Virginia redshirt freshman arrested
J'Courtney Williams charged with felony and misdemeanor
Wednesday, Apr 02, 2008 - 12:40 AM Updated: 01:09 AM
By JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER

CHARLOTTESVILLE - Another U.Va. football player is facing criminal charges.

U.Va. freshman J'Courtney Williams, a linebacker who redshirted last season, was arrested Monday by university police, Lt. Melissa Fielding confirmed yesterday.

Williams was charged with one count of credit-card theft, a felony, and one count of credit-card fraud, a misdemeanor, Fielding said.

A U.Va. student "reported his wallet stolen from the Aquatics and Fitness Center," Fielding said, "and our investigation led us to Williams and another student."

A Christchurch School graduate, Williams is from Danville. He's considered one of the most talented players in the class that entered U.Va. last summer.

This was not Williams' first run-in with the law this year. In February, he was arrested on a misdemeanor charge of marijuana possession. That case has been continued until February 2009 in Albemarle General District Court.

Virginia coach Al Groh was not available for comment yesterday. Athletic Director Craig Littlepage, in an e-mail to The Times-Dispatch, said, "I am not in a position to comment."

Williams is recovering from shoulder surgery, which has kept him out of spring practice.

Also absent this spring has been junior Mike Brown, who was expected to contend for a starting job at cornerback. In early March, U.Va. police arrested Brown and charged him with three felonies: one count each of grand larceny, possession of stolen property with intent to sell, and altering serial numbers. Brown also was charged with misdemeanor possession of marijuana.

The charges stem from a Feb. 6 incident in which a victim reported that four electronic items valued at more than $3,400 had been stolen from his vehicle at the Central Grounds Parking Garage at U.Va. Brown is due back in Charlottesville General District Court on April 24.

 

Field to fill big defensive role
Cavaliers are counting on DE with departures of Long and Fitzgerald
Wednesday, Apr 02, 2008 - 12:07 AM
By JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER

CHARLOTTESVILLE That Alex Field has only one season of eligibility left rankles many University of Virginia football fans. They've contended for years that the towering defensive end from Loudoun County should have been redshirted in 2005.

Field's college debut came in the sixth game of that season: U.Va.'s upset of fourth-ranked Florida State 26-21. He appeared in only five games as a true freshman - 33 plays in all - but if Field considers that a wasted year of eligibility, he hides it well.

"It was just a scenario where we were light on players and I had to fill a minor role on the defense," Field said outside the McCue Center last week. "It was a good experience."

Either way, he's not looking back. Field, whose home in Ashburn is not far from Redskin Park, is ready to fill a major role on a defense that lost starting ends Chris Long and Jeffrey Fitzgerald.

"It's like the last go-round, and you want to make the most of it," said Field, who's at left end this spring. "I've always worked real, real hard, but there's more motivation."

Virginia coach Al Groh said: "Alex is a very aware player. He gets the circumstances."

Long was a senior last season, so it was inevitable that Field's profile would be raised in 2008. But Fitzgerald was a redshirt sophomore, and he and Field were projected to be the starting ends this season. An academic issue forced Fitzgerald to withdraw from U.Va. in February, however, leaving Field as the team's most experienced end.

"We're definitely going to feel his loss," Field said, "but we've got a lot of tough players here, and we've got a next-man-up mentality, and we'll push through it and be all right."

Field, a graduate of Broad Run High, played in all 12 games as a sophomore and all 13 as a junior, totaling 21 tackles, including 2.5 sacks. He'd have played more snaps had Long and Fitzgerald not been so dominant.

"Two awesome players and awesome teammates," said Field, who was U.Va.'s No. 3 defensive end in 2006 and '07.

Long stands 6-4 and Fitzgerald 6-3, and each is known for his speed and quickness. At 6-7, 280 pounds, Field looks different - he's as physically imposing as anyone on the U.Va. roster - and his style is different, too.

"He's more of a power player," said Will Barker, who starts at right offensive tackle for Virginia and battles Field in practice.

Field may not terrorize quarterbacks the way Long and Fitzgerald did, but he'll "definitely makes plays," Barker said. "Certain guys like to run around people. He likes to run through people. That's his way of playing."

A New Hampshire native, Field moved to Northern Virginia with his family when he was in elementary school. A friend had an older brother in law school at U.Va., and Field and his buddy would attend football games at Scott Stadium during visits to Charlottesville.

Field liked what he saw. And so when the Cavaliers offered him a scholarship, he didn't take long to accept, committing nearly a year before signing day.

Four years later, this sociology major is no longer an understudy on the defensive line. Still, Field said, he doesn't feel extra pressure to meet the standard set by Long and Fitzgerald. He's put pressure on himself to perform well every year.

"Any time you have a great player who leaves a program, I guess people are going to wonder how the team is going to look without those guys," Field said. "But this is what all teams have to deal with every year. It's a new team every season."

 

Cavs squeak past Tigers
By Jay Jenkins
Published: April 1, 2008

Despite the massive scoreboard sitting behind the right-field wall offering reminders, Patrick Wingfield said he was oblivious to his batting average.
In fact, after a pair of early outs in at-bats against Towson, Virginia’s jack-of-all-trades stood at a clip around .200, which would have even made Mario Mendoza proud.
When it mattered most, however, Wingfield hit - and hit again.
Thanks to stellar middle-relief pitching from sophomore Neal Davis and Wingfield’s first RBI and later his third run scored of the season, Virginia used a rally to upend Towson, 9-8, just six days after an ugly non-conference loss to George Washington.
“I think our players learned something from that [GW] game,” said Virginia coach Brian O’Connor. “After that game, our players knew that they needed to pick each other up.”
Virginia (24-5) needed its dual efforts to take starting pitcher Robert Poutier off the hook for a potential loss.
Poutier, a senior, retired only five Towson batters, giving up five hits, including a three-run homer to Matt Collins that capped a six-run second inning and gave the Tigers a 6-4 lead.
Davis - who allowed only two hits in 5.1 innings of work behind Poutier - silenced Towson, which allowed the Cavaliers time to bounce back offensively.
“There hasn’t been anybody as valuable to our team so far this season as Neal,” O’Connor said, referring to the southpaw with a 0.90 ERA. “He has done what has been asked of him.”
UVa trimmed the deficit with a lone run in the fourth and took back the advantage in the fifth after David Coleman hit into a run-scoring fielder’s choice and later scored on Wingfield’s single.
The Cavaliers also scored in the sixth on an RBI single from left fielder Dan Grovatt, who finished with three hits. The lead, however, slipped away quickly.
In the eighth, Towson scored a pair to tie the game 8-8 after sophomore Matt Packer allowed both runners that he inherited from fellow reliever Jake Cowan to score on a two-out two-run single.
Wingfield ensured the tie lasted only momentarily - the senior drilled a fastball away to the base of the left-center field wall to open the bottom of the eighth.
While rookie center fielder Jarrett Parker tried to drop down a sacrifice bunt, Wingfield caught the Tigers off guard, stealing third base. It was the Cavaliers’ eighth stolen base in the contest.
“Eight stolen bases in a game is pretty rare,” O’Connor said. “If you can run and steal bases, you have a chance to put yourself in scoring position in numerous situations.”
After Parker walked to put runners on the corners, Virginia shortstop Greg Miclat pushed a safety-squeeze bunt down that barely stayed in the grass down the first-base line that allowed Wingfield to score without a throw.
Michael Schwimer earned his ninth save of the year, pitching a perfect ninth to secure the one-run victory in the opener of a two-game set with the Tigers (11-15). The two squads meet tonight at 5.
Extra bases …
The fans at Davenport Field were silenced in the first inning. Virginia first baseman Jeremy Farrell was plunked in the top of the batting helmet by a pitch from Towson starter Austin Hurd. After staying in the game long enough to run the bases and score, O’Connor pulled the junior from the game. “I think he is fine,” the coach said. “I think he just got his bell rung.” Farrell is expected to start tonight. …Virginia infielder Phil Gosselin had surgery Monday on a broken hamate bone (wrist) and will be out 4-to-6 weeks, O’Connor confirmed. The rookie infielder is batting .284 with two homers and 12 RBI in 25 games.

 

Mikalauskas surgery-bound
By Whitey Reid
Published: April 1, 2008

He played in serious pain all season long. Now it’s time to alleviate it.
Sources have told The Daily Progress that Virginia junior Lars Mikalauskas will undergo surgery on his right shoulder on Friday.
The procedure, the sources said, is rather invasive. Depending on how well his rehabilitation goes, Mikalauskas may not be fully recovered until October.
Mikalauskas’ injury is similar to the one that former teammate Sean Singletary suffered his freshman year.
Mikalauskas’ shoulder has been popping in and out for the last two years. Surgery was considered last summer, but Mikalauskas decided to try and gut it out. The Lithuanian played with a harness that was designed by athletic trainer Jeff Boyer to keep the shoulder in place.
The ambidextrous center (looking a little bit like the Bionic Man) played the first nine games with the ailment, then was forced to the sideline for the next 13 games before returning to action against North Carolina.
In that game, Mikalauskas gave Virginia a huge boost. His energetic play and defense on Tar Heels superstar Tyler Hansbrough almost helped the Wahoos pull off an upset in a 75-74 loss on Feb. 12.
Two games later against Miami, Mikalauskas notched the third double-double of his career with 16 points and 13 rebounds. He finished the regular season by scoring in double figures in four of his last five games.
Mikalauskas’ 15-point, seven rebound effort propelled Virginia to a much-needed road win at Georgia Tech on March 3.
Mikalauskas, who averaged 7.1 points and 3.5 rebounds in 17.6 minutes per game, reestablished himself as a huge crowd favorite.
The fiery, first-pumping big man had a solid freshman year before injuries began to plague him as a sophomore.
With the graduation of center Ryan Pettinella and the up-in-the-air status of Tunji Soroye - who is hoping for a medical redshirt - Mikalauskas’ return to health will be a huge key for Virginia next season.
In addition, Mikalauskas will be just one of two seniors on the roster - the other being guard/forward Mamadi Diane.

 

North Carolina standout verbals to Cavs
By Jay Jenkins
Published: April 1, 2008

Sitting in the stands for a women’s basketball game at Cameron Indoor Stadium on her own dime, Erinn Thompson noticed something strange in the first in-game huddle at Virginia’s bench.
It continued throughout the game after every stoppage.
Thompson, recently named the Associated Press women’s prep player of the year in North Carolina, was so intrigued by the activity she decided to e-mail Virginia coach Debbie Ryan about it.
“It was a team-bonding experiment and I picked up on it,” Thompson said. “As strong and as talented as the team was, you could still tell that they were a family. It doesn’t get any better than that.”
Virginia’s players were actually holding a rope in unison, adopting the mentality that if a player was falling off a cliff, they would need to trust whoever was on the other end of the rope.
Thompson, apparently, wants to hold the rope - the 6-foot-3 junior standout from Bishop McGuinness High in Winston-Salem, N.C., drove to Charlottesville on Tuesday to verbally commit to Ryan and her staff in person.
The secret was almost out of the bag when assistant coach Jeff House met Thompson, her parents and her high school coach, Brian Robinson, at the doors of John Paul Jones Arena.
“To be honest, we pulled up and I had a smile on my face,” Thompson joked. “I am sure he knew what was going on then.”
Shortly afterwards, Thompson told coach Ryan the news, giving Virginia two of the nation’s best prospects in the fold for the class of 2009-10.
After announcing her decision, Thompson said the room was quiet for a split-second before Ryan burst into the air and gave her a hug.
“Virginia is really the perfect fit for me. “It is truly a family. I am so blessed.”
As a junior, Thompson led Bishop McGuinness to its third straight state title, averaging 14.7 points, 12.1 rebounds and 3.1 blocks per game.
The numbers were skewed, her high school coach said, by her average playing time, just 17 minutes, in conference games.
Robinson said one of the things that makes Thompson an elite player is her desire to improve on every facet of the game.
“It has made her a much more difficult person to guard,” he said.
Thompson, who joins guard Lexie Gerson in the Class of 2010, shot 62 percent from the field and has the ability to shoot outside the paint.
In the regional final, Robinson estimated that half of Thompson’s team-high 20 points came on jumpers after she had stepped outside the middle. In the championship game, she won player of the game honors, defending the award she also claimed in the 2007 contest.
Wright earns honorable mention All-America nod
UVa sophomore guard Monica Wright was an honorable-mention selection to the AP All-America team.
LSU’s Sylvia Fowles, Connecticut’s Maya Moore, Oklahoma’s Courtney Paris, Tennessee’s Candace Parker and Stanford’s Candace Wiggins were named to the first team.
Maryland teammates Crystal Langhorne and Kristi Toliver were named to the second team, as was UNC’s Erlana Larkins. Duke’s Chante Black and Abby Waner, Maryland’s Marissa Coleman and Laura Harper, UNC’s LaToya Pringle and N.C. State’s Khadijah Whittington joined Wright as honorable mention selections.