Cavs latest commitment among best in state
By Doug Doughty
981-3129

Virginia didn't need long to re-establish itself as a viable option for the state's top football prospects.

The Cavaliers, who did not sign a player this year ranked among the top five in the state, took a commitment Tuesday from junior Peter Lalich, a 6-foot-5, 225-pound quarterback from West Springfield High School.

Lalich was rated the No. 2 junior in Virginia by The Roanoke Times after passing for 2,671 yards and 22 TDs. He completed 189 of 331 passes (57.1 percent) and was intercepted 12 times.

Lalich said he had offers from Michigan, UCLA, Miami, Oklahoma, Arizona State, Pittsburgh, North Carolina State and Maryland.

"I'd always wanted to commit," said Lalich, who attended Virginia's camp for the first time following his freshman year and was offered a scholarship the next fall.

Lalich had indicated he wanted to make a decision by May 30 but could not resist the Cavs' weekend push.

After wooing Lalich at the spring game Saturday, the entire UVa staff went to West Springfield on Monday.

"That showed me that they really wanted me," Lalich said. "A friend of mine called me today and asked me who my top five was. Virginia was the only school that I could tell him."

Lalich, whose father played in the CBA, is the fifth player to commit to Virginia for 2007. The Cavs took a commitment Saturday from J'Courtney Williams, a defensive back from Danville.
 

Cavs land stud recruit Lalich
West Springfield star QB spurns several big-time programs for UVa
By Jerry Ratcliffe / Daily Progress sports editor
April 26, 2006

A few hours after blue-chip quarterback prospect Peter Lalich announced Tuesday that he would play for Virginia, he was asked if he was relieved the recruiting process was over.
"It's not over," Lalich said. "Because I'm going to start recruiting guys to come to Virginia with me."

The celebration in UVa's coaching offices probably still hasn't ended following Lalich's commitment. The 6-foot-5, 230-pound, classic drop back passer from West Springfield High School gave the coaches plenty of reason to party.

Lalich (pronounced Lah-Lick) is one of the highest ranked quarterbacks in the country by Rivals.com and other national recruiting services. He is easily the highest profile quarterback to ever commit to Virginia, excluding Hampton's Ronald Curry, whose name is still cursed by Wahoo fans after he reneged on his commitment and signed with North Carolina.

Lalich made first-team All-Combine at the U.S. Army All-American Bowl last winter in San Antonio. It was a collection of the top 75 high school junior prospects in the country and elevated the Northern Virginia quarterback's status overnight.

Since then, Lalich has been receiving scholarship offers or having strong interest shown by some of the nation's top football powerhouses including: Southern Cal, Florida, Miami, Florida State, Oklahoma, UCLA, Cal, and many more.

All along, the junior from Springfield said that Virginia was the leader for his services. On Tuesday he made it official and said that he would not pull "a Curry" on the Cavaliers.

"My commitment is solid as a rock," Lalich insisted. "I was honored by being recruited by USC, Miami, Michigan and all the big schools. But I thought this would be a great opportunity for a quarterback to win an ACC championship at Virginia."

Lalich, who passed for 2,700 yards and 22 touchdowns last season for the Spartans, is expected to bring several top-notch prospects along with him to Charlottesville, much like Tim Tebow did for the University of Florida this past recruiting class.

"I called all the guys [Tuesday] and told them they should go to UVa," Lalich said. "I think we've got a good shot with a lot of the guys."

He is already the second Rivals Top 100 preseason prospect to commit to Virginia since last Saturday afternoon's Spring Game. J'Courtney Williams, a powerful strong safety from Christchurch School, chose the Cavaliers on Saturday.

The news may have caught everyone by surprise because Lalich had originally planned to make a decision by May 30. He attended UVa's football weekend Saturday where lots of Wahoo fans approached him and told them they hoped he chose Virginia.

Practically the entire Cavaliers coaching staff traveled to Springfield on Monday to watch the quarterback work out.

"I was surprised he decided [Tuesday]," said West Springfield coach Bill Renner, who has turned out several Division I prospects during his career. "I left him today after school and he didn't say anything about recruiting, then he called me about 5 o'clock and said, 'Coach, I think I'm going to go to Virginia. What do you think?'"

Renner said he told his star quarterback that he was "100 percent behind him no matter what he decided."

Lalich said that there were several factors that led to his decision.

"I was impressed by the team they already have in place there, I like the coaching staff, and the education," said the quarterback, who owns a 3.5 GPA.

It's no secret that Lalich has struck up a strong relationship with Virginia offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Mike Groh, who also serves as the program's recruiting coordinator. Mike Groh, the son of head coach Al Groh, was promoted to offensive coordinator in February and was the lead recruiter for Lalich's services.

"We talk all the time," Lalich said. "When he was named Virginia's offensive coordinator, I almost committed that day but decided to wait a little bit longer. Coach Mike is just straightforward. He loves football so much that he stays excited about it. Plus, he's really smart."

With Lalich, Virginia is getting a strong passer who can make all the throws and moves well in the pocket.

Those kinds of players tend to make all coaches even a little smarter.

 

Hoops recruit Tat still in limbo
By Whitelaw Reid / Daily Progress staff writer
April 26, 2006

If there are any University of Virginia alumni who have pull in the U.S. State Department, now would be a good time to exert that influence.
Solomon Tat, one of Virginia's highly touted basketball recruits, has a visa problem that has delayed his signing.

However, Linzy Davis, Tat's coach at Community Christian High in Stockbridge, Ga., is hopeful that Tat will have the situation resolved within the next 10 days.

"Since 9/11, this is a case by case basis," said Davis, referring to Tat's visa renewal. "It's a [time-consuming] process as far as legalities and paperwork that has to be done back and forth. It all takes time."

Tat, a native of Nigeria, is an explosive 6-foot-5 swingman. Virginia beat out several ACC and SEC schools for his services. Tat verbally committed to UVa in the fall.

The fact that Tat is still unsigned has caused some Cavalier fans to wonder if he has had a change of heart about his college decision. A bogus Internet report that claimed Tat wasn't signing because he wanted to play professionally overseas led to increased speculation.

According to Davis, the only thing keeping Tat from inking with Virginia is the visa situation.

"Solomon tells me he wants to go to Virginia and that his mind is made up," Davis said. "I've discussed his options with him and currently he has said, 'I like Virginia and the time that they have spent with me, and I want to go to Virginia.'"

Tat, a 220-pounder who looks like he already has an NBA body, is known for his strength and athleticism. Davis says he'll give Virginia an "instant lift" and will help propel UVa to the top of the ACC next season.

"With the recruiting class that Coach Leitao has and the other players he's bringing in, I can tell you that Solomon is going to be a tremendous complement to them," Davis said.

"You're going to find that once he's there, he'll be one of the best players in the ACC. I look for him to make the All-Freshman Team. When you see him play, you'll understand. When he played in an all-star game here about three weeks ago, he was the MVP and scored 36 points."

Jamil Tucker, Will Harris and Ryan Pettinella are the members of Virginia's 2006 class who have signed their letters of intent. Johnnie Lett also signed with UVa but will play next year at Hargrave Military Academy.


DUNKS: In addition to the scholarship Virginia has earmarked for Tat, UVa has one more at its disposal. A player who might have some interest in accepting it is Scottie Reynolds, a 6-foot combo guard from Herndon. Reynolds signed his letter of intent with Oklahoma but is now trying to free himself from it after coach Kelvin Sampson left the Sooners for Indiana last month. According to the Associated Press, Oklahoma is still trying to decide whether or not it will release its recruits from their letters of intent. Reynolds is rated as a 4-out-of-5 star recruit by Rivals.com. ? Andy Ogide, who de-committed from Virginia on April 12, is now drawing interest from Vanderbilt, Ole Miss and Florida State, among others. If Ogide were to sign with Vandy, he would become the third player with Virginia ties who UVa would be seeing at the San Juan Shootout in December. Former Cav Derrick Byars is a senior at Vanderbilt, while former Cav Donte Minter is a junior at Appalachian State. Both of those schools are in the eight-team field.

 

In position to catch on
Ex-U.Va. quarterback Marques Hagans is fine with switching positions in the NFL. He just wants to play.
BY MICHAEL C. WRIGHT
247-4759
April 26, 2006

INDIANAPOLIS -- Marques Hagans produced more than 3 1/2 miles of passing, rushing, receiving and return statistics at the University of Virginia.

He intercepted a ball, too.

Yet for all he's done, a cyclical struggle continues to dog Hagans throughout his football career. It continues this weekend when -maybe if - he's picked in the NFL draft.

"I just want to play," Hagans says.

NFL scouts and personnel executives envision Hagans playing receiver, running back or punt returner in the pros, even though passing skills are what put him on the map as a two-year starting quarterback at UVa. Hagans ranks second in the Cavalier record book in completion percentage (.623), third in completions (408) and seventh in touchdown passes (27).

But at 5-foot-9, he's too short to play quarterback, most scouts say. Fine by Hagans, a former Hampton High star.

Just play him somewhere.

"I can play quarterback; God just didn't make me 6 feet (tall)," Hagans says. "But it's not like I'm not capable of being a receiver or punt returner."

Hagans proved that at U.Va. by catching 30 passes for 273 yards and averaging 9.2 yards on punt returns. Early indications say he can do it in the NFL, too. That's what two-time Pro Bowl receiver Rob Moore says.

Moore played 153 games, including 150 starts, in a 12-year career with the New York Jets and Arizona Cardinals. He worked with Hagans a month before the NFL combine at Athletes' Performance in Tempe, Ariz., through training sessions set up by Hagans' agent Ethan Locke.

"The guys they've got playing in the league now, I think Marques has the potential to be better than a lot of them," Moore says.

"Is he a polished receiver yet? No. But he'll get there."

Hagans struggled the first two weeks at Athletes' Performance (a training facility for draft hopefuls), tripping over his feet, frustrated with learning a different skill set than what he was used to as a college quarterback. Probable first-round defensive backs such as Tye Hill (Clemson) and Michael Huff (Texas) compounded matters by manhandling Hagans in one-on-one drills.

"It's not like I stepped out there against someone weak," he says.

But by Week 3 Moore says the "light turned on for him," and all of a sudden Hagans was burning the defensive backs, winning his fair share of one-on-one battles.

That's when Moore realized Hagans could make it in the NFL. He saw Hagans' competitiveness.

"That's what impressed me the most," Moore says. "He got in those situations and rose to the occasion. He held his own."

That's not unusual for Hagans. It's what he always seems to do.

Hagans passed for a career-high 358 yards and two TDs in the last game of his career, a 34-31 Cavaliers win over Minnesota in the Music City Bowl. That passing prowess, combined with improving skills as a receiver, makes Hagans an intriguing prospect.

Since Hagans' prep days at Hampton, scouts have compared him with NFL receiver Antwaan Randle El, who also played quarterback in college. Randle El just signed a $31 million contract with the Washington Redskins.

"How many guys can say that during the course of their career they returned punts, were the personal protector on the punt team, covered kickoffs, caught passes out of the backfield, caught passes as a wide receiver, threw the ball and ran with it?" UVa. coach Al Groh says. "That says a lot about his versatility, his competitiveness and his willingness to do whatever it takes."

Running back and former teammate Wali Lundy has a much simpler description.

"It's just Marques' heart."

Whatever it is, Hampton coach Mike Smith saw it when Hagans was 14 years old. As a sophomore, Hagans enrolled at Hampton High wanting to play only basketball. But Smith had heard from assistant Alvis Mann that Hagans was one of the area's best youth-league football players.

Despite the roster being set at quarterback with Peninsula legend Ronald Curry, Smith still wanted Hagans to play.

"I told him to just come to practice, stay for two weeks and if you don't like it, you can leave without any questions," Smith says.

"After about two or three days, you couldn't pay him to leave."

See. Hagans just wants to play.

Prized recruit gives nod to U.Va.
6-5, 230-pound QB at West Springfield had Cavs at top of list
Richmond Times-Dispatch Apr 26, 2006

The University of Virginia football team yesterday received a commitment from one of its prime targets for 2007: Peter Lalich.

A 6-5, 230-pound quarterback, Lalich is a junior at West Springfield High. He has scholarship offers from Michigan, Miami (Fla.), Arizona State, N.C. State, UCLA and Mississippi, among other schools, but U.Va. has been Lalich's favorite from the beginning.

One of Virginia's starting offensive guards, Marshal Ausberry, is a West Springfield graduate and a friend of Lalich.

Lalich, who turns 18 next month, is the fifth player to commit to U.Va. for 2007. He's close with two of his fellow recruits: Yorktown High tailback Max Milien and Christchurch linebacker J'Courtney Williams.

Williams committed Saturday at U.Va.'s spring game, which Lalich also attended.

"Me and J'Courtney were supposed to have decided on the same day, but he got excited," Lalich said with a laugh.

Lalich was named all-Patriot District after completing 192 of 332 passes for 2,684 yards and 22 touchdowns for West Springfield (5-5) last season. He threw 12 interceptions.

Of his style, Lalich said, "I'm like Ben Roethlisberger. I might not be the fastest guy out there, but I still run around a little bit." - Jeff White
 

Virginia close to leap onto national stage
Mickey Cloud, Cavalier Daily Columnist

It's an issue no one seems to want to address. Partly because it's grossly unfair to the hundreds of student-athletes, coaches and staff that work so hard and achieve so much. Partly because we operate in a sports world dominated by money and TV contracts -- and yet, in collegiate athletics, the head honchos are supposed to deny that. Partly because it's the end of the year. But in my mind, it's an issue nonetheless.

Virginia Athletics has an image crisis -- maybe not a full-blown, board-up-the-windows crisis but certainly something worth addressing. Run with me for a second. We're the Jeffersonian University, where mind, body and soul can accomplish anything -- and this I don't doubt. Athletic Director Craig Littlepage certainly believes in this, as the 10-year plan he crafted once becoming AD several years ago sets goals that other large, public universities must see as utterly laughable: 100 percent graduation rate among all student-athletes who complete their eligibility, 70 conference championships and 12 national championships to name a few. I'm a big believer in setting the bar high for yourself, and so when I initially heard this plan, I smiled somewhat suspiciously, because I don't know realistically if it can be done -- but who am I to say we can't or shouldn't try?

In an exclusive interview with Matt Boucher of The Cavalier Daily, Littlepage admitted to being slightly behind pace for those goals but pointed out that we have just reached full funding for all of our sports (something very few Universities do), and he expects a flurry of championships to start rolling in the back end of the decade.

The spring of 2006 certainly attests to this game plan, as Virginia athletics have competed quite well across the board. We have the top-ranked men's lacrosse team, a baseball team that's ranked as high as 13th in the nation, a men's tennis team that nearly scored its third consecutive ACC Tournament championship this past weekend, a women's tennis team that has the ACC Coach of the Year in Mark Guilbeau and a women's lacrosse team ranked in the top-five nationally heading into their ACC Tournament this weekend. With a list like that, the spring season sports are most definitely carrying their weight in the goals Littlepage has set.

HOWEVA, in the world of today's college athletics, universities aren't immediately defined by the overall success of their so-called "smaller" programs. And yes, as unfair of a label as that is, when you want to talk about college sports, you have to look at the money -- the money that funds so much of what this University is capable of doing. This means that you're talking about two sports programs: football and men's basketball.

So would you consider Virginia a football school? A basketball school? A lacrosse school? A soccer school? A baseball school? A swimming school? A tennis school? Littlepage and the Athletics Department would love to have the answer to all those questions be, quite simply, "yes."

But we're not quite there -- and mainly because of those first two questions. There's been no denying the Athletics Department has been making a push to make Virginia a national powerhouse on the gridiron over the last several years. And while the program was once considered up-and-coming, there's no doubt things have stagnated a bit. Coming into Coach Groh's sixth season, the ex-NFL head coach has made it known that 2006 is a rebuilding year. But in the sixth year of the program, a national powerhouse is reloading, not rebuilding. So we're not quite a football school, yet.

But what about basketball, you ask? After a successful season by any definition from Coach Leitao, some excitement is being generated. With the sparkling new arena ready for action come next November, Virginia basketball is primed to return to its glory days of the 1970s and '80s. But with just two NCAA appearances in the past decade, declining attendance numbers in recent years and a general malaise towards the sport that can be felt on Grounds, Virginia hardly has earned the title of "basketball school" these days.

Add those last two paragraphs up, and I come to wonder about the image of Virginia athletics. With Littlepage's 10-year plan, we want to be seen as an across-the-board national athletic powerhouse. And steps are being made to enact that goal, as evidenced by the immense success of our spring season. But in today's college athletics world, people will only begin to notice the achievements of Virginia's total athletic program when our money-making, big-time programs are truly on the national stage.

And until that time, we will continue to remain a top-tier school with a nice athletic program. A powerhouse? Unfortunately, not yet.

 

Virginia set for Spiders
Cavaliers look to continue momentum from successful trip to South Beach; Hunt will make first collegiate start against Richmond tonight
Martin Barna, Cavalier Daily Senior Writer

With the ACC baseball tournament less than one month away, the No. 13 Virginia Cavaliers (34-10, 13-8 ACC) are well on their way to orchestrating one of the most successful seasons in recent program history. After winning two of three against then-No. 19 Miami Hurricanes this past weekend, Virginia returns home this evening at 7 p.m. to take on the Richmond Spiders at Davenport Field.

The red-hot Cavaliers have been rolling since early April, winning nine out of their last ten and eight straight at home. Against Miami this past weekend, Virginia earned victories Friday and Saturday by a combined score of 23-9. Sunday, however, the Hurricanes needed ten innings and a walk-off RBI single to narrowly avoid the Cavalier sweep.

"We really swung the bats well this weekend," Virginia coach Brian O'Connor said. "We battled with two strikes and got a lot of two-out hits. I feel very confident about our offense heading down the stretch run."

Tonight's opponent, the University of Richmond (16-24), has won six of its last eight, including victories over Fordham, James Madison and Duquesne.

"Richmond is playing very good baseball as of late," O'Connor said. "There has always been a rivalry between Richmond and Virginia in baseball, and they've had a great baseball program in the last ten years."

This year's Spider offense is led by senior outfielder Ben Zeskind and sophomore first baseman Joe Mahoney. Zeskin leads the club in batting average (.355), hits (61), runs (42), homers (6) and stolen bases (14), while Mahoney ranks first in RBI's (36) and second in runs (35) and hits (55). Richmond's pitching is headed by junior Rob Berzinskas, who has amassed a 3-1 record and a 5.80 earned-run average in his first eight starts.

On the home side of the diamond, the Cavaliers will give the ball to freshman Shooter Hunt in what will be the right-hander's first collegiate start. Hunt has fanned 23 batters while giving up nine earned runs, eighteen hits and ten walks in 23 innings of relief.

"We've got a lot of good guys on our pitching staff, and we haven't been able to get Shooter a lot of innings in the past two or three weeks," O'Connor said. "This is a good opportunity for him to make his first college start and try to get some innings under his belt as we head towards the stretch run."

This evening's contest marks the second meeting between the two clubs in less than four weeks. In the teams' first meeting, held April 5 in Richmond, the visiting Cavaliers quickly wore out their welcome with a four-run second inning en route to a convincing 5-0 win. Sophomores Pat McAnaney and Michael Schwimer and junior Casey Lambert combined for a five-hit shutout.

Perhaps looking to maximize the club's home-field advantage for this evening's rematch, the Cavalier marching band will be in attendance for the first time in Davenport Field history. In the wake of the team's strong showing against Miami, the blaring horns, pounding drums and raucous home crowd will likely further heighten the team's performance and confidence as it heads into the final month of the regular season.

"Our mood is good right now," sophomore left fielder Brandon Guyer said. "It's always good to take two out of three from a team like Miami. We just have to build on it and keep playing like we've been doing all year."

 

Duke lacrosse player must stand trial in Washington case
BY TIM FUNK
Charlotte Observer

WASHINGTON - One of the Duke University lacrosse players accused of raping an exotic dancer in Durham, N.C., now has a second trial to worry about - this one for his alleged involvement in a fight last year outside a bar in Georgetown, Washington's toniest neighborhood.

On Tuesday, Collin Finnerty, 19, appeared in a packed Washington courtroom before Superior Court Judge John Bayly, who set a tentative trial date of July 10 on the charge of simple assault.

It was Finnerty's N.C. arrest on felony charges of rape, kidnapping and sex offense that landed him in the D.C. courtroom - where members of the media outnumbered the lawyers.

That arrest in Durham last week effectively negated a deal Finnerty's lawyer had worked out earlier with D.C. prosecutors. They said March 23 that they'd dismiss the assault charges if Finnerty performed 25 hours of community service - and didn't get arrested for six months.

Accompanied by his father and the family's priest, Finnerty was quiet during the 30-minute hearing. He nodded to indicate he understood when the judge put new restrictions on how he can live his life between now and the trial.

Bayly set a 9 p.m. curfew, told him to stay away from places that serve alcohol and ordered him to report to court officials by phone every Friday.

The same rules were placed on Daniel Dagnes and Patrick Bonanno - two of Finnerty's friends from his high school days in New York. They also appeared in the courtroom Tuesday.

On Nov. 5, the trio was arrested in Washington when a Virginia man accused them of punching him after he asked them to stop calling him gay.

Finnerty's two friends remain in the first-offender "diversion" program - the official name of the deal Finnerty lost Tuesday. Their lawyers pointed out that they, unlike their now-famous pal, had abided by the community service and personal behavior conditions set by the U.S. Attorney's Office.

If convicted on the assault charge, Finnerty could serve up to six months in jail and pay a $1,000 fine.

The athlete appears on this week's cover of Newsweek in a lacrosse uniform - next to a headline that reads, "Sex, Lies & Duke."

The dancer in the case has said Finnerty was one of three men who raped, sodomized and choked her at a March lacrosse team party. Finnerty and a second Duke player, Reade Seligmann, 20, have been indicted in the case that's divided Durham.

A small army of photographers and TV news crews camped outside the H. Carl Moultrie Courthouse of the District of Columbia. After the hearing, some raced to the back of the building to get shots of Finnerty and his entourage driving away in a silver sedan.

Finnerty's Washington attorney, Steven McCool, said only that the incident in Georgetown that brought the simple-assault charge had been "grossly mischaracterized." Though the alleged victim, Jeffrey Bloxsom, had said that Finnerty and the others had called him gay, McCool said the official charge against Finnerty did not include an allegation that it was committed out of hate or bias.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Ben Curtis, who is arguing the case, declined comment.

One issue in Tuesday's hearing was how quickly to conduct a trial. Curtis wanted to schedule it in the next four to six weeks, saying the "dynamics of the case" had changed because of the big story in North Carolina.

McCool said he wanted the Washington trial to wait, if possible, until after the trial "down South," as McCool referred to the Durham case.

Having the Washington trial before the one in North Carolina, he said, would raise questions of whether Finnerty was getting due process, since prosecutors could use the Durham charges to cast doubts on his character.

Bayly agreed to let McCool file a brief on the issue and argue for a later trial date. But, for now, July 10 is the date Finnerty will get his day in court - in Washington.