A step ahead of the crowd

By Mike Jensen
Inquirer Staff Writer

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - Sean Singletary heard it all the time around his house. Anything you touch, you're supposed to try to succeed at. Be a leader, not part of a clique.

Growing up in the city's Mount Airy section, Sean was a point guard and a star receiver, and he ran track. He sang in the choir and played the violin and took piano lessons. Before he was a teenager, Sean entered a citywide math competition - figuring out all equations you could make from the number 24.

He won it.

All these years later, he isn't one of the crowd. This season, he led Virginia to a surprising share of the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season men's basketball title. When the 65-team NCAA tournament field is announced tonight, the Cavaliers will hear their name for the first time in six years. Plenty of the 65 teams have Philly guys, but this year, Singletary is the best of them, a two-time all-ACC first-teamer. He might be the best player in the country for his size, just under 6 feet.

Tough? Singletary played his freshman year with a bum shoulder and his sophomore year with a bad hip and never said much about either until the season was over and it was time for surgery.

"Although he's highly skilled and he's quick and all those kind of things, his best attribute lives inside of him," said Virginia basketball coach Dave Leitao. "His soul and his intensity."

This is a guy with a mom who went from West Oak Lane to Princeton - who was taking classes at Penn at night when she was still at Girls' High - and a dad who is a retired Philadelphia police detective. Harold and Jacqui Singletary were always the team parents for everything. But Singletary also has attended funerals for lifelong buddies and rec-league teammates, and he talks about basketball not always being enough to make it out.

"Out of 50 guys I played a lot with, only about four are doing something," Singletary said. "All of them were real good."

However, from a young age, he knew there was a path. There was an NBA player, Doug Overton, from his grandmother's block. He went to Overton's basketball camp when he was 9. Overton, now a St. Joseph's assistant, always laid it out for him:

You never know who's watching you. You know what you got here. It's tough to put your foot in the door. Once you're through that door, keep working hard.

That helps explain why Singletary picked up the phone the other day and called another Philly guy who was having a tough week.

"You called a Dukie?" a reporter said at a news conference when Singletary revealed that he had talked to Duke's Gerald Henderson, a frequent AAU teammate, the day after Henderson had bloodied and broken North Carolina star Tyler Hansbrough's nose and been suspended for an ACC-tournament game.

"He's from Philadelphia," Singletary said of Henderson, adding nothing more.

If Singletary sounds too good to be true, his life hasn't been. He showed up at Virginia knowing that he was leaving a father who had prostate cancer and a mother with breast cancer and his grandmother had cancer, too. Remission found them all, but he also had to worry about his older brother, Harold, serving in the Army in Iraq.

"I always woke up in the morning, wondering what he was doing," Singletary said, speaking quietly. "I was real excited when he came back."

It turns out, Sean himself was tough from the womb. His family wasn't sure he was going to survive, because of a blood disorder when he was born. Soon after his birth, his lungs gave out. It wasn't until he was 6 months old that his parents were confident he was going to make it.

But that toughness on the court - Singletary's mother certainly doesn't attribute it to growing up in the city. That wasn't his story.

"He wouldn't want me to say this, but he barely could take a bus," Jacqui Singletary said. "We would take him to North Philadelphia; sometimes those were the teams he was scheduled to play against. He learned to be a lot tougher, learned to play where they hit a little harder, where basketball was their life, and their ticket out. Basketball never had to be the ticket out. It was just, he excelled at it, so he plays basketball."

From a young age, long before Sean ended up at Penn Charter, and before dress codes really gained favor, the Singletary boys already had to deal with one. These were the family rules: They were never allowed to wear sneakers to school, and always wore button-down shirts - although their mom found out later that maybe they would sometimes sneak sneakers and more casual shirts in their bags so they could dress like the other kids in grade school.

Sean Singletary doesn't want it painted like he was some perfect kid. He's gotten in trouble, he said, not that he wants the details in the newspaper. But here's mom again, telling the truth: "It's not all that physical talent, it's what inside of Sean. Sean has an intuitive nature about things. We always said that he saw things, not in the way the average person saw them. He saw things from the inside out. He loves so hard, he cares so much. When Sean was younger, we couldn't pass a person on the street without making a donation. 'Mom, there's another one... . OK, Sean... . Mom, are we going to make sandwiches?' "

He didn't go to Penn Charter right away from grade school, Jacqui Singletary said.

"Penn Charter was always on top of the list," she said. "But he knew so many of the kids going to Penn Charter. We wanted our boys to branch out more, learn to stand on your own."

As a sophomore, Singletary was at the Perkiomen School, a boarding school in Pennsburg, Montgomery County. Sean's older brother had gone there. But along the way, something affected his family's thinking.

"He's better than we thought," his parents said to each other as they watched him play basketball.

A big factor, he said, was that he couldn't play AAU ball during the school year. The family had some heavy discussions about what to do. Penn Charter was a good fit for a lot of reasons, not just the competitive basketball within the Inter-Ac. Even the dress code was all right, Singletary said. Collared shirts, but no jacket and tie. He could live with that.

For college, Singletary had all sorts of recruiting choices. His ability to control a game was no mystery to the coaches who flocked to see him play. Plenty of them told Singletary they would give him the ball from the start. But Virginia had all sorts of things that appealed to him. He talked of the challenge of returning the basketball program to a prestigious place. (Before this season, Virginia had five straight losing seasons within the ACC.) He was intrigued by interest from powerhouses such as Kansas and UCLA. But with all that was going on in his family, Virginia's East Coast location really appealed to him.

The school founded by Thomas Jefferson as "an academic village" also was building a $129 million palace for its basketball program. It opened this season with state-of-the-art everything. The scoreboard has eight video screens. There are separate practice courts, a weight room, a dining facility, and an academic center.

Singletary has gotten questions about whether he might leave after this season and declare for the NBA draft. He mentions his mother's desire to see him with a degree. He shares that desire and will stay for another season, he said.

"A degree from the University of Virginia, you can pretty much do what you want," Singletary said.

He's at the social center of an elite group of Philly ballplayers, the guys around his age. He talks to former Villanova star Kyle Lowry, now with the Memphis Grizzlies, about once a week. Last year, he called the Episcopal Academy guys, Henderson and North Carolina's Wayne Ellington, in a sort of welcome-to-the-ACC way. "I helped Wayne and Gerald, even though I didn't want to," he joked. "I used to tell them, a lot of people are going to be coming at you, you don't really know for what."

He has more to say, of course, to his own teammates.

"He made life very, very easy for me, from the first few days that I was here," said Leitao, who arrived after Singletary's freshman season, bringing a more up-tempo system. "From the conversations that we had, it was apparent to me that he was going to be somebody I could depend on, somebody that really thought like I thought and wanted what I wanted."

This season, the backcourt of Singletary and senior J.R. Reynolds is routinely mentioned in discussions of the nation's best guard pairings. Singletary averages 18.8 points a game, and Reynolds averages 18.

Singletary opened the season with 25 points in a win over Arizona, scored 37 against Gonzaga, and hit a memorable game-winning shot to beat Duke on national television.

The bottom line: Those words he heard at home, about never being satisfied blending in with the crowd, have transferred to playing top-level college ball.

"I knew it would be tough," Singletary said. "But as soon as I stepped on the court, I felt comfortable."

 

Bring on the Great Danes
Virginia lands surprising 4th seed, will face Albany
By Whitelaw Reid / wreid@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
March 11, 2007

TAMPA, Fla. - Besides having to wait until nearly the end of the show to hear its name called, Selection Sunday couldn’t have gone much better for the Virginia men’s basketball team.

UVa, back in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2001, earned a No. 4 seed - much higher than the pundits had predicted.

The Cavaliers play Albany (N.Y.), a school from the American East Conference that isn’t exactly a national powerhouse.

And, they don’t play until Friday.

So now the Cavs’ task is simple: Make sure the committee doesn’t look silly for rewarding them.

The way Virginia has been playing lately, that may be tougher than one would think.

“We’re very pleased to be selected as high as No. 4,” said Leitao, whose team will play in Columbus, Ohio. “I think it’s a great tribute to our team and our players, and the season they put forth, but at the same point in time we have to realize we’ll have some very difficult challenges ahead.”

The co-ACC champs have lost three of their last five games. The defeats have come at the hands of conference cellar-dwellers Miami, Wake Forest and N.C. State.

In all the games, Virginia has blown halftime leads.

In the losses to Miami and Wake, UVa was victimized by its bricklaying, shooting a combined 37 percent.

On Saturday, in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament against N.C. State, defense was Virginia’s bugaboo. UVa allowed the Wolfpack to hit 17 of 23 shots in the second half.

“All year long we’ve been a very good defensive team,” Leitao said. “We’ll get back to business that way. I think all of us understand what we have to do to not allow a team to shoot the ball the way [N.C. State] did in the second half.

“I think we’re excited to go back and make those corrections, so that we can get back on our feet in that way.”

Leitao scoffed at the notion that his team’s confidence is fragile right now.

“I think you need to be able to learn from every game and move on,” he said. “[We] have an opportunity to keep playing on a very big stage and let everybody know what everybody in the ACC already knows - we’re in a very competitive conference and we’re very happy to be representing that conference.”

Virginia’s last appearance in the Big Dance was a brief one. Seeded fifth in 2001, the Cavaliers lost in the first round to 12th-seeded Gonzaga.

If UVa can get by the Great Danes (that would be Albany), it would play the winner of the 5-12 game between Tennessee and Long Beach State.

J.R. Reynolds will likely have to turn things around for UVa to have any chance of making it to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1995. The senior from Roanoke is mired in the worst shooting slump of his career - 9 of 44 in his last three games.

“It’s a new season,” said Reynolds, who has been bothered by a hip injury. “Every team’s gonna come out and compete. We just need to play with intensity and energy.”

This is the highest Virginia has been seeded since ’95 when, as a No. 4, it lost to Arkansas in the Elite Eight.

“Right now, we have a whole clean slate and are excited about the position we’re in,” said Virginia guard Sean Singletary. “We’re not dwelling on the past.

“The numbers besides the names don’t matter. Everyone’s playing for their life because nobody wants to go home.”

Game times will be officially announced today, but according to Yahoo.com, UVa and Albany will tip-off at 12:15 p.m.

 

Underdog Albany not afraid of UVa
By Jerry Ratcliffe / jratcliffe@dailyprogress.com | 978-7251
March 12, 2007

TAMPA, Fla. - Albany coach Will Brown doesn’t know much about NCAA opening round opponent Virginia, yet. His knowledge will increase as he scouts the Cavaliers over the coming days.

But he does know about UVa’s celebrated backcourt of Sean Singletary and J.R. Reynolds.

“We had a common opponent in Utah, so I got a good look at Virginia when I scouted Utah on film,” Brown said Sunday night in a telephone interview with The Daily Progress. “I’ve watched Virginia on TV, too, and they’ve got as good a backcourt as there is in the country. We know we have a difficult task with Singletary and Reynolds.

“You’re not going to stop either one of them, but rather you try to limit them as much as possible,” Brown said. “You’ve got to make them work for everything that they get. They have other good players, but you have to look at those two guys specifically.”

Meanwhile, Brown, who is one of the youngest Division I head coaches in the country at age 35, has an experienced team of his own that boasts one senior, 6-foot-4 swingman Jason Siggers, and four juniors.

The most celebrated of the juniors is 6-1 guard Jamar Wilson, who was the America East Player of the Year and the conference tournament’s most outstanding player. Wilson, who averages 18.6 points per game, could be one of the most entertaining opponents the Cavaliers have faced this season.

“He’s a two-time player of the year, and if you’re going to win conference championships and compete on a national stage, then you need a big-time player, and that’s Jamar Wilson,” Brown said. “I think Jamar can make plays against the best teams and players in the country.”

Wilson, who had 22 points, seven rebounds and six assists against Vermont in the conference title game, is a stunning playmaker.

“He’s always in the attack mode and putting pressure on the defense,” Brown said. “He plays like an Allen Iverson-type player in that he’s not the biggest player, but he’s ultra-quick, explosive off the floor, and makes circus shots.”

Brown said that Wilson’s spinning drives against Vermont made him dizzy because of their degree of difficulty.

“Let’s put it this way, if as a coach I were trying to teach him to attempt shots like that, I’d probably get fired,” the Great Danes coach said. “But it’s nice to know that when we’re struggling that we have a guy that can carry us, create something out of nothing, and carry the other guys on his back.”

One thing is for certain. Just because Albany is a team from a smaller conference, don’t think the Great Danes suffer from an inferiority complex. Quite the contrary.

“I know they’re a veteran team and have been to the [NCAA] Tournament more than we have,” said Virginia coach Dave Leitao on Sunday evening. “I am sure they are looking at us as a team they can beat. They gave UConn a tough time last year.”

Brown was quick to point that out, as was Leitao.

“We battled the most talented team in the country for 35 minutes in last year’s tournament,” the Albany coach said of last year’s opening round tussle with the second-seeded Huskies. “We were tied with 34 minutes gone. We just wore down.

“We have a nice nucleus back from that experience. Our guys went into that game feeling like we were going to beat UConn and I feel we’ll head into the Virginia game with the same attitude,” said Brown, who received a five-year contract extension after last year’s NCAA Tournament.

There’s no reason for Albany to feel any other way, especially knowing that it defeated the same Utah team that beat Virginia in the San Juan Shootout. While many may argue that wasn’t the real Cavalier basketball team that sleep-walked through its Puerto Rican experience, it still is recorded as a loss.

Albany’s toughest non-conference opponents this season included UConn, which beat the Danes by 31 points, and Virginia Commonwealth, which downed Albany by 18.

Brown described his team as versatile, a squad that can get up and down the floor, can execute in the halfcourt and features strong man-to-man defense. Its strength clearly lies on the perimeter with Wilson, Siggers (13.9 ppg), swingman Brian Lillis (7.1 ppg), and reserve guard Jon Iati (6.1 ppg).

“To be honest, we play mostly halfcourt basketball,” Brown said. “We’ve got an experienced group of guys who accept their roles. We don’t have any ego problems. We just do whatever it takes to win.”

The 23-9 Great Danes average 68.2 points per game, and give up 64.5 to opponents. They have converted 45.5 percent of their field-goal attempts to opponents’ 43.5, and out-rebound their competition 34.0-30.5.

Virginia’s Leitao said he hasn’t had the pleasure of spending any time around Brown, “but I know he’s a tremendous competitor in uplifting that program.”

Brown, who coached on the Division II level as an assistant before taking over the head coaching job at Sullivan County Community College in Och Sheldranke, N.Y., joined Albany as an assistant in September 2001, but was promoted to interim head coach on Dec. 20 of that year, coaching the Danes to a 7-13 recovery over the last 20 games.

Taking over the job, Brown eventually turned the program around with an eight-win improvement from 2003-04 to 2004-05 when Albany went 13-15. Last season, he led the Danes to a 21-11 mark, including the America East Conference regular-season and tournament titles.

Brown said he doesn’t know Leitao, but is well acquainted with UVa assistants Rob Lanier and Steve Seymour, who coached at nearby Siena.

“We had just started the rivalry back up between Albany and Siena as Rob ended up his time there,” Brown said. “I have a tremendous amount of respect for him. He’s a great guy, recruiter, and family man. He and Steve are going to be somewhat familiar with us and they’re familiar with Jamar.”

The two teams will meet Friday in Columbus, Ohio. According to Yahoo.com, game time is set for 12:15 p.m., but the official announcement will be made today.

 

Next stop: Ohio
Cavs named No. 4 in South Region
By Jay Jenkins / jjenkins@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
March 12, 2007

The high-fives and roaring cheers were reminiscent of a high school pep rally.

After sitting patiently for 34 minutes and through numerous commercial breaks during the NCAA Tournament’s selection show on Sunday night, the contingent of players from the Virginia men’s basketball program assembled inside the John Paul Jones Arena finally received the official word on the team’s postseason fate: The Cavaliers were back in the Big Dance for the first time since 2001.

Virginia, boasting a 20-10 overall record, was rewarded with the fourth seed in the South Region, drawing a first-round pairing with 13th-seeded Albany (23-9). The two teams will meet Friday in Columbus, Ohio, with the winner advancing to play on Sunday against either Tennessee or Long Beach State. Game time will be officially announced today, but according to Yahoo.com, UVa and Albany will tip-off at 12:15 p.m.

The announcement did not come until the final bracket was revealed and after six other ACC teams had learned their fate.

“I was starting to get antsy there by the fourth region,” said UVa senior Ryan Pettinella, comparing the experience to waiting for Christmas presents as a youngster. “That was great and I was real happy when the 4-seed popped up.”

No player showed the emotion of Will Harris, a freshman from Corona, N.Y.

“We are a 4-seed,” Harris happily screamed. “Ahhh!”

Harris’ reaction was not what one of his teammates expected.

“I was waiting for Will to start crying,” senior Jason Cain joked. “Will is a crier.”

Pettinella, who advanced in the NCAA Tournament at Penn during the 2004-05 season, said the day’s events brought back fond memories.

“The whole day is a phenomenal experience,” he said. “I experienced it at Penn and I still remember that memory and I will remember this day for the rest of my life. It is such a great opportunity.”

While Pettinella was recruited by Albany out of high school, most of Virginia’s players have little or no knowledge of the Great Danes, a team that secured its second straight berth by winning the America East Conference Tournament on Saturday.

“We don’t know too much about them, but we’re not really worried about the opponent,” junior guard Sean Singletary said. “As we know, everybody is out there playing for their life. We know they’re going to compete, and if we compete and we do the right things we can get a victory.”

Having finished in a tie with North Carolina for the ACC regular-season title and despite losing two straight, including a shocking quarterfinal loss to North Carolina State on Friday in the ACC Tournament, Virginia coach Dave Leitao said he was confident his team would be rewarded by the NCAA Tournament’s selection committee.

“It would be difficult, even as many times as we stubbed our toe, to deny us, so I didn’t get nervous that we wouldn’t get selected,” said Leitao, who was named the ACC Coach of the Year last week. “I just wanted, like everybody else, to find out who we were going to play and where we would go.”

 

Wake rallies to drop Cavs
From staff reports / Charlottesville Daily Progress
March 12, 2007

In Winston-Salem, N.C., Allen Dykstra hit a pair of home runs and Willy Fox delivered a two-out, walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth to lift Wake Forest over Virginia, 7-6, in the rubber game of their ACC series.

Fox, who hit a pair of homers on Friday in the Demon Deacons’ five-run win, singled into center field on a 2-1 pitch from Virginia reliever Casey Lambert (0-1) to drive in Brett Linnenkohl from second.

Virginia, which stranded 12 runners on base, dropped to 16-3 overall and 1-2 in the ACC. Wake Forest (11-5, 2-1 ACC) has won five of its last six at home against the fourth-ranked Cavaliers.

The loss for UVa spoiled a solid league debut from starting pitcher Matt Packer. The rookie southpaw went 6 innings, giving up three runs (two earned) while striking out seven.

“This is a very disappointing loss,” said UVa coach Brian O’Connor. “Any time you have the lead late in the game and you lose, it is hard to swallow. I thought we competed hard and Matt Packer had his best outing of the season. You have to be better at the end of games than we were today to win on the road.”

Packer was pulled in the seventh inning after allowing a leadoff double.

Virginia’s bullpen, one of its strongest components early in the season, was then roughed up, allowing four runs in the game’s final 2.2 innings. Michael Schwimer (0.2 IP, 2 ER) gave up back-to-back singles setting the stage for Dykstra’s three-run homer off Lambert (2 IP, 2 ER) in the seventh.

Trailing 6-5 in the ninth, Brandon Guyer tied the game for Virginia with a one-out, solo homer off Wake closer Ben Hunter (3-2).

Sean Doolittle added a three-run homer in the sixth inning for Virginia, which returns to action Tuesday when it plays host to Niagara at 4 p.m. at Davenport Field.

 

Virginia elated with No. 4 seed
Cavs in South Region, to play Albany (23-9) Friday in Columbus
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Mar 12, 2007

CHARLOTTESVILLE - The longer the show went on, the more University of Virginia senior Jason Cain's anxiety grew last night. He wasn't worried that U.Va. would get left out of the NCAA men's basketball tournament, but his faith in the selection committee's judgment wavered as the clock ticked on.

"I thought they were going to throw us a 10 seed or something like that," said Cain, who'd gathered with his teammates and coaches in the dining room at John Paul Jones Arena.

The 6-10 forward need not have worried. Thirty-five minutes into CBS' selection show - after the draws for six other ACC teams had been announced - the Cavaliers finally were able to exhale. On the big screen came the news that U.Va. had been seeded No. 4 in the South Region.

Virginia (20-10) will meet No. 13 seed Albany (23-9) in a first-round game Friday at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, home of the NHL Blue Jackets. The starting time is expected to be announced today.

When the draw was announced, several U.Va. players leaped to their feet in celebration. Sean Singletary stayed seated, but he was delighted, as was the Cavaliers' other star guard, senior J.R. Reynolds.

Virginia, which shared the ACC regular-season title with North Carolina, is headed to the NCAAs for the first time since 2001. Junior center Ryan Pettinella, a transfer from Penn, is the only Cavalier to have played in the NCAA tournament.

"It's just really a phenomenal experience to have those kinds of memories," Pettinella said last night.

Virginia has lost three of its past five games and failed to win a game in the ACC tournament. That the Cavaliers were awarded such a high NCAA seed surprised many bracketologists, but second-year coach Dave Leitao pointed to his team's performance in the rugged ACC.

The seed is the Wahoos' best since 1995. Also a No. 4 that season, U.Va. advanced to the NCAA tournament's fourth round before losing to Arkansas.

"The 4 seed is great," said Singletary, a two-time all-ACC selection, but like Coach said before, the numbers next to the name don't really matter. Everybody's playing for their lives now."

Albany is in the NCAA tourney field as the America East champion for the second straight season. A year ago, the 16th-seeded Great Danes led much of their first-round game with No. 1 seed Connecticut, whose coach, Jim Calhoun, is Leitao's mentor, coincidentally.

UConn closed with a 34-9 run to escape with a 72-59 victory in Philadelphia.

"They've been to this tournament more times than we have," Leitao said of the Great Danes, "and so they're going to come in with a very high air of confidence. I'm sure they're looking at us as a team that they know they can beat."

Reynolds, a second-team all-ACC selection, has been struggling with a painful abdominal strain that has caused his production to dip dramatically of late. Reynolds said he plans to play this weekend, but neither he nor Leitao would elaborate on his injury last night.

The U.Va.-Albany winner will meet No. 5 seed Tennessee or No. 12 seed Long Beach State in the second round Sunday.

 

Four entries on drawsheet create a state of excitement
BOB LIPPER
TIMES-DISPATCH COLUMNIST Mar 12, 2007

The first Coach Kommercial pitch of these NCAAs had barely faded to black when the VCU brand was posted on the Selection Sunday board and a date arranged with Ruling Class U.

Instant pandemonium. VCU's players shot out of their seats as if on a Canaveral launching pad. They whooped and carried on. They hugged one another. Then they whipped out cell phones to spread the news.

"Guess who we got in the first round of the NCAA tournament!" freshman James Eversley blurted into his mouthpiece.

Well, it is about the madness now, isn't it?

Duke vs. VCU is only one reason to get jazzed around here about office-pool drawsheets suddenly awash with commonwealth flavoring. Four. That's how many teams this state is sending to Bracketville, and good on us for this catch-a-wave splash. We've quadrupled our fun only once before, in fact - back in 1986, when Virginia, Virginia Tech, Richmond and Old Dominion all put on dancin' shoes.

ODU was the lone first-round survivor that year, but state entries should fare better this time. Frankly, the selection committee went a little soft on our guys. U.Va., at a 4-seed, and Tech, at a 5, were bumped higher in the pecking order than they might've expected after stumbles at the ACC tournament, for example.

The Cavs drew rank outsider Albany as a warmup to - if chalk holds - Tennessee's frenzy and top-shelf sharpshooter Chris Lofton. The Hokies, meanwhile, get an ordinary Illinois entry as the prelude to a more strenuous second-rounder against Southern Illinois.

As for VCU, its dribble-penetration motif stacks up favorably against a Duke squad that has more schoolboy All-Americans than agility on its roster. Pitt's 7-0 Aaron Gray would be a major obstacle in the second round, but the Rams - if they remain composed - probably can hang with the Blue Devils.

"They're a very young team," said backup guard Jamal Shuler, a Jacksonville, N.C., product who can tell you all about Duke's pedigree. "With Coach K, they're very well-coached. They play hard. They play good defense. They have weapons. It's going to be a real challenge for us."

The Rams, at least, enter the tournament with momentum. Not so U.Va., which dropped three of its past five starts, and Tech, loser of three of four, including a flat effort Saturday against N.C. State.

Hokies coach Seth Greenberg nonetheless called the season "a hell of an accomplishment for a group of guys that no one thought could play in the ACC, the Big East or anywhere else. That's a hell of a statement for our program - in four short years to go from the worst program in the Big East to the NCAA tournament - and I'm very proud of our guys."

Dave Leitao and Anthony Grant could deliver similar pronouncements. See, none of these teams was projected to do much this year. Preseason prophets picked Tech and U.Va. sixth and eighth in the ACC and VCU sixth in the Colonial. None of them had much of an inside game (still don't). All of them figured to be lucky to sniff an NIT bid, let alone breathe in the NCAAs.

But - a big but - they have guards. Talented guards. Experienced guards. Guards such as Sean Singletary, Zabian Dowdell and Eric Maynor, just to name three. You have guards you can count on, you can make some noise in March.

Not that there aren't trouble spots. Duke's Josh McRoberts, if he chooses to assert himself, could hurt VCU down low. Tech center Coleman Collins has been in double figures once in 11 games. U.Va. guard J.R. Reynolds is a 9-for-44 mess over the past three games and was one culprit in his team's loss to N.C. State last Friday.

"It hurts," U.Va. swingman Adrian Joseph said after that setback. "We've got to go back to the gym and work on getting better and being prepared for the next game in the NCAAs."

That goes for all the teams carrying the state banner.

Next time they lose, it'll hurt even more.

 

Cavs set to run with big dogs
Virginia earns its first NCAA bid since 2001.

After a six-year wait, what's another 10 minutes?

Before Virginia received its first bid to the NCAA men's basketball tournament since 2001, the Cavaliers had to wait until 55 other teams were identified on CBS' selection show.

Nobody thought Virginia would be left out of the field, "but I was starting to get a little worried about who we were going to play," senior guard J.R. Reynolds said.

The Cavaliers (20-10) received a No. 4 seed in the South Region and will meet America East champion Albany (23-9) on Friday in Columbus, Ohio.

It will be the second NCAA bid in as many years for the Great Danes, which held a second-half lead against Connecticut last year, when they were a No. 16 seed and the Huskies were a No. 1 seed.

"They've been to the tournament more times than we have," second-year UVa coach Dave Leitao said. "I'm sure they look at us as a team they can beat."

The Virginia program will be making its 16th NCAA Tournament appearance. However, nobody on the current roster has been to the NCAAs and the six-year drought was the longest since UVa went for the first time in 1976.

The No. 4 seed was something of a surprise, given that the Cavaliers were unranked by The Associated Press and were 24th in the coaches' poll before losing to North Carolina State, 79-71, in their lone ACC Tournament game.

"It's a great tribute to our team," Leitao said. "I'm very pleased to be selected as a No. 4, but I also know that in the NCAA tournament the numbers they place on a team aren't going to have a whole lot to do with one's success.

"If you knew that we played all season in the best conference in America and we were co-champions, it would be difficult, even with as many times as we stubbed our toes, to leave us out."

Albany was an automatic qualifier based on its victory at Vermont on Saturday in the America East final. Moreover, the Great Danes have won 13 of their past 15 games.

On Dec. 28, Albany traveled to Salt Lake City and emerged with a 59-58 victory over a Utah team that eight days earlier had trounced Virginia in Puerto Rico, 94-70.

Like Virginia, Albany is led by a veteran guard combination of 6-foot-1 guard Jamar Wilson and 6-4 Jason Siggers, both seniors.

Wilson, named most outstanding player in the America East Tournament, leads the team with 18.6 points per game and 156 assists.

Four Albany players have more than 40 3-point field goals, led by Brent Wilson, a 6-8, 240-pound junior forward who is 68-of-154 (44.2 percent) from behind the arc.

The Great Danes have the capacity to pound the backboards with Wilson, 6-7, 240-pound Jimmie Covington and 6-5, 220-pound Brian Lillis.

Albany is coached by 35-year-old Will Brown, who was one of the youngest Division I coaches in the country when he was elevated to interim status in December 2001.

As recently as 2004-05, Albany was 13-15, but that was an eight-game improvement over the previous season. Last year, the Great Danes went 21-11 after losing to Connecticut in a game Albany led 50-38 in the second half.

Leitao said he has never met his Albany counterpart, but the programs have one connection. The Great Danes' director of basketball operations, Jeremy Friel, is the younger brother of ex-UVa 3-point specialist Keith Friel.
 

Cavaliers to face experienced Danes
Virginia gets a No. 4 seed in the NCAA tournament and will travel to Columbus, Ohio, to face upset-minded Albany.
BY DARRYL SLATER
247-4641
March 12, 2007

One team is a charter ACC member that has played in two Final Fours and featured Ralph Sampson, one of the greatest players in college basketball history.

The other team went from Division III to Division II in 1995 and to Division I in 1999, playing in a D-I conference for the first time in 2001.

Care to guess which program's players are more experienced in the NCAA tournament?

That would be the latter program: Albany, of the America East Conference. The former program, Virginia, will play Albany on Friday in the NCAA first round at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.

Virginia, a No. 4 seed, is in the NCAAs for the first time since 2001. Albany, a No. 13, is in the tournament for the second consecutive year. The winner on Sunday plays the winner of No. 12 Long Beach State and No. 5 Tennessee, which features freshman forward Duke Crews, a Bethel High graduate.

The Great Danes (23-9) on Saturday won the America East tournament to qualify for their second NCAAs. They also won the conference tournament last year. In their first-round NCAA game, they almost pulled off one of the biggest upsets in sports history. As a No. 16 seed, they led No. 1 seed Connecticut 50-38 with 11:34 remaining in the game before falling 72-59.

A No. 16 seed has never defeated a No. 1 seed. No. 13 seeds are 18-70 against No. 4 seeds since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985.

"The talent we have, the experience we have, the young, energetic guys we have, we can go as far as we want," Virginia junior point guard Sean Singletary said.

The Cavaliers (20-10) shared the ACC regular-season title this season - their first league championship since 1995. But they have stumbled recently, losing three of their past five games, including a first-round exit Friday in the ACC tournament.

"It really doesn't matter about yesterday," second-year Virginia coach Dave Leitao said. "It really only matters for what you're preparing for."

Said Albany coach Will Brown: "I don't know if there's ever a good matchup when you're talking about a 13 and a 4. ... You look at them, and they have 10 or 11 losses, so you think you've got a shot. Because you're not playing a team like Memphis that's 30-3 and hasn't lost since the (third) week of December."

Leitao could utilize a couple sources while preparing for the Great Danes. He plans to speak with Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun, his mentor. Virginia assistant coach Rob Lanier crossed paths with Brown when Lanier was Siena's head coach from 2001-05. Siena is located in Loudonville, N.Y., a suburb of Albany.

Virginia's main concerns this week revolve around the backcourt.

Senior shooting guard J.R. Reynolds is battling an abdominal strain that has hampered his shooting. Leitao had no update on the injury Sunday.

Albany is led by senior combo guard Jamar Wilson, who just won his second consecutive America East Player of the Year award. Wilson averages 18.6 points, 6.3 rebounds and 4.9 assists - ranking first, fifth and second in the conference in those categories.

"They're coming with the right components to be a very dangerous team," Leitao said.

Cavaliers get fourth seed in South
By Andy Bitter
Lynchburg News & Advance
March 12, 2007

TAMPA - After flaming out in their only ACC Tournament game, the Cavaliers probably left Tampa figuring they had just blown their chance at earning a prime seed in the NCAA tournament.

They got a bit of a surprise then during Sunday's selection show.

Virginia (20-10) received a four seed in the South Regional and will play 13th-seeded Albany in Columbus, Ohio, at Nationwide Arena on Friday. CBS is expected to set the game times today.

"I'm just looking forward to playing in something big," said guard J.R. Reynolds, who has waited four years to make his first NCAA Tournament appearance. "It's special."

It's the Cavaliers' second trip to the NCAAs since 1995 and their first since the 2000-01 season, when they were upset as a five seed by 12th-seeded Gonzaga. It's also the highest seeding UVa has received since it made a run to the Elite Eight as a four seed in 1995.

"The numbers beside the name don't matter," said guard Sean Singletary, echoing his coaches sentiments. "It's a new season and everybody's playing for their life. Nobody wants to go home."

The four seed was a bit shocking for a team that didn't finish its season strong. The Cavaliers will enter the tournament having lost two straight and three of its last five, all to the bottom three teams in the ACC.

"Although we didn't end up the season like we wanted to, our body of work was that we were co-champions in the best league," Virginia head coach Dave Leitao said. "If you can claim that as part of your r?sum?, then you know you're pretty good."

Albany is an interesting matchup. The Great Danes (23-9), who are led by seventh-year head coach Will Brown, earned their second straight NCAA Tournament berth by beating Vermont 60-59 in the Atlantic East championship.

Their only other tournament appearance was last season, when it was a 16 seed and gave top-seeded UConn a scare, leading by 12 with just over 11 minutes left in the game before the Huskies stormed back for a 72-59 win.

Leitao said he'll definitely call his former mentor, UConn's Jim Calhoun, for a scouting report. He also has some familiarity with Albany from his stint as Northeastern's head coach for two seasons from 1994-96.

"I know they are a veteran team," Leitao said. "They've been to tournament more than we have and should come in with an air of confidence."

The Great Danes can match Virginia's experienced backcourt of Reynolds and Singletary with seniors Jamar Wilson and Jason Siggers.

Wilson (18.6 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 4.9 apg) is the two-time America East player of the year and one of three starters who returned from last year's tournament team. Siggers (13.9 ppg) and forward Brent Wilson (10.9 ppg) are the other two.

The other game in Virginia's bracket is a 5-12 matchup between Tennessee and Long Beach State. The winners of the two games meet on Sunday.

The pod feeds into the South Regional, which will be played in San Antonio on March 22 and 24. The top three seeds in the region are Ohio State, Memphis and Texas A&M.