will be harder still.

"Every team in the ACC is better at home than away," senior Ish Smith of the Deacons said. "So obviously they're going to give us a very competitive game."

With as much as 28 inches of snow expected in central Virginia this weekend, just getting the game played at John Paul Jones Arena (noon, WFMY Ch. 9) will be a significant accomplishment. But the reward for Wake Forest's efforts could be great.

By winning, the Deacons would improve to 16-5 overall and 6-3 in the ACC with four of their final seven conference games scheduled for Winston-Salem. It would also sweep the season series and thus give Wake Forest a tie-breaker advantage over Virginia, which will enter the game at 14-6 overall and 5-2 in the ACC.

"As we know, road wins in this league are like finding gold -- for any team and for us as well," Coach Dino Gaudio of Wake Forest said. "If we'd be fortunate enough to win, it would do wonders for us in the ACC race."

The Deacons thumped the Cavaliers 69-57 at Joel Coliseum on Jan. 23, racing out to a 24-point lead midway through the second half before fending off a comeback that sliced the lead to 10 with a minute remaining.

Smith, having his way against Virginia freshman Jontel Evans, had 21 points, seven rebounds and six assists, and the Deacons shot 52 percent from the floor -- a season-high against ACC competition.

The Cavaliers shot 34 percent from the floor.

"Toward the end of the game, I think we kind of took our (foot) off the pedal," Smith said. "They're going to remember that.

"It's never easy to beat a team twice, but you've got to do what you've got to do."

Sylven Landesberg, the Cavaliers leading scorer with 17.6 points a game, was whistled for two fouls in the first 7½ minutes of last month's game against Wake Forest, and played only eight minutes in the first half, when the Deacons raced to a 34-15 halftime lead.

First-year coach Tony Bennett afterward second-guessed his decision to keep Landesberg -- who, in ACC games is shooting 47 percent from the floor and 39 percent from 3-point range -- on the bench for so long.

Landesberg warmed up to score 14 of his 18 points in the second half, but the damage had been done.

"If you can take Sylven Landesberg away, that's a big thing in their offense," Gaudio said. "Now the way we took him away was, he sat on the bench with fouls. And there might be a different scenario this time.

"But I think he is the heartbeat of their team. We've got to try to do a really good job with him."

Scouting Virginia vs. Wake Forest

Virginia (14-6, 5-2 ACC) vs. Wake Forest (15-5, 5-3)

What to watch: Wake Forest and Virginia both play the pack-line defense made famous by Dick Bennett, father of Virginia Coach Tony Bennett. By using the pack-line themselves, the Demon Deacons were prepared when the Cavaliers visited Winston-Salem on Jan. 23. Virginia has the No. 1 scoring defense in the ACC by limiting opponents to 60.9 points per game, although Wake Forest has the best three-point shooting defense -- which is one way Bennett judges the pack-line defense -- by limiting opponents to 26.9 percent from the field. In that respect, it will be strength vs. strength. The Cavaliers lead the conference by connecting on 39.5 percent of their three-pointers.

Player to watch: Wake Forest guard Ish Smith impressed Bennett so much during the last meeting that Bennett compared Smith to Muggsy Bogues, the former Wake Forest star who started ahead of Bennett with the Charlotte Hornets. The Cavaliers need to figure out a way to keep Smith out of the lane. Freshman Jontel Evans will guard Smith, but Evans struggles scoring, which has limited his playing time. Smith is 28 points shy of 1,000 points.

Key matchup: Pay attention to the battle between Virginia forward Mike Scott and Wake Forest forward Al-Farouq Aminu. Scott becomes excited when he plays against the ACC's best power forward and had impressive games against Virginia Tech's Jeff Allen, North Carolina's Ed Davis and North Carolina State's Tracy Smith. Aminu is averaging 16.3 points and 11.2 rebounds per game, so Scott must come prepared on both ends of the floor. He struggled with fouls when the Cavaliers last played the Demon Deacons.

By Zach Berman

Tony Bennett encouraged by Cavaliers' finishing kick

Throughout the course of the season, Virginia Coach Tony Bennett has recited expressions both to his players and to reporters that his father once recited to him when Bennett played for Dick Bennett at Wisconsin-Green Bay.

Tony Bennett used one in Wednesday's 59-47 win over North Carolina State. He was discouraged by the Cavaliers' defensive performance in the first half and wanted the team to respond after the break.

"When you whip a donkey, it kicks. When you kick a thoroughbred, it responds," Bennett said.

Guard Calvin Baker laughed when remembering the expression, although Virginia's players said Bennett's halftime demeanor was no laughing matter. Bennett is ordinarily mild mannered, but guard Sylven Landesberg said he could see the vein bulging in Bennett's neck while riding the team at halftime.

And with the way the Cavaliers played in the second half, they proved something to their coach.

"I'm not saying we're thoroughbreds by any means, but I'm just saying [the players] responded when they were challenged, and that was what we needed," Bennett said. "I told them I was proud of them for that. But just because we did it for a second half doesn't mean it's going to show up automatically. That's something you always have to understand as a defensive team."

By Zach Berman

Sylven Landesberg, Mike Scott seek redemption against Wake Forest

Virginia guard Sylven Landesberg and forward Mike Scott both spoke with unprompted excitement about an opportunity for redemption in Saturday's game against Wake Forest. If you remember the Cavaliers' loss to Demon Deacons on Jan. 23, Scott and Landesberg both picked up two fouls in the first half.

With Virginia's top two players on the bench, Wake Forest extended a four-point lead to 19 points at halftime. That was too deep for the Cavaliers to overcome, leading Coach Tony Bennett to answer a week worth of questions about his philosophy of what to do with a player who has two first-half fouls.

"Oh man, we got to get back at them," Landesberg said. "That was tough for me. Hopefully, the same circumstances don't happen again."

Landesberg and Scott are the team's top two scorers, and the best at creating their own shots. The team needs at least one on the court to remain competitive. If both are absent, the Cavaliers are inferior to anyone in the ACC.

The Cavaliers exude a confidence that was absent last season. It's the byproduct of winning games that few outside the program expect them to win, which allows the team to recite the oft-discussed, but seldom-warranted underdog role.

"The same way we feel about Wake Forest is the same way N.C. State probably felt about us," Scott said, alluding to Wolfpack trying to avoid a season sweep against the Cavaliers on Wednesday. "I know personally, I didn't play good. The team didn't play good."

By Zach Berman

ACC midseason report card
By Ken Tysiac
ktysiac@charlotteobserver.com
Posted: Friday, Feb. 05, 2010
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski

Fans might think they don’t recognize the basketball the ACC is playing this season.

The conference doesn’t have a North Carolina juggernaut lurking at or near the top of the polls, and there’s no Tyler Hansbrough to save the Tar Heels from their doldrums.

Duke is (barely) in the top 10, but isn’t a serious threat to earn a No. 1 regional seed.

There isn’t another team (think Juan Dixon-era Maryland or Tim Duncan-vintage Wake Forest) likely to contend for the Final Four.

But this season’s ACC – with no serious national title contender and a bunch of decent teams slugging it out in the standings’ crowded middle – is recognizable if you’re a football fan.

This happens virtually every year in the ACC – in football. And if you follow ACC football, you know that’s not a compliment.

It’s probably good for fan interest throughout the conference when the last-place team (N.C. State) can hammer the first-place team (Duke) by 14 points early in the season. But the conference generates national attention when its teams advance deep into the NCAA tournament, and it’s difficult to pick even the ACC’s first-place team to do that.

Here’s the midseason report for this diluted but ultra-competitive conference:

Overachievers

Virginia (14-6, 5-2 ACC): Picked to finish 11th in the ACC by the media in the preseason, the Cavaliers are tied for second place, one win behind Duke in the standings.

Wake Forest (15-5, 5-3): Losing Jeff Teague and James Johnson early to the NBA draft didn’t devastate the Deacons because senior Ish Smith and sophomore Al-Farouq Aminu have become leaders.

Virginia Tech (17-4, 4-3): Picked eighth in the preseason, the Hokies have ridden ACC scoring leader Malcolm Delaney to their familiar spot on the NCAA tournament “bubble.”

Achievers

Duke (18-4, 6-2): Although the Blue Devils have missed opportunities for big nonconference road wins at Wisconsin and Georgetown, ACC coaches seem to agree that they’re the conference’s best team.

Clemson (16-6, 4-4): Point guard Demontez Stitt’s foot injury probably cost the Tigers a win. So although they’re not as high as the third place some had predicted, there are extenuating circumstances.

Florida State (16-6, 4-4): Losing at home to Maryland on Thursday was a blow to coach and Gastonia native Leonard Hamilton’s hopes of getting back to the NCAA Tournament. Nonetheless, the Seminoles are strong as usual on defense and are getting a lot of mileage from their huge front line.

Georgia Tech (16-6, 4-4): A physical front line featuring Gani Lawal, Derrick Favors and Zachery Peacock has the Yellow Jackets in position to grab an NCAA bid if Georgia Tech’s guards can reduce their turnovers.

Maryland (15-6, 5-2): If the Terrapins hadn’t lost every time they had a chance for a statement win outside the conference, they would be in great shape for an NCAA bid.

Underachievers

Boston College (12-10, 3-5): Rakim Sanders’ ankle injury set this team back for a while, but losing at home to Harvard, Rhode Island and Maine is inexcusable.

North Carolina (13-9, 2-5): The media seriously overestimated the Tar Heels when they tied Duke atop the ACC preseason poll. In retrospect, the North Carolina freshmen’s struggles create greater appreciation for Tyler Hansbrough and Co. when they were rookies in 2005-06.

Nonachievers

Miami (16-6, 2-6): The Hurricanes’ start to conference play confirms suspicions that an easy schedule is the only reason the Hurricanes are 14-0 outside the ACC.

N.C. State (14-9, 2-6): The last-place standing is no surprise because the Wolfpack was picked last in the preseason. But the 88-74 win over Duke showed what this team is capable of.

Midseason honors

Coach of the year: Tony Bennett, Virginia. With solid defense and a smallish lineup, first-year coach Bennett has out-quicked his opponents and the league’s veteran coaches.

Player of the year: Sylven Landesberg, Virginia. Landesberg’s versatility has helped the Cavaliers become the ACC’s most pleasant surprise. He plays power forward at 6 feet 6 when Virginia goes small and excels on the wing while averaging 17.6 points per game.

Rookie of the year: Derrick Favors, Georgia Tech. He was rated more highly by some services than Kentucky freshman and national player of the year candidate John Wall of Raleigh. Favors isn’t better than Wall, but does lead ACC freshmen in scoring (11.3 ppg) and rebounding (8.5 rpg).

Defensive player of the year: Chris Singleton, Florida State. He leads the ACC in steals with 49 and ranks fifth in blocked shots at 1.7 per game.

Breakout player: Dorenzo Hudson, Virginia Tech. The junior from Charlotte has increased his scoring average from 4.6 points per game in 2008-09 to 13.7 this season to nose out Duke’s Nolan Smith and N.C. State’s Tracy Smith.

All-ACC

Al-Farouq Aminu, Wake Forest

Malcolm Delaney, Virginia Tech

Sylven Landesberg, Virginia

Jon Scheyer, Duke

Greivis Vasquez, Maryland

Ranking ACC football schedules

Virginia's is the weakest. Otherwise, ranking ACC teams' non-conference schedules for the 2010 football season is a matter of taste.

The league office released the entire schedule yesterday afternoon, and it features 11 outside opponents that finished among the Associated Press' top 25, including four of the five Bowl Championship Series winners: Ohio State, Florida, Boise State and No. 1 Alabama.

Moreover, 26 of 48 non-conference games are against teams that played in bowls last year.

But enough chatter. With the perennial caveat that schedules are best judged after, and not before, a season, here are our ratings. We'll go worst to first and list each opponent's 2009 record..

* Virginia (11-2 Richmond, at 9-4 Southern California, 2-9 VMI and 0-12 Eastern Michigan) -- The Cavaliers are the only ACC team playing two Championship Subdivision opponents. Traveling to USC will be a chore, but anything less than a 3-1 non-league record would be disappointing.

* Boston College (7-5 Weber State, 5-7 Kent State, 6-6 Notre Dame, at 4-8 Syracuse) -- Syracuse has become irrelevant, and Notre Dame has lost much of its shine.

* Clemson (2-10 North Texas, 0-11 Presbyterian, at 8-5 Auburn, 7-6 South Carolina) -- The first two are walkovers, the latter two challenging.

* Wake Forest (0-11 Presbyterian, at 8-5 Stanford, 10-4 Navy, at 2-10 Vanderbilt) -- With four meetings in the last three years, Wake-Navy has become a good rivalry. Deacons not heartbroken to see Stanford running back Toby Gerhart turn pro.

* Maryland (10-4 Navy in Baltimore, 6-5 Morgan State, at 9-4 West Virginia, 3-9 Florida International) -- The season-opener against neighbor Navy is critical if Ralph Friedgen hopes to remain as head coach.

* Georgia Tech (10-2 South Carolina State, at 5-7 Kansas, 10-3 Middle Tennessee State, at 8-5 Georgia) -- More than a credible schedule for the defending ACC champion, The trip to Kansas matches the Yellow Jackets' triple-option offense against new Jayhawks coach Turner Gill, once a superb option quarterback at Nebraska.

* Duke (9-3 Elon, 14-0 Alabama, 5-7 Army, at 10-4 Navy) -- For a downtrodden program, the Blue Devils sure do schedule ambitiously.

* North Carolina State (2-9 Western Carolina, at 8-5 Central Florida, 12-1 Cincinnati, at 9-5 East Carolina) -- Marked upgrade for the Wolfpack, which played Murray State and Gardner-Webb last year.

* North Carolina (9-4 LSU in Atlanta, at 9-4 Rutgers, 9-5 East Carolina, 11-3 William and Mary) -- No pushovers for the Tar Heels, who expect to contend in the Coastal Division.

* Virginia Tech (14-0 Boise State in Landover, Md., 9-5 East Carolina, 6-5 James Madison, 12-2 Central Michigan) -- The Hokies are the only ACC team not playing a BCS conference opponent. But Boise, ECU and Central won their resepective leagues, and Boise appears to be a national title contender.

* Miami (8-3 Florida A&M, at 11-2 Ohio State, at 10-3 Pittsburgh, 8-5 South Florida) -- The Hurricanes duck no one, even if it means hitting the road. You could easily rank this the ACC's toughest schedule, but in a coin flip we opted for ...

* Florida State (5-6 Samford, at 8-5 Oklahoma, 11-2 Brigham Young, 13-1 Florida) -- Bobby Bowden no longer coaches the Seminoles, but his anyone-anywhere scheduling philosophy remains.

Posted by David Teel

Practice is perfect for Cavaliers
By Jay Jenkins
Published: February 6, 2010
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To the naked eye, it looked normal.

Debbie Ryan bounced around the sidelines screaming plays and showing disgust for questionable calls Thursday night.

Deep inside, however, the longtime Virginia women’s basketball coach had a sense of relief. The coach had the luxury of watching her team’s practices leading up to the showdown with Clemson.

In odd fashion during a season with peaks and valleys, Virginia’s youthful roster prepared in near-perfect fashion.

“We had three very good practices this week,” Ryan said. “They were a little shorter than normal, but they were good practices. Monday was a little longer, but Tuesday and Wednesday were pretty short. But they were very efficient.”

Virginia (16-6, 5-3 ACC) turned over a new leaf, finishing with a season-best performance from the field. The Cavaliers shot 52.7 percent, making 29 of their 55 attempts.

“We spent a lot of time on execution the past three days, and it was important to me that we come out and play a whole lot better than we did at Wake Forest,” said Ryan, referencing a seven-point loss to the Demon Deacons. “I just wasn’t happy with our energy at Wake. I didn’t feel like we matched them competitively and I was very disappointed in that.”

That was not the case against Clemson as UVa finished the game by outscoring the Tigers 71-47 en route to an easy 22-point victory.

It came as the Cavaliers had four scorers in double figures, something that had only happened in one previous league game, a win over N.C. State.

Monica Wright, the school’s all-time leading scorer, led the attack with 25 points.

“We have been capable of this the whole time,” the senior said. “It was just a matter of us doing it. In practice we have been shooting very well and we have been going at game speed, so when it comes to the game it is almost like clockwork.

“I think a lot of players are starting to understand that. It took me a while to understand that too, so it is only natural.”

Virginia plays Monday at Maryland in a pivotal game. Seven of the league’s 12 teams have at least four wins and the Terps (16-6, 3-4) are looking to join that collection.

“It will be a huge game,” Ryan said.
 

For Perdues, Swimming Is a Family Affair
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 02/04/2010
By Jeff White

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- In August 1978, UVa promoted assistant Mark Bernardino, making him head coach of its men's and women's swimming teams.

His alma mater was not then the national power in those sports that it is now. In the beginning, average swimmers populated Bernardino's programs. But there were exceptions, such as Phil Perdue.

"He was the first great swimmer I've coached," Bernardino said. "He would have made a run for the 1980 Olympic team if the U.S. [hadn't boycotted those Games]."

Perdue was a three-time individual ACC champion at Virginia, winning the 100-yard freestyle in 1978, the 50 free in '79 and the 50 free in '80. He was an All-American in the 50 and 100 free in 1980.


Some 30 years later, another Perdue is starring for the Wahoos: his younger daughter, Lauren.

"I don't want to be jumping the gun on anything too quickly," Bernardino said, "but she's as good a first-year swimmer in the 50, 100 and 200 freestyle events as I've seen in a long time in the ACC and nationally."

Lauren, who was born in Charlottesville, already holds school records in the 50-yard free (22.40 seconds) and 100 free (48.78). She also holds the Aquatic and Fitness Center pool record in the 200 free (1:45.32), only .06 seconds slower than the school record set by Megan Evo in 2009.

"I haven't been too surprised," Phil Perdue said. "As a 12-year-old, she was already one of the top sprinters in the nation."

The Perdue presence in Bernardino's program is strong. The women's team also includes Lauren's sister, Meredith, a second-year freestyler who Bernardino said has "improved tremendously since she's been here."

The sisters are graduates of J.H. Rose High School in Greenville, N.C., where their father is an orthopedic surgeon.

Meredith's decision to swim for Virginia pleased Phil Perdue, who said he was sure Bernardino "would take care of her. I knew that she would work hard, and I know he likes hard workers."

Lauren took official visits to Georgia and Tennessee and had a trip planned to Auburn, but she never made it there. Lauren cancelled that visit after committing to UVa, where she'd attended Bernardino's camp as a girl and a school to which her parents had multiple ties.

Phil Perdue, who earned a bachelor's degree in economics in 1980, went to medical school at UVa and did his residency there as well. Tammy Perdue has two degrees from UVa's nursing school. Phil Perdue also was a graduate assistant under Bernardino for one year.

"I've always dreamed of coming here," Lauren said after a recent practice, and that Meredith already was on Grounds helped the 'Hoos' chances of landing one of the nation's most coveted recruits.

"We're very close," Lauren said. "I couldn't imagine doing anything without her."

When they were younger, Lauren said, the sisters "used to fight a lot. Now that we're in college we've matured. We push each other, and she's my best friend."

Lauren loves to surf, and she played as soccer and volleyball as a girl. Still, it was almost inevitable that she'd gravitate to swimming. Not only was her father a college standout, so was her mother, who starred at William and Mary.

"The combination of the father's genetics and the mother's genetics, they converged perfectly in their daughter," Bernardino said.

Lauren came down with mononucleosis not long after arriving at UVa last summer and missed three weeks of swimming. She recovered quickly, though, and soon established herself as the team's top sprinter.

Her best events are the 50, 100 and 200 free, and "she's equally adept in each and every one of them," Bernardino said.

In the 100 free, Lauren said, she'd been trying to break 49 seconds for about two years. In a meet Jan. 23 at North Carolina, she reached her goal, swimming 48.78 to surpass the UVa record of 48.99 set last year by Mei Christensen.

"Doing that without being rested or tapering and without a fast suit, I felt really good about," Lauren said. "I wasn't necessarily feeling that fresh going in."

Bernardino is renowned for the grueling workouts he puts his swimmers through, and the schedule "was a little bit of a shock at first," Lauren acknowledged.

In addition to training in the water, swimmers do a myriad of dry-land activities, including running, weight lifting and abdominal exercises.

"There's no question that her work ethic has improved," Bernardino said. "Sometimes when you're this good and have been this good your whole life, you take for granted your talent.

"That's one of the critical components to her long-term success: equally matching her God-given talents with a better and stronger work ethic on a daily basis."

The 'Hoos closed the regular season by whipping Pittsburgh on Jan. 30. Next up for the women are the ACC championships, Feb. 17-20 in Chapel Hill, N.C. The NCAA women's championships are March 18-20 in West Lafayette, Ind.

Under Bernardino, the 'Hoos have won 10 of the past 11 ACC men's titles. The UVa women are two-time defending ACC champions and have won seven conference crowns during Bernardino's tenure.

When he swam at UVa, Phil Perdue recalled, "it was a whole different world. We were the laughingstock of the ACC."

But Bernardino, who has collected 26 coach-of-the-year awards from the ACC, built his programs "one swimmer at a time," as Phil Perdue put it, and UVa now regularly produces All-Americans.

It will be a surprise if Lauren Perdue doesn't one day add her name to that list. She qualified for the Olympic Trials in 2008, and her times in the 50, 100 and 200 free are the fastest in the ACC this season.

"Ultimately," she said, "I want to make the Olympic team in 2012. I really want to represent my country, and I want to use this talent that God's given me for the best and see what happens."