4 athletes face charges in UVa brawl
By Bryan McKenzie / Daily Progress staff writer
April 12, 2006

Four University of Virginia athletes, including one recently dismissed from the football team, are among five students facing charges related to a March 3 break-in and brawl at a Rugby Road fraternity house.

As many as 30 students, including athletes and fraternity brothers, were involved in the melee.

Charlottesville police officials said the arrests wind up a lengthy investigation that has included interviews with more than 30 students who were at the Delta Upsilon fraternity house at 180 Rugby Road. The incident happened shortly before 1 a.m. on the Friday that kicked off spring break for most UVa students.

On Monday night Charlottesville police delivered misdemeanor warrants to Enongé Stovall, 19, a freshman on the UVa women’s basketball team and a high school All-American; Zak Stair, 20, a sophomore offensive tackle on the football team; Edwin Pinigis, 21, a junior offensive tackle; and former football defensive lineman Vince Redd, according to authorities.

Tamira Roberson, 18, a UVa student who is not listed on any team roster, also was issued a summons Monday night.

Stovall, Stair and Pinigis are charged with misdemeanor entering a property with intent to damage. Roberson also faces entering with intent to damage charges and an additional charge of obstruction of justice. Redd faces a charge of obstruction of justice.

The charges are misdemeanors.

Redd was dismissed from the football team in March for unspecified violations of team rules.

Virginia athletics officials said they were aware of the arrests but could not comment on the particulars. No sanctions will be levied on the athletes until they have met with coaches and administrators.

“The athletes will meet with the head coach and a member of the athletic department administration to determine what, if any, action should be taken pending the outcome of the legal process,” athletics spokesman Rich Murray said.

Charlottesville police previously arrested Michael Giallombardo, 18, a freshman goalkeeper with the UVa soccer team, and Michael Brown, 18, a freshman defensive back on the football team. They are both charged with breaking and entering with intent to commit an assault and breaking and entering with the intent to damage property.

They were each released on a $2,500 personal recognizance bond on the felony charges.

Police and university officials have said the incident apparently took place after two athletes, believing the fraternity was having a party, were turned away from a membership-only event at Delta Upsilon earlier that evening. Hours later as many as 15 students came back to the fraternity and kicked in the door, according to fraternity members.

From there a fight ensued among fraternity members and the uninvited students, officials said. Three people suffered minor injuries, including one fraternity member who was punched in the head when he tried to call 911 on his cell phone. All three refused medical treatment.

Police said the investigation was slowed by spring break and uncooperative students. No further arrests are expected.

 

Simpson is X-factor in backfield
By Jay Jenkins / Daily Progress staff writer
April 12, 2006

Virginia coach Al Groh has made it known that he wants a two-man rotation next year at tailback.
Three names stand out in that battle to replace Wali Lundy: Michael Johnson, Cedric Peerman and fullback-turned-tailback Jason Snelling.

A fourth Cavalier would love nothing better than to sneak his way into the playing-time conversation.

Mikell Simpson, who redshirted during the 2005 season, hopes he can become the team's X-factor.

It will not be easy. The Pennsylvania native knows that, especially since the other three running backs have a head start.

Snelling, a rising senior, has played the part of a No. 1 tailback during an impressive and relatively healthy spring.

Johnson, who also enters his final season as a Cavalier, has five career rushing touchdowns and an average of 5.6 yards per carry.

Peerman saw extensive action as a kick returner (21 for 542 yards), but also used 70 carries in his rookie season to rumble for 237 yards and three scores.

Simpson says he is trying not looking over his shoulder at the competition.

"I look at [the other tailbacks], but not really," Simpson said. "I'm just going out there and just trying to better myself. As the course goes on that would take its toll, as to whether who plays or not. I can't worry about that. That is not up to me."

While Snelling may have a leg up on the competition, after that it appears to be wide open.

"I think it would be fair to say that Jason probably has an advantage over the others because of his veteran status, and not just because of status, but because of production," Groh said. "Outside of that, it's all equal there and it all will be based on nothing in the past, but what happens in the present."

Simpson admitted this weekend that he wanted to see the field in his first year at UVa. That's natural. Every freshman does. In the end, Simpson knows that the time off was for the best.

"I came in wanting to play, but I realized as far as knowing the defense and reading the defenses, I wasn't as prepared as a I needed to be," Simpson said, "so I think that redshirt year was best for me. I feel more prepared now."

Simpson was among the nation's best prospects entering college, despite undergoing surgery midway through his senior year at Harrisburg High (Penn.) to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee. Rivals.com rated him as the No. 14 running back in the country.

Michigan State, Nebraska and UCLA were hot on Simpson's trail until he narrowed his choices down to Alabama and UVa.

When Simpson made his decision official during a live segment on ESPN News he said he was heading to Alabama, before realizing his mistake and quickly changing his tune.

"It just happened by accident," Simpson laughed. "They were asking questions about Alabama and it came into my head ? and then I realized which school I had really picked."

Simpson made few mistakes during the final drill of Saturday's rain-filled practice.

During a spirited, practice-ending 3-on-3 drill, Simpson stole the show by breaking tackles and scoring points for his victorious offensive unit.

"That is what I need to improve on," Simpson said. "I need to prove myself running through tackles, so that [drill] is good to help me in that area.

"In the outside and in open space, I think I am pretty good, so that just helps me with that part of my game."

While it sounds like a clich?, Simpson stressed that he is living one practice at a time.

"I want to make a name for myself running the ball for the next four years and now is my time. I can't redshirt again," Simpson said. "My clock has started so I have to prove myself every day and try to get better by the day."

COOKING UP A STORM: Thanks in part to Ron Prince, the new football coach at Kansas State and a former assistant at UVa, KSU will hold a barbeque contest prior to its Spring Game.

Gary Davidson, the contest director and president of the Kansas City Catbacker Club, said Prince wanted KSU's spring festivities to resemble what he experienced at UVa.

"When Prince came to Kansas State, he had indicated they had a carnival atmosphere at Virginia, and we wanted to have something similar for the spring game at K-State," Davidson told the Kansas State Collegian.

Entries have already been received from four different states.

Virginia's Spring Football Festival will not include a cooking competition, at least not this year, but a number of interactive games and activities are planned. The event will start on April 22nd at 1:30 p.m., two hours before the start of the football game.

UVa officials are also planning a NFL-style combine for older fans to test their athletic abilities in skill events.


EXTRA POINTS: The last open practice will be held on Friday at 4 p.m. ? The deadline for season ticket holders to renew is on Friday, April 21, the day before the Spring Game. Also, patrons who would like to become season ticket holders can turn in a waitlist application by the same date. For details contact the Virginia Athletics Ticket Office.

 

Calipari's future might be with Pack
By Jerry Ratcliffe / Daily Progress sports editor
April 12, 2006

Scattershooting around the ACC, while wondering if John Calipari will become N.C. State's new basketball coach ...
Apparently the ball is in Calipari's court. N.C. State officials have met with the Memphis coach and offered him a salary believed to be in the neighborhood of $1.7 million a year. Memphis administrators are now scrambling to make a counter offer, but something should shake out on this by the weekend.

Should Calipari take over the Wolfpack, it would make the ACC, already known as a "coaches league," even tougher. Still, no matter who takes over the N.C. State program, it's going to be awfully difficult to be any better than third in its own state because of the neighbors just down the road.

Miami nice

Meanwhile, Miami AD Paul Dee must have gotten a little nervous when Hurricanes' head basketball coach Frank Haith was interviewed at Oklahoma late last week, then mentioned with the N.C. State opening as well.

Haith, a native of North Carolina, would have probably taken the Wolfpack job in a heartbeat. Instead, it looks like he's staying in South Florida thanks to a proposed contract extension that will keep him in place through the 2010 season. The extension, the second in two years for Haith (he received one last season when Tennessee showed some interest in the then-rookie head coach), will include a healthy raise for both Haith and his coaching staff.

The Miami coach, who is 34-29 at the school, has a rebuilding job now that his top two scorers will not return. Guard Rob Hite was a senior and junior Guillermo Diaz announced last week that he will enter the NBA draft and has hired an agent.

Bye, bye BC

Up in Beantown, things aren't quite so settled as Boston College head basketball coach Al Skinner may be losing his top two assistants.

Ed Cooley, who was on Skinner's original BC staff, was named head coach at Fairfield on Tuesday. Now, it appears BC associate head coach Bill Coen is the leading candidate for the Northeastern job.

"I was tremendously blessed to have them as long as I did," Skinner said. "What I'm happy about is that they have an opportunity. It's a little bump in the road, but I think we can pick up and continue doing the job we've been doing."

Tick tock

Now that the Final Four is in Virginia A.D. Craig Littlepage's rear view mirror, he would like to see one thing change for future selection committees. Littlepage would like more time.

There has been suggestions of moving back the CBS pairings show until later in the evening or moving up the starting times of Sunday's various conference tournament championship games. Heck, you could move them to Saturday's for that matter (that's what the ACC used to do).

"In all candor, what the committee needs is about another 45 minutes to an hour on Sunday," Littlepage said of the process. "At a minimum we could use that hour of time very, very well. If the games were done on Saturday it would be even better."

Because the selection of the 65-team field along with seedings and bracketing have become more complicated due to various factors, maybe the NCAA needs to study the situation and make some changes for next season.

"The analogy I drew is trying to do your taxes at 11:45 p.m. on April 15," Littlepage said of the process. "It's not too far of an exaggeration."

The UVa A.D. said because of the complexity and intensity of the work, it would be helpful to finish and then step away from it completely.

"Just to take a walk around to refresh ourselves, then come back and look at the final product would be nice," Littlepage said. "Literally we finished our work at 10 minutes after five [o'clock] on Sunday and handed it over to CBS about 5:15. We checked it after we had exhausted ourselves physically, mentally and otherwise.

"My suggestion is the opportunity to have built in there just some time to get away, take a power nap, take a walk, take a shower, get some fresh air and then come back to the table and say, 'We've got 30 minutes to pick this thing apart. Do we have the seeding right? Do we have the right teams? Just to go through it one more time. Otherwise, we fall victim to being rushed at the very end and not feeling as though we had the opportunity to pick it apart. We need that on the back end of it for checks and balances."

Gibbons' list

Recruiting guru Bob Gibbons' top 100 list of basketball recruits notes that three Cavalier recruits are among the top 87: center/forward Johnnie Lett (No. 57); wing forward Solomon Tat (No. 80); and power forward Jamil Tucker (No. 87).

UVa coach Dave Leitao recently said this of Tucker:

"He has a skill package that a lot of guys at his position don't have," Leitao said of Tucker. "He can make 3's as deep out as 25 feet and stretch the defense out and allow us to do different things, maybe play a little bit more with four guys on the perimeter or play a high-low game."

Virginia didn't really have a high-low game last season because there was no low. There wasn't an inside guy who could face the basket effectively, so there's plenty of reason for the coaches to be excited about Tucker.

Free throws ...

Wake Forest is installing FieldTurf, a synthetic playing surface, at Groves Stadium for this coming season. ... Florida State football finished its spring drills and many of those in the program believe the Seminoles are better than last year's team that won the ACC Championship. ... Coach Bobby Bowden is certain of one thing, his quarterback. Says Bowden of Drew Weatherford: "I probably feel as good about our quarterback position as I have felt in five years."

 

Myers hopes Cavs get back to form
By Whitelaw Reid / Daily Progress staff writer
April 12, 2006

It's been a week since the Virginia women's lacrosse team's 15-8 home win over Old Dominion.
The victory was the kind that looked good in the newspaper the next day, but wasn't very pleasing to coach Julie Myers. UVa got off to a 4-0 lead before allowing ODU to tie things up.

Myers has since had the chance to review the game film.

"I think we just went through the motions a few moments too often," said Myers, whose No. 3-ranked squad is riding a five-game winning streak. "I thought they had some good players, but I don't think we fought as hard as we should have and stayed as aggressive as we would have liked to have seen. I would just like to see us play at a Virginia level."

Myers' team will have that chance tonight when it plays host to George Mason at 7 p.m. It will be Virginia's last regular season home game.

The Patriots, who are coming off a 23-11 win over Old Dominion on Sunday, won't have Cinderella hoops coach Jim Larranaga on the sidelines, but they will have Laura King and Melissa Venturi - two gifted offensive players - at their disposal.

King leads the team with 36 points (33 goals and three assists); Venturi has 33 points (26 goals and seven assists).

"They're scoring a bunch and assisting as well," said Myers of the duo. "We need to make them beat us with their other attackers. We definitely need to focus on where they are and limit their touches."

George Mason is 7-4 this season, but just 1-3 against ranked opponents. The Patriots' 23 goals against ODU set a new school record.

"I'm expecting it to be an emotional game just because it's our last home game," said Virginia defender Nikki Lieb. "You can't overlook anybody."

After tonight, the Cavaliers (11-2) play at Virginia Tech on Friday before closing out their regular season at Georgetown a week from today. The ACC Tournament, to take place in Baltimore, begins April 27.

"The next couple of games coming up, if we play soft or are off, I think they could be really close and competitive games," Myers said. "But I think if we really focus on Virginia and what we do well - playing hard and being sharp - the games shouldn't necessarily be all that close. We need to make sure that we show up and take care of business."

 

Starting fresh
Despite significant turnover, Virginia remains a major player in college baseball.
By Doug Doughty
981-3129

On those occasions when Jacob Thompson is pitching, Virginia's baseball lineup includes as many as six players who are in their first season with the Cavaliers.

It's no wonder that UVa didn't start the year in anybody's Top 25.

While the Cavaliers (27-9, 8-7 ACC) are getting major contributions from their other freshmen, none has shined brighter than Thompson, a 6-foot-6, 195-pound right-hander from Tunstall High School.

Thompson, who starts the Saturday games in the weekend series that UVa plays against ACC opponents, has compiled a 6-1 record and a 2.64 ERA. He leads the staff in victories and innings pitched.

"Jacob has been Mr. Consistent for us all year," third-year UVa coach Brian O'Connor said. "He's given us a chance to win every game that he's started."

When Thompson took the mound last Saturday at Duke, he was backed by an infield that included second baseman David Adams, shortstop Greg Miclat and third baseman Jeremy Farrell -- all freshmen.

The catcher and right fielder, respectively, were Beau Seabury and Brandon Marsh, junior-college transfers in their first season of eligibility at Virginia.

"There were so many question marks coming into the year," O'Connor said. "You're starting three freshmen in the infield and who knows how they're going to be? You've lost two thirds of your starting rotation and then there's the matter of, 'Who's going to replace Ryan Zimmerman?'"

Zimmerman, who passed up his final season of college eligibility, was the fourth player taken in the June free-agent draft and is starting for the Washington Nationals at third base.

The 2005 UVa baseball team played in the ACC championship game but its record after 36 games (24-12) wasn't as good as it is this year. The Cavaliers had a three-game sweep of Clemson when the Tigers were ranked No. 2 and also has a victory over then-No. 1 Georgia Tech and two wins over 24th-ranked Wake Forest.

Going into tonight's home game with Longwood, three of UVa's top four hitters are newcomers Marsh (.431), Farrell (.388) and Adams (.355). Virginia's second-leading hitter is Tom Hagan, a senior from Cave Spring High School, who has had turns at first base, left field and designated hitter.

Injuries early in his career have left Hagan with the option of returning in 2007, but O'Connor said that Hagan and fourth-year junior pitcher Mike Ballard have his blessing if they want to try professional ball after this season.

There is plenty of talent in the classes behind them. Thompson is one of several promising freshman pitchers, a group that included 2005 Rangers draftee Shooter Hunt, the New Jersey player of the year.

Thompson was not drafted and was overshadowed by Tunstall teammate Will Inman, but the Cavaliers knew they wanted Thompson as soon as assistant Kevin McMullan saw him in the 2004 Commonwealth Games in Salem.

"I knew that [rival coaches] would fall in love with him and they did," said O'Connor, who signed Thompson in the fall of 2005. "We chose to go after Jacob Thompson and we didn't recruit Will Inman. Fortunately, it worked out for us. We got the kid who ended up coming to school."

Inman signed with Auburn, but was drafted by Milwaukee in the third round of the major-league draft and accepted the Brewers' offer.

"[Thompson] was one of the first guys we went after in that recruiting class," O'Conner said. "He's got really good ability, he's got a good arm but he can throw four pitches for a strike and he had really good poise for an 18-year-old. Nothing fazes him."

Thompson can't even tell you how hard he throws, although, at his size, velocity will come.

He has a personal pitching coach in his father, Floyd, an ex-George Washington High School hurler who stressed location to him.

"I talk to him every day," said Thompson, whose younger brother Justin plays catcher for Tunstall and is viewed as a future Division I prospect.

Thompson has said that he feels he is "living a dream" as a weekend starter for the Cavaliers, but he had not ruled out the possibility that he might have an impact for Virginia as a freshman. He had arm trouble as a junior at Tunstall and dealt with knee and ankle injuries as a senior, so this is the most-injury free he has been.

"I knew, going up there, that he'd have a lot of competition," Tunstall coach Barry Shelton said. "But as far as doing what he's done, I thought he'd have a shot."

The Cavaliers, unranked until four weeks ago, were 17th this week in the USA Today's coaches' poll, 19th in the National Collegiate Baseball Writer's Association poll, 20th in the Collegiate Baseball poll, and are in position for an unprecedented third straight NCAA bid.

"The whole goal is to get to the NCAA tournament," O'Conner said. "But, as a program, you'd like to reach the point where people are thinking about you from the start."
 

Olsen glad to be back
Doug Doughty

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- On the week that Christian Olsen joined Virginia's football program in 2003, Anthony Martinez was preparing to make his debut as the Cavaliers' starting quarterback.

Martinez was subbing for an injured Matt Schaub, but reporters were already speculating about the future and an anticipated three-way battle between Martinez, Olsen and then-freshman Kevin McCabe.

Nobody was talking about Marques Hagans.

Soon, they would be. After Martinez bombed at South Carolina, Virginia had no choice other than to turn to Hagans, previously being groomed as a wide receiver and return specialist. Hagans was spectacular the next week at Western Michigan.

By the time Olsen became eligible the next fall, the Cavaliers had a quarterback.

What if Olsen had known in September 2003 what he knows now, that Hagans would start 24 consecutive games? Would he have been as quick to enroll at Virginia?

"There's probably places I could have gone and played quicker," said Olsen, who turned 23 this week, "but I've loved every minute I've been at UVa. Why wouldn't I? We've played in three bowl games since I've been here. We beat Florida State. We play in the best conference. I'm going to graduate from the No. 1 public school in the country. I've met some of my best friends here. So, there's really not much more I can ask for.

"I've never thought, 'What would have happened if I hadn't come here?'"

Spectators and some in the media were left to wonder if Olsen would ever get his chance when he and his parents were introduced with the UVa seniors prior to the Cavaliers' final regular-season home game.

"It did create a little bit of a stir," said Olsen's father, Chris. "I had one of the coaches ask me, 'What are you doing here?'"

It turns out, the athletic department sends out invitations to all fourth- and fifth-year players, but coach Al Groh added to the intrigue when asked about Olsen's future in a teleconference on the Sunday after a 52-14 loss to Virginia Tech.

"Really, we haven't addressed that or made any determination," Groh said.

Compare that to Groh's comments in a news conference March 28, one day before the start of spring practice.

"We'll start the spring with Chris Olsen; he'll be the first guy to go into the huddle," Groh said. "Kevin McCabe will follow him in. And that's the way it is and that's the way it's going to stay until performance by any of the quarterbacks determines otherwise. What have we not covered there?"

What had changed in the span of four months?

Olsen isn't sure anything had changed.

"I really didn't think too much about it," Olsen said. "Then when I had my talk with coach Groh when we got back from winter break, he talked about it, too. I think he was thinking of me coming back and I was thinking of me coming back and it was nothing but a misunderstanding."

Nervertheless, it was reassuring to hear from reporters that Groh had given him the nod publicly.

"Just from talking to him and the confidence he showed, I was kind of expecting to be the first guy in the huddle," Olsen said. "But, by no means does that mean I'm the first guy in the huddle for Pittsburgh [in the season's opener]. But, I've kind of felt that it was my turn and we've done everything we can to get to this point."

Olsen played with a torn anterior cruciate ligament for much of his senior year at Wayne Hills High School, where he played for his father, but it didn't prevent him from making SuperPrep's All-America team. He eventually picked Notre Dame over Miami, Auburn, Virginia and others.

As a redshirt, he was named offensive most valuable player in Notre Dame's 2003 spring game and was told he was the No. 2 quarterback behind Carlyle Holiday.

The Irish were also high on another young quarterback, Brady Quinn, who probably will go into the 2005 season as the leading candidate for the Heisman Trophy. Whether Olsen would have held off Quinn is a matter of conjecture; at the time, they were both back-ups.

Once he became eligible at Virginia, Olsen was the No. 3 quarterback for a time before moving ahead of McCabe. In two years, Olsen has completed 17 of 23 passes in mostly mop-up duty.

"He'll do fine," said Olsen's father, who has always worked with quarterbacks in his 30 years as a coach in New Jersey high schools. "He's worked his entire life for this. It hasn't been an easy road, but that goes with the position you play."

In addition to putting up some impressive numbers, Hagans was remarkably durable.

"Marques is a great player," Olsen said. "Anybody who's going to be drafted as a wide receiver and hasn't played receiver in three years is obviously a great athlete and a great player. Sitting behind him is nothing to be ashamed of.

"Maybe I can do some of the same things he did but do them in a different way. Whereas he scrambles for 25 yards when a play breaks down, maybe I can get it to one of our running backs and he takes it 25 yards."

There is another quarterback that Olsen emulates from a style standpoint and the Cavaliers won't object to the comparison.

"If I could play like anybody right now it would be Matt Schaub," he said. "Who wouldn't want to play like him? He ran this offense probably the best it's ever been run. Not saying I am Matt Schaub, but if I could play like that, completing 70 percent of my passes and not making any mistakes, what more could I want?"
 

Calipari won't join Pack
N.C. State courtship apparently fails; source says coach will get a raise at Memphis
KEN TYSIAC
ktysiac@charlotteobserver.com

PAUL SAKUMA, Associated Press
Memphis coach John Calipari may be a target to replace Herb Sendek at North Carolina State.RALEIGH - John Calipari apparently will accept a raise and stay at Memphis instead of accepting an offer to coach basketball at N.C. State, a source close to the Memphis athletics program said Tuesday.

The source said although no contract has been signed, Calipari has indicated he will remain at Memphis. The Memphis Commercial Appeal reported Calipari will receive a raise and make between $1.5 million and $1.7 million a year, barring a last-minute change of plans.

Memphis spokesman Lamar Chance said he couldn't confirm reports that Calipari is staying, but said athletics director R.C. Johnson has said talks are ongoing and is optimistic he will stay.

Calipari visited N.C. State in Raleigh on Monday night, according to sources. A source said N.C. State was offering $1.7 million a year, with a retention bonus of $3 million if Calipari stayed 10 years.

N.C. State athletics director Lee Fowler and Chancellor James Oblinger flew to Memphis on Sunday to meet with Calipari.

This was the second high-profile rejection for N.C. State after Herb Sendek left for Arizona State. Sendek had been N.C. State's coach for 10 years. N.C. State pursued Texas coach Rick Barnes but was rejected when he agreed to a raise to stay with the Longhorns.

The next target for N.C. State might be John Brady, who led Louisiana State to the Final Four in the 2006 NCAA tournament.




 

D.A.: Duke lacrosse case 'not going away'
TIM WHITMIRE
Associated Press

DURHAM, N.C. - Standing before a mostly black audience, the district attorney in charge of the Duke University rape investigation said Tuesday he does not need DNA to bring charges and vowed, "This case is not going away."

District Attorney Mike Nifong spoke one day after defense attorneys said DNA testing failed to connect any of Duke's lacrosse players to the alleged attack on a black stripper who said she was raped at a party by members of the nearly all-white 47-man team.

Nifong stopped short of confirming the defense assessment of the DNA results, but said the case would not be hampered by a lack of DNA evidence.

"It doesn't mean nothing happened," Nifong said at a public forum at North Carolina Central University, where the 27-year-old alleged victim is a student. "It just means nothing was left behind."

No charges have been filed.

Nifong said prosecutors were awaiting a second set of DNA results, but did not say how those differed from the tests reported Monday. Nifong added that in 75 percent to 80 percent of sexual assaults, there is no DNA evidence to analyze.

The district attorney said a rape case can built on testimony from the alleged victim and other witnesses. Nifong also said the hospital exam of the woman has led him to believe a crime occurred at the March 13 party.

According to court documents, a doctor and a specially trained nurse found the alleged victim had "signs, symptoms and injuries consistent with being raped and sexually assaulted."

"My presence here means this case is not going away," Nifong said to applause from an audience of about 700.

The allegations have led to days of protests on and off the Duke campus and heightened racial tensions around Durham.

Some students at North Carolina Central, a historically black university a few miles away, assailed Nifong for his handling of the case and the media for its portrayal of the alleged victim.

"You all know if this happened at Central and the young lady was from another school or another `persuasion,' the outcome would have been different," said Toloupe Omokaiye, suggesting to applause from the crowd that the alleged attackers would have been jailed already.

Nifong said that he has never engaged in racial favoritism and that arresting suspects too quickly could harm the case.

"I have been criticized by both sides in this case," he said. "There have been people who have said that I should have given up this case a long time ago, and there are people who have said I should have already indicted, moved against somebody with some charges. The fact is that this case is proceeding the way a case should proceed."

Nifong later told a questioner, who asserted the victim had positively identified her three attackers, that her information was wrong.

The district attorney faces two challengers in a May 2 primary election. Asked by a member of the audience about the campaign, he said: "As the district attorney, you do not get to choose what crimes occur and when they occur. This is not about an election. This is about justice."

Nifong refused to take any questions from reporters after the forum.

Bill Thomas, a defense attorney for one of the team captains, urged the accuser to recant, saying he believes she made up the allegations to avoid a charge of public drunkenness.

"It is my sincere hope that she comes forward and tells the truth in this matter and allows these young men to go on with their lives and for this community to heal," Thomas said.