NIT site choice not a surprise
By Andrew Joyner / Daily Progress staff writer
March 20, 2004

Put Virginia coach Pete Gillen among those not too

surprised the Cavaliers are playing today at Villanova in a second-round NIT game.

Gillen, a Brooklyn native and former Big East coach at Providence, knows the way the NIT committee operates and when his team was assigned to Villanova today, he hardly batted an eyelash.

“It’s the powers that be. The hierarchy wanted Villanova to play at home. The people at Madison Square Garden have a vote of who goes where and they wanted it. When in doubt, the Big East team usually gets the home game. It’s an Eastern tournament and I have no problem with that,” Gillen said Friday. “I’m only disappointed for our fans. We had a great atmosphere here the other night. … We’re just thrilled to still be playing.”

Gillen said that he hasn’t spent too much time worrying about the decision.

“I’m not going to waste one ounce of energy moaning and begrudging it because I need all the energy I have to help us find a way to beat Villanova,” Gillen said.

Villanova, coached by former Hofstra coach Jay Wright, is making its fifth straight NIT appearance. The Wildcats (17-16) defeated Drexel 85-70 Wednesday to reach today’s game. The Wildcats have won three of their last four games including victories over NCAA entrants Seton Hall and Providence in last week’s Big East tournament.

“Villanova certainly has an outstanding team and they have been playing very well lately. They’ve beaten Providence and Seton Hall recently and both those teams are in the NCAA tournament,” Gillen said. “They almost beat Connecticut at the end of the season so they are playing very well. … It will be a big challenge.”

Of course, Gillen’s own team has been playing well of late as well. The Cavaliers have won six of their last nine games after defeating George Washington 79-66 in Wednesday’s contest at University Hall. Probably most pleasing to Gillen is that the Cavaliers seemed enthused, not dismayed about playing in the not-their-tournament-of-choice in the opening game Wednesday.

“They played with great energy and great excitement. They really didn’t want the season to end. I was really thrilled with that effort and determination. We played a pretty good game. We had a few too many turnovers [18] but the effort was good and all I can ask for is the effort and teamwork,” Gillen said.

Added freshman guard J.R. Reynolds: “We’re taking advantage of the opportunity to play in the postseason and we are going to make the best of it. A lot of teams aren’t playing anymore and we are.”
 

Is Gillen's talk worth a road win?
By Jerry Ratcliffe / Daily Progress sports editor
March 20, 2004

The old coaches will tell you that one of the greatest lessons to be learned in postseason play is the one about how to win away from home.

This morning’s game at “The Cathouse,” where Pete Gillen is Oh-for-Life, will provide a worthy test to Virginia’s young squad in the second round of the NIT. Winning on the road has not been one of the Cavaliers’ strengths this season or during Gillen’s six-year ownership of the program.

However, things may have shifted several weeks ago when junior center Elton Brown said that Gillen and his coaching staff might have finally broken through to the players.

Message produces results

The Cavaliers appeared lost until the head coach rallied the troops. Gillen’s fiery message came just before Virginia’s trip to Duke, where they played well against the then-No. 1 ranked Blue Devils, who had not lost at home in more than two seasons.

Later, UVa won at Clemson and had Maryland down 11 early in the second half at College Park before Gary Williams challenged his team to defend the house. The Cavs defeated Clemson again in the ACC tournament at Greens-boro before bowing out with another solid performance against Duke.

Brown said that Gillen kept the team motivated rather than giving up on the team, which helped the Cavaliers salvage their season leading up to today’s 11 a.m. start at Villanova.

“All season he had been talking to us, but we didn’t really listen to what he was saying until before the Duke game,” Brown said. “Once we really heard what he said and we started playing better, we thought, ‘Hey, maybe we should pay more attention.’”

Some postseason success

Certainly Gillen is well schooled in winning on the road and in postseason play. His Xavier teams were known as giant-killers in postseason. At Providence, his Friars sent one of Duke’s best teams back to Durham prematurely.

Now, he’s hoping to survive and advance against yet another Big East team in the NIT. Big East opponents, champion St. John’s last year, and Georgetown have ousted UVa in two previous NIT appearances.

“It’s tough to beat any Big East team on the road,” said Gillen. “Villanova is traditionally tough at home.”

Pete should know. He sat alongside Rollie Massiminio for a couple of years as an assistant at the Philly suburb school. While at Xavier, his team lost its only game at Villanova’s place and while at fellow Big East member, Providence, his teams were “Oh-for-the-Cathouse,” as Gillen put it.

However, the Cavs might catch a bit of a break today. The Wildcats drew only 3,200 to the 7,000-seat facility for Wednesday night’s come-from-behind win over cross-city rival Drexel. Nova has not been quite as tough at home this year as in years past.

During Coach Jay Wright’s era, the Cats are 28-8 at the

Pavilion, but dropped two of their last three regular season games at home this season as they went 7-4 at home.

This Virginia team doesn’t seem to require as many wake-up calls as last year’s, perhaps due to its youth. The freshmen appear to be coming together at just the right time, but still may need a fiery reminder this morning about what’s at stake.

“Coach can go off when he needs to,” Brown said recently. “You don’t want to tick him off because he can explode in a second. He can get in your face and keep yelling.”

Brown has been the focal point of many of those eruptions over the past two years, so he has some personal knowledge of how hot it can get when Gillen’s Irish temper gets away from him. Still, there’s no hard feelings.

“He told me, ‘Elton, you don’t have to like me, but I’m going to make you be the best player and the best person you can be,’” Brown said. “I respect that.”

In this postseason drive, Brown could prove to be a huge difference for the Cavaliers if he can remain focused. His offensive post moves worried George Washington enough last Wednesday night that the Colonials double-teamed him for most of the game, which opened up the perimeter for guards Todd Billet, J.R. Reynolds and Gary Forbes to launch a barrage of 3-pointers.

It’s just another sign that maybe this team is finally “getting it.”

“I think they’re more attuned to [the coaching staff],” Gillen said Friday. “I think the last four weeks or so they have listened a little more carefully. Why they clicked on, I have no idea. We’re trying to coach the same way. Maybe they thought it was better to listen to us more than doing things their own way.”

The Cavs left Charlottesville on Friday afternoon with a wish of good luck from UVa Athletics Director Craig Littlepage, who is fulfilling his duties as a member of the NCAA tournament selection committee at the Denver site. However, Gillen didn’t leave town with any more job security.

“I talked to Craig today and he wished us good luck and said that he would watch the game,” Gillen said. “He’s excited that we won but we just had a general talk.”

Gillen said there was no mention about his future as Virginia’s coach, which Littlepage indicated will be determined after the season.

Gillen was more concerned with how to stop three of Villanova’s players, 3-point shooter Allan Ray, go-to-guy Randy Foye and Curtis Sumpter.

“I’m worried about stopping them because they shoot the ball well, especially in their own building and we have to protect the ball because Villanova’s players have quick hands and cause turnovers,” Gillen said.

Winning on the road today could pay huge dividends for the Cavaliers and get them one step closer to taking a bite out of the Big Apple. That’s where the hungriest NIT teams feast.

Virginia should have quite an appetite by now.

Cheesesteak a la Wildcat is on today’s menu.
 

Hagan leaves football team
Decides to focus on baseball
By John Galinsky and Jay Jenkins / Daily Progress staff writers
March 20, 2004

Tom Hagan is punting football to focus on baseball.

The sophomore said Friday that he has decided to leave Virginia’s football program in order to become a better baseball player.

“Honestly, the state of [the baseball] team helped this decision,” Hagan said. “The last two months I have been thinking about it a lot and I felt like for myself it would be more beneficial to be out here playing in the summer and the fall with these guys.”

Hagan, an outfielder and designated hitter for the 19th-ranked Cavaliers, spoke after Friday night’s 5-3 loss to North Carolina at Davenport Field. He pinch hit in the 11th inning and made the final out. For the season, Hagan has played in 13 games for Virginia (17-4) and is batting .267.

A two-sport star at Cave Spring High School in Roanoke, Hagan came to UVa on a football scholarship with the understanding he could also play baseball. He was Virginia’s starting punter the past two seasons, though he struggled as a sophomore, averaging an ACC-low 34.8 yards per kick.

Hagan was more successful in both sports as a freshman. He averaged 36.7 yards per punt and led the baseball team with a .386 batting average, though a shoulder injury cut his season short after 15 games.

He also suffered torn cartilage in his right (punting) leg early in the 2003 football season but did not miss any games.

“In football, I had little injuries here and there and I never really got on top of my game as well as I wanted to,“ said Hagan, who said there were “a couple of games where I could not even bend my knee all the way out. We kept that concealed for the success of our team.”

Hagan said it was not an easy decision.

“I got to go to two bowl games and [I will miss] the teammates. I was really close to all the guys and I loved all the guys and the coaches,” he said. “I talked to [football coach Al] Groh on Tuesday and I explained my situation and he was supportive and he wished me luck. I think it is going to work out.”

Said UVa baseball coach Brian O’Connor: “I told Tom that he has to make the decision that is best for him. He is in a tough situation and I would like to see a kid stick it through with football, but he has to do what is best for him and what is in his heart. Only he knows that. There was no encouragement from our program for him to no longer play football. He decided that is what was best for him.”

There will be several candidates to replace Hagan as Virginia’s punter. Noah Greenbaum, who punted twice as a freshman walk-on, is the only one with game experience. Another possibility is Sean Johnson, who punted in UVa’s spring game in 2002 and has been on a Mormon mission the past two school years.

Two incoming recruits also could get a shot at the job. Chris Gould from Lock Haven, Penn., was signed as a kicker but showed promise as a punter in Virginia’s summer camp. Bryan Lescanec of Western Albemarle High School, a recruited walk-on, was among the state’s top punters in high school and was the Group AA, Region II Player of the Year as a running back.
 

Goal-oriented
Appelt on a scoring binge for Cavaliers
By John Galinsky / Daily Progress staff writer
March 20, 2004

When it comes to scoring goals, no one in college lacrosse has been better than Amy Appelt this season. In six games, the Virginia junior has 29 goals, eight more than any other woman in the nation, and 13 more than any man. At her current rate of nearly five goals per game, she could become the first college player to score 100 goals in a season.

When it comes to setting goals, Appelt also may have no peer. She keeps raising the bar for herself, then leaping over it.

“Personally, I don’t think five goals [per game] is enough. I think I should be in the seven, eight range,” she said. “If I get up there, it’ll be nice. But we’re taking that step slowly but surely.”

So far, Appelt has been a one-woman wrecking crew for the No. 5 Cavs (4-2, 1-0 ACC), who play No. 12 North Carolina (4-2, 0-1) today at 1 p.m. at Klockner Stadium.

She has recorded a hat trick (three goals) in every game, with a high of seven in an 18-7 rout of Richmond. Her rare combination of speed, power and skill accounts for her unmatched scoring prowess. Unfortunately, the big numbers also have come partly out of necessity.

In her first two seasons, Appelt totaled 111 goals, the most by a Cavalier at that stage of her career. But she had plenty of help. In the same two years, classmate Cary Chasney recorded 105 goals, while midfielder Lauren Aumiller had 135. Aumiller led the nation in scoring both seasons, and Virginia, not surprisingly, boasted the nation’s No. 1 offense.

Things are different now. Aumiller graduated last May as the program’s all-time scoring leader. Chasney, meanwhile, tore an ACL in the second game and underwent season-ending surgery Friday. Another teammate expected to help out on offense, Meredith Lazarus, also tore an ACL in the opening game.

As a result, Appelt is far and away UVa’s top scoring threat. No other Cavalier has more than eight goals. As a team, Virginia ranks 14th in scoring offense, averaging 12.3 goals per game.

“I look at the stats and that scares me a little,” said UVa coach Julie Myers. “I know if I was getting ready to play us, I’d say, ‘OK, Amy’s our focus and we’ll make everyone else beat us.’”

Easier said than done. No defense has been able to stop Appelt this season. Just last week, she had four goals in a 10-8 upset of then-No. 3 Maryland, five in a 10-9 victory over Penn State and three in a 12-9 loss to No. 1 Princeton.

“She’s a great player,” said UNC coach Jenny Slingluff Levy. “She’s just unconventional in how hard she plays and her ability to put the ball in the net. I think you have to focus on her but they do have other players who can score around her.”

Among those complementary players are sophomore Tyler Leachman (eight goals), junior Courtney Young (seven), senior Morgan Thalenberg (seven) and junior Ashleigh Haas (six), who have had to step into larger roles because of Aumiller’s departure and the injuries to Chasney and Lazarus.

It may take them time to develop as scorers, but Appelt, who leads the Cavaliers with six assists, says she has faith in her teammates.

“I know I can score when needed, but I’m having trouble finding that open girl. I don’t know if it’s me having trouble finding them, or if they’re hiding or if they’re so concerned with what I’m doing,” Appelt said. “I’d really like to get all of the attackers involved. I know they’re all great attackers and they all have the ability to score. All I have to do is get them the ball.”

With a player as talented as Appelt, Myers says it is tempting for her teammates to stand around and watch her.

“But Amy does a good job of sharing the ball and really trying to get everyone involved going to goal,” Myers said. “It’s not just the Amy Appelt shooting show. She’s so dynamic, she draws a crowd and helps her teammates get free. She enhances everybody else’s game.”

What makes Appelt so hard to guard? At 5-foot-3, she often is the shortest player on the field, but she has powerful legs and a low center of gravity. In addition, Myers points to “her stick skills, her explosiveness, her ability to stop on a dime and change directions. Her spin is so quick and so purposeful.”

Opponents have trouble preparing for Appelt, Myer says, because there is no one else in the game with her physique, her moves and her quickness.

“She really creates matchup problems,” Slingluff Levy said. “She has that combination of strength and speed, so who do you pick to defend her? Your strongest player may not be your fastest, and your fastest player may not be your strongest.”

So Appelt probably will keep on scoring in bunches. Most likely, she will break the school record of 71 goals in a season, set by Aumiller in 2002. Depending on how far Virginia advances in the ACC and NCAA tournaments, she could challenge the NCAA mark of 98 set by Dartmouth’s Karen Emas in 1989.

Regardless, Appelt, who was considered the nation’s top recruit three years ago, will have trouble satisfying herself.

“Individually, I want to take all the talent I have and not let it go to waste,” she said. “I don’t know where or how far I can go, so I don’t want to limit myself. I don’t want to leave college knowing I could have done this or I could have done that if I had played better or put in more effort.

“I don’t want to leave anything on the field. I want to graduate with a national championship and know I put in everything I had and got the most out of it.”
 

Cavs' trip includes visit to Cathouse
Virginia, which has one road win since December,plays at Villanova's Pavilion,also known as the Cathouse.
By Doug Doughty
doug.doughty@roanoke.com
981-3129

If it's so important for the National Invitation Tournament to have teams advance that will be familiar to New York basketball fans, what about local boy Pete Gillen?

"They don't know me," said Gillen, whose Virginia team visits Villanova today at 11a.m. "I was from Brooklyn. The way you guys [in the Virginia media] have chopped me up, they don't know I'm alive. They don't know my name.

"They say, 'Who's that poor guy with blood all over his head that the Virginia press assassinates every day?'"

In reality, the Virginia media has eased up on Gillen, whose job security seemingly has improved during a monthlong stretch in which the Cavaliers (18-11) have won six of nine games.

University Hall was nearly full Wednesday night, when Virginia defeated George Washington 79-66 in first-round action, but the Cavaliers were sent to Villanova (17-16). An announced crowd of 3,229 was on hand Wednesday night to see the Wildcats defeat Drexel at The Pavilion, a 6,500-seat on-campus arena affectionately known as the "Cathouse."

"They're doing what they think is best for business," Gillen said. "It's whoever they get the most money from and get the biggest roar. They're all good teams, but it's which teams are going to draw the most in New York City and make the most money.

"That's a fine line. The Big East teams are in their home territory, so they're going to get the benefit of the doubt 99 percent of the time. I can respect that."

In Villanova, the Cavaliers will face a team that needed to win two games in the Big East tournament to be eligible for the postseason. The Wildcats had lost five games in a row and were 14-15 before beating a couple of NCAA-bound teams, Seton Hall and Providence.

Villanova, an 84-67 loser to Connecticut in the Big East semifinals, rivals Virginia in its youth. In his third season as Wildcats head coach, Jay Wright started four sophomores and a freshman against Drexel.

Like Virginia, Villanova starts three guards, including 6-foot-3 Randy Foye and 6-2 Allan Ray, who had 20 points apiece against Drexel. Ray scores 17.3 points per game, followed by 6-7 Barry Sumpter with 14.4 points and a team-high 7.0 rebounds per game.

"Historically, they're very tough at home; at Providence, we were 0-for-3 at the Cathouse," said Gillen, neglecting to mention that the Wildcats are 7-7 at The Pavilion this season.

UVa has struggled on the road, winning one game on an opponent's home floor since December, a 58-55 triumph at Clemson in which the Cavaliers overcame an eight-point halftime deficit.

The 11a.m. start, arranged to suit ESPN2, was the earliest that Gillen could remember in the Eastern time zone. When they played in the Maui Invitational last year, the Cavaliers had a game that started at 10a.m. local time.

 

18th win more important for Gillen than reporters
One-time UVa recruit contributing at Mississippi State
By DOUG DOUGHTY
Exclusive to roanoke.com by 5 p.m. Thursdays

Justice was served Wednesday night when Virginia defeated George Washington 79-66 for its 18th victory of the men’s basketball season.

Some readers of this column may remember a wager I made with Tucker McLaughlin that was tied to the No. 18.

If Virginia won 18 games during the regular season, counting the ACC Tournament, McLaughlin owed me a dinner. If Virginia won fewer than 18 games, I owed McLaughlin a dinner. If Virginia won its 18th game in the postseason, either in the NIT or NCAA Tournament, all bets were off.

Where's the "justice," you might ask. Understand, we're talking about one guy who weighed 233 when he stepped on the scales this morning and another who might weigh 333. If there were ever two guys who didn't need to be arranging for extra meals, it was me (or is it "I" the writer?) and McLaughlin, esteemed sports editor of the News & Record of South Boston.

(For regulars at UVa games, McLaughlin is the burly guy who arrives 10-15 minutes after tipoff and sometimes has an unkempt look about him).

In the end, an 18th victory might be more important to UVa coach Pete Gillen than it was to either of the would-be diners. Some time ago, I think I wrote that Gillen's job was safe if he went 18-13 or better.

This is just a hunch on my part and I can tell you there were people at University Hall on Wednesday night who continued to insist that Gillen is gone.

I know I said that I would offer no criticism of Virginia for getting rid of Gillen, but if he were dismissed, it would be one of the most cold-hearted moves by an athletic department that accepts mediocrity from numerous other programs.

IF GILLEN DOES GO and reports are true about UVa having an interest in a minority coach to replace him, it was interesting that George Washington coach Karl Hobbs was in the house Wednesday night.

Hobbs, 42, meets the "minority" description and this year took the Colonials to their first postseason appearance since 1998-99, earning him recognition as District 4 coach of the year by the National Association of Basketball Coaches.

Nobody could have accused Hobbs of angling for Gillen’s job, not based on the effusive praise he directed toward his one-time Five-Star Basketball Camp colleague.

"It’s a [Virginia] team to me, with a little bit of patience and a little bit of time, they’re going to be very, very good, based on what I’ve seen,” Hobbs said. "I couldn't be more happy for a guy like coach Gillen. We go way back. If I'm going to lose a game, I want to lose to a good team and I want to lose to a very, very good coach.

"I look at my team and I look at this Virginia team and I think we’re both on a similar path. We both have young teams, we both have some terrific young people with character. I think both programs are going to have a lot of success in the future."

VIRGINIA IS PLEASED with its recruiting class, particularly if 6-11 Tunji Soroye honors the commitment he made in the fall, and the Cavaliers' staff has been pursuing juniors as if it will be around for Year 7, not to mention Year 8.

Visitors to Wednesday night's game included Brian Gilmore, a 6-7 junior from Norfolk Collegiate, and the Cavaliers entertained 6-8 Hayfield High School junior Mike Freeman for their final regular-season game, against Wake Forest.

A third junior frontcourt player who has attracted UVa's interest is Laurynas Mikalauskas, a 6-8, 240-pound Lithuanian who is playing at the Blue Ridge School in Greene County.

Numerous schools, including Virginia, are trying to get involved with 6-11, 220-pound Eric Boateng from St. Andrew’s School in Middletown, Del.

AFTER IT HAD exhausted all of its scholarships in the spring of 2002, Virginia found itself involved with Iowa State sophomore Shane Power, a 6-5 wing player, and at one point it looked as if the Cavaliers might get Power.

Power ended up at Mississippi State, where he is the fourth-leading scorer (9.4) for a Bulldogs team that takes a 25-3 record into the NCAA Tournament and was seeded second in the East Region.

Given an overabundance of wing players, Virginia would have had a hard time finding playing time for Power, and he might have hurt the Cavaliers in the recruiting of Gary Forbes. But, he is a 45.7-percent 3-point shooter (32-of-70) who is playing more than 29 minutes per game for a good team.

In addition, Power won the inaugural Southeastern Conference award as student-athlete of the year.

IT'S BEEN A TOUGH year for the Smith family of New Castle, Del., including younger son Devin, who has been plagued by a herniated disk that caused him to miss three games for Virginia and kept him from starting over the last month of the season.

Smith’s older brother and former Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College teammate, Steve, started the first 16 games of the season for Iona and was averaging 10.6 points and 5.5 rebounds before he was declared academically ineligible. Steve Smith is a senior.
 

Tech and UVa can compare NIT notes
Groh contemplating position changes
By DOUG DOUGHTY
Exclusive to roanoke.com by 5 p.m. Fridays

Wonder what happend to Virginia Tech men's basketball coach Seth Greenberg when the Hokies did not receive a bid to the National Invitation Tournament? Greenberg went to the NCAAs.

Sort of.

On Friday, Greenberg was in New York, where he was serving as a studio analyst for College Sports Television.

"If I can't play in the tournament, I can talk about it," Greenberg said. "Actually, kids think I’m in it. I’ve been here since Wednesday. Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. This poor guys are so hard up for talent that they brought me in."

College Sports What?

"I'm in the studio," Greenberg said. "I do an hour and a half on the morning games and I do an hour and a half call-in show. You can get it on Adelphia Time Warner or Direct TV. It's not in our market, probably."

So, what good does that do him?

"I'm sure it's in some ACC markets," he said.

Greenberg apparently has gotten over the Hokies' snub by the NIT, which took Villanova at 16-16 and bypassed Tech at 15-14. Greenberg laughed when he heard that Villanova had gotten a second home game, with Virginia, even though the crowd for UVa's first-round game was double what Villanova got for cross-town opponent Drexel.

Executive director Jack Powers said the NIT chose Villanova "for no particular reason" and that it was a "committee decision."

"Committee decision?" Greenberg said. "That's what he told me. I said, 'Jack, you are the committee.' "

GREENBERG SAID HE received a note from UVa coach Pete Gillen after the NIT pairings were announced.

"A nice note," Greenberg said. "He just said 'you guys had a great end of season and deserved better.' "

There are some Tech fans who probably think Greemberg should hate Virginia, "but hate's a pretty strong word," he said. "We want to beat their brains in twice a year and beat there a-- in recruiting, but this is not like freakin' Vietnam or something."

VIRGINIA TECH men's basketball beat man Mark Berman, said to be having a "lovefest" with Greenberg at midseason, reports that there is a third ex-Tech player in the NCAA Tournament, Chris Exilus.

Exilus, who played 25 minutes for the Blue Demons in their 76-69, double-overtime victory over Dayton, took the same route -- junior college -- as another Hokie, C.J. Pigford, who played for first-round NCAA loser UNC Charlotte.

The third ex-Hokie, Richmond senior Tony Dobbins, was hailed Friday morning on ESPN Radio as one of the nation’s best defensive players and a key to the Spiders' success.

IN THE COURSE of a conversation about Tom Hagan, the Roanoke-bred punter who has elected to concentrate on baseball, Virginia football coach Al Groh said Thursday that he is contemplating a move at safety.

“We're giving strong thought to that,” Groh said, “Once we make a decision and talk to the players involved, I'll be happy to say what it is.”

Of the top three UVa safeties at the beginning of the 2003 season, all of whom had remaining eligibility, Jermaine Hardy has the best chance of playing in 2004. Hardy had surgery in January for a torn anterior cruciate ligament.

Willie Davis did not play after he was involved in a collision in Week 2 at South Carolina and later had surgery to graft a nerve from his foot to his spine. The surgery was successful in relieving the numbness Davis experienced after his surgery, but the coaches aren't counting on him for the fall.

"Absolutely,” Groh said. "I think his situation will remain the same for quite some time. If he is to play again, it's down the road. It’s not in the near future."

The third safety with remaining eligibility, Jay Dorsey, left the team prior to the Continental Tire Bowl and is not in class this semester. There is no indication that he will return.

Assuming that Hardy does not participate in spring practice, the Cavaliers will be left with a trio of rising sophomores: Lance Evans, Robbie Catterton and Kenneth Tynes. Recruit Nate Lyles from Chicago could see immediate playing time.

"I'm hoping he might be the guy," Groh said. "He's not 6-2, 210, but he can run and he will really smack 'em. He played a little quarterback at one time; he's really got athletic skills. I see him as one of the more game-ready players [in UVa's recruiting class]."

A player with attractive safety skills is physical wide receiver Ottowa Anderson, but Anderson had more receptions (33) last year than any other returning UVa wide receiver. The obvious choice would be Marquis Weeks, a valuable special-teams performer who is unlikely to see ample playing time from scrimmage as the Cavaliers’ No. 3 running back.

IN RECRUITING, former All-Group AAA quarterback Lee Bujakowski from Hopewell High School has made an oral commitment to James Madison to play basketball but new University of Richmond football coach Dave Clawson, more pass-oriented than predecessor Jim Reed, is in the process of evaluating Bujakowski's football film. Bujakowski, rated the No. 37 football prospect in Virginia by The Roanoke Times, is the highest-rated in-state prospect whose destination remains in question.
 

Cavaliers seek morning glory
U.Va. set for 11 a.m. tipoff against a young Villanova club in NIT
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Mar 20, 2004

Virginia assistant coach Walt Fuller is a graduate of Drexel University in Philadelphia. Had his alma mater beaten crosstown rival Villanova in the NIT's first round Wednesday night, U.Va. would be preparing for another game at University Hall. But Drexel lost to the Wildcats, whom NIT officials awarded a second-round home game against U.Va.

"Walt was fined $5,000 for Drexel not [winning]," said Gillen, who was in good spirits during a teleconference with reporters yesterday.

Gillen's Cavaliers whipped George Washington 79-66 in the first round, their fifth victory in the past seven games. U.Va. (18-12) plays Villanova (17-16) at its on-campus arena, the 6,500-seat Pavilion, today at 11 a.m.

ESPN2 will broadcast the game, which should conclude around the time CBS begins televising the NCAA tournament's second round.

"It's different," Gillen said of the pre-lunch tipoff, "but you do what they tell you."

A crowd of 6,512 showed up for Virginia's game Wednesday, more than twice the official attendance (3,229) at Villanova's clash with visiting Drexel. Even so, Gillen wasn't surprised when the Wildcats were given home-court advantage in the second round. NIT officials make no secret of their desire to get Northeast teams to the semifinals at Madison Square Garden.

"Big East teams, they're going to get the benefit of the doubt 99 percent of the time," said Gillen, who spent the 1978-79 and'79-80 seasons as a Villanova assistant.

The win over GW improved Gillen's postseason record at U.Va. to 3-10. In his six seasons, the Cavaliers are 1-6 in the ACC tourney, 0-1 in the NCAAs and 2-3 in the NIT.

"When I was able to coach at Xavier and at Providence, we did OK in postseason," Gillen said. "I got dumber when I got here, there's no doubt about that."

In his nine seasons at Xavier, Gillen led the Musketeers to five conference tournament titles and compiled a 5-7 record in the NCAAs. In each of his three seasons at Providence, the Friars won at least one game in the Big East tourney. They were 3-1 in the NCAAs and 2-2 in the NIT under Gillen.

If his players are as inspired today as they were against GW, Gillen could have his first winning streak in postseason since coming to U.Va. in 1998.

"They played with great energy, great excitement," he said. "They really didn't want the season to end. . . . I was really thrilled with their effort. Our guys really like each other, and they have really good chemistry."

U.Va. starts two freshmen - guards J.R. Reynolds and T.J. Bannister - alongside senior guard Todd Billet, junior forward Jason Clark and junior center Elton Brown. Villanova is considerably younger. Third-year coach Jay Wright starts four sophomores and a freshman.

Sophomore guard Allan Ray (17.3 ppg) is Villanova's top scorer. Sophomore forward Curtis Sumpter, a former U.Va. recruiting target, averages 14.4 points and 7 rebounds, and sophomore guard Randy Foye averages 13.5 points.

"They can really shoot the ball," Gillen said of the Wildcats, who became the first team in Big East history to enter the conference tournament with a losing record and win two games.

"It'll be a big challenge, and we'll be the underdog, no doubt about that," Gillen said. "But I think we have a chance to win. We have a young team, and it's a great experience to go on the road. Every day we can extend the season is a plus for us to hopefully . . . get back to the NCAA tournament [in 2004-05]."