Groh undecided on play-caller
By Dave Johnson
Daily Press
April 4, 2003
Virginia football coach Al Groh has yet to decide who will call the offensive
plays next fall, but it isn't keeping him up at nights.
Groh lost Bill Musgrave, his offensive coordinator the past two seasons, in
February to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Instead of hiring somebody from the
outside with play-calling experience, he promoted 33-year-old offensive line
coach Ron Prince.
And Prince, Groh believes, is well-suited for the job. "Ron from the very start
has been all eyes and ears," Groh said. "When we have defensive discussions
about a front or a coverage, he took notes because he (saw) himself as being
more than a line coach someday. He's always been interested in all facets.
"He's been the most significant person in the most important part of the passing
game. Consistently efficient passing games always start with the protection.
He's taken a pretty big-picture view of this from the start."
Groh hasn't called offensive plays since 1988, when he was the coordinator for a
year at South Carolina. He's not opposed to the idea, pointing out Tampa Bay
coach Jon Gruden is among NFL head coaches who call plays. Nor has he said
that's what will happen.
"I don't think it's a big issue," he said. "I think execution's a lot more
important that play calling. A lot more important. I mean, that screen pass Wali
Lundy ran in down there in (the Continental Tire Bowl) didn't have much to do
with brilliant play-calling. That was about player execution."
MANN IMPROVING. Coming off a disappointing junior year - one that began with his
second straight Most Improved Player Award in the spring but ended on the bench
- senior outside linebacker Raymond Mann is working to get back where he was.
Mann started the first two games last season but missed the next five with a
knee injury. Even when he returned, he wasn't the same player. After making 13
tackles in the first two games, he had 15 in six games after coming back and
ended up losing his starting job.
"Certainly the knee was a hindrance to him when he came back," Groh said. "So
often we see that. I'm certainly aware of the fact that many times when a player
is cleared to play, that's the medical clearance. That doesn't mean he's ready
to come back and be the same player.
"Ray certainly fell into that category. But in the early practices here, if
somebody didn't tell you he was hurt, you'd never guess it. I think he's
operating just fine."
Either Mann or junior Dennis Haley is expected to start at the outside
linebacker spot opposite Darryl Blackstock.
A-MART. With Marques Hagans now at wideout, redshirt freshman Anthony Martinez
is being groomed as Matt Schaub's backup - and, perhaps, successor - at
quarterback. Listed at 6-foot-3, 249 pounds, he's bigger than every linebacker
on the roster.
He's not chubby, but Groh still would like to see him slim down a bit. "This is
a big kid," he said. "We've been working on that aspect of things from the
start, and he's been very diligent through the offseason program. I think that
number's going down a little bit. Probably be a good idea if he did. But this is
a big kid. This isn't going to be a 210-pound player."
Cavs face ACC rival Heels in Top Ten clash
Virginia tries to break a two game losing streak, find first conference win
tomorrow when No. 7 North Carolina comes to town
Sean Mclernon
Cavalier Daily Associate Editor
Becky Davis | Cavalier Daily File Photo
After two narrow defeats in a row and a fall from the nation's top ranking, No.
6 Virginia heads into tomorrow's match-up against No. 7 North Carolina desperate
for a return to early season winning form.
"Its huge, its absolutely huge," senior midfielder Chris Rotelli said. "As far
as I'm concerned, it's a must-win game. We need to turn things around."
The Tar Heels (5-3, 2-0 ACC) invade Klockner Stadium fresh off an 11-10 loss to
No. 1 Johns Hopkins. Virginia (5-2, 0-1 ACC) also fell by one goal to the Blue
Jays in an 8-7 squeaker in Baltimore, March 22.
Against another common opponent, ACC rival Maryland, the two squads fared much
differently. North Carolina easily defeated the then undefeated Terrapins 10-6
at College Park, while the Cavaliers fell to Maryland 8-7 at home last Saturday.
The loss dropped Virginia to its lowest ranking of the year and marked the
second straight game the Cavaliers had scored single digits. Virginia had
tallied at least 10 goals in its first five games of the year.
"I don't think the offense has played well for three weeks now," Rotelli said.
"I don't think we're working hard enough now on the offensive end, particularly
with simple exchanges."
Statistically, the Cavaliers outperformed both Johns Hopkins and Maryland.
Virginia took more groundballs and fired off more shots in both defeats and
dominated the Terrapins 15 to 4 in faceoffs, but nonetheless fell behind early
and failed to hold a second half lead in both games.
"Everybody is getting away from our team concepts and worrying about individual
match-ups," Rotelli said. "Its not because we're selfish, we're just not
thinking out there."
The Cavaliers looked like a team of destiny early in the year, defeating
defending national champion Syracuse, and last year's runner up Princeton in
early March to earn the nation's top-ranking. Virginia coach Dom Starsia said
the Cavaliers' early success may have caused the squad to look past some lower
ranked opponents.
"We may have become a little preoccupied with the big picture and lost track of
the immediate," Starsia said. "Everybody's talking about playoff posturing and
meanwhile we get beat by a team that wasn't probably thinking about national
championship all week and just thinking about beating Virginia."
The Cavaliers will need to snap their first half scoring woes to have a chance
against North Carolina. In the last two games, the Cavaliers have scored a grand
total of two tallies and went into halftime trailing by an average of 4.5 goals.
Virginia averaged six first half goals in its opening five games.
One part of the game the Cavaliers have not let up on recently has been faceoffs.
Sophomore midfielder Jack deVilliers, the squad's main faceoff specialist, had a
spectacular performance in the loss to Maryland, winning 15 of 19 draws for a
career high 78.9 percent success rate. DeVilliers enters play this weekend
holding a 62.2 percentage on the season.
North Carolina averages 10.6 goals a game but will be up against a Virginia
defense that has continued to play at a high level, even during the team's
recent struggles. The Cavaliers have held opponents to an average of 8 goals per
contest this season.
The Tar Heels opened the season losing two of its first three games, but then
reeled off four straight wins, including conference triumphs over Duke and
Maryland.
North Carolina currently holds first place in the ACC and Virginia would need
wins against the Tar Heels and at Duke next Saturday to earn a share of the ACC
championship and the top seed in the conference tournament.
Martinez being groomed on field and off
Until I was reminded of it while looking up something else, I had forgotten that Jermaine Harper had started for Virginia in the second round of the St. John's Invitational, sometimes known as the NIT.
What's more, he played 23 and 27 minutes in the Cavaliers’ two NIT games, which would seem to indicate that Harper, a sophomore shooting guard, fits into Virginia’s plans for the 2003-2004 season.
Maybe. Maybe not.
"We're talking with him," said coach Pete Gillen of his conversations with Harper about his future role. "We're going to continue to talk to him. Nothing's been decided. There are some guards coming in."
Harper's playing time dropped from 17.2 minutes per game in 2001-2002 to 13.4 this season, but there were extenuating circumstances.
He was suspended for the first five games after an arrest for driving under the influence and later was one of three UVa players who were late for breakfast March 1 prior to a noon start at Florida State.
Harper was suspended for a preseason game, as was Keith Jenifer, for what Gillen termed "academic issues." However, Harper did not seem to irritate fans and administrators as much as Jenifer, who never played for the Cavaliers after his Feb. 3 suspension.
Jenifer later was given a release from his scholarship, enabling him to talk to other schools. There hasn't been as great an outcry for UVa to get rid of Harper; however, it's hard to see his playing time increasing with the arrival of perimeter players Gary Forbes, J.R. Reynolds and T.J. Bannister.
Ideally, UVa would like to find a point guard who would enable Todd Billet to play shooting guard. The Cavaliers continue to view rising sophomore Derrick Byars as a shooting guard and Devin Smith, if lost about 15 pounds, certainly would have the shooting ability.
Throw in Forbes and Reynolds and even if you're talking about two spots — shooting guard and small forward — that doesn't leave much room for Harper.
IN ITS MOST RECENT EDITION, the ACC Area Sports Journal reported that 6-9, 215-pound Tyler Jones from Cleveland (Texas) Heritage Christian is planning to visit Virginia. Jones is a player with whom I was previously unfamiliar.
Regardless of what happens with Jones, whose academics reportedly need evaluation, it still appears that UVa's best chance of landing a second big man this spring would be 6-10 Jason Cain from John Bartram High School in Philadelphia. Cain will take an official visit to Charlottesville over the weekend of April 11-13.
Villanova, Utah and Indiana are the other schools recruiting Cain, who is said to like UVa. It is unclear if another Virginia target, 6-8 Lithuanian Linas Kleiza from Montrose Christian in Kensington, Md., has committed to Missouri. One way or another, it appears unlikely he would sign with Virginia.
Depending on what Cain does, UVa may dispatch a coach to Denmark to get a look at 6-10 Jonas Langvad, with whom there has been preliminary contact.
VIRGINIA FOOTBALL COACH Al Groh would like to take some weight off redshirt freshman quarterback Anthony Martinez, listed on UVa's spring roster at 6-3 and 249 pounds, "but he's a big kid," Groh said. "This isn't going to be a 210-pound player."
"We've been working on that aspect of things from the start and he's been very diligent throughout the offseason program. I think that number [249] is going down. It probably would be a good idea if it did."
Back-up wide quarterback Marques Hagans was moved to wide receiver this spring in order to get more work for Martinez and discern whether he is the Cavaliers' quarterback of the future.
"It's probably a little bit of a shock to his system," Groh said, "going from the circumstance that he was in last year, get a play here and there, and not have to step up in there. Obviously, in his grooming, we want to do it as if he were the quarterback. He might be.
"In that spot, it could happen any time, and he hopes to be that way in the future. The volume of things he has to deal with -- formations, motions, the play call, the reads -- as it is for most young quarterbacks, was a little bit overwhelming in the beginning.
"He's becoming more comfortable with it."
Redick may face judicial board
The Herald-Sun
Apr 4, 2003 : 12:17 am ET
Duke University’s J.J. Redick, a freshman on the Blue Devils basketball team,
may face a campus judicial board hearing stemming from an incident Monday in
which five male students were caught in a Duke dorm room with homemade marijuana
paraphernalia, Duke officials confirmed Thursday.
According to Duke police, a resident assistant at Blackwell dorm called police
at 12:08 Monday and reported the smell of marijuana on the dorm’s second floor.
An officer followed the smell to a room where the five male students were and
asked for and was granted consent to search the room, according to a copy of the
report.
"All five males appeared to have red glossy eyes and the strong smell of
marijuana about their person," the report stated. "I found a homemade bong, made
out of a Brita water filter sitting on the floor. The bong was full of water
with pieces of green leafs in the water."
An unidentified student claimed possession of the paraphernalia, and the officer
gave the students a warning and referred them to the Campus Judicial Affairs
Board. No charges were filed.
In a separate incident earlier this week, Sue Wasiolek, dean of students, said
the administration can’t comment on individual students. The university deals
with student incidents on a case by case basis, she said.
If the student admits responsibility, then the administration could follow up
with a punishment of its own, including counseling, community service,
suspension or probation. If the student denies responsibility for an incident,
then he or she could go before a judicial board hearing.
All five names on the incident report were marked out with black ink Thursday.
An officer at Duke said that police cross out students’ names unless a complaint
results in a criminal charge. But The Herald-Sun received an email from Jon
Jackson, Duke’s sports information director, regarding what he termed, "the J.J.
Redick incident." On Thursday, the Duke Chronicle reported that Redick was one
of the five in the room.
"It would be inappropriate to comment on this matter until the Duke judicial
process has been completed," he wrote.
Redick, from Roanoke, Va., emerged as one of the top freshmen in the ACC this
past season. He quickly established himself as one of the top shooters in the
league, finishing the year as the ACC leader in free-throw percentage and
3-pointers made.
Redick started 30 of Duke's 33 games, averaging 15.0 points per game. He scored
20 or more points nine times, the most 20-point games for a Duke freshman in the
Mike Krzyzewski era.
Redick was named a third-team All-ACC selection after the regular season, then
he endured an up-and-down postseason. He scored 23 of his 30 points over the
final 10:05 of Duke's comeback victory over N.C. State in the ACC Tournament
final, and he poured in 26 points in Duke's second-round NCAA Tournament victory
over Central Michigan.
But in what proved to be the Blue Devils' season finale against Kansas, Redick
managed just five points, missing 14 of 16 shots, including misses on 10 of 11
3-point attempts.
Redick was unavailable for comment Thursday.
CHAPEL HILL - The Matt Doherty who recruited him was not the Matt Doherty who coached him this season at North Carolina, said freshman basketball player Rashad McCants.
"Night and day," McCants said Tuesday night after UNC announced Doherty's resignation. "I was definitely surprised by how (Doherty) was once I got here. I really wasn't ready for what this season brought."
McCants didn't offer images of his relationship with Doherty, only concepts, and he said the main concept was this: Doherty didn't treat the players with respect.
Asked for an example, McCants demurred.
In that, he isn't alone. Since Doherty's dismissal became public, The Observer has spoken with 11 players or their parents, and onlyone -- Louis Boone, the father of former UNC guard Adam Boone -- would give a specific example of Doherty behind the scenes.
Of the 10 other people interviewed, four -- all parents -- said their sons were upset to see Doherty go. Those players were starters Raymond Felton, Jawad Williams and David Noel, and former center Neil Fingleton, who transferred to Holy Cross in 2001-02.
The other six people interviewed, two of whom asked not to be identified, said they were happy to see Doherty go, but none would share a story to support their stance. Martha Holmes, whose son, Jonathan, was a senior guard, explained why.
"You had to be there," she said. "I don't think one particular incident does it justice. I think you had to be there and experience it, and even after three years, it's beyond my ability to come up with words to describe it."
Louis Boone described an instance when Doherty, angry at the players at practice, disappeared into a tunnel.
"The players could hear chairs being knocked around, and came to find out (Doherty) had kicked them around," Louis Boone said. "And then an aluminum ladder slid out from under the curtain (separating the tunnel from the court) toward the court. It's not like it almost hit a player, but still, that's a situation that could have resulted in injury."
Along with McCants, three other Tar Heels addressed the media Tuesday night: Holmes, senior Will Johnson and freshman Damion Grant.
Like McCants, none would offer a specific example of the kind of relational issues athletics director Dick Baddour said ultimately led to Doherty's resignation. However, all four indicated Doherty's departure was good for the program, and Grant said mass transfers might have occurred had Doherty stayed.
Those comments didn't jibe with what the parents of Felton, Williams and Noel told The Observer on Wednesday.
Said Raymond Felton Sr.: "To tell you the truth, I don't know of anything that happened. I asked Ray how (Doherty) treated him, and he said fine. That was enough for me."
Said Gail Williams, who was critical of Doherty last year: "I can't come up with anything to justify (his dismissal). Nothing I ever heard."
Said Sheila Noel: "David never came home and said, `Mom, coach did this to me or that to me.' I'm assuming there was nothing to tell. My heart goes out to (Doherty). I don't know what everyone else is saying, but I never had a problem with him. I was kind of down (Tuesday) when I heard the news."
Another player's parent, one of the two who asked not to be identified, was told of those comments and said: "I'm amazed by that. I guess everyone is dealing with this in their own way. They've obviously been coached to be upbeat, because that's not what some of them have told me in the past week."
Baddour indicated a cover-up of sorts had been in place during the season, with the players misleading reporters who asked about their relationship with Doherty.
"The players were constantly asked about their future in the program," Baddour said. "They agreed out of respect for Carolina basketball to keep their feelings to themselves until after the season."
Chancellor James Moeser discounted speculation that, by accepting Doherty's resignation, Baddour had succumbed to the will of angry players.
"Some observers have characterized this as a player revolt," Moeser said. "Nothing could be further from the truth."
Asked for specifics that would shed light on Doherty's treatment of players, Moeser declined.
Dempsey not upset
Among the complaints some former North Carolina players privately expressed about Doherty in Wednesday's editions of The Observer was one about Tassie Dempsey of Wilson, who for decades befriended the players and often cooked meals for them.
When Doherty took over as coach three years ago, her lower-arena seats were moved to the upper arena of the Smith Center, reduced in number and her parking pass eliminated, angering those she had helped through the years. Dempsey said Wednesday she was not among those upset by the ticket move.
"I'm a great supporter of Matt Doherty," she said. "I've always supported him, when he was a player and when he was a coach. I support all of them."
Dempsey said her seats were moved back to the lower arena this season.