Youth movement benefits Cavaliers
By JOHN GALINSKY
Daily Progress staff writer
The Virginia men’s and women’s lacrosse teams are accustomed to competing
for national championships. Neither came close last year, but both are back in
the hunt this season thanks to an extraordinary group of freshmen.
The similarities between the two programs are uncanny. Each had a down year in
2001.
The women went 11-7 and lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament — their
worst season in Julie Myers’ six years as head coach. The men went 7-7 and
also fell in the opening round of the NCAAs — their worst season in Dom
Starsia’s nine years as head coach.
But both Myers and Starsia reeled in what may be the nation’s best recruiting
class in their respective sports. Now, with freshmen scoring in bunches and
making valuable contributions all over the field, each program has been
revitalized.
The women, who face Temple today at Klockner Stadium, are 7-2 and ranked No. 4
in the country. The men, who play at No. 5 Maryland, are 5-1 and ranked No. 2.
Both games start at 1 p.m.
“We’re probably ahead of where I thought we’d be at this time of year,”
Starsia said. “But a lot of that is because our young players have come along
faster than I might have anticipated.”
A pair of attackmen, John Christmas and Joe Yevoli, have made a huge impact for
the Cavaliers. Christmas is tied for first on the team in points with 20, while
Yevoli leads the team in goals (17) and is third in points (19). They are the
main reason Virginia has improved its scoring average from last year’s 10.4
goals per game to 13.0.
“At this level, for freshmen to be able to step in and produce like this is
rare,” UVa assistant coach Marc Van Arsdale said. “Particularly for
attackmen, it’s difficult. It requires more technical skill and
decision-making, but they have made the adjustment and are playing at a very
high level.”
Same goes for Amy Appelt and Cary Chasney. They are second and third,
respectively, on the UVa women’s team in scoring. Moreover, Appelt leads all
college freshmen with 33 points. Chasney is right behind with 29. The Cavaliers
are averaging 14.1 goals, two more than last year.
“They’ve been awesome,” said junior midfielder Lauren Aumiller, who leads
the team and is second nationally with 51 points. “They have such great speed
and stick skills, they make everyone better. We have a fast break now.”
Both head coaches say the freshmen have benefited from playing with experienced
players who don’t begrudge their talent. That includes Aumiller and Conor
Gill, both of whom were first-team All-Americans last season.
Gill is second in the nation with 17 assists, many of which have gone to
Christmas and Yevoli.
“There’s no question it could have been an awkward situation, but Conor and
the freshmen have made it work,” Starsia said. “Conor has taken John and Joe
under his wing, and they have demonstrated a certain respect for Conor and the
coaching staff. All of that stuff has gone a little better than I could have
hoped.”
The impact of Christmas and Appelt has not been a surprise. Both were considered
the nation’s top recruit in their sport coming out of high school, and each
showed why last Saturday at Klockner. Christmas had four goals and three assists
in Virginia’s 12-6 victory over then-No. 1 Johns Hopkins.
Appelt scored five goals in UVa’s 11-8 triumph over then-No. 3 North Carolina.
But in a pleasant surprise, Yevoli and Chasney have been almost exactly as
productive as their more-celebrated teammates. Both teams also have received
significant help from freshmen at other positions.
For the men, Jack deVilliers is the primary faceoff specialist, while Jared
Little (three goals) and Nathan Kenney are running on the second midfield unit.
Elizabeth Pinney has been a stalwart on defense for the women, while fellow
defender Ashley Dodson has played well off the bench.
Scoring punch. Depth. Defense. The freshmen have added those things for both
teams, but that’s not all. Coaches and teammates say they also have provided a
welcome breath of fresh air to each program.
“Not only have they done an amazing job of coming in and adding to the team,
they’ve set a tone for everyone else,” said senior defender Tiffany Schummer
of the female freshmen, though the same could apply to the men. “They’re
quick and tough-minded and mentally focused. They work their behinds off out
there and they make everyone else work harder. They’re great to be around
every day.”
Linemen emerging in junior class
By DOUG
DOUGHTY
Exclusive to roanoke.com by 5 p.m. Fridays
What do Virginia Tech football teammates Grant Noel and DeAngelo Hall have in common with Hokies' recruits Nic Schmitt and Aaron Rouse?
Answer: All had made oral commitments to Tech by Feb. 15 of their junior years in high school.
So, what's taking the Hokies so long this year?
"We were talking about that just the other day," Hokies' recruiting coordinator Jim Cavanaugh said Friday.
Frankly, few programs do have commitments at this point and it is little cause for alarm that Tech doesn't have its first for the entering class of 2003-2004. Neither does Virginia, which got its first commitment last year from Damian Spradlin on April 23.
Generally speaking, the first players to commit are the ones who are unlikely to receive dozens of offers.
The exception, in this case, was Hall. He ended up as one of the top five prospects in the state despite committing Jan. 4 of his junior year at Deep Creek High School in Chesapeake.
More common is the situation that existed with Rouse, who was named defensive player of the year in the Beach District but was a late addition to The Roanoke Times Top 25. Because he committed so early, there was a perception that he wasn't highly coveted.
Rouse and Hall both played for Virginia Tech graduates, David Cox at Deep Creek and Sam Scarborough at First Colonial, and may have had greater familiarity with the Tech program than most juniors. Schmitt has a brother who went to Tech.
THE WINSTON-SALEM JOURNAL reported that Virginia and Wake Forest had offered scholarships to Rocky Mount, N.C., wide receiver Mike Mason before he committed earlier this week to North Carolina. Mason (6 feet, 175 pounds) had 66 receptions for 975 yards and eight touchdowns as a junior.
N.C. State has a pair of football commitments, the latest from Yomi Ojo, a 6-5, 310-pound offensive tackle from Southeast Raleigh (N.C.) High School. Coach Chad O'Shea told the News & Observer that Ojo will be one of the top prospects in the state. Ojo is playing lacrosse in an effort to improve his footwork.
DIVISION I-A RECRUITERS are starting to pay attention to Matt Miller, a junior at Atlee High School, where he has started 30 consecutive games at offensive tackle and the last 20 at defensive tackle.
Miller has better than a 4.0 grade-point average at Atlee, located just east of Richmond in Hanover County. Miller hasn't received any offers but has been to Wake Forest unofficially and has received correspondence from UVa, Tech, Maryland, Penn State and Richmond.
Miller likes Penn State and coach Terry Meekins says he'll "be disappointed if Matt doesn't get a scholarship from a Division I program. I think he's an ACC or Big 10-level kid." National powers might want their offensive linemen a little taller, as Miller realized last summer at Michigan's camp, "where there were tons of kids who were 6-5, 6-6 or 6-7," Meekins said.
The Atlee coach thinks he has a sleeper in Jackie DeShazo, a 6-1, 180-pound wide receiver and cornerback who made second-team all-district last year. DeShazo, who came to attention as a track athlete, had 20 receptions as a junior and scored five touchdowns on reverses.
FOOTBALL PROGRAMS IN SEARCH of big linemen will want to stop at William Fleming in Roanoke, where coach Keith Smith can show them 6-6, 295-pound William Quirk, 6-5, 320-pound Chavis Fochtman and 6-5, 315-pound Chase Grogan.
Quirk has the most ground to cover academically, but he has the best feet, with a time of 5.2 seconds for 40 yards. Fochtman is an honor student but he and Grogan both fall in the 5.5-second range for 40 yards.
One of the best players I've seen at Fleming in the past two seasons is 6-3, 210-pound linebacker Marcus Williams but Williams is another Colonel who may have trouble qualifying.
LEE-STAUNTON COACH David Tibbs says that Arthur Jensen, a 6-4, 250-pound offensive and defensive tackle, is "as good as the kid who's playing at Virginia." Tibbs is referring to another lineman he coached at Lee, Cavs' defensive end Larry Simmons.
Jensen, an academic qualifier with a 3.3 grade-point average, runs the 40 in 5.1 seconds. Tibbs also recommends Vic Rosen, a 6-1, 235-pound offensive tackle and defensive end who runs well (5.0) but lacks Jensen's height. Rosen, also a qualifier, is a 300-pound bench-presser.
DEVIN SMITH, PERHAPS the most attractive prospect coming out of the junior-college ranks this year has led the Virginia staff to believe he will take a recruiting visit to Charlottesville this spring.
Smith, originally from New Castle, Del., averaged 18.4 points for Coffeyville Community College and scored a team-high 25 in the National Junior College Athletic Association championship game, won by Dixie State College for the second year in a row, 82-81.
That snapped a 29-game winning streak for Coffeyville, which finished 36-2.
Coffeyville got 16 points from Smith's older brother, Steve, who joined his younger brother on the all-tournament team. The Smiths are both in the 6-foot-5 range, but Steve is an inside player and has not drawn as much interest as his brother. Schools are not getting the indication that they must take Steve to get Devin..
Iowa has been on Devin Smith as long as anybody and has a tie with Coffeyville, the alma mater of Hawkeyes' star Reggie Evans. While proximity to home is a factor in UVa's favor, it is said that playing time will be a major factor in Devin Smith's decision.
A REPORT IN the Greenville (S.C.) News said that Julian Betko, a 6-5 Slovakian who averaged 22.8 points and 8.7 rebounds this past season in Sharon, Pa., picked Clemson over Virginia and Ohio State and credited the intensity of the Tigers' recruiting effort.
Betko, who shot 58 percent on 3-pointers, is the second outside threat to commit to another ACC school after reportedly considering UVa. The other was 6-4 Justin Flatt from Savannah, Tenn.
It could not be determined Friday to what extent the Cavaliers recruited either Betko or Flatt, but they have only one scholarship available and would not have wanted to jeopardize their chances with Smith at this point.
Betko joins a Clemson team hurting for outside shooting with the announcement that sophomore guard Tony Stockman intends to transfer.
U.VA. NOTES
MOVING ON? University of Virginia men's basketball coach Pete Gillen could lose his top assistant.
Tommy Herrion, 34, is a candidate for the top job at the College of Charleston in South Carolina, where John Kresse built one of the nation's premier mid-major programs. Kresse recently retired after compiling a 560-143 record in 23 seasons with the Cougars.
"Having been in the South and the ACC for four years, I have an even bigger appreciation for the success they've had at Charleston," Herrion said yesterday in Atlanta, site of the Final Four.
A native of Oxford, Mass., Herrion has been with Gillen for eight seasons, the first four at Providence. The College of Charleston lost to Providence in the 1995 NIT, and Herrion said he's followed the career of Kresse, "because he's a New York guy."
Herrion's brother, Bill, is the coach at East Carolina. Their late father, Jim, was an assistant at Holy Cross and coach at Worchester Polytechnic Institute. Tommy Herrion also was a candidate for the Siena job last year.
Others candidates for the Charleston job include Ohio State assistant Paul Biancardi and Maryland assistant Dave Dickerson.
HARD AT WORK: Former Virginia basketball player Jason Williford recently ended his second season as assistant coach at Boston University, which lost to Cincinnati in the NCAA tournament's first round this month.
Coaching has "been great," said Williford, a graduate of Richmond's John Marshall High. He added with a laugh, "God knows, I had no idea you had to put in these type of hours."
Williford was a starting forward for the Virginia team that advanced to the NCAA tourney's Elite Eight in 1995. His boss at BU is former U.Va. assistant Dennis Wolff, who was in Charlottesville for Williford's first three seasons.
NO MORE MR. NICE GUY? Gillen, whose team lost 10 of its final 13 games this season and got bounced from the NIT in the first round, said his players were "coachable." He added, though, that "sometimes young guys try to do things on their own. I've got to demand more of them. We've got to tighten the bolts more on discipline."
GOOD COMPANY: U.Va.'s seven counterparts in the 2002 Maui Invitational will include four teams that made the NCAA tournament this season: Indiana, Kentucky, Gonzaga and Utah. Also playing Nov. 25-27 will be Arizona State, Massachusetts and host Chaminade. First-round pairings have not yet been announced.
Two of the four teams in Atlanta this weekend have played in recent Maui Invitationals: Maryland in 2000 and Kansas in 2001.
CANDIDATE FOR CLONING: Kevin Bailey compares very favorably to other offensive linemen in the ACC, said Virginia football coach Al Groh.
"I think Kevin Bailey is one of the best tackles in this league, and I think he's one of the best centers in this league," Groh said. "In that respect, he's our two best linemen. He's going to practice at both positions. Where he ends up is going to be determined by the performance of others."
Bailey, a 6-6, 300-pound rising junior, started eight games at tackle and three at center in 2001.
INJURY REPORT: Shernard Newby, a starter at safety last season, had surgery on his right shoulder in January and won't take part in contact drills this spring. Bryan Smith, who had hoped to contend for the starting place-kicker's job, had knee surgery recently and will miss spring practice. Jonathan Ward, the likely starter at fullback, is recovering from a concussion but should begin to start practicing soon.
Two key reserves who had season-ending knee operations early last season, linebacker Rich Bedesem and fullback Brandon Isaiah, have been cleared to practice, Groh said.
SHARING THE GLORY: U.Va.'s Conor Gill scored 26 goals in 2000 and 15 last season, when he repeated as a first-team All-American in lacrosse. Gill, a senior attackman, has only three goals this season, but he leads the nation in assists with 17. The Cavaliers' other starting attackmen - freshmen Joe Yevoli and John Christmas - have 17 and 12 goals, respectively.
Second-ranked Virginia (5-1) visits No.5 Maryland (6-1) today at 1 p.m. The Cavaliers' lone loss was to top-ranked Syracuse. -Jeff White