Hagans aims to spring ahead
of Schaub at quarterback

By JOHN GALINSKY
Daily Progress staff writer

Bryson Spinner’s decision to transfer following last season made things simple, right? His departure cleared the way for Matt Schaub to become Virginia’s starting quarterback for the next year or two, didn’t it?
Not so fast. At least two close observers of the UVa football program, John Shuman and Mike Smith, believe that someone else will be taking snaps for the Cavaliers next season: Marques Hagans.
“In my mind, when he gets a chance to compete in the spring, there’s no doubt he’s going to beat out Schaub,” Shuman said. “He can throw the ball. He can avoid the rush. He can run the option. He fits what they want to do. He’s the complete package, man.”
Said Smith: “He’s going to be a great college quarterback. He’s special. Don’t get me wrong. I think Schaub is a good quarterback, too, but Marques will be a great one. He does everything so well.”
Granted, Shuman and Smith may be a little biased. After all, both coached Hagans — Smith at Hampton High and Shuman at Fork Union Military Academy — and neither has ties to Schaub. But each is well aware of what Hagans can do on a football field.
Most UVa fans are not as familiar with Hagans, who quietly beat out challengers for the No. 3 quarterback role as a freshman. He did not play a snap behind sophomores Spinner and Schaub, each of whom started six games, and ended up redshirting.
Now, with the spring practice period starting today and running until April 20, Hagans will get a chance to compete for the starting job. And while he praises Schaub and says he’s sorry Spinner left (“I lost a friend when he transferred”), it’s clear he intends to win it.
“I would have had that mentality no matter who was competing,” Hagans said. “I wasn’t disappointed to redshirt. I didn’t really have command of the offense as a whole. But with the reps coming up in the spring, I think I’ll get it down. I’m going to keep working hard and let the coaches make that decision.”
Physically, the 5-foot-10, 196-pound Hagans may not measure up to the 6-5, 226-pound Schaub, but he’s used to being the underdog.
“Everybody talks about size, but if you can make plays and win games, that’s all that matters,” Hagans said.
Which is exactly what Hagans did at Hampton and Fork Union. He lost only one game in two years as starting quarterback for the Crabbers, who he led to a state championship as a junior. He threw for 1,934 yards and 25 touchdowns as a senior, and also rushed for 671 yards. In one year at FUMA, he threw for nearly 2,000 yards and ran for 900 more.
“He gets knocked for being too short, too this, too that,” Shuman said. “But he makes up for it in a lot of ways. He’s got a strong arm, he can run around and find passing lanes, and the kid has a lot of heart. When it was time to battle with the [Division] I-A guys, we’d have two or three guys shrink back, and two or three guys who would emerge. He’d battle the big boys every time. He’s a leader.”
Smith concurs. He points to other height-challenged quarterbacks who succeeded on the collegiate level such as Georgia Tech’s Joe Hamilton, Virginia Tech’s Michael Vick and Clemson’s Woody Dantzler.
“Marques Hagans can throw the ball better than any of those guys,” Smith said. “He was a better high school quarterback than Michael Vick, no doubt about it.”
Hagans originally signed with Indiana, which recruited him to replace another successful short quarterback, Antwan Randle-El. But low SAT scores led him to enroll at Fork Union, where he met NCAA qualifying standards and generated more recruiting interest with his stellar play.
Hagans, who runs the 40-yard dash in 4.5 seconds, nearly went to Georgia as a defensive back, but that fell through when the Bulldogs’ coaching staff was fired the day after his official visit.
Instead, he ended up at Virginia, unlike his celebrated predecessor at Hampton, Ronald Curry, who committed to UVa but went to North Carolina four years ago. Smith says the two were similar as high school players.
“They both handled issues so well on the field. They never let what happened bother them. They’d just go to the next play,” Smith said. “Marques Hagans and Ronald Curry both had no fear. They never thought anything but positive thoughts when they had the ball in their hands. They gave their teammates confidence. Everyone in the huddle with them expected to get into the end zone.”
Hagans, who led Hampton to 22 straight victories, says he “learned a lot from Ronald” but did not feel pressure to fill his shoes.
“To me, I always looked at it like there was never supposed to be another Ronald Curry, so I just had to play my best and be the best I could be,” he said. “I knew I would never be able to live up to what Ronald did. All that excitement. The post-Curry era, that’s what they called it. But if I could make plays and win, I thought we wouldn’t miss a beat. The fans really accepted me when we won the state title.”
Unlike Curry, who never seemed to develop as a passer in college, Hagans says he has made big strides over the past two years. At Fork Union, offensive coordinator Skip Billingsley worked with Hagans on reading defenses as well as the rhythm and timing of the passing game. Shuman also allowed him to run the option and improvise on broken plays.
“I love Coach Shuman. He gave me the freedom to make plays,” Hagans said. “He said, ‘If you see it, make a play.’ They never doubted my judgment, that’s one thing I can say.”
Shuman says Hagans earned his trust, on and off the field.
“He’s one of my favorite guys — great player, great student, great in the barracks,” Shuman said. “He immersed himself in our program and made something of himself. He worked his tail off and got his math scores up. Then he was such a great leader on the field. He made everyone play hard around him. He had a saying. He said, ‘I play 120 percent, coach – 100 percent for me and 20 percent for someone who’s being lazy in the huddle.’”
Hagans spent last year learning Virginia’s offense under coordinator Bill Musgrave and playing on the scout team, which allowed him to mimic opposing quarterbacks, including Curry and Dantzler.
“It was a lot of fun being Ronald,” Hagans said with a smile.
Eventually, he wants to do something Curry never did — start at quarterback for the Cavaliers.
“Virginia didn’t get Ronald, but they got Marques Hagans,” Smith said. “I think they’re going to be pretty happy with him.”

Note. Virginia’s practices today, Friday and Saturday will be open to the public. The first two practices start at 2:30 p.m., while Saturday’s practice begins at 10 a.m. All of the practices are on the fields behind University Hall.

Gillen addresses UVa’s season

By ANDREW JOYNER
Daily Progress staff writer

In his first comments to the media since his team’s season ended nearly two weeks ago, UVa men’s basketball coach Pete Gillen maintained the Cavaliers’ finish to the season was, in his words, a frustrating one.
“We were 17-12 and were very disappointed by our ending. We were frustrated,” said Gillen, whose team fell to South Carolina in an opening round NIT contest at University Hall on March 13. “You have to have good things happen to you and we had some adversity that we could not completely overcome.”
The Cavaliers, who were 9-0 and ranked No. 4 in the nation on New Year’s Day, lost 10 of their last 13 games to knock them from the ranks of a probable top four seed in the NCAA tournament to a first-round NIT casualty.
The adversity of which Gillen spoke of Tuesday was primarily focused on injuries. Specifically, it was ailments to sophomore point guard Majestic Mapp and senior swingman Adam Hall. Prior to the season, it was announced that Mapp would miss a second straight season because of complications with an ACL injury in his right knee first suffered in August 2000. Then, during the season, Hall missed 11 games with a foot injury.
“We got hurt early in the season when Majestic Mapp, our scheduled point guard, did not play because his injury had not healed. We lost Adam Hall for a number of games with injury. That happens to every team. Some can overcome it and some can’t,” Gillen said.
According to Gillen, Mapp’s loss was particular damaging because it forced the Cavaliers to play the entire season without a veteran point guard. Instead, Virginia had to rely on normal shooting guard Roger Mason or freshman Keith Jenifer to run the team from the point.
While Gillen did not criticize the efforts of either player in their efforts at the point, he did note that the absence of a “veteran” point guard was a weakness ultimately exploited by opponents.
“Once we got into the league, our deficiencies and weaknesses became more exploited and certainly our lack of experience at the point guard position was one of them,” Gillen said. “We were a young team and sometimes you need a veteran point guard to hold things together.”
With Mapp, Rutgers transfer Todd Billet and Jenifer expected to solidify the UVa backcourt next season, some of the issues would in theory be relieved. Of course, Gillen spent significant time addressing just who will be that trio’s potential backcourt mate.
Junior Roger Mason Jr., who was a second-team All-ACC selection and led the Cavaliers in scoring (18.7 ppg), said numerous times toward the end of the season that he intended to return to UVa for his senior season. Mason very carefully began such statements by saying at that particular moment he intended to return. It appears now that Mason is at least surveying his NBA possibilities if not testing them.
“We’ve talked. Like any good player, he’s going to look and see what’s going on. We’ll talk and continue to talk. He’s got to do what’s best for him,” said Gillen, who said that classmate, 6-foot-7 forward Travis Watson, was not contemplating similar NBA possibilities at this time. “He’s gathering information and as a talented player he should look at it. We’ll go step by step with him. He’s going to take his time and see what’s best for him and his family.”
Gillen was not willing Tuesday to make any predictions about the guard’s future at UVa or in the NBA.
“I don’t want to put any words on it right now. He’s looking at the situation and he’s evaluating it. That’s all I can say right now. Anything can happen,” Gillen said. “We’ve talked and he’s said, ‘Coach, I’m going to look at my options.’ That’s all he’s said. … Some guys will look and come back and some guys will go. He wants to look at all his options.”
Gillen also briefly addressed several rumors that one or two of his players are exploring transfer options at the moment.
“No, not right now. Once again, anything can happen,” Gillen said. “People have left other schools in the ACC already and at other places, that’s the landscape unfortunately, but right now I have no indication of that.”
No matter what roster Gillen will have for next season, that team’s defense will have to be a major point of emphasis for the 2002-2003 season. The Cavaliers allowed their last seven opponents to shoot at least 50 percent from the floor and were seventh in the ACC in field-goal percentage defense, allowing opponents to shoot 44.2 percent against them for the season.
“We certainly have to look at it. Our defense was certainly not good at the end of the year. We played good teams but they shot good percentages against us. We have to look at our philosophy,” Gillen said. “We are certainly going to press and run but we are certainly going to look at some things. You always have to evaluate and re-evaluate things. I’ll take the blame for our slip at the end of the year. There were reasons for it but I’m the head coach and we have to do a better job.”
Gillen, who also noted Tuesday that he felt his team never completely got over a late-game collapse to Maryland at U-Hall on Jan. 31, that his own coaching tactics might change next season.
“I have to demand more of them. I have to tighten the bolts a little more. We have to be more demanding and tougher on them. We can hug them but we also have to be more demanding of them,” Gillen said. “We had good players and should have done better than 17-12 but we didn’t. Sometimes it’s the mix and the youth. You need leadership on the court. Roger and Travis did a solid job as did our two seniors, but we needed even more from them.”

Notes. Virginia, which has one scholarship remaining because of the transfer of swingman Maurice Young to St. Bonaventure in December, is among the finalists for 6-foot-5 swingman Devin Smith of Coffeyville Community College in Kansas. Smith, a native of New Castle, Del., led Coffeyville with nearly 19.0 points per game this past season as a freshman. Smith, whose older brother, Steve, was also a member of the Coffeyville squad, was a full qualifier out of William Penn High School in Delaware and would have three years remaining at whichever school he would transfer to. UVa, along with Kansas, Iowa, Illinois and UNLV, is among the current suitors for Smith. … Adam Hall is scheduled to compete in the slam dunk competition at the 14th annual college Slam Dunk and Three-Point Basketball Championships tonight in Atlanta. The competition will be held at the Georgia State University Sports Arena.
Hall, a 6-5 forward/guard from Katy, Texas, averaged 9.7 points and 4.6 rebounds a game for the Cavaliers this past season.

UVA NOTES
Mason looking at option of NBA

By DOUG DOUGHTY
THE ROANOKE TIMES

     Virginia men's basketball coach Pete Gillen, speaking to the media for the first time since the end of the season, acknowledged Tuesday that leading scorer Roger Mason Jr. has spoken to him about a possible jump to the NBA.

    "Like any good young player, he's going to see what's going on," Gillen said. "He's got to do what's best for him. We're gathering information; he's gathering information. As a talented player, he should look at it.

    "Anything could happen. He certainly could leave. He said, 'Coach, I'm going to look at my options.' That's all he said. Some guys will look and come back, like Keith Bogans and Tayshaun Prince last year at Kentucky. Some guys will look and go."

    Mason, a 6-foot-4 junior from Silver Spring, Md., averaged 18.6 points and led the Cavaliers in scoring for the second year in a row. He also led the team in assists, with 119, after moving to point guard following an off-season injury to Majestic Mapp.

    Gillen said that a second prominent UVa junior, center Travis Watson, is not thinking about the NBA at this point. Nor has any other underclassmen mentioned the possibility of transferring, Gillen added.

    "Once again, anything could happen," Gillen said. "People have left other schools in the ACC already and transfers are part of the landscape, unfortunately, but right now I have no indication of that."

    If nobody leaves, Gillen has one scholarship at his disposal and is prepared to fill it, although he declined to say what direction the Cavaliers' recruiting is taking.

    One prospect who has attracted UVa's interest is Devin Smith, a 6-5 wing player from New Castle, Del., who is in his first year at Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College.

    Smith, named junior-college freshman of the year by one service, was a Division I qualifier out of high school and has indicated he will transfer to a Division I school after this season.

    POSSIBLE CHANGES: In a question-and-answer session that was cut short after 10-12 minutes, Gillen addressed the Cavaliers' defensive shortcomings, which resulted in UVa's last seven opponents shooting 50 percent or better.

    "We played some good teams, but our defense was not good at the end of the year," Gillen said. "We've got to look at our philosophy. We're certainly going to press and run, but we're going to have to look at certain things."

    Analysts have pointed to Maryland as a team that didn't start advancing deep into the NCAA Tournament until it developed a sound half-court defense. The Terrapins' Gary Williams was another coach who came into the league preaching a 94-foot game.

    "I'll take the blame for our slip at the end of the year," said Gillen, whose team lost 10 of its last 13 games in finishing 17-12. "We've got to improve things [and] talk to people. I have to do a better job of that.

    "We certainly can't put up with that kind of poor performance at the defensive end. We had a young team, without a veteran point guard, and sometimes they did things their own way. I've got to demand more of them. I've got to be tougher."

    SPRING CLEANING: Walk-on defensive back Alex Seals is one of four fifth-year seniors on the roster that UVa will send out today for the start of spring football practice. The Cavaliers had 16 fifth-year seniors last year in their first season under head coach Al Groh.

    Gone from the season-ending roster are 10 players with remaining eligibility, of whom the most prominent are starters or part-time starters Bryson Spinner at quarterback, Arlen Harris at tailback and Tavon Mason at wide receiver.

    Mason made himself available for the NFL Draft, and Harris transferred to Division I-AA Hofstra. Freshman tight end Tyree Spinner also left the program and is expected to join his brother, Bryson, at a destination still to be determined.

    NCAA CONTENDERS: Nobody in Division I men's lacrosse has played a tougher schedule than Virginia, which lost its opener to then-No.1 Syracuse and has since reeled off victories over unranked Drexel, No.4 Princeton, No.19 Notre Dame, No.9 Towson and No.1 Johns Hopkins.

    "I'm told that somebody wrote that Virginia could lose its first 10 games and still be one of the top 15 teams in the country," said Dom Starsia, whose 12-6 victory over Johns Hopkins on Saturday was his seventh over a No.1 team.

    "I also read something to the effect that, 'If Virginia winds up 3-3 [after the first six games], they should be pretty pleased.' If you had offered me 3-3, I don't know if I would have taken it, but I probably would have taken 4-2."

    DOING THEIR THING: No teams at Virginia come closer to reaching their potential on a regular basis than men's and women's swimming, with the women taking 12th last weekend at the NCAA Championships in Austin, Texas.

    The Cavaliers, who beat ACC champion North Carolina in the process, have had three straight 12th-place finishes after a 10th in 1999. Juniors Cara Lane from Charlotte, N.C., and Mirjana Bosevkska from Skopje, Macedonia, were named first-team All-Americans.

    The Cavaliers will send 10 representatives to the NCAA men's championships this weekend in Athens, Ga. UVa was 11th in the Sears' Directors Cup after the fall and could score well in swimming and lacrosse, with the women's lacrosse team coming off a victory over No.3 North Carolina.

Cavalier Daily Sports Editor

With the country's attention focused on the Final Four and the ACC's own Maryland Terrapins, many college sports stories tend to slip through the cracks. One such tale is the upcoming NFL Draft. While Mel Kiper Jr. and his ilk offer up just about the best coverage possible of the pre-draft jockeying - which begs the question, what does Mel do for the rest of the year? - the story of the draft is not just that of Ashley Lelie's speed and the David Carr-Joey Harrington dilemma. One of the best - and most star-crossed - stories in the draft is right here in Charlottesville in Virginia's own Antwoine Womack.

You read Antwoine Womack's biography and wonder if he threw away a chain letter. He has gone from Virginia's top high school player, the subject of an intense recruiting battle between Virginia and Penn State, to a player who may not even be drafted. His senior year, when he was supposed to make up for lost time, turned into a year spent on the sidelines, watching and biding his time. Now Womack waits. He waits for April 20, the day of the NFL draft, to see if a team will take a flyer on a talented but injury-prone running back with a checkered past.

Womack's fame began in his high school days at Phoebus High in Hampton, where he was the first football player in school history to have his number retired. He finished his career as the Virginia Group AAA all-time leading rusher with 5,570 yards and was named the state's top football prospect his senior season.

But besides finding stardom, the drama also began for Antwoine Womack as a high school student. Penn State's Joe Paterno, now the winningest coach in college football history, wanted him. So did former Virginia coach George Welsh. Womack chose Penn State - at first. Then he decided he wanted to play for Virginia. His de-committment sparked rumors of a rift between friends Welsh and Paterno that persisted until the Cavaliers scheduled Penn State for the 2001 and 2002 football seasons. The recruiting battle started Womack's Virginia career on a bad note and foreshadowed the trouble that would follow him throughout his time as a Cavalier.

Womack was a success on the field almost immediately, backing up all-time leading rusher Thomas Jones and leading the team in rushing in one game. His sophomore season saw him finish sixth in the conference in rushing and make second-team all-ACC without even starting a game.

However, his personal life began to cause problems, as he was convicted of assault during his freshman year for feeling a woman's rear end at a party. Less than a year later, Womack was convicted of misdemeanor assault for his role in a fight. The second charge caused him to miss the 1999 football season. Rumors spread throughout the Charlottesville community that neither charge was legitimate.

Despite the success of his sophomore season in 1998, Womack's junior season was truly his coming-out party. Even after a year's layoff, in his first season as the Cavaliers' starter he exploded for an ACC-best 1,028 yards and nine touchdowns. He earned first-team All-ACC honors for his efforts and received Virginia's Outstanding Offensive Player Award. He became a fan favorite and even offered up some interesting sound bites when he claimed that he switched numbers, from 8 to 1, because 1 "looked faster."

The 2001 season was shaping up to be Womack's best as a Cavalier. A new coach, Al Groh, had re-energized the program, and Womack was ready to lead the new-look Cavaliers. All of that changed in the first quarter of the season opener against Wiscon-

sin when Womack slipped on the wet artificial turf, sprained his ankle and was lost for several games.

Despite the severity of his high-ankle injury, Womack returned for the Georgia Tech game and helped spark the Virginia comeback that culminated with Bryson Spinner's hook-and-ladder pass to Billy McMullen and Alvin Pearman. Womack also led the Cavalier comeback against Penn State in his final game in a Virginia uniform, rushing for 153 yards on 31 carries - both season highs for Virginia players - and answering those who doubted the health of his ankle.

The future now looked bright again for Womack. He had shown his talent at the end of the season and put himself in position to be picked in the NFL Draft, possibly on the first day.

Womack was set to improve his draft position even further in the Rotary Gridiron Classic in Orlando, Fla. The senior all-star game was his last chance to showcase his skills for the NFL.

And it backfired. Womack carried only one time in the game, for minus-one yard, and tore his anterior cruciate ligament in the process. In one play, Womack had fallen from a probable third-round pick in the draft to possibly not being drafted at all.

So Antwoine Womack waits. He waits to see if his injuries and his past will keep him from achieving his football dreams. He waits to see if an NFL team will take a chance on him. His talent is undeniable. All he needs is one more chance to show it off.

 

Blue Devils were fruit ripe for picking
Like its coach, Duke was limping and hip-deep in trouble late in season

By Lenox Rawlings
JOURNAL COLUMNIST

Lenox Rawlings E-mail | Bio

The long basketball season eventually unmasks everyone's weaknesses. Once uncovered, those flaws can end a title run faster than you can name Indiana's new coach.

Duke spent the winter favored to repeat as champion despite curious losses to Florida State and Virginia. When Kansas faltered in the Big XII final, the Blue Devils swiped the No. 1 ranking while riding home with the ACC trophy, creating the perception that Duke would rise to the NCAA occasion. The perception hardened after the committee put Duke in the Soft Region.

No. 2 Alabama and No. 4 Southern Cal disappeared quickly, and laboring Duke repelled Notre Dame. The Blue Devils' march on Atlanta seemed inevitable as they bolted to a 17-point lead over Indiana (which was the same lead they wasted against Kentucky in the last 10 minutes of the '99 South final).

Midway through the second half, Jason Williams threatened to snap Indiana's spirit. He intercepted a pass on the dead run, bound for a 14-point lead, but Dane Fife distracted him. Williams carelessly flipped the layup onto the rim.

He blew the bunny, and everything unraveled.

Indiana's offense kept pounding the ball inside, where smooth Jared Jeffries and mechanical Jarrad Odle beat the blue britches off Carlos Boozer and Mike Dunleavy. With 4.2 seconds left, Williams missed a tying free throw. Jeffries hammered the ball out of Boozer's hands and Indiana danced to the tune of 74-73.

Three days later, with disbelief still swirling around the Gothic spires of Buck Duke's college, the national conversation has turned to a possible Kansas-Maryland showdown in the semifinals.

The same night Duke lost, Missouri defeated UCLA. Quin Snyder, a former Duke point guard and top assistant coach, thus made the West final. Mike Krzyzewski, three times a champ, limped back to Durham, awaiting a new hip to match the other new hip he got in 1999.

TV cameras turned to Snyder, who has perpetually young hair and old eyes, the sockets dark from too much videotape and too little sleep.

"It's always strange when Duke loses," Snyder said.

The potential elements of that defeat existed all year. Duke couldn't replace Shane Battier's leadership or interior defense. Duke couldn't always pull off the trick of relying on quick 3-pointers.

Out of gas

Krzyzewski once co-authored a book entitled A Season Is A Lifetime. At the end of this season's lifetime, flimsy support for Boozer and declining energy took the bite out of Duke's defense and rebounding. The Blue Devils insisted that tired legs did not do them in, but Indiana gobbled up long rebounds and loose balls. Dunleavy looked pale and exhausted as Odle beat him to the rim for five baskets in four minutes.

Duke ran out of gas, which was reflected in shooting percentages of 39 against North Carolina in the ACC Tournament, 39 against Notre Dame and 40 against Indiana. Williams hit 11 of 37 shots in his last two games, and Dunleavy hit 8 of 24.

Haggard at the end, the 2002 Blue Devils evoked memories of the 2000 team. Battier and Chris Carrawell vowed to overcome the early pro departures of Elton Brand, Corey Maggette and William Avery. They did, before eventually running into deeper, fresher Florida in the East semifinals.

The loss to Florida hardly approached the magnitude of the upset by Indiana (which paralleled No. 1 North Carolina's loss to Indiana in the 1984 East semifinals, the night Dean Smith made Michael Jordan sit forever with two fouls).

Few Duke losses ever ended in such rancor. The Blue Devils screamed for a foul on Boozer's follow shot. Boozer missed, and his flailing tip went awry as the horn sounded. While Indiana reserves streamed onto the floor at one end, the refs headed toward the exit at the other end, near the Duke bench.

Matt Christensen, a 24-year-old senior who had spent two years on Mormon missions, screamed as he approached referee Bruce Benedict, the former Atlanta Braves catcher. The NCAA is investigating whether Christensen bumped Benedict and whether a policeman had to pull Christensen off Benedict. Coach K noticed the commotion and limped into the mob, extracting Christensen before searching the cluttered court to shake Coach Mike Davis' hand.

When Christensen entered home games, the students chanted: "The Monster's out of the cage." He was a gentle monster off the court, a perceptive judge of his teammates and a sharp student majoring in economics and civil engineering. His father is a Harvard economist and author. The day before the game against Indiana, while some players granted interviews, Christensen read a book in front of his locker.

His temperamental exit threw a new wrench into the wrenching defeat. Duke, ducking behind official statements, has declined to shed light on the incident.

Krzyzewski handled the upset by portraying himself as a 55-year-old veteran who needs surgery, the image suggesting that some things matter more than winning. Few courtiers in his entourage buy that view.

The players reiterated Coach K's public pronouncement that Duke would not protest any calls. Guard Chris Duhon led the chorus repeating the coach's locker room message. "He basically said we're not going let this loss ruin a great year for us," Duhon said. "We accomplished some amazing things throughout this year. We're not going to allow one loss to ruin all that. He basically said you can't win all the time. Even when everyone expects you to win, you can't win all the time.

"He wants us to handle this loss as champions. We're always going to be champions, and we're going to handle the loss like champions."

Duke loses Williams, Boozer

Next winter, the team must handle the loss of pros Williams and Boozer. Dunleavy has led folks to believe that he will return, but he hasn't made a final decision. A large and talented recruiting class should ease the transition, unless test scores and behavior issues reduce class size.

Even so, the Blue Devils must catch their breath and then develop a new personality before regaining the same perch they held when Indiana turned out the lights.

 

 

U.Va.'s Mason hasn't ruled out NBA


By Dave Johnson
Daily Press

Published March 27, 2002

Roger Mason Jr., Virginia's leading scorer last season as a junior, is exploring the possibility of entering the NBA Draft a year early, Cavaliers coach Pete Gillen said Tuesday.

Mason, who averaged 18.9 points a game, told reporters as late as March 7 that his plans were to remain in school. But apparently, he has not ruled out leaving.

"Like any good young player, he's going to look and see what's going on," Gillen said. "We've talked about it, and he's got to do what's best for him. We're gathering information (and) he's gathering information. As a talented player, he should look at it. He's going to, and we'll go step by step with that.

"He's certainly a talented player and he's going to take his time and see what's best for him and his family. All I can say is he's looking at the situation and evaluating it. Anything can happen. He certainly could leave."

If he did, Mason would become the first Virginia player since guard Cory Alexander in 1995 to apply early for the draft. It's hard to judge Mason's stock. One online publication, nbadraft.com, projects him going 16th in a mock draft to Philadelphia.

NCAA rules allow players who declare early to change their minds before the draft provided they haven't signed with an agent. Then-Kentucky juniors Keith Bogans and Tayshawn Prince took that route last year, returning to school shortly after playing in Chicago.

Asked if junior Travis Watson was considering an early exit, Gillen said the ACC's leading rebounder "is not thinking about that right now." Gillen also addressed rumors that one or more underclassmen might transfer to other schools. "Transfers are a part of the landscape," Gillen said, "but right now there's no indication of that."