4/12/02 - Honed

By JERRY RATCLIFFE
Daily Progress sports editor

After Derrick Byars had just led Ridgeway High School to its second consecutive Tennessee Class AA state basketball championship, Coach Wes Henning could hardly believe his ears.
Byars, who had won the tournament’s MVP for his 25-point performance, had huddled around his team in the lockerroom. He told them he loved each and every one of them. He delivered a passionate, inspiring victory speech to Ridgeway’s younger players, telling them how he first showed up in the 10th grade as a hot-tempered kid who learned how to overcome adversity by doing things the right way, the coach’s way.
Quite a contrast from the first time Henning laid eyes on the skinny sophomore three years ago. Byars was so shy that the coach felt the only way to get the kid to open his mouth was to pinch him.
“I was standing there crying after that victory speech,” said Henning of the late-March state championship game. “I couldn’t believe that it was Derrick Byars standing there telling his teammates those things. It was so great to see him come along as a young man.”
Over his three-year run for Ridgeway’s Roadrunners, Byars developed both on and off the basketball court. Having signed last November with Pete Gillen’s Virginia Cavaliers, the 6-foot-7 forward attacked his last high school season in basketball-rich Memphis, Tenn., with a fury.
Byars was recently named to the Parade All-American High School fourth team, was named Gatorade’s Tennessee player of the year and first-team all-state by the Tennessee Associated Press. Leading Ridgeway to a 37-4 record, he averaged 23.2 points, 10 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 3.5 steals per game.
With the apparent exit of Roger Mason Jr. from Virginia’s program, Cavalier fans will be happy to learn that Byars is an accomplished three-point shooter as well.
“I think Derrick will be able to help Virginia as a freshman,” said Henning. “He can do everything left-handed or right-handed. He set a standard this past season for Memphis kids to follow.”
Henning said that after watching some old film of Memphis high school product Penny Hardaway a few weeks ago that he saw some strong similarities to Byars.
“He’s got skills much like Penn had when he was coming out of high school,” said the Ridgeway coach. “It’s amazing how they both see the floor so well.”
While some of those skills may be natural, Byars has made huge strides through old-fashioned hard work. But not without some prodding by Henning.
“Derrick finally got my message about moving without the basketball,” the coach chuckled. “He used to come to me and say, ‘Coach, they ain’t giving me the ball.’
“And I told him, ‘Listen to your statement. You have to go get the ball.’ He found out that if he stood still, then the defense would stand still on him,” said Henning. “He used to stand around and hope the guards would get him the ball. I bet him that if he played one game standing around, then played another game working hard to get the ball that he would see a vast difference.”
Byars scored 25 points in the game where he moved without the ball and has been moving ever since.
By moving, opponents had a difficult time double-teaming him and also allowed him to pop off screens or to post up shorter players for better looks at the basket. Good wing players learn to score from everywhere on the court, something that Byars mastered this past season.
“I shot the ball well this past season and felt like I have improved my range a little,” said Byars, who will play in tonight’s preliminary game to the McDonald’s all-star game in Washington, D.C. “I worked hard on the three-pointer [at least 30 minutes every day during team practice] but I know I can hit the 3s. What I’m really focusing on is trying to get the mid-range shot down so that I will be automatic from that range.”
High school recruiting analyst Clark Francis told Byars early in the season that what people really like in a small forward is the ability to hit the mid-range jumper, almost a lost art in today’s game.
But the three is becoming even more important in modern-day basketball. When Ridgeway was struggling in the second quarter of the state championship, Byars turned things around by banging in his first three-pointer of the game, pumping his fist on his return down the floor. The shot triggered an amazing 44-3 run by the Roadrunners who breezed to their second straight title.
Meanwhile, having a Wahoo scholarship in hand, Byars worked hard to improve his body as well, adding nine pounds of muscle to his frame. He improved his strength and jumping ability as well.
“He’s much stronger than he looks,” said Henning. “He’s around 210 now but could play comfortably in college at 220.”
Byars also developed in another key area: Leadership.
“Once he started making big plays on the court and working for the ball, the other kids on the team began to depend on him not just for points or plays but for leadership,” said Henning. “He was a reluctant leader at first because he’s a quiet kid. But when he realized they were leaning on him, he put the team on his back and did what he had to do.”
Like his game against Booker T. Washington, ranked No. 7 nationally at the time Ridgeway faced them. Byars did everything well that night, shooting, scoring, rebounding, drilling his 3s, handling the ball well and playing good defense. It was his personal favorite game as the Roadrunners pulled off the upset win.
He scored over 30 points three times, and against Westside he hit seven treys en route to a 27-point performance.
“I was feeling it that night,” he chuckled.
“I’ve tried to utilize my ability to take over a game, especially when games were close going into the fourth quarter,” said the future Wahoo. “I tried to be more assertive and take my shots. I have taken over some games but not single-handedly.”
Byars is very team oriented and is quick to praise his teammates.
“We wouldn’t have won the state championship without Derrick and I don’t mean that only because of his play,” said Henning.
“He was hungry for the championship and started talking about it very early in the season,” said the coach. “He wasn’t going to be satisfied with anything less and it became so contagious that the rest of our kids started talking about it. He was a true leader. If he is as invaluable to Virginia as he was to Ridgeway, he’s going to make a lot of people happy.”

On paper, Virginia looked like a strong contender for the ACC basketball title next season until Roger Mason Jr. jolted the Wahoo nation Monday with his announcement to leave the program a year early.
With so many starters exiting ACC programs, the Cavaliers appeared to be the most experienced program and perhaps the deepest heading into next season. Mason’s announcement changed all that.
Could it be that Mason’s departure will have the same negative impact on next season’s team as the absence of point guard Majestic Mapp had on last season’s team? With Mapp, Virginia would have had an experienced point guard, someone capable of making the right plays at the right time. Without him, the Cavaliers appeared disjointed at times, leaving teammates like center Travis Watson frustrated.
Mason was a calming influence on the rest of the team. The leading scorer on the team (18.6 ppg), Mason was capable of lighting up the scoreboard from anywhere, particularly from beyond the three-point arch. He was money from the free-throw line and wasn’t afraid to take the last shot of the game, win or lose.
More than that, Mason appeared to be a natural born leader. While perhaps some of his former teammates resented him for stepping up and taking charge, there was no one else on the team capable of filling that role.
Without Mason, Virginia is left with only one player who averaged double-figure scoring last season: Watson. While transfer Todd Billet is expected to step in and fill some of that scoring void, without Mason, Coach Pete Gillen’s team is back to square one.
The Cavs were short on perimeter shooters last season, which allowed opponents to slap zone defenses on them everywhere from College Park to Tallahassee. With Mason and Billet, in addition to some help from UVa’s other players, the Wahoos’ attack would have been lethal. Without Mason, the Cavs are shy on proven long distance bombers again.
While there is a chance the 6-4 guard from Silver Spring, Md., will change his mind, it doesn’t sound likely. Mason’s announcement seemed final when he said in a prepared statement, “I wish to thank everyone at the University of Virginia, especially my coaches, teachers, teammates and the staff for all of their help in preparing me both on and off the court.”
Even though some NBA scouts have said off the record that they don’t expect Mason to go as high in the pro draft as one web site, NBADraft.net, rates the Virginia guard (the No. 16 prospect), Mason apparently is going with information that has boosted his confidence to declare early.
“This decision was based on information suggesting that now is the optimal time for me to begin pursing my chosen profession,” said Mason. “The system allows me to pursue this opportunity while maintaining my college eligibility.”
Mason is correct. He remains eligible to return to Virginia if he doesn’t like the direction things go, he has an “out.” He must notify the NBA of his intentions by May 12 but can still back out of the decision to turn pro by June 19. The draft is on June 26.
Once you’re drafted, you’re drafted and there’s no turning back. Also, if Mason hires an agent, which apparently he hasn’t as of Monday, his eligibility is shot.
Mason was a class act during his three years at Virginia. He never declined to meet media after games no matter the outcome. Win or lose, he was always there, even if he missed the shot that could have won the game.
Most observers believe that one more year of college hoops would make Mason a more attractive commodity to the NBA, a year of seasoning, maturing. But Mason is confident that he is ready. It’s his decision, his life.
We wish him well.

By JOHN GALINSKY
Daily Progress staff writer

The No. 2 Virginia men’s lacrosse team can assure itself of two things by beating No. 12 Duke at Klockner Stadium on Saturday — the top seed in the ACC tournament, and the No. 1 ranking.
The Cavaliers (7-1, 2-0 ACC) are poised to move ahead of current No. 1 Syracuse, which lost to No. 9 Cornell, 15-11, on Tuesday. To do so, they must first beat the Blue Devils (5-4, 1-1 ACC), then wait for the new USILA poll to come out next Monday.
UVa last held the No. 1 ranking on May 1, 2000.
“I know it sounds like a coach talking, but to be honest it really wouldn’t faze me one bit one way or the other if we’re ranked No. 1,” Virginia coach Dom Starsia said. “Everyone associated with our program knows there are bigger fish to fry. Our goals are ahead of us and I think we all realize that.”
One of the team’s goals — going undefeated in ACC regular-season play — can be accomplished Saturday. (Opening faceoff is at 1 p.m.) The Cavaliers went 1-2 in the conference last season and were the last seed in the ACC tournament. If they beat Duke, they will be the top seed in the tourney, which will be held April 19-21 at Duke’s Koskinen Stadium, while a blind draw would determine the other three seeds. Duke, Maryland and North Carolina all would be tied at 1-2.
If the Blue Devils win, they would match Virginia at 2-1 and gain the top seed by virtue of the head-to-head tiebreaker. UVa then would play Maryland in the ACC semifinals.
The Cavaliers have not looked like a dominant team over the past two weeks. They beat Maryland and North Carolina on the road, but they squandered leads and held on to win by one goal in each game. Starsia talked to his team about the importance of playing smarter and better, and he said he has seen signs of that this week.
“I think we’ve been sharper in practice,” he said. “We can’t ask much more of them physically, but I wanted them to show more attentiveness and have a little more bounce in their step. They’ve done that. I would be disappointed if we don’t perform a little bit better on Saturday.”
The chance to top the polls also could be an incentive for the Cavaliers, but not a big one.
“It would be nice to be No. 1, but being No. 1 this year has kind of been a jinx on teams,” senior defenseman Mark Koontz said. “[Johns] Hopkins was No. 1 and we beat them, then Syracuse was No. 1 and they lost. But I think our team is smart enough and we have enough leadership and sense to know a ranking doesn’t mean much. Any weekend we could lose to any team. We just have to keep playing hard and smart and we’ll be there at the end.”

Saint turned Devil. Duke has the ACC’s lowest-scoring team, but former St. Anne’s-Belfield standout A.J. Kincel has helped keep the Blue Devils competitive.
An all-state goalie for the Saints, Kincel waited patiently behind Matt Breslin for three years after signing with Duke. Now a redshirt junior, he has emerged as one of the nation’s top goalies in his first season as a starter.
Kincel’s save percentage of 63.2 ranks third in the country, while his 7.01 goals-allowed average is tied for third. He was named ACC player of the week after making 17 saves in a 9-8 double-overtime victory over Maryland on March 2.
“He’s having a good, solid year for them,” Starsia said. “Anywhere you look on the field, Duke doesn’t really have any weaknesses.”
Duke’s best player is junior midfielder Kevin Caccese, the 2001 ACC player of the year. He leads the team with 14 goals and 48 groundballs, and his 66.3 faceoff percentage ranks third in the country.

Reunion of champions. Members of the 1952 and 1972 national championship teams will be honored at halftime of Saturday’s game. The occasion will mark the 50th and 30th anniversaries of their titles, respectively.
Those are two of Virginia’s three championship teams. The Cavaliers also captured the NCAA crown in 1999.

Scoring machine. Last week, UVa recruit Matt Poskay became the nation’s first high school player to score 300 goals.
The Johnson High (Union Country, N.J.) senior scored nine goals in a 17-10 victory over Montclair, giving him 301 career goals. That broke the record of 292 set by former Syracuse University standout Casey Powell at Carthage (N.Y.) High from 1991-94.
Poskay, a 6-foot-1, 185-pound midfielder, has scored five or more goals in 35 games, with a high of 12.

By DOUG DOUGHTY
Exclusive to roanoke.com by 5 p.m. Thursdays

With the announcement Monday that junior guard Roger Mason was making himself available for the NBA Draft, followed by the report that assistant coach Tommy Herrion would be introduced as the new head coach at College of Charleston, concerns have been raised about the future of the Virginia men's basketball program.

That's one of the byproducts of Pete Gillen's reluctance to speak to the media.

It has now been 29 days since South Carolina defeated Virginia 74-67 in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament and Gillen has spoken to the media once, in a 12-minute, 18-second teleconference March 26.

As media gadfly Jeff White cautioned me Thursday, Gillen's accessibility is not, by itself, an indication of the wellbeing of the program. Many coaches with bad programs have been good with the media and many coaches with good programs are bad with the media.

At Duke, for instance, ACC-based reporters find it exceedingly difficult to speak to coach Mike Krzyzewski except after games.

In this case, however, I don't think the departures of Mason and Herrion would be the ruination of the program and it would be reassuring for some UVa fans if Gillen had something to say to that effect.

Let's say Mason does not return. UVa will need a third scorer to join Travis Watson and Todd Billet, a transfer from Rutgers, but there are indications that signee Derrick Byars might be that kind of player.

ON THE SUBJECT of Mason, Herrion said Tuesday that he had spoken with Mason since the weekend and that the wording of Mason's statement -- "Though I am leaving the university's basketball team," he said at one point -- may have been a little misleading.

No doubt, Mason is taking a serious look at the NBA, but, from all reports, he has not hired an agent. If it were likely that he would be taken with the 16th pick, as projected by NBADraft.net, nobody would advise him to stay.

On the other hand, how much do we know about NBADraft.net? I've referred to it twice now and I have no idea who's behind it. I don't even if Mason thinks he will be drafted that high. I've tried in vain to get in touch with him, but UVa sports information director Rich Murray said Mason has asked that his statement speak for itself.

Even if Mason were the player that Philadelphia would take with the 16th pick right now, other college underclassmen or international players could enter the pool and Mason could sink into the 20s or 30s.

I don't think there's any question that Mason is leaning toward the NBA but it doesn't appear to be a done deal yet.

KNOWLEDGEABLE COACHING contacts say they expect Gillen to replace Herrion with Mike Malone, a member of his original staff who left after one year to get some recruiting experience under another ex-Gillen assistant, Bobby Gonzalez, at Manhattan.

(I know. I'm the last person in the state to report this, but I wanted to hear it from a credible source first.)

Gillen's history has been to stay inside the Gillen coaching family and Malone, currently an assistant with the New York Knicks, fits that description. Malone's name, ironically, has come up in recent months as the UVa assistant who made first contact with Moe Young.

Young, who transferred to St. Bonaventure early this season, made a commitment to the Cavaliers shortly after his junior year of high school in the summer of 1999.

There will be no shortage of applicants for the job, including 7-foot-4 Ralph Sampson, a three-time national player of the year for Virginia in the early 1980s. Sampson coached briefly under Lefty Driesell at James Madison and with the minor-league Richmond Rhythm.

WHILE THE MEN'S basketball program has been cloaked in near-secrecy, UVa football coach Al Groh continues to roll along, doing teleconferences three days a week and opening practices on a semi-regular basis.

Some of the tidbits that came out of Groh's first two teleconferences this week:

Of the three players who are running with the first team in Groh's 3-4 defense, the nose tackle is most likely to be 6-5, 277-pound Andrew "Drew" Hoffman, who was redshirted last season after getting on the field for 65 plays in George Welsh's last season, 2000.

Although redshirt freshman tight end Heath Miller is at 255 pounds "and going," as Groh put it, UVa's coach said Miller is "perfectly slotted" at tight end does not have the body type to be an offensive or defensive lineman.

When Gillen's 'Hoos leave, how can we know for sure?