UVa's Payne becoming a cult figure
By Jerry Ratcliffe / jratcliffe@dailyprogress.com | 978-7251
March 22, 2007

Virginia’s first spring football practice had just ended on a chilly Wednesday and several sportswriters were huddled around redshirt freshman running back Keith Payne.
Ever since last season, we had been told about Payne, a powerful running back from Oakton High School. “Just wait until you get a load of this guy,” we heard UVa coaches and players say. Cavaliers coach Al Groh even went as far as saying how difficult it was not to take the redshirt off Payne and throw him straight into the lineup as Virginia struggled to a 5-7 record in 2006.

A media darling
So, when Groh noticed Payne attracting all the attention after practice Wednesday, the head coach couldn’t avoid the temptation to razz the rookie running back just a little.
“Hey Keith, you don’t want to linger too long because then you’re going to be late for the induction into the Hall of Fame,” Groh chimed in.
Payne couldn’t hold back his laughter, knowing he was getting needled by his coach all in good fun. Groh stuck it to him one more time.
“He’s the only guy I’ve ever seen who’s never gained a yard and has his own press conference,” the coach shouted.

He’s a running back?
Payne just shook his head, laughing off the ribbing.
But Payne is no laughing matter. He’s a serious contender to become Virginia’s starting tailback this season even though he may look more like a linebacker.
In fact, at 6-foot-3, 234 pounds and with a size-14 shoe, he’s not your average-sized running back.
“I don’t want to call him ‘The Bus’ because Jerome Bettis already has that one,” said UVa defensive end Chris Long. “He’s like a cruise ship. He’s just a big massive kid.
“Sometimes I get confused, like, ‘Who is this guy with the ball?’ He looks like a linebacker or defensive end coming at you with the ball. He’s different than any back we’ve faced in the past year.”
That’s no surprise to Payne, who said he has always been big for his age, so big in fact that he had to sit out football his eighth-grade year because he exceeded the weight cutoff of 150 pounds.
“Most people don’t think I’m a running back,” Payne said. “They think I’m a linebacker. It’s a shocker when they see that I really am a running back.”

See Keith run
But, oh, when they see him run, they automatically dismiss any thoughts of a linebacker comparison. It’s like a runaway freight train. Well, not exactly runaway. Payne has amazing smoothness and body control for a man his size.
He’s not your typical running back by any stretch of the imagination.
Just think, although he had never played cornerback in his high school career, Payne moved to that spot just for one week, the state championship game, in which his assignment was to cover the unstoppable Percy Harvin, one-on-one.
Harvin, a speedster from Landstowne, had posted mind-boggling numbers in his high school career and went on to simply tear up Ohio State in January’s national championship game as a true freshman.
Well, Payne held Harvin to three catches for 39 yards. Offensively, Payne tore up Landstowne for 250 yards on 25 carries and scored four touchdowns to take the state title and win Group AAA Player of the Year status away from Harvin.
“For anybody, the first thing that catches their eye is his size,” Groh said. “When they look at his number (32) and see what his size is, it’s unusual to see a person of that dimension at that position.
“But then, once you see the size and you see the running skill that goes with it, this is a player who has a real sense of how to run with the ball,” the coach explained. “He’s got size, but he’s more than just a sledgehammer. He’s a very athletic player.”
Payne is not a plodder. He doesn’t know his 40 time because he hasn’t been timed in a while, he said. All he says about that is that he knows he’s fast for his size.
Just ask Harvin.
Payne spent last season running on the scout team that helps the Cavaliers prepare for an upcoming opponent. He didn’t have the luxury of running behind an experienced line. He just played hard every day as if he were going to be playing on Saturdays.
What he’s trying to pick up this spring are some of the more intricate things, good ball fakes, the speed of the game - “I’ve never played in a college game, so I don’t know,” he said - things like that.
He earned the respect of Virginia’s defensive crowd long ago.
“Going up against him, you can’t go soft because he packs a punch,” said linebacker John Bivens. “You’ve got to hit him and wrap him up because he’ll break an arm tackle. I’d say he runs about a 4.5.”
“He can run into you and you’ll feel it because he’s a big boy,” said Long. “It can hurt, but I’ll never let him know it. You can print that, but I hope it doesn’t blow his head up.”
It’s funny really, like Groh said, that for a guy who hasn’t gained a yard, Payne is already kind of an urban legend. The fan base and message boards have been buzzing about him ever since Groh talked about the big cat’s prowess last fall.
“He’s beginning to become like Chuck Norris,” Long chuckled. “He’s got this little legend being built. But the expectations should make him work hard. It’s on him to whether he does anything with it, but I believe he will.”
Then there’s diminutive UVa cornerback Mike Brown, who at 5-9, 180, got the best of Payne last fall. Brown talks about leveling Payne during a practice session once last year. Once. But that’s one more time than anyone else.
Payne caught wind of Brown’s braggadocio concerning the event shortly after Wednesday’s practice session.
“Yeah, last year he kinda got me under my shoulder when I tried to stiff arm him ... he’s kind of a short guy,” Payne said, trying to explain how a guy Brown’s size could flatten a guy of his physical stature.
“He’s bragging, huh?” Payne asked. “OK. I’m going to get him back ... sometime soon.”
Mike Brown beware. You’re being stalked by the Big Cat. Better keep your head on a swivel.

 

Cavs looking for some insurance on the line
By Jay Jenkins / jjenkins@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
March 24, 2007

At the time, it was the most lopsided win Virginia had registered in 12 years.
Almost every-thing that could go UVa’s way on Sept. 18, 2004 did - the Cavaliers blasted Akron, 51-0, as Wali Lundy, Heath Miller and Alvin Pearman reached the end zone at least once in front of a homecoming crowd.
It might prove, however, to be a costly outing.
As that contest got out of hand, Virginia coach Al Groh tried to empty his bench.
Gordie Sammis, a sophomore at the time, was among the backup offensive linemen to see action. It was the only playing time the New Jersey native would see that season.
Sammis, who could provide insurance on the offensive line, will only be allowed to play in 2007 if the NCAA grants him an extra year of eligibility.
“We have petitioned on his behalf to see if he can get that year back,” Groh said on Friday during a teleconference. “He played a very small number of plays, like five or six at the end of one game where I think the score was 51-0, and, frankly, we lost track of him and before we knew it he was in the game. But that counts as a year.
“I guess you could say that we weren’t on top of the situation at the end of the game … I was kind of like, ‘Hey, anybody who hasn’t been in there, get in there. Unbeknownst to us, all of a sudden Gordie was in there.”
With all five starters back and reserve Zak Stair in the mix next season, Sammis is merely an insurance policy, but one that Groh would prefer to have in place.
As for Sammis’ chances, Groh remains unsure.
“I don’t have any great confidence in terms of how they rule,” he said.
Sammis practiced with his teammates on Wednesday and will continue to do so until the program receives word on his petition.

A jack of all trades
In the bio in Virginia’s media guide, Mikell Simpson is listed as a “versatile, multi-purpose back.”
Simpson, a running back by trade and a rising sophomore, did anything the coaching staff at Harrisburg (Pa.) High asked. He ran the ball, returned kicks and even intercepted five passes during his junior season.
Simpson also lined up in the slot in certain spread formations.
Groh certainly noticed.
That’s why Virginia’s coach thought it was a no-brainer to get Simpson repetitions in practice on Wednesday with the team’s wide receivers, a position lacking proven playmakers.
“Sometimes when he is in the game he might be one or the other, and if it works out he might be in the game in a combination where he can do both on a play-to-play basis,” Groh said.
The experiment is possible with the depth Virginia has in the backfield. In addition to veteran Cedric Peerman, the Cavaliers boast two redshirt freshmen, Raynard Horne and fan favorite Keith Payne, with promise.

Getting in the action
As he did last spring, Groh spent part of Wednesday’s practice working directly with the team’s linebackers.
The move makes sense.
Groh, having coached the position in the NFL with the Browns, Jets and Patriots, enjoys interacting with the linebackers, and the team’s position coach, Bob Diaco, doubles as the special teams coordinator.
On Friday, for example, Diaco had to prepare the team for what Groh called a “six-period special teams practice” and a 60-minute meeting.
“He has a lot to plan,” Groh said.
It is not a sign, Groh pointed out, of the performance Diaco has had with the linebackers.
In fact, Groh made it clear that Diaco, who is entering his second season on the staff, put together a “great training tape for the players” to show the teaching points learned last year.
“We will see after the spring … maybe the apprenticeship is over,” Groh said. “There are just so many things that I know from doing it on a day-to-day basis for so many years.”

Extra points
Groh shed some light on the depth chart at safety entering spring practice. Veterans Byron Glaspy and Nate Lyles are running with the first team while Jamaal Jackson and Brandon Woods are serving as the top reserves. That order may change in time as redshirt freshmen Rico Bell and Matt Leemhuis gain experience, but Groh said it would take time to assess the newcomers.
“I think on both of those two young safeties, that question probably won’t be answered intelligently or accurately until after April 14 and perhaps not until some time in August,” Groh said.
… Groh drew some laughter during the teleconference when a reporter mentioned that the Cavaliers’ coach was a two-sport star during his athletic career at UVa (Groh played football and lacrosse). “Only two of those three words were correct there,” Groh chuckled, “but like that song goes, ‘Two out of three ain’t bad.’”

 

Riding out the storm
Thompson, Virginia shut down Hurricanes in series opener
By Jay Jenkins / jjenkins@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
March 24, 2007

Greg Miclat might relate to Jacob Thompson better than any other member of the Virginia baseball team.

As roommates, Miclat certainly knows how hard Thompson takes losses, as rare as those occasions have been.

That was something neither sophomore had to worry about Friday night.

Thompson tossed eight masterful innings, striking out a career-high 10 batters to help lift Virginia to a 4-1 win in its series opener against Miami at Davenport Field in front of a season-high crowd of 2,377.

Virginia, ranked fifth in the country, improved to 21-4 overall and 4-3 in the ACC thanks to Thompson’s season-best outing.

“Last year, when Jacob would get behind he would be unsure of himself and looking to somebody for guidance,” said Miclat, who registered two of Virginia’s nine hits and extended his personal-best hitting streak to 16 games. “This year, Jacob gets mad at himself and he knows that those things can get him in trouble.

“Last year, he was nervous on the mound. This year, he has a new confidence level and he is really attacking hitters.”

Thompson (6-0) certainly attacked the final five batters in Miami’s batting order - those Hurricanes combined to go 1 for 17 in the game.

The right-hander also pitched well with runners on base, stranding five of the six runners that Miami left on.

“That’s what you want out of your Friday night starter,” said Virginia coach Brian O’Connor. “You know the opening game of an ACC series is typically going to be a low-scoring game because you are facing another team’s top starter.

“Jacob really went after their hitters tonight and set the tone for the weekend.”

Thompson, who is now 16-4 in his career, also benefited from an opportunistic offensive attack from his teammates.

In the second inning, Patrick Wingfield reached on an error by Miami third baseman Mark Sobolewski and advanced to second on a stolen base despite a successful pick-off move from Miami starter Eric Erickson (3-3). After Erickson’s throw to first, Miami first baseman Yonder Alonso elected not to attempt a throw to second.

Just moments later, Erickson spun toward second to pick-off Wingfield again, but his throw sailed into center field, allowing Wingfield to score the game’s first run.

Virginia added another run in the third when Miclat scored from third on an RBI single from David Adams.

Miami (14-11, 2-5 ACC) scored its lone run in the sixth off Thompson when Sobolewski blooped a two-out single into center. Thompson, unfazed by seeing the Hurricanes trim the lead to one run, at 2-1, worked out of the first-and-third jam by fanning shortstop Roger Tomas on four pitches.

Virginia tacked on insurance runs in the sixth and eighth innings, giving closer Casey Lambert extra breathing room. Lambert, despite allowing a leadoff walk to Sobolewski, recorded his fifth save of the season.

Virginia will send freshman Matt Packer (2-1, 3.48 ERA) to the mound today at 1 p.m. as the Cavaliers look to win their second straight series. Miami is expected to counter with left-hander Scott Maine (2-3, 5.00 ERA).

 

Rubeor sparkling as Cavs' go-to guy
By Whitelaw Reid / wreid@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
March 24, 2007

Before every game, Ben Rubeor finds a place to sit, all by himself.

Sometimes it’s in the locker room. Sometimes it’s in the training room. Sometimes it’s right on the Klockner Stadium field.

The Virginia co-captain throws on a pair of headphones and listens to the likes of the Grateful Dead and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

It may seem like Rubeor is simply getting pumped up to play - but the Baltimore native is doing much more.

Rubeor is meditating.

“A lot of it is visualization type of things and breathing exercises to get myself focused and ready,” explained Rubeor, a junior attackman. “I’m not big on the whole warming-up thing. I’d much rather just get out there and play, so I have to spend some time relaxing. It ends up being a 45-minute to hour-long process. I get into it.”

Today, Rubeor leads fifth-ranked Virginia (6-1) into an important midseason test with No. 3 Johns Hopkins (4-1). This year, the 5-foot-11, 178-pounder has blown up - to the tune of 26 goals and 13 assists (his 39 points are the most in the country).

Rubeor had seven goals in Virginia’s 13-9 win over Towson last Saturday.

“You could see back in September that he had a real focus about this season” said Virginia coach Dom Starsia. “He was very focused in the weight room back in the fall and was first in the running [drills]. He prepared himself accordingly.

“I’m not sure we had a right to expect the numbers and productivity that he’s given us so far, but I’m sure he expected nothing less of himself.”

It was after a car accident before his senior year in high school that Rubeor took up meditation.

Rubeor was speeding around a corner when his car flipped over. While a former teammate walked away unscathed, Rubeor suffered a broken left arm.

Rubeor, who is left-handed, wound up needing several surgeries after his arm became infected.

“I became a lot more introspective just because I was spending a lot of time alone and I just kind of got into looking within,” said Rubeor, who bares a large scar on the inside of his left forearm.

“There were also a series of events that happened before the accident that threw my life a curveball that I wasn’t

really prepared for, but I was able to find some calm and some serenity with just being introspective. I started reading about meditation and visualization.”

Last season, Rubeor was certainly one of the team’s better players. However, he was a complementary component.

But with the losses of Matt Ward, Matt Poskay and Kyle Dixon - three of the best players in the country - Rubeor has become Virginia’s go-to guy.

“While we need to establish some balance in the midfield and need those guys to continue to come along, frankly we’re only going as far as Ben and Danny [Glading] and our attack takes us,” Starsia said.

In addition to his increased offensive production, Rubeor has assumed leadership responsibilities. Never mind that the soft-spoken 21-year-old doesn’t seem like the type to get in teammates’ faces.

“I think just the way he practices and the effort he puts in every day, it definitely drives the team,” said Virginia senior co-captain Drew Thompson. “He’s not the most vocal leader, but just by his actions and work ethic, it’s unbelievable to see how hard he works.”

One of the more remarkable things about Rubeor is that he still does not have full range of motion in his left arm. He probably never will.

“I’d say it’s about 70 percent,” Rubeor said. “It definitely affected my playing.

“My style and the way I throw and shoot kind of changed, but I think it actually worked to my benefit in the end.”

After the injury, Rubeor improved his right hand. Knowing that he wouldn’t be able to rely on his stick skills as much, he also improved his conditioning.

Now, Rubeor is a more well-rounded player than he was in high school.

Just don’t call him a “lacrosse player.”

“I don’t like any labels,” said Rubeor, an English major who was named to the ACC Honor Roll in his first two years at Virginia. “I think it’s kind of a restricting thing. I like to be thought of as a regular student who happens to play lacrosse.”

Rubeor’s teammates seem to realize that he isn’t the typical jock.

“I always see him in the training room and he’s always sticking to himself before the game with his headphones on, but I had no idea he was meditating,” Thompson said. “Whatever works. He keeps putting up those numbers, I don’t care what he does.”

 

Looks like Kentucky is not so special after all
By Jerry Ratcliffe / jratcliffe@dailyprogress.com | 978-7251
March 24, 2007

When I found out Thursday that Tubby Smith had left Kentucky for Minnesota, I couldn’t help but chuckle.
When I found out Friday that Minnesota’s athletic director learned six weeks ago that Smith was willing to leave Kentucky, I laughed out loud. When I heard that Smith was picked up at 2:30 Thursday morning to fly away to a new life in Minneapolis, I couldn’t stop laughing.
Why?
Because this entire scenario could have taken place exactly two years ago, only it would have been Smith leaving UK for Charlottesville.

The Boo-grass State
So, why the uncontrollable laughter?
Kentucky fans, that’s why. In more than 30 years in the business of covering college basketball, I have never dealt with so many obnoxious, pompous fans as those following Kentucky.
I’m not saying they’re all that way. After all, they do have Ashley Judd, right?
But ever since Al Gore invented e-mail (that is correct isn’t it, I mean, he said so), this columnist has never received so many vicious, pompous, obnoxious, misinformed, uneducated, nasty, classless e-mails as the ones I received two years ago when Virginia was searching for a new basketball coach to replace Pete Gillen.
Hey, I receive some nasty e-mails from time to time. What columnist doesn’t? I don’t expect everyone to agree with me, that’s part of my job.
But no fan base has ever been so insulting, classless and somewhat stupid as Kentucky fans were during that process two years ago.

Tubby leading the Hoos?
We knew for certain that Virginia was talking to Tubby Smith about taking over the Cavaliers’ program. UVa had built one of the greatest arenas in the country, a whole lot better than the concrete barn they call Rupp Arena, and was making basketball a priority.
We knew for certain that Tubby was interested in Virginia. He was tired of the pressures at Kentucky and we knew for certain that he and, especially his wife, a Virginia native, were less than happy about how one of his sons had been treated in Lexington.
Virginia offered a fresh start, less pressures, a new way of life, and supposedly a whole lot of money.
We still haven’t confirmed it, but the rumor floating around two years ago was a possible 10-year contract for $40 million at UVa. Now, that sounds a bit preposterous even in
today’s coaching market (unless you’re looking for a football coach at Alabama).
But certainly it would have made a national splash for a program trying to return to the college basketball map.
One source still insists that Tubby had told Virginia AD Craig Littlepage yes before the whole process crumbled. Don’t know if it’s true, but we knew there were some serious talks going on.
What was the bummer was the reaction from UK fans. Wish I had saved those e-mails, in which I was called every name in the book and a few new ones (I’m sure I’ll hear from the same classless idiots after this column hits the Kentucky
message boards).
Most of them carried the same theme. Tubby Smith would never give Virginia any consideration because its basketball program was laughable and that even mentioning Virginia in the same breath as Kentucky, kings of college basketball, is an unforgivable sin, let alone an idiotic thought.
Well, I guess not.
Let’s see, which basketball program would you rather take over, Virginia’s, which in two years came within a turned ankle of the Sweet 16, or Minnesota’s, which won nine games this past season?
John Paul Jones Arena or Minnesota’s (I’ve seen both and there’s no comparison).
Big Ten basketball or the ACC?
Minneapolis, where there are four pro sports to compete with and there are three or four months of non-sub freezing weather, or Charlottesville, where college sports are king of the hill and the weather is rather pleasant most of the year ...
Hmmm.
Seems as if it didn’t take too much arm-twisting to convince Smith to agree to a seven-year deal worth $1.8 million annually.
Now, don’t get me wrong. While Smith would have been a solid hire for Virginia two years ago, I truly believe that Littlepage hired the right guy in Dave Leitao. I think his record speaks for itself.
My gripe is with the hundreds of e-mails I got from a fan base that believes the Final Four is part of a bluegrass birthright. Maybe in the days of Rupp, but it’s a new world even if Kentucky fans refuse to accept that fact.
And, by the way. All those Kentucky fans that claimed that Lexington is the capital of college basketball, think again. What’s it been, 10 years since the Wildcats made the Final Four?
Maybe it won’t happen this year, a year in which the ACC is still a pretty young league, but as painful as it may be to admit, the capital of college basketball for most of the past decade and more can be found on Tobacco Road at two places about seven miles apart.

More hoops
Meanwhile, it appears that South Florida has offered its head coaching job to Winthrop’s Gregg Marshall.
USF had interviewed former UVa coach Pete Gillen last week in Columbus. Since then, the Bulls have interviewed Marshall, who has taken Winthrop to seven NCAA Tournaments in the past nine seasons, and South Alabama’s John Pelphrey.
USF reportedly is offering Marshall no less than $600,000 a year. Meanwhile, Winthrop is believed to be offering Marshall $400,000 to stay put.
It should be interesting to see where this goes. For our money, Marshall ought to use the leverage to get at least $500,000 to remain at Winthrop because better jobs than USF will be there in the future. Heck, there are better jobs open right now.
USF may be a Big East school, but it’s a horrible job with little chance of winning in that conference where the nearest conference member is practically a thousand miles away.

 

Sports Focus: Spring Football
Tailback extends range U.Va. experiments with hybrid wide receiver role for Mikell Simpson EXTRA POINTS: U.Va.'s practices tomor
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Mar 23, 2007

CHARLOTTESVILLE No.5, on a quick slant, caught the football and raced through the secondary. No.5 took a handoff and swept around left end.

No.5 was a busy man at the University of Virginia football team's first spring practice. That suited him fine.

"I love it," Mikell Simpson said Wednesday night, "because that's what I basically did in high school."

When his team at Harrisburg (Pa.) High "ran the ball, I was in the backfield," Simpson recalled. "When we passed it, I was at wide receiver. It gives me a chance to touch the ball in many different [situations]."

Simpson spent his first two falls at U.Va. - he redshirted in 2005 - working at tailback. About a week ago, his coaches told him he'd be getting snaps at tailback and wide receiver.

"This is kind of new [in Virginia's offense]," Simpson said of his hybrid position. "They're trying to get me the ball as much as they can out in space."

At 6-1, 200 pounds, Simpson has good size and excellent speed. But the Cavaliers have three other scholarship tailbacks on their spring roster - rising junior Cedric Peerman and touted freshmen Keith Payne and Raynard Horne, both of whom redshirted in 2006. Another tailback, recruit Max Milien, will join the team this summer.

His team's depth at that position "gives us the opportunity to kind of play with this a little bit," U.Va. coach Al Groh said, referring to Simpson's new role.

As a redshirt freshman, Simpson appeared in six games last season. He rushed 13 times for 56 yards and one touchdown. He caught one pass for 12 yards.

"He's not a pounder, but he operates well in space," Groh said. "And what was so apparent when we recruited him was his versatility. He was a kick returner, he was a wide receiver, he was a defensive back, he was a run-from-scrimmage guy. We're now trying to use him in the same way that he attracted our attention in the first place."

The Wahoos are not well-stocked at receiver. The projected starters are rising juniors Kevin Ogletree and Maurice Covington. Emmanuel Byers, a reserve wideout in 2005 and'06, wasn't invited back this season. Another receiver, Andrew Pearman, withdrew from school for personal reasons in the fall, and his status for the 2007 season is uncertain.

Other than Ogletree and Covington, Cary Koch (one reception, 4 yards) is the only returning wideout who caught a pass in 2006.

"We're a little slim there, a little inexperienced," Ogletree said.

Which is one reason why Groh decided to give Simpson snaps at wideout. The Cavaliers' seventh-year coach also moved Chris Gorham from cornerback to receiver.

"I just thought it would give him the best opportunity to play this year," Groh said.
 

U.VA. NOTES
Richmond Times-Dispatch Mar 24, 2007

SO FAR, SO GOOD: Quarterback Jameel Sewell was an active participant Wednesday in Virginia's first spring practice, and there was no guarantee that would be the case.

"I'm extremely happy," Sewell said afterward. "I didn't expect I was going to be able to do any of this, this quickly, at all, actually."

Sewell, a rising sophomore from Hermitage High, had surgery Dec. 22 on his throwing wrist. Neither he nor U.Va. coach Al Groh went into spring practice sure how many snaps the 6-3, 220-pound left-hander would be able to take.

"He actually did quite a bit more than I had expected," Groh said Wednesday night.

Sewell started the final nine games in 2006 and finished the season with 1,342 yards passing and 200 rushing. His physical skills are apparent; his challenge now is to master the mental part of being a major-college quarterback.

"I still need to learn how to read the defense so they can tip me off on certain stuff," Sewell said, "and that's just going to make everything I do easier for me."

Sewell said he spent most of the first two weeks after his operation in bed.

"The pain, it was real, real bad in my wrist," he said. "I had to come back up here to the emergency room a couple times and get it looked at. But after those first two weeks it kind of eased up."

Sewell's injury, with which he played all last season, was potentially career-threatening, and the operation scared him.

"I'm still afraid right now," he said, "but they're doing everything in their power to help me to make sure that it's not even going to get to that point."

PROVEN COMMODITY: Groh met with reporters Tuesday, and nearly an hour passed before he was asked about rising senior Chris Long, an All-America candidate at defensive end.

"I was just thinking to myself, 'Boy, we've gone a long time without talking about one of the premier players in college football,'" Groh said. "And that's what he really is. At the end of the season last year, there was nobody in this conference that was harder to block than this player was, and all he wants to do is win."

Long, a second-team all-ACC pick in 2006, is one of 10 returning starters on defense at U.Va.

OFF AND RUNNING: With the next national signing day for football more than 10 months from now, U.Va. has two commitments, both from offensive linemen who play in the Buckeye State.

Matt Mihalik, a 6-7, 270-pound junior at Gilmour Academy in Gates Mills, Ohio, committed to the Cavaliers in September. Aaron Van Kuiken, a 6-7, 285-pound junior from Turpin High in Cincinnati, followed suit last month.

LOST OPPORTUNITY: By advancing to the NCAA basketball tournament's second round, U.Va. enhanced its credibility with high school players, coach Dave Leitao said.

A trip to the Sweet 16, however, would have meant "another week where you don't just do your recruiting yourself," Leitao said. "The media does it, USA Today does it, ESPN does it, the newspapers do it, the Internet does it, and that, in and of itself, is recruiting that you can't put a price tag on."

INTERIOR DESIGN: Leitao, who came to Charlottesville in 2005, has guided Virginia to the NIT and the NCAAs, despite not getting consistent scoring from his frontcourt players.

U.Va. continues to pursue 6-8 Patrick Patterson, a McDonald's All-American who's the top uncommitted player in the Class of 2007. Virginia's targets in the Class of '08 include 6-8 Ed Davis from Benedictine High and 6-10 Henry Sims from Mount St. Joseph in Baltimore.

"But I also have to say that Mike Scott is somebody that I believe can fill that role some, too," Leitao said, "and he's versatile enough to play on the perimeter and on the interior. I think he'll give us more of a post presence than we've had in the two years that we've been together, so long as he can develop quickly."

Scott, who's from Chesapeake, is a 6-8 forward who played this season for Hargrave Military Academy's postgraduate team. He signed with U.Va. in November and will join Leitao's team in 2007-08.

IN THE CREASE: One of the great rivalries in NCAA men's lacrosse will be renewed today at storied Homewood Field in Baltimore, where third-ranked Johns Hopkins (4-1) hosts No. 5 Virginia (6-1) at 1 p.m.

In a series that dates to 1926, the Blue Jays hold a 52-23-1 lead.

U.Va. has numerous players from the Baltimore area on its roster, including junior attackman Ben Rubeor, the team's leading scorer with 26 goals and 13 assists.

"I think it means a great deal to him to play at Homewood," Cavaliers coach Dom Starsia said. "It's similar to [Central New York] kids who grow up in the shadow of the Carrier Dome at Syracuse.

Since losing its opener to unheralded Drexel, defending NCAA champion U.Va. has beaten Syracuse, Princeton and Towson, among others.

"If you offered me 6-1 back in January, I would have jumped at it," Starsia said. "I'm not sure I would have believed the 1 would be Drexel." - Jeff White
 

Tubby’s move to Minnesota lends credence to old UVa rumors
Oak Hill likely to finish No. 1 again
By Doug Doughty

Now that Kentucky men’s basketball coach Tubby Smith has moved to Minnesota, does anybody believe that Virginia couldn’t have had Smith in 2005?

Smith had his price, a contract of $3 million per year or more, and UVa knew where it was going to get the money. Smith was serious about taking the job, but UVa President John Casteen said “no.”

At least that’s what I’ve been led to believe.

Virginia fans cringe at the slightest hint that Casteen is sticking his nose into athletics, but, in this case, it was the right move, though not neceesarily for the reasons Casteen made it.

The objection was not to hiring Smith but to paying the kind of yearly salary that Smith would have commanded. Casteen did not feel that he could face his faculty if he approved that kind of contract.

As it turns out, UVa was able to get Dave Leitao for five years at $925,000 per year and it’s hard to say now that Smith would have merited three or four times that much. I can’t imagine that anybody is unhappy with Leitao, unless it’s the university censor.

In any case, I already had planned to talk to Oak Hill Academy coach Steve Smith, who is on the verge of a sixth USA Today national championship, and that was before the Tubby Smith story broke. Steve Smith grew up 15 minutes from Rupp Arena and I couldn’t wait to hear his take on the situation.

“I think he wanted some peace of mind,” Smith said. “He had the for-sale signs in his yard Saturday morning?”

Smith knew Saturday that he was going to take another job?

No, Smith said. People had placed for-sale signs in his yard overnight.

“It was common knowledge in Lexington,” Smith said, “but my brother drove by and saw it. I asked him, ‘For verification, drive by there.’

“He was in Lexington. He drove by. He said, ‘Oh, yeah, they’re in his yard.’ I guess Tubby didn’t want to walk out and personally, himself, take them out.

“I said, ‘How many?’ And my brother goes, ‘A lot.’

“I said, ‘You talking about 10?’ He said, ‘No, a lot more than 10.’ People put ‘em there. Fans. Adoring fans.”

Steve Smith agreed that Virginia could have had Tubby Smith.

“They could have,” Oak Hill’s coach said. “The story I was hearing, it was close. Very, very close.”

IF TUBBY SMITH was going to get $3 million-plus from Virginia, presumably his compensation package at Minnesota will be somewhere in that range, if not higher.

It’s mind-boggling to think what Smith’s successor at Kentucky will command. If the Wildcats inquire about Florida coach Billy Donovan, once a Kentucky assistant, where do talks start, $4 million per year? Maybe $5 million?

Names being mentioned Friday on ESPN included Gonzaga’s Mark Few and Marquette’s Tom Crean. Few’s name comes up at least partly due to the time Kentucky athletic director Mitch Barnhart spent in the Northwest as the AD at Oregon State from 1998-2002.

Kentucky isn’t the only high-profile job that has come open. Nevada Las-Vegas coach Lon Krueger has been mentioned in connection with the opening at Michigan, where Tommy Amaker was dismissed last week. Other names include Xavier’s Sean Miller and Oregon’s Ernie Kent, who has had uncanny success in his recruiting of the Detroit area.

How about Steve Smith, whose last four teams have compiled a record of 152-4, including three national championships? The only year in the last four that Oak Hill wasn’t first in the USA Today final poll, it finished 40-1 in 2006– the first of consecutive 40-1 seasons.

Oak Hill’s only loss in 2006 was to Montrose Christian, which had Kevin Durrant and Greivis Vazquez – the same Kevin Durrant who had played for Oak Hill the previous year.

Michigan could hire Steve Smith and certainly improve its chances of landing Alex Legion, a 6-4 shooting guard who committed to the Wolverines as a junior at Detroit Country Day and then again after enrolling at Oak Hill, eventually signing during the fall.

Rival coaches have been calling Oak Hill to inquire about Legion’s availability since the Amaker departure, but Legion has not yet received a release from his letter-of-intent and Michigan is unlikely to grant one until its new coach can make his pitch.

Legion averaged 19.6 points for Oak Hill, second on the team behind Duke-bound Nolan Smith’s 22.4. Legion had a team-high 80 3-pointers and Smith doesn’t think he missed a free throw after mid-January.

Oak Hill’s third-leading scorer was junior point guard, Brandon Jennings, who will be joined next year by travel teammate Malik Story, a 6-5 Artesia, Calif., junior who announced his 2007-2008 plans while his team was still in the playoffs. Jennings and Story both have committed to Southern Cal.

OAK HILL also has been mentioned with 6-10 Richmond Benedictine junior Ed Davis, speculation dismissed as “total rumors” by Smith.

“I’ve never talked to him,” Smith said. “He came to a game of ours last year and introduced himself. That was last year. We played his team this year but I didn’t actually talk to the kid, other than to shake his hand and say, ‘Good game.’

“I’ve had no contact with him, his mom, his dad, anybody. He might have said something to somebody else, but not to me. … I bet he stays where he is.”
 

Humbled champs still hungry
No. 2 Va. transitions quickly after falling to unranked Drexel
By Gary Lambrecht
Sun reporter
Originally published March 24, 2007

They don't resemble the gun-slinging, goal-scoring machine that dominated Division I men's lacrosse at the outset in 2006, then made a habit of bludgeoning opponents throughout its drive to perfection.

When No. 2 Virginia faces third-ranked Johns Hopkins today at Homewood Field, the Cavaliers will be sporting a little more vulnerability, a little less firepower and the memory of a painful lesson learned.

About five weeks after it suffered a stunning, season-opening 11-10 home loss to unranked Drexel, Virginia is a fast-improving work in progress.

The defense looks more like a sturdy backbone. The offense, which lost a combined 103 goals from a trio of All-America graduates and is in development at midfield, is an attack-driven unit with an undisputed leader in junior attackman Ben Rubeor. He is tops in the nation with 26 goals.

Remember the 2004 Cavaliers, who followed their national championship by stumbling early and often and missing the NCAA tournament with a 5-8 record? That's not happening with these defending champs. Virginia (6-1) rolls into Hopkins (4-1) riding a six-game winning streak. It already has knocked off Syracuse and Princeton.

"Winning is something you learn. I don't think it's a natural thing. It's a tough thing to do," said Rubeor, who scored 58 points last year and was one of seven scorers with at least 40 points on that 17-0 squad.

"We didn't expect to lose early in the season, but we knew it was a possibility. This team hasn't played that much together. That [loss to Drexel] kind of reassured our humility. Because of the way we've reacted to it, it has become kind of a blessing in disguise."

Virginia coach Dom Starsia said, "Perhaps [the loss] finally allowed us to put last year behind us.

"We don't have the goods to get to 20 [goals] right now. Our defense has to keep us in this [Hopkins] game. We're going to need increased production from our midfield to be the team I think we can be. We're starting to get healthy. Almost everybody is adjusting to new roles."

The Cavaliers, who lost the NCAA tournament's Most Outstanding Player, Matt Ward, from their attack as well as midfielders Matt Poskay and Kyle Dixon, are built differently this time around.

The offense, which still looks to score off transition chances that the defense creates, used to feature midfielders such as Dixon, who could run past defenders from up top in a six-on-six setting. That unit was set in the fall of 2005, and it shot the ball or passed it smoothly, based on how aggressively opponents would slide. No one finished like the Cavaliers last spring.

Senior Drew Thompson (six goals, three assists) is now clearly the dean of the offensive midfield. Freshman Brian Carroll starts, and the third spot soon could belong to either sophomore Steve Giannone or junior Jack Riley. Senior Foster Gilbert and sophomore Gavin Gill, who had trouble getting on the field a year ago, add depth.

Virginia still loves to harass opponents in the middle of the field, loves to generate goals by double-teaming ball carriers. But the defense, which often got overlooked in 2006 and lost All-American Mike Culver - freshman Ken Clausen has replaced him in close - brings experience and athleticism.

Senior defenseman Ricky Smith, sophomore defenseman Matt Kelly, sophomore long-stick midfielder Mike Timms, junior midfielder Will Barrow and senior goalie Kip Turner anchor a group that has allowed just 6.7 goals per game.

At the other end, Virginia is top-heavy on attack, where Rubeor (also a team-high 13 assists) often initiates from behind the goal. Sophomores Danny Glading and Garrett Billings have followed him as the Cavs' other top scorers. The trio has produced 51 of Virginia's 99 goals and 35 of its 60 assists.

"[The Cavaliers] are scoring goals in different ways. A lot of it starts with the defense. They kill you between the boxes," Hopkins coach Dave Pietramala said. "[Rubeor] is the pulse and the heartbeat of that team. He scores on loose balls, diving, dodging, riding. He's dynamic."

As a team, the Cavaliers appear to be evolving in that direction. Besides lopsided wins over Mount St. Mary's and Virginia Military Institute, they've averaged a modest 11.2 goals per game. But they are clearing well, forcing turnovers, pushing the ball with confidence, shooting a solid 30.7 percent. They could be gathering steam for another title run.

"I love the journey," Rubeor said. "It's possibly more challenging and more interesting to work with a team that isn't necessarily rolling on all cylinders. But we're so close. I feel like our team is on the brink of breaking out."