Going for No. 1
Win would give Cavs sole possession of ACC title
By Whitelaw Reid / wreid@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
March 3, 2007

North Carolina. Duke. Boston College. Georgia Tech. Florida State. Virginia Tech. Maryland.

They’re the seven schools that the so-called experts - the people who get paid for a living to watch basketball - believed would finish ahead of Virginia in the ACC this season.

Whoops-a-daisy.

Today, Virginia - which was predicted to finish eighth in the conference - has a chance to do something it hasn’t done since the Ralph Sampson era - win sole possession of the ACC regular-season title.

The Cavaliers, who finished first in 1981 - they tied for first in 1982, 1983 and 1995 - can do so with a win at Wake Forest.

With a victory, Virginia would earn the No. 1 seed in the ACC Tournament that kicks off Thursday in Tampa, Fla.

“We have a chance to do something very special,” said Virginia coach Dave Leitao. “I was joking with some people that a lot of people will remember that first game [at John Paul Jones Arena versus Arizona]. Well even more people will talk about it and remember it if we can take care of business and call ourselves ACC champs.

“That’s a special thing, especially in a year where there are a lot of good teams. To do that would be meaningful for this program for where we’re trying to go, but most important for the guys in the locker room because they work so hard.”

“This is the biggest game of our season,” said Virginia guard Sean Singletary. “We want to go out as champions and make history. We have a great opportunity.”

No doubt about that.

Could the last week of the season have unfolded more perfectly for Virginia?

On Thursday, UVa defeated Tech, its in-state rival, on Senior Night. A couple of hours later, Georgia Tech upset North Carolina, who had appeared to be in the driver’s seat for the conference crown.

Now, Virginia (20-8, 11-4) plays Wake Forest - arguably the weakest team in the league.

The Demon Deacons (13-15, 4-11) are in last place and are coming off a loss to N.C. State on Wednesday.

“It’s still not over,” said Virginia senior Jason Cain. “We have to be focused on Wake Forest. Everybody is looking forward to the ACC Tournament, but we really can’t look past Wake Forest. We have to go in focused and ready to play.”

The last time Virginia played a team that - at least on paper - it was supposed to beat, things didn’t go very well.

UVa had one of its most lackluster performances of the season in a 68-60 loss at Miami last week.

Wake Forest, which lost by 12 to Virginia at John Paul Jones Arena on Jan. 21, will probably have some fight. It’s Senior Day for the Demon Deacons, and there is also the chance to play spoiler.

“I don’t think it will be, ‘Hey, let’s knock Virginia out of the race for the top spot,’” said Wake Forest coach Skip Prosser. “I can’t imagine that being much of a part of the pregame talk, but I think there will be motivation for the seniors - playing their last game at [home] and the fact that they beat us once at Charlottesville.”

Prosser said he probably wouldn’t have predicted Virginia and Virginia Tech to finish as high in the standings as they currently are. However, he’s not shocked by it.

“In Virginia’s case, you have a junior in Singletary and a senior in [J.R.] Reynolds. Both guys are having such phenomenal years, and this is a guard’s game in college basketball,” Prosser said. “When you have those veteran, explosive guys like those two teams have, maybe you wouldn’t have thought [they’d be so good] at first glance, but now it seems to make a little sense.

“Perhaps [it was] unpredicted, but maybe at this point in time [it’s] a little more understandable.”

Dunks

Wake Forest leads the all-time series, 63-59. … Singletary on playing two games within a 42-hour span: “It’s definitely a big challenge,” he said. “It’s almost like a tournament style.” … Unless Wake Forest wins the ACC Tournament, it won’t be going to the Big Dance. Prosser said he wouldn’t mind taking his team to the NIT. “I think the more practice time you have, the better,” he said. “Practice time is special. Every minute of it is like gold - you have to treat it that way. The more you practice, the more you improve, so it would be important to us.” … Kyle Visser, Wake Forest’s leading scorer, only had six points in the loss to N.C. State. He didn’t play in the second half because he was suffering from the flu. … Sophomore Lars Mikalauskas and freshman Solomon Tat have not played in Virginia’s last two games (coach’s decision). ... The Virginia Tech logo, which had been etched into the John Paul Jones court prior to Thursday’s game, has yet to be removed.

 

A similar season to remember
By Jerry Ratcliffe / jratcliffe@dailyprogress.com | 978-7251
March 3, 2007

Over my 25-year career as sports editor of The Daily Progress, there are a few special teams that come to mind.
If you’ve been paying close attention to this season’s Virginia basketball team, then no doubt you have also noticed several references to the 1994-95 squad. Factoids have been flying at us regularly that this is the first UVa team to accomplish this or that since the 1994-95 season.

An interesting collection
Having been asked to write a series of columns commemorating my 25th year in Charlottesville, I thought it would be appropriate to pay some respect to that 1994-95 team that was on the verge of the Final Four.
It was an interesting collection of talent by coach Jeff Jones, in his fifth year at the helm. Considering that star recruit Cory Alexander, who hailed from across the mountain in Waynesboro, watched the postseason with a cast on his ankle, it was quite a special run for the Cavaliers.
Virginia’s top eight players, minus Cory, were Jason Williford, Junior Burrough, Chris Alexander, Harold Deane, Yuri Barnes, Norman Nolan, Jamal Robinson and freshman Curtis Staples, who would go on to become the NCAA record-holder for 3-point field goals.

A piece of the ACC pie
This particular team finished as ACC regular season co-champion along with three other teams all with 12-4 records: Wake Forest, North Carolina and Maryland. The Cavs went 25-9, earned a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament’s Midwest Regional and knocked off unknown Nicholls State, then Herb Sendek’s Miami of Ohio team, before upsetting four-point favorite Kansas in the region semifinals.
A team that thrived off its defensive play (hmmm, sound familiar?), Virginia was rarely given much respect by national media up until its final two games against Roy Williams’
No. 1-seeded Jayhawks and defending national champion Arkansas.

Perrin’s assessment
One of UVa’s assistant coaches, who still lives in the area, Tom Perrin, made a brilliant observation during that NCAA Tournament about the Cavaliers after an opposing coach said that Virginia wasn’t an imposing team until you had to actually play them.
“I can see he said that,” Perrin remarked after one of the early tournament wins. “You look at Virginia and why would you think we’re imposing? We ain’t overly big. We ain’t overly anything. We’re not the kind of team that people look at and get scared.”
Before you correct Perrin’s English, let me point out that he goes by Dr. Perrin and was using the language as a point of emphasis.
What helped UVa in the NCAA Tournament was that the Cavs were facing teams that had no working knowledge of how they truly operated. Most teams in the ACC know each other inside and out and usually won’t let the other team run its normal offense.
Outside the league, it’s different. What other teams see is what they can scout on film in a rush to prepare for an unknown foe. No way you could truly tell on film the strength and quickness of Burrough, one of the most underrated players in Wahoo history, or the tenacity of Deane, or the quickness of Staples’ release.
Williams was certainly surprised to find out just how strong Virginia’s players were, not only the undersized, unheralded inside guys, but also the perimeter players.
Williams was stunned that his players, accustomed to shooting from 4-feet away from the rim, were being pushed out to 8 feet. And his perimeter players weren’t allowed to shoot from the tip of the 3-point line, but rather 2 or 3 feet further away than usual.
That was Virginia’s defense, taught by Jones, who had it passed down from Terry Holland.
Just as Dave Leitao firmly believes now, so did Holland and Jones, that when all else fails, nothing substitutes for good, old-fashioned, jaw-to-jaw defense. Virginia’s opponents that season, averaged a mere 39.2 percent shooting from the field.
“Defense was a reaction to a need to find a way to win in the mid- and late ’80s,” said Perrin, who was a carryover from Holland’s staff to Jones’. “We struggled to find enough points to win. So, we asked ourselves, ‘How do we win?’ We play defense to the best of our ability.”
And that was pretty darned good. Almost good enough to get to the Final Four.
Williams said that Virginia won the game in the Cavalier weight room over the summer as much as anything.
“They were so much stronger than us,” the then-Kansas coach said. “They pushed us to spots we didn’t want to be.”
The Jayhawks’ coach was close to tears during his post-game media session, much to the joy of some of Virginia’s coaches, who had remembered him from battles back in the ACC as Dean Smith’s assistant.
“Did he cry? Did Roy cry?” asked one of UVa’s coaches, who sought me out in the media work room an hour after the game.
Virginia made a lot of opponents cry that season. The one thing you had to admire about that team was that it wasn’t afraid of anyone. And why should it have been?
The Cavs had to go up against the likes of Rasheed Wallace, Jerry Stackhouse, Tim Duncan, Joe Smith and Randolph Childress on a regular basis in its own conference that season.
But Virginia’s run ended abruptly in the Midwest Region finals against Arkansas, which eventually lost to national champion UCLA.
Coach Nolan Richardson promised Virginia would face “40 minutes of hell.”
Cavalier center Chris Alexander countered by saying Arkansas would face “40 minutes of ugly.”
Virginia often had to win ugly that season, particularly without Cory Alexander, who went on to play in the NBA. The Razorbacks got the best of the Cavaliers’ backcourt, with Deane, having no backup at the point, playing to exhaustion.
Still, it was a heck of a run and one that Wahoo fans will always cherish.
It was truly a season to remember.

 

Cannon shoots Cavs past Hens
UVa rolls out the offense once again for 10th consecutive win
By Todd Merchant / tmerchant@dailyprogress.com | 978-7236
March 3, 2007

It is every Little Leaguer’s dream to come up to bat with the bases loaded and a chance to drive in a bunch of runs for his team.

On Friday, Virginia’s Tyler Cannon got to live out that dream over and over again.

The freshman third baseman stepped up to the plate with the bags packed on three different occasions, and each time he delivered for the seventh-ranked Cavs. Cannon went 2 for 4 with a double and drove in six runs as UVa pounded Delaware, 11-2, in the first game of a three-game set at Davenport Field.

“It was a great feeling to execute and help our team,” said Cannon, who entered the game with just three career RBI. “That was pretty exciting for me.”

Virginia (12-1) seemed to be putting runners on base left and right as they pounded out 13 hits - it was UVa’s 11th double-digit hitting barrage of the young season. The Cavs also benefited from eight walks, two hit batsmen and three Blue Hen errors as they put on a run-producing clinic for the announced crowd of 1,220 fans.

“We took advantage of some opportunities where we were able to bunt and get some hits and move some runners over,” said Virginia coach Brian O’Connor. “It didn’t just come from doubles and big hits, it came from manufacturing runs and having big innings. I thought for the most part we executed very, very well tonight and took control of the game early.

Cannon was a perfect example of the Cavs’ varied offense as his first two RBI came on a double down the left-field line in the second. He then grounded out to short to score a run in the third and drove in another run in the fourth by drawing a walk with the bases loaded. His last two RBI came on a bases-loaded single in the fifth.

“I thought we did a good job of pressuring the pitcher,” Cannon said. “We knew that he wasn’t very athletic and we knew that we could bunt for hits, and we got a few safety squeezes in there. And we had a few walks and a few big hits when we needed them.”

All the run support was more than enough for starter Sean Doolittle. The junior left-hander was not overpowering, but he got the job done, battling out of jams in the fourth and fifth innings to secure the win.

Doolittle (4-0) went six innings, giving up two earned runs on four hits, while striking out nine and walking three.

“You’re gonna have outings where you’re not as sharp as you normally are; on the other hand, you’re gonna have days where the plate feels like it’s two feet in front of you and you can place the ball wherever you want,” Doolittle said. “It’s important that you’re able to work through days like today and overcome that. Today my offense definitely helped me, scoring 11 runs for me.”

Several Cavs had strong days at the plate. Besides Cannon, Mike Mitchell (2 for 4, 2B, 3 RBI), David Adams (2 for 4, 2B, RBI) and Beau Seabury (2 for 3, 2 R) also contributed multiple hits for UVa.

On the mound, junior Robert Poutier relieved Doolittle and threw two strong innings, giving up two hits and striking out two, before giving way to Jeff Lorick in the ninth.

Virginia will look to extend its 10-game winning streak today when it faces Delaware at 1 p.m. The Cavs will start sophomore right-hander Jacob Thompson (3-0, 0.50 ERA), while the Blue Hens will counter with junior righty Matt Heppner (0-1, 4.76).

Extra bases

Billy Harris (0-1) took the loss for Delaware (0-4), giving up eight runs (six earned) on eight hits, while striking out two and walking three. … Friday was the ninth time Virginia has scored at least 10 runs in a game this year.
 

Cavaliers facing high-stakes situation
If Virginia can defeat Wake Forest today, the ACC regular-season title belongs to the Cavaliers.
By Doug Doughty
981-3129

At Wake Forest today, Virginia will have a chance to duplicate a feat it has performed once in 54 seasons of ACC men's basketball competition -- finish the regular season in sole possession of first place.

In order to do so, the Cavaliers will have to end the regular season with a road victory, something they haven't done since 1992.

"We don't play too well on the road," said UVa senior Jason Cain, mindful of a recent 68-60 loss at Miami, the ACC's last-place team at the time. "It's been a lot better this year, but we've got to come in focussed and ready to play."

Wake Forest (13-15, 4-11 ACC) has since dropped into a last-place tie with Miami. Virginia defeated the Deacons 88-76 when they met Jan. 21 in Charlottesville.

The Cavaliers (20-8, 11-4) didn't play their best game of the season Thursday in a 69-56 victory over 21st-ranked Virginia Tech, but nobody was questioning their focus.

"We tried not to put any extra pressure on ourselves," said UVa point guard Sean Singletary, who had a team-high 17 points, "but, we realized, 'This is for first place, it's senior night, our home winning streak is on the line, it's a rivalry.'

"All that said, we didn't have to do a lot of talking in practice. Coach [Dave Leitao] didn't have to motivate us much. We realized what was at stake."

The seniors went out on a positive note, the Cavaliers capped an 8-0 home conference schedule at John Paul Jones Arena and they avenged an 84-57 loss at Virginia Tech. But, there's still the matter of first place.

Virginia has clinched at least a share of first place with whichever of three 10-5 teams -- Virginia Tech, Boston College and North Carolina -- should win their games Sunday. Tech and North Carolina are at home against Clemson and Duke, respectively, and Boston College visits Georgia Tech.

With a loss today, the Cavaliers would lose all tie-breakers that would influence seeding, but their mission does not revolve around the No. 1 seed in the ACC Tournament.

The only Virginia team to capture the ACC regular-season championship outright was the 1981 squad that went to the Final Four and featured national player of the year Ralph Sampson and fellow All-ACC choice Jeff Lamp.

"I spent a lot of time before the building opened, talking about legacy, or at least thinking about it," Leitao said.

"A lot of people will remember that first game here [against Arizona] but even more people will remember if we take care of our business and can call ourselves ACC champs.

"That's a special, special thing, and [it would be] in a year where there's a lot of good teams."

The winner of next week's ACC Tournament in Tampa, Fla., will be recognized as the official ACC champion, but Leitao has said repeatedly that he considers the regular-season title to be a more significant accomplishment.

Virginia has had less than 48 hours to put the Tech game behind it.

Already, Leitao has been resting Singletary and fellow guard J.R. Reynolds in practice, although he feels that the reduced practice time may have contributed to an off shooting night by Reynolds.

Reynolds connected on only three of 15 shots from the field, but he was 2-for-4 on 3-pointers and the Cavaliers were 10-for-16 on 3s as a team.

"Coach says this is one of the best shooting teams he's ever been around and he's coached some pretty good teams [as an assistant] at UConn," Singletary said.

One thing the Cavaliers want to avoid is the foul problems that required Singletary to be substituted on a possession-by-possession basis late in the game. After picking up his fourth foul with 6:49 left, Singletary came in and out of the game three times.

Singletary had picked up his third foul with 17:35 remaining and it was clear that the Hokies were trying to facilitate a potential fourth and disqualifying fifth personal.

"I think that would have been a good thing," Tech coach Seth Greenberg said.

"Think they're not as good a team without him in there?"
 

‘Desperate’ Doughty continues down UM road
UVa can’t erase VT logo
By Doug Doughty

Just when I was beginning to think that last week’s Notebook Plus had given readers a chance to reflect on Miami’s membership in the ACC, along came the following e-mail from New River gadfly Lee Wrenn:

Notebookplus=weak

Wrenn, who is not to be confused with media gadfly Jeff White of The Richmond Times-Dispatch, does not have the same appreciation for Virginia Tech athletics as many of his fellow New River residents and does not always respond positively to my work.

Subject lines for some of his e-mails have included “What a dumb ass!” and “time for a vacation/a rest?” and “Desperate?”

And those are just the ones I still have in my in-box, for what reason I don’t know.

So, Wrenn probably would rather I didn’t rehash last week’s column, but I did receive an e-mail from another reader, Roanoker Allen Wilkerson, who wanted to know which three teams I would have added as part of an expansion to get the ACC to 12 teams.

Actually, I had planned to comment on that, but I’m so addled that I can’t remember what day it is (check the first-edition Roanoke Times account of the Tech-UVa basketball game, when I said the game was played Wednesday and not Thursday).

I don’t know what three teams I would have added, but I do think that South Carolina would have made a better fit than either Miami, Boston College or one-time ACC target Syracuse.

Of course, South Carolina already had been in the ACC once and it’s doubtful the Gamecocks would want to return, based on the feedback I’ve gotten from my cousin, the only South Carolina fan with whom I’ve regularly corresponded.

There are people, I’m sure, who think that this Miami business is all about my distaste for flying and my desire to have all the ACC teams within driving distance of Roanoke (Hey, Allen, what about West Virginia?).

“I am not sure I understand why you feel that ACC schools need to be in middle of nowhere locations,” another e-mailer, Bob Vanasse, wrote. “It seems to me that having schools in places like Miami, Boston and Atlanta creates more interest in major media markets and provides better locations for fans who want to travel.”

Other than Virginia Tech fans, who else really travels? That would be my response.

“As for your comment that ‘Blacksburg is more in line with the other ACC schools than Boston or Miami,’ I think Coral Gables and Chestnut Hill are not dissimilar from Chapel Hill or Charlottesville except that they have major vibrant cities nearby,” Vanasse continued.

“You commented that you found ‘exorbitant hotel rates, steep cab fares’ and ‘outrageous” traffic in Miami. (But, then you said good things about Washington, clearly a high cost and congested location).”

I can’t argue with that but, most of the time, I drive in and drive out of Washington, D.C., without staying overnight.

“I would like to see the ACC move its tournaments out of Greensboro and start rotating between Boston, Washington, Atlanta and Miami,” Vanasse concluded. “The Big East tournament in New York is awesome, but really, Greensboro is just, well, Greensboro. At least it is a mid-size city with a few good restaurants and decent weather.”

FAR BE IT from me to have e-mailers write my entire column, but Thursday’s log-in brought a question from Bobby Howell that merits some elaboration.

“Doug, I would have thought that the VT logo in the JPJ b’ball court would have been a real topic of conversation in the morning paper,” Howell wrote.

In hindsight, I wish I had written something about the VT logo etched into the corner of the JPJ Arena floor. I was at UVa for interviews Tuesday when a television reporter spotted it.

Charlottesville reporter Whitelaw “Whitey” Reid did a commendable job with the story, but headlines that referred to “vandals” having defaced the floor simply were misleading.

The logo was barely the size of a silver dollar and could be spotted only from certain angles and in a certain light. Since it was underneath an enamel coating, it clearly had been done during the production of the floor and not during the installation. I would compare it to the initials that schoolchildren will carve into wet cement, although those are easier to spot.

The word out of UVa was that the logo would be gone by tipoff Thursday night for the Virginia-Virginia Tech game, the first played at the JPJ Arena. If there were efforts toward that end, they were to no avail. In fact, considering the Cavaliers’ 69-56 victory, there was some thought about keeping the VT logo as a memento.

(NOTE: Staff photographer Matt Gentry shot photos of the VT logo after the game Thursday night. We will try to post a link to those photos as soon as Gentry can be located. – DD)

 

It's theirs to lose
Virginia has a chance today at Wake Forest to clinch its first outright ACC regular-season title since 1981.
BY DARRYL SLATER
247-4641
March 3, 2007

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- No one will confuse, or even compare, this Virginia men's basketball team to the 1980-81 squad, which started 23-0, went 13-1 in the ACC, lost in the national semifinals and featured sophomore center Ralph Sampson, the best player ever to come through Charlottesville.

But here are these Cavaliers, one victory away from winning the ACC regular-season title outright for the first time since 1981. That one victory seems attainable, because Virginia (20-8, 11-4) plays at Wake Forest (13-15, 4-11) at 1 p.m. today. The Demon Deacons are tied for last place in the ACC, and Virginia beat them 88-76 in January.

The Cavaliers' win Thursday over No. 21 Virginia Tech, coupled with No. 8 North Carolina's loss at Georgia Tech, gave them at least a share of the regular-season title and ensured they need no help to win the championship outright. With the outright title would come the top seed in next week's ACC tournament.

Before Virginia opened the season and John Paul Jones Arena in November with a 93-90 win over No. 10 Arizona, second-year coach Dave Leitao broke the coaches' creed and considered something beyond just the next game.

"I spent a lot of time before the building was open talking about legacy, or thinking about it," he said. "A lot of people will remember that first game here. Even more people will talk about and remember if we can take care of our business and call ourselves ACC champs. That's a special, special thing."

Virginia built its legacy - its most wins overall and in the conference since 1995; its longest ACC winning streak, seven games, since 1982 - on reversing its fortunes from last season, when it went 15-15, 7-9 ACC.

The Cavaliers are just the third team in ACC history to at least share the regular-season title after having a losing conference record in the previous season. Georgia Tech and North Carolina State did it in 1985. Wake Forest did it in 1960. But none of those teams won the title outright.

Virginia benefited from being the only ACC team this season to play the league's worst teams - N.C. State, Wake Forest and Miami - two times each. But credit the Cavaliers for going 3-5 overall on the road, and winning three consecutive ACC road games for the first time since 1995.

All of this history has some Cavaliers dreaming about making, well, more history. Virginia hasn't won an NCAA tournament game since 1995, when it advanced to the Elite Eight. It is 0-2 in the NCAAs since then.

"I want to think about that," senior forward Jason Cain said. "But I don't want to look over Wake Forest."
 

Cavs try to close the deal
Victory over Deacons will give Virginia the ACC crown outright
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Mar 3, 2007
 
The University of Virginia doesn't want to share, and its attitude is understandable.

In more than 50 years as an ACC member, U.Va. has won the regular-season title in men's basketball outright only once: in 1980-81. The Cavaliers can double that total by closing the regular season with a victory at Wake Forest this afternoon.

"That's a special, special thing, in a year when there's a lot of good teams," said Dave Leitao, U.Va.'s second-year coach. "To do that would be meaningful for this program, for where we're trying to go, but most importantly for the guys in the locker room, because they've worked so hard."

Leitao's comments came Thurday night after U.Va. whipped No.21 Virginia Tech 69-56 at John Paul Jones Arena. Later that night, the Cavs' good fortunate continued. Georgia Tech upset North Carolina, an outcome that left Virginia alone atop the ACC standings.

U.Va. (11-4, 20-8) meets Wake (4-11, 13-15) at 1 p.m. If the Cavaliers win, they'll clinch the No.1 seed in the ACC tournament, which starts Thursday in Tampa, Fla. If the Cavs lose, they'll get a share of the regular-season title but, under the ACC's tiebreaking procedure, would be seeded No. 2, No. 3 or No. 4, depending on how tomorrow's games involving North Carolina, Virginia Tech and Boston College turn out. UNC, Virginia Tech and BC are tied for the second in the ACC, each with a 10-5 conference record.

Virginia has shared the ACC regular-season title three times: in 1981-82, '82-83 and '94-95. For the Wahoos to be assured of celebrating alone this year, they need to win a game that will start about 40 hours after their victory over the Hokies ended.

"It's definitely a big challenge," U.Va. point guard Sean Singletary said of the quick turnaround. "But this is the biggest game of our season. We want to go out as champions. We want to make history, and if everybody believes we can do it, we've got a great opportunity to do it against Wake Forest."

The Demon Deacons, whom Virginia beat 88-76 at the JPJ on Jan. 21, are tied for last in the ACC with Miami. Having lost at Miami on Feb. 21, U.Va. knows it can take nothing for granted today.

"We don't play too well on the road," power forward Jason Cain said. "We've done a lot better this year, but we've just got to come in focused and ready to play."

Cain and guard J.R. Reynolds, the Cavaliers' only seniors, played for the final time at John Paul Jones Arena on Thursday night. Cain supplied one of the game's more memorable plays when he drove from the left wing and spun for a layup that pushed U.Va.'s lead to 58-48 with 8:45 left.

"He has a lot of that in him," Leitao said. "It's been sometimes hard to get him to do that more often and utilize his talents and his quickness. He's one of the reasons why we've changed our offense and went to using him a little bit more on the perimeter, because he can do those things. It's just trying to get him to do that consistently, but we certainly got it from him in a big spot."

Twenty-six years after a star-laden team featuring Ralph Sampson, Jeff Lamp, Lee Raker and Jeff Jones captured U.Va.'s first ACC regular-season title, Singletary and Co. have an opportunity to match that feat. Forgive the Cavaliers if they're not interested in sharing the crown with Hokies or Tar Heels or anyone else.

"We still have some unfinished business," Singletary said.

 

Deacons stand in Cavaliers' way
WFUwants to get Visser, Drum a victory in last home game
By Dan Collins
JOURNAL REPORTER

Virginia has one big reason to play well in today's game at Wake Forest.

The Deacons have two.

The Cavaliers, with a victory, would clinch first place in the ACC's regular season and a No. 1 seed in next week's ACC Tournament. To combat that, Wake Forest has the motivation of wanting to send its two seniors out on a winning note.

Both Kyle Visser and Michael Drum will play their final game at Joel Coliseum. Visser has recovered from a stomach virus that limited him to 12 minutes Wednesday at N.C. State, and yesterday pronounced himself to be close to full strength.

"I'm good, I'm good," Visser said yesterday before participating fully in practice. "I'm back. I'm 100 percent. I'm just trying to get my weight back up, but it's coming.

"I've probably got about half of it back. I probably need about five more pounds. But there's nothing holding me back though."

The Cavaliers are 20-8 overall and 11-4 in conference play. Wake Forest is 13-15 and 4-11. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m.

"You know Virginia is playing for a regular-season championship, and that's huge," Visser said. "We know they're going to come out and give us their best.

"We know they're a very capable team, obviously. Right now they're first in the conference."

While Virginia has relied heavily on two players, guards Sean Singletary and J.R. Reynolds, the Deacons have relied even more on one. Visser, a 6-11 center from Grand Rapids, Mich., is averaging 16.9 points. Nobody else on the team is averaging more than 8.7.

Since ACC play began in 1953-54, Wake Forest has never finished a season with only one player scoring in double figures.

Visser is also averaging 7.1 rebounds, more than two more than any teammate.

"We've jumped on his back this whole season, so I'm sure his back is hurting pretty bad right now," Drum said. "But they owe him a win - all of us do. They owe him and myself to come out here and play as hard as we can and not stop until the horn sounds.

"Regardless, as long as these guys play their hardest and give their greatest effort, then we will be nothing but happy with them."

Visser is the only player remaining from a recruiting class that included Chris Paul, Todd Hendley and Jeremy Ingram. Paul left for the NBA after his sophomore season, one year after Hendley transferred to UNC Wilmington and Ingram to East Carolina.

"He has been a part of some great, great wins here," Coach Skip Prosser said yesterday. "And it's ironic that when they were recruited four years ago, those four guys, that he would be the last standing.

"He's obviously an academic All-ACC type player, and it's an honor to have coached him."

Drum, a resident of nearby Rural Hall, entered Wake Forest through a side door. Lightly recruited after his career at North Forsyth High School, Drum spent two seasons at Presbyterian, a Division II school in Clinton, S.C.

But he always wanted to play at Wake Forest, and was admitted as a transfer before the 2004-05 season. He has never received an athletic scholarship, but because his mother, Matella, is an employee of Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, Drum attends Wake Forest at a reduced rate.

He has played 61 games in his two seasons of eligibility and started 23. His most memorable moment to date was probably the follow shot he hit two weeks ago to beat Clemson 67-65 in Joel Coliseum.

"I was sitting there writing my senior speech a little bit ago, that I have to give to the team," Drum said. "And it finally just sunk in that this was my last practice here at the Joel, and (today) is my game here.

"Just to sit back and realize I've lived my dream, and I've made it come true, is very exciting to me and my family. It's going to be a real emotional day for myself and all of them."

The Cavaliers have, in Singletary and Reynolds, one of the nation's best backcourts, which was never more evident than during Virginia's 88-76 victory against the Deacons on Jan. 21 in Charlottesville. Of Virginia's 40 first-half points, the two combined for 37.

Reynolds finished with 40 points, the most scored in an ACC game this season, and Singletary contributed 19 points and seven assists.

Virginia, by winning today, would finish alone in first place for the first time since 1981. Their path to an outright first-place finish was cleared Thursday night when they beat Virginia Tech and North Carolina lost at Georgia Tech.

"The first thing I thought of (Thursday night) was when we went on the road Josh Howard's senior year to try to win the ACC at N.C. State," Prosser said, referring to the Deacons first-place finish in 2002-03. "To win it on someone else's floor is a great challenge.

"We're going to try to do our best to make sure it doesn't happen."

Senior managers Lucas Puckett and Laura Nelson will be honored along with Visser and Drum in a ceremony before today's game.