Hoops job focus for Virginia AD
By Jeff White
Published: March 24, 2009

CHARLOTTESVILLE – This is Craig Littlepage’s eighth year as athletic director at the University of Virginia, and many of the coaches he’s hired during his tenure, including Brian Boland, Brian O’Connor and Kim Lewellen, have dazzled.

Littlepage’s most celebrated hire, however, fizzled. After four seasons as men’s basketball coach at U.Va., Dave Leitao resigned under pressure last Monday, and now the pressure is on Littlepage as he leads the school’s search for Leitao’s successor.

“I know how important this one is for everybody, and I take the challenge of completing it very seriously,” Littlepage said yesterday afternoon at the McCue Center.

U.Va. fans unhappy about the state of the university’s marquee athletic programs – football and men’s hoops – have questioned the leadership of the man who oversees the athletic department. Of the 12 schools in the ACC, only one did not participate in either a football bowl or the NCAA men’s basketball tournament this academic year: Virginia. Littlepage’s critics contend that he should shoulder much of the blame for that.

He’s not sure how the public evaluates his performance as AD, Littlepage said, but “believe me, I take this [coaching search] as seriously as any, and [because] this is the only one I’m working on right now, it has my full energy and interest and commitment, and no stone will be unturned.”

Littlepage divulged little about the search yesterday and, not surprisingly, would not discuss coaches whom U.Va. is targeting. Nor would he speculate about when Leitao’s successor might be hired.

“This is not something that has a routine timetable,” Littlepage said, “and it would be merely conjecture to try to predict this. Certainly the situation is fluid.”

U.Va. fields teams in 25 sports, and from top to bottom the athletic department may never have been stronger. Virginia is ranked No. 1 nationally in men’s tennis and men’s lacrosse. The Cavaliers already have won three ACC titles in 2008-09 – in men’s cross country, women’s swimming and men’s swimming – and they’re likely to add several more this spring.

It would take less time and space, in fact, to list the sports at which U.Va. struggles than those at which it excels. But not all sports are viewed equally, and top-20 finishes in the Directors’ Cup race do little to satisfy Virginia supporters starved for success in football and men’s basketball.

“It’s the reality of it, and I understand that and respect that,” Littlepage said, “because football and basketball are the programs that are getting the broad exposure in a more global sense than some of our other sports.”

Football and men’s basketball also help pay the bills in a department whose annual budget is about $55 million. Because of that, Littlepage understands how much is riding on his next hire. The impact of a quality coach on a program “cannot be overstated,” he said.

Such coaches abound in U.Va.’s Olympic sports, among them Boland (men's tennis), O’Connor (baseball), Lewellen (women's golf), Mark Bernardino (men’s and women’s swimming), Kevin Sauer (women’s rowing), Jason Vigilante (track and cross country), Julie Myers (women’s lacrosse), Steve Garland (wrestling) and Dom Starsia (men’s lacrosse).

“The thing that they all share is a tremendous amount of energy and enthusiasm,” Littlepage said, “and an ability to articulate what their program is about and the values and goals of the institution and the athletics department.”

Can U.Va. achieve similar success in football and men’s basketball?

“That’s certainly the goal,” Littlepage said, “and I do think that we will achieve the goals in our sports across the board.”

On April 17, 2005, at the news conference at which Leitao was introduced at U.Va., Littlepage choked up several times when talking about the school’s first African-American head coach in any sport.

Yesterday, Littlepage declined to discuss the discussion to part ways with Leitao, whose record at U.Va. was 63-60.

“The timing is such that I just don’t think it’s appropriate,” Littlepage said. “There’s too many other things going on. The focus needs to be on all those things to related to getting the right person.

“What I can say is that we want to put ourselves in the position to achieve at a high level.”

That means at least periodic wins over ACC giants North Carolina and Duke, and it means sustained success. In the past decade, Virginia has advanced to the NCAA tournament only twice: under Pete Gillen in 2000-01 and under Leitao in 2006-07.

“The goal would be to be consistently in the top three or four schools in the league,” Littlepage said.

 

VCU gives Alabama OK to talk to Grant
By Tim Pearrell
Published: March 24, 2009

Alabama wants to talk to Virginia Commonwealth University basketball coach Anthony Grant. Is Georgia next in line?

The pursuit of VCU's highly successful coach started to heat up during the weekend, when Alabama Athletic Director Mal Moore contacted his counterpart at VCU, Norwood Teague. Teague said he gave Moore the go-ahead to speak to Grant about Alabama's vacant position.

It was unclear yesterday whether Moore had spoken to Grant or whether a meeting had been arranged.

Grant did not return two phone messages. A call to Moore was referred to Alabama's sports information director, Doug Walker. Walker said the school had no comment.

Grant's agent, Mark Carmony, also did not return a call.

Alabama is believed to have targeted Grant as its top candidate to replace Mark Gottfried. Grant, who spent 10 years as an assistant at fellow Southeastern Conference member Florida, is 76-25 in three seasons at VCU, with three Colonial Athletic Association regular-season titles and two NCAA tournament appearances.

Grant, 42, also may be one of the leading candidates at Georgia, which is seeking a replacement for Dennis Felton. One Web site reported that Georgia President Michael Adams, Bulldogs Athletic Director Damon Evans and senior associate athletic director for student services Carla Williams met with Grant on Saturday in Atlanta and offered him the job.

But in an e-mail sent to media outlets yesterday, Georgia Sports Information Director Claude Felton strongly denied the report, saying "in my time here at UGA, I don't know that I have seen more erroneous reporting."

"I can say with complete authority that neither Damon Evans nor Dr. Adams has ever had a conversation with Anthony Grant as of today, Monday, March 23," Felton wrote in the e-mail.

Felton said Adams, Evans and Williams attended Georgia's game in the NCAA women's tournament in Duluth, Ga., on Saturday and then flew to Nashville, Tenn., to attend the Southeastern Conference gymnastics championships.

 

California routs Virginia
Associated Press
Published: March 24, 2009

LOS ANGELES — A couple of seniors teamed up to take California where it’s never been before.
Ashley Walker scored 20 of her career-high-tying 32 points in the first half, and Cal used its strong inside game to rout Virginia 99-73 Monday night, sending the Golden Bears to the NCAA tournament’s final 16 for the first time in school history.
Devanei Hampton had 22 points and 11 rebounds and junior Alexis Gray-Lawson added 22 points for the fourth-seeded Bears (27-6), who advanced to the Trenton Regional semifinals Sunday in New Jersey. They’ll play the winner of Tuesday’s game between Connecticut and Florida.
Monica Wright scored 26 points for fifth-seeded Virginia (24-10), seeking its first trip to the regional semifinals since 2000.
The loss denied Hall of Fame coach Debbie Ryan her 700th career victory. Wright fouled out with 2:23 remaining.
The Bears’ 27th victory equaled the most in program history, a mark set last year when they were 27-7. They improved to 4-7 in NCAA tournament games, and advanced out of the second round a year after losing to George Washington in their second game.
Virginia owns a much grander basketball history, with Final Four appearances in 1990, ‘91 and ‘92 under Ryan, who has spent her entire 31-year career in Charlottesville.
But the Cavaliers simply couldn’t match up with the inside duo of the 6-foot-1 Walker and 6-3 Hampton, seniors who led the Bears to a 32-18 first-half edge in the paint.
It was Cal’s first win over Virginia in three meetings. The Bears hadn’t beaten an ACC school since Dec. 21, 1993, when they defeated Duke and Joanne Boyle, the current Cal coach who was a first-year Duke assistant.
Walker snapped a 12-all tie with a layup that launched the Bears on a 41-23 run and gave them a 53-35 halftime lead. Walker had 16 points in the spurt, Hampton added eight, Lauren Greif seven and Gray-Lawson six on back-to-back 3-pointers.
Greif finished with 10 points and a career-high nine assists.
Walker’s jumper in the paint gave Cal its first double-digit lead, 28-18, and the Bears went on to their largest lead of 19 points near the end of the half.
Cal outscored the Cavaliers 10-6, including 3-pointers by Gray-Lawson and Natasha Vital, to open the second half and take a 63-41 lead.
Virginia answered with a 16-5 run to close to 68-57 with 11:43 remaining. Wright scored 10 points as the Cavaliers got more aggressive and took advantage of misses and turnovers by the Bears.
But 11 points was as close as Virginia got the rest of the game.
Walker, Hampton and Gray-Lawson combined for a 13-4 spurt that pushed the Bears’ lead to 81-61 with 6:26 remaining. The trio scored 76 of their team’s 99 points.
Walker scored more than 20 points for the fifth time in six career NCAA tournament games. She had 21 points in Cal’s 23-point first-round win over Fresno State.
Cal was right at home at Galen Center on Southern California’s campus, where the Bears improved to 6-1 this season. Their only loss was to USC in the Pac-10 tourney semifinals.

 

Cavs’ season comes to an end against Bears
Littles, Mohammed play final game of careers as Virginia falls to Cal 99-73 in second round of NCAAs
Cayce Troxel, Cavalier Daily Sports Editor
Published: Tuesday, March 24 2009

Senior center Aisha Mohammed led Virginia in rebounding last night, grabbing eight boards. Eventually, every song must stop and every dance must come to an end.

Unfortunately for the Virginia women’s basketball team, the fun came to a halt all too early, as a dominant California team ousted the Cavaliers 99-73 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament last night. The loss marks the second straight year in which Virginia coach Debbie Ryan’s squad failed to advance to the Sweet Sixteen and leaves the Hall of Fame coach one win shy of 700 as the Cavaliers’ season came to a close in Los Angeles.

“There was really no excuse,” Ryan said. “They really just beat us in every aspect of the game, and I am just really disappointed with our performance.”

From the opening tipoff, it became apparent that a fast-paced game would not intimidate either the Cavaliers or the Golden Bears. During a first half that could have passed for a track meet instead of a basketball game, the two teams combined for 76 shots. The first two minutes of play alone saw the squads make eight trips up and down the court.

Although both teams’ up-tempo offenses worked to penetrate inside early, the Virginia offensive attack was severely hampered when senior center Aisha Mohammed was whistled for her second foul only three minutes into the game. Just as during the Cavaliers’ opening round squeaker against Marist, foul trouble hampered Virginia’s ability to defend inside. The home state favorites continually pushed the ball down low and exploited a weakened Virginia defense.

Even though the Cavaliers were only down two points when Mohammed was forced to sit, the squad found itself trailing 34-22 when the senior reentered with 5:28 remaining in the half. Mohammed immediately made her presence felt by scoring on a lay-up, but the Golden Bears had asserted themselves already. Senior forward Ashley Walker notched 20 of her career-high 32 points in the first half, and she and senior center Devanei Hampton together combined for 34 of California’s 53 opening half points.

“Hampton and Walker were so big inside and they were really on tonight,” Ryan said. “Let’s face it, I have seen a lot of film on them and this was by far one of the best games they’ve played.”

Bolstered by Hampton and Walker, the Golden Bears picked up where they left off against Fresno State in the first round, during which the Golden Bears did not once relinquish the lead. California entered the break leading the Cavaliers 53-35, appearing to be in control of the game.

“I felt like they came out swinging, and we were taking punches and not swinging back,” Ryan said. “I also felt like their high-low game was really good to start with tonight, and we really had no answer for it.”

The Cavaliers proved they were not yet ready to go home, however, as the No. 5-seed in the Trenton Region came out of the locker room and put together an inspired run to cut the lead to 11 with 12:45 to play. But the Golden Bears switched to a zone defense to prevent a Cavalier comeback, and fouls became an issue once again, as junior guard Monica Wright was called for her fourth personal foul with 11:43 remaining. Wright, who was responsible for 14 of the Cavaliers’ opening 22 points in the second half, would not return until three minutes later and eventually fouled out with 2:23 to play.

The national player of the year candidate nevertheless finished with 26 points on 12-for-24 shooting from the field to lead the Cavalier scoring column. Senior forward Lyndra Littles closed out her Virginia career by notching 13 points and six rebounds, while Mohammed added 10 points and eight boards to the effort.

“Cal is definitely a great team, but we thought we matched up well with them,” Wright said. “I know we are all just disappointed in how we let the seniors end their season. They have been awesome and terrific all season, and it’s sad to end like this.”

With the win, the Golden Bears advanced to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time in program history. They now await the winner of tomorrow night’s matchup between tournament top-seed Connecticut and Florida.

“We are just a different team right now,” California guard Alexis Gray-Lawson said. “We just don’t want to go home — that is pretty much it.”

 

Virginia looks to rebound with midweek Towson games
In spite of two-game losing streak, Virginia boasts impressive offensive, defensive numbers including .970 fielding percentage
Abbey Lou Hendricks, Cavalier Daily Senior Writer
Published: Tuesday, March 24 2009

After an ACC series loss this weekend, the Virginia baseball team remains in Charlottesville for a two-day set Tuesday and Wednesday against Towson.

Towson (12-10, 1-2 CAA) will be a tough competitor in the midweek for Virginia. Last year, the two teams split the matchup, as the Cavaliers won by a run and lost by the same margin.

This season, however, Virginia has produced better offensively and put up an impressive .970 fielding percentage.

Starting Tuesday for the Cavaliers will be junior left-handed pitcher Jeff Lorick, who will seek to improve his record to 3-0. Freshman John Hicks, currently hitting .361, will most likely be behind the plate.

Lorick and the Cavaliers will have to be cautious of Towson’s ability to hit home runs, as the Tigers have hit 35 long balls this season. Senior second baseman Gary Helmick, boasting an .815 slugging percentage and six home runs, is a particularly dangerous batter for the Tigers.

Freshman right-handed pitcher Tyler Austin could possibly start for Towson. Austin averages nearly 1 K per inning, and has a 1-1 record. Junior left-handed pitcher Wes Shifflett also is likely for the series, as he possesses an ERA a little more than half of Austin’s.

To find success against the Tigers, the Cavaliers (19-2, 5-2 ACC) will need to bounce back from this weekend’s down-to-the-wire losses. The team’s losses Saturday and Sunday to Miami snapped a school-record 19-game winning streak. Virginia lost 4-3 in the ninth inning Saturday after a bases-loaded dropped third strike, and ACC travel rules prevented the Cavaliers from playing a full game Sunday.

In both games, Virginia came from behind and put people on base to keep itself in the game. Trouble getting runners home, though, contributed to the team’s first series loss.

Virginia coach Brian O’Connor said he is not concerned, though, about the team’s offensive production.

“I think we’ve proven something over the last couple of weeks,” O’Connor said. “When we get challenged within a game, we’ve got it in our gut to battle back, and that’s really important.”

Overall, Virginia showed perseverance during the Miami series, but its best offensive player this season struggled to produce.

The end of the Cavaliers’ winning streak marked the end of sophomore right-fielder Dan Grovatt’s 21-game hitting streak, which had continued from last season. Grovatt, who leads Virginia’s batting lineup with a .417 batting average, went a mere 1-for-12 with seven strike-outs in the series.

“That’s what I told the team after the game [Sunday],” O’Connor said. “We had opportunities to step up for their teammates and we didn’t do it.”

Virginia definitely will bounce back, though, O’Connor said, as the team has eight starters batting .350 or better.

“I’ve got complete confidence in these guys, and they’ve done it before and they’ll do it down the road,” O’Connor said.

“We can’t get down on ourselves after what happened,” said freshman first baseman Danny Hultzen, who also pitched Friday to earn the only win against Miami. “It’d be great to have a little energy,” Hultzen said.

Against Towson, Hultzen could provide the offensive spark the Cavaliers need. Against Miami he went 3-for-5 with two runs batted in, and he also has an outstanding on-base percentage of almost 52 percent.

“We’ve just gotta keep our confidence up and get after it on Tuesday,” Hultzen said.

 

Cavaliers hope for return to winning ways against Dukes
No. 16 JMU looks to end its winning drought against Virginia that dates back to 2000; Dukes, Cavs both bring balanced attack
Ben Gomez, Cavalier Daily Associate Editor
Published: Tuesday, March 24 2009

The No. 9 Virginia women’s lacrosse team will travel to Harrisonburg, Va. to take on No. 16 James Madison tonight.

The Dukes (4-3) have not beaten the Cavaliers (6-3, 1-2 ACC) since 2000. Virginia is 26-10 all-time against JMU; the program’s 26 wins rank as the third most against a school.

James Madison has had a tough season thus far, losing to three ranked opponents and only playing two games at home. The Dukes managed to play close in each loss, as the largest margin of defeat was four points against No. 11 Notre Dame. JMU last lost to Princeton 13-11 Wednesday before the Tigers upset the Cavaliers 8-7 Saturday.

“I think JMU is coming in hungry,” Virginia coach Julie Myers said. “I think we just need to make sure we stay together as a team and we just keep battling everyday, so that on game day, we play great and we are actually going to have a win to show for it.”

The Cavaliers, meanwhile, are in a slump, losing three of their last five games to ranked opponents. Tonight, the team will have to look elsewhere besides its balanced offensive attack, as both squads have three players each with at least 16 goals on the season. The Dukes are led by junior midfielder Kim Griffin, who has a team-high 24 points off 20 goals and four assists, while the Cavaliers are led by senior All-American midfielder Ashley McCulloch, who has a team-high 38 points off 20 goals and 18 assists.

An advantage for James Madison could come at the draw controls. The Dukes are sixth in the country, averaging 16 draw controls a game. Although the Cavaliers average a close 13 per game, they recently have struggled with draw controls, which were a major factor in the games against Princeton and William & Mary.

“Anytime you get those 50-50 balls and extra possessions, it gives you a chance to win the game,” Myers said.

Virginia will need all the chances it can get, as it has not been the same team since it beat then-No. 3 Syracuse Feb. 27. The Cavaliers have lost three games, all against top-10 teams, since the win against the Orange, and the team’s wins have been close matches.

For the Cavaliers to make a postseason run, they will need to regain their early season form. A win against JMU could help set Virginia in the right direction.

“We need to get the fire back in us that we had at the beginning of the season,” senior defender Jen Holden said. “Coming off a three losses, it is a hard hit to us, but we are going to turn it around and we are going to keep working hard and get that fire back. I know we can.”

 

Virginia's Antonio Appleby Hopes Hard Work Pays Off in the NFL Draft by Ben Gibson (Columnist)
March 21, 2009

Norris Not-So-Hopefuls: The Best of the Rest In Defense of Kobe Bryant Way Too Early NBA Draft Info: Who Hurt and Who Helped Themselves This Week 2009 NFL Draft: Comparing the Prospects to Pros April 25.

It is a date hundreds have circled on their calendar, but for only the select few will it be a day of joy and fulfillment.

It is the day of the NFL Draft, where 32 professional teams take a risk on young and extremely talented players from all over the country, hoping to put their program on the right track towards the future.

These college football players cannot wait until that fateful day, however, determining what happens after that date depends on what has happened leading up to that point.

Case and point: Virginia’s Antonio Appleby.

Watching Appleby on the field is kind of like watching a freight train about to leave the station. He has incredible speed and has shown a tenacity for finding the ball and making a play. When he hits you, he might as well yell “timber!”

“I learned when I was first year here you have to leave all out there on the field,” Appleby said. “That fun and that adrenaline just going through that experience is what it’s all about.”

Appleby certainly had some memorable plays throughout his stellar four year career in the orange and blue. Appleby played in 48 games over his career, amassing 233 career tackles including a career high 78 in his senior year despite missing two games with an injury.

Appleby’s best performance was a dominating performance against the East Carolina Pirates where he tied a career-high with 11 tackles (before breaking that mark a month later against Wake Forest).

Appleby showed his versatility by playing well in both the pass and the rush, creating havoc in the backfield and helping turnaround his team. After starting the season 1-3, the Virginia Cavaliers boasted a perfect record in October and even finished the month with the lead in the ACC Coastal Division.

“I want to continue to improve in the passing game, working on my foot work so that I can be effective out there,” Appleby said. “That’s what I have been working on since the off-season started.”

In other words, Appleby is fully aware that there is more work to be done for his dream to come true.

“I know that I have to stay in shape right now and continue using the work ethic that got me to where I am now,” Appleby said.

Virginia football is becoming accustomed to hearing its players called on NFL Draft weekend. In the past two years alone, the Cavaliers have heard D’Brickashaw Ferguson, Chris Long and Branden Albert go in the first 10 picks.

In all, 25 former Cavaliers are currently listed on NFL rosters and Appleby hopes to see his name appear on that list very soon.

“In college, you have to balance so many things but in the NFL it’s football all the time,” Appleby said. “It’s hard and yet I’m really looking forward to it.”

This year’s cream of the Virginia’s crop begins with stalwart offensive lineman Eugene Monroe expected to be taken early and linebacker Clint Sintim projected to fall somewhere in the late first or early second round.

Appleby knows he may have to wait around to hear his name, but whoever gives him the opportunity will not be disappointed. On March 18, Virginia had its annual pro day where scouts from all over the NFL come to see what Coach Al Groh and company have to share to the professional world.

These drills are nothing new for Sintim and Monroe, but since Appleby was not at the NFL Combine he knows that this is his chance to show everyone just how much his hard work has paid off.

Virginia has turned itself into “Linebacker U” with Groh at the helm because the Cavaliers run a 3-4 defense. This scheme helps the linebackers shine and forces them to be the key play-makers on the team. It is something Appleby has thrived in finishing second on the team in tackles and tackles for loss.

Ideally Appleby would love to stay in that system but he recognizes that seeing the 3-4 in the NFL is rare.

“Obviously I would feel more comfortable in a 3-4 because it’s what I am used to,” Appleby said. “If I were in the 4-3 I would want to be that strong inside linebacker because that’s where I would be most effective. I know it’s very similar to what we’re running now so we’ll see.”

Appleby has seen his share of highlights and lowlights while at Virginia. He saw his defense shutdown Miami in their final regular season game ever at the Orange Bowl en route to a Gator Bowl appearance.

He also saw his team give up 31 points to Duke in his senior year.

He has also seen a fair amount of turnover, having had three different defensive coordinators in four years at Virginia.

That much turmoil could cause some difficult transitions, but it also makes for a great learning experience.

“I definitely think it’s an advantage [having three coordinators],” Appleby said. “All of them obviously had their own strengths and weaknesses. They all had different personalities but I just did my best to learn what I could from each of them.”

Appleby clearly had good teachers. Al Golden, his first coordinator, is the head coach at Temple University who helped take a team that had won zero games the past two years to its most wins since 1990 last season.

Mike London is now the head coach of the Richmond Spiders who just helped his alma mater take home the FCS trophy, the first national championship in school history.

Bob Pruett, was the former head football coach of Marshall University and brings years of experience and expertise.

In all, Appleby is wiser for all the highs and lows he experienced at Virginia. He has learned to withstand the hard times and not waste the good ones.

“You come in here as an 18-year-old and you just grow so much as a person,” Appleby said. “[Being able to] just going out there in practice every day with your teammates practicing, giving it all out on the field. You come in a boy and you leave as man, that’s what I’ll remember.”

Virginia fans will certainly remember Appleby as well, making strides each and every year helping make the “Orange Crush” defense one of the perennial best in the country. He may not have had the publicity of a Sintim, but he showed a desire to get better and the results are clearly being shown on a bench press in Charlottesville.

The senior linebacker will leave Virginia with a degree, a dream and a dash of humility. He knows there is challenge ahead but all he can do is do what he always does; face it head on.

‘Hoo could ask for anything more?