Williams dropped from Groh's program
Thursday, Apr 03, 2008 - 12:07 AM

Williams dropped from Groh's program
J'Courtney Williams' football career at Virginia ended before the freshman linebacker played in a game.

In a statement yesterday, Cavaliers coach Al Groh said: "J'Courtney's time here has unfortunately been marked by issues which fall below the line of what is acceptable to us.

"Therefore, he will no longer be a member of our program."

Williams, who redshirted last season, was arrested Monday by U.Va. police. They charged him with one count of credit-card theft, a felony, and one count of credit-card fraud, a misdemeanor, in connection with an incident in which another U.Va. student's wallet was stolen.

In February, Williams was arrested and charged with misdemeanor possession of marijuana. That case has been continued until February next year.

Williams, a Christchurch School graduate, is from Danville. Of the recruits who entered U.Va. last summer, he was among the most highly regarded.

His arrest followed that of junior cornerback Mike Brown, whom U.Va. police in early March charged 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. Brown, whose next court date is April 24, hasn't been practicing with the team this spring. He's still on the roster, however, and in the Cavaliers' spring prospectus.

Arrests disturb Groh
On a teleconference yesterday, Groh called the arrests of Williams and Brown "unsettling."

"Any miscue that we have as to what's expected, whether it's community issues or internal issues, we always address and reinforce immediately [with the team]," said Groh, who's heading into his eighth season as Virginia's coach. "We would hope the players have a pretty clear understanding of what the value system is and what we expect here.

"We've had two unfortunate incidents. We can't go 100 percent in every pass we throw or every kick that we make, but we're trying to go 100 percent in those other issues."

Larranaga's choice helpful to Leitao
Jim Larranaga's decision to remain as basketball coach at George Mason might keep Dave Leitao from having to fill a vacancy on his staff this year.

Larranaga, a former U.Va. assistant, yesterday turned down an offer from Providence. Had Larranaga opted to return to his alma mater, U.Va. assistant Bill Courtney would have been a strong candidate to replace him at GMU.

Courtney, who grew up in Northern Virginia, spent eight years as an assistant at Mason -- the final three as Larranaga's associate head coach -- before leaving for Providence. After one season with the Friars, Courtney came to U.Va. in 2006.

Leitao recently completed his third season at Virginia. After his first year, he lost assistant Gene Cross to Mike Brey's staff at Notre Dame. After his second season, Leitao lost another assistant, Rob Lanier, who went to Florida to work with Billy Donovan.

U.Va. to face UNC in men's lacrosse
In ACC men's lacrosse, fourth-ranked Virginia (0-1, 9-1) faces No. 6 North Carolina (0-2, 7-2) at 4 p.m. Saturday in Chapel Hill. ESPNU will televise the game, the Cavaliers' first since their 13-7 loss at Maryland last weekend.

Freshman goalie Adam Ghitelman has started every game for Virginia. Ghitelman has allowed an average of 10.2 goals, however, and his save percentage (49.7 percent) is by far the lowest among ACC starters. U.Va. coach Dom Starsia has been considering a change in goal, which could mean a start Saturday for former Collegiate School standout Bud Petit.

Ghitelman was a heralded recruit, but the transition to college lacrosse has been more difficult that expected for the Long Island, N.Y., resident.

"He hasn't been able to play in the games the way we see him every day in practice," Starsia said. "I'd like to think it's a freshman thing. Maybe he's been nervous or has too much weight on his shoulders."

Petit, a graduate student, has played in four games this season, making eight saves and allowing four goals. -- Jeff White
 

Groh removes LB from Cavaliers
J'Courtney Williams was charged this week with credit card theft and credit card fraud.
By Doug Doughty
981-3129

The Virginia football career of once-prized recruit J'Courtney Williams is over before it started.

Minutes before a scheduled teleconference Wednesday with head coach Al Groh, UVa sent out a news release saying that Groh would not discuss the Williams situation but offered the following statement:

"J'Courtney's time here has unfortunately been marked by issues which fall below the line of what is acceptable to us," Groh said. "Therefore, he will no longer be a member of our program."

By midafternoon Wednesday, he no longer was listed on the roster that appears on UVa's Web site.

Williams appeared in Albemarle County General District Court on Tuesday, where he was charged with one count of credit card theft and one count of credit card fraud.

A fellow defendant, Lester Spellman III, was charged with two counts of credit card fraud in connection with the March 10 theft of a wallet from Virginia's Aquatics and Fitness Center.

Williams already was on probation after being arrested Feb. 25 and charged with possession of marijuana.

Williams was rated the No. 3 linebacker in the nation by SuperPrep after his senior year at Christchurch School in 2006. He was redshirted by the Cavaliers as a freshman last season and subsequently underwent surgery on both shoulders.

Williams was the second Virginia player to be charged with larceny since the end of the 2007 season. The other, Mike Brown, has been suspended from team activities but has not been dropped from the roster.

"It's unsettling, yes," said Groh when asked about the arrests collectively.

"Everybody within the organization is disturbed by one misstep, so it just causes everybody to be that much more watchful [after] two unfortunate incidents.

"Any miscue that we have, whether it's community issues or internal issues, we always address and reinforce immediately. We would hope the players have a pretty clear understanding of what the value system is and what we expect here."

Groh removes Williams from program
By Jay Jenkins
Published: April 3, 2008

Al Groh sent what could be construed as a strong message on Wednesday.
Virginia’s football coach dismissed linebacker J’Courtney Williams, a promising inside linebacker and redshirt freshman, from the program.
The move comes just two days after Williams was arrested and charged with credit card theft and credit card fraud by UVa police in relation to the March 10 theft of a fellow student’s wallet at the school’s Aquatics & Fitness Center.
Williams, 19, and another student allegedly used the victim’s credit card 19 times in a vending area of the Tuttle dormitory. The Danville product had been placed on probation earlier in the semester after a misdemeanor charge of marijuana possession, according to court records in Albemarle County, and is due back in court in 2009 on that charge.
“J’Courtney’s time here has unfortunately been marked by issues which fall below the line of what is acceptable to us,” Groh said in a released statement. “Therefore, he will no longer be a member of our program.”
After the statement was issued, Groh was asked about the situation and his punishment during a mid-day teleconference.
“Any miscue that we have as to what’s expected, whether it is community issues or internal issues, we always address and reinforce immediately how we would hope the players have a pretty clear understanding of what the value system is and what we expect here,” Groh said. “But everybody in the organization is disturbed by one misstep. It just causes everybody to be that much more watchful.
“We have had two unfortunate incidents; you can’t go 100 percent on every pass that we throw or every kick that we make, but we are trying for 100 percent on those other issues.”
Groh was citing a pending legal matter with cornerback Mike Brown. The junior was arrested and charged with three felony counts, including grand larceny stemming from an incident on Feb. 6. A Virginia student reported that items worth more than $3,400 were taken from a parked car on campus.
Brown is slated to appear in Charlottesville General District Court on April 24, and although he has not practiced thus far this spring, he remains on the roster pending the outcome of his trial.
“We take allegations of this nature very seriously,” Groh said in a released statement after Brown’s arrest. “At this time we are currently gathering the facts. In view of the nature of the allegation, Mike Brown is not participating with the program at this time.”
Williams, a four-star recruit and one of the top in-state talents in the Class of 2008, was viewed as a potential safety until he arrived at training camp at 235 pounds.
The decision was quickly made to move Williams to inside linebacker, but his development was hindered by a shoulder injury that required surgery on Nov. 3, the day before Virginia hosted Wake Forest. Williams has since had surgery on his other shoulder.
In November, Williams told The Daily Progress that he envisioned himself on the field in some fashion as a true freshman had he been near 100 percent.
“If I am healthy, I am on the field and making plays,” Williams said. “In practice, everybody knows that I should be playing. They just told me to be patient.”
Williams admitted then that he was frustrated with his situation, but tried to monitor inside linebacker Jon Copper and desired to become a game-changing player on defense for the Cavaliers.
“You look at Chris Long … he is making a big difference,” Williams said. “And I am looking forward to doing the same thing.
“I want to carry the team on my back and help us win games.”
Without Williams in the fold, Groh indicated that sophomore John-Kevin Dolce, previously a reserve outside linebacker, had joined John Bivens, Darren Childs and Terrence Fells-Danzer in taking reps behind expected starters Antonio Appleby on the depth chart.
Dolce, a three-star recruit, was an inside linebacker in high school and could flourish from the move.
“I’d say if it was a great fit to this point [at outside linebacker] then obviously [Dolce] would have seen more playing time,” Groh said.
Attempts to reach Williams were unsuccessful. It remains unclear where Williams will land, but Kentucky, Louisville and Mississippi State were among the leading teams outside the ACC during his original recruitment from Christchurch High.


 

Teams split pair of one-run games
Virginia was able to come back for win against Towson Tuesday but did not have same luck last night
Paul Montana, Cavalier Daily Senior Associate Editor

Playing a sub-.500 team in Towson for a two-game, midweek series this week and coming off a convincing three-game sweep of rival Virginia Tech over the weekend, two easy victories seemed to be in order for the Virginia baseball team. Both games, however, came down to a single run, as Virginia lost its second home game of the season 7-6 last night after narrowly defeating the Tigers 9-8 the night before.

The Towson offense caused fits for the Virginia pitching staff on both occasions, as Virginia coach Brian O'Connor used five pitchers in each of the two games. Both starting pitchers were knocked out of the game early. Tuesday starter, senior Robert Poutier, was taken out of the second inning and charged with five runs on six hits, while senior Jake Rule pitched two scoreless innings yesterday before being pulled in the third while allowing four runs. The staff's best effort came from sophomore Neal Davis, who threw 5.1 scoreless innings in relief of Poutier Tuesday, keeping the Tigers at bay as Virginia roared back for the one-run win.

In the bottom of the ninth during game two, Virginia had a chance to come up with yet another come-from-behind win. With junior Greg Miclat on first and two outs, freshman Dan Grovatt, the team's leading hitter with a .426 batting average, stepped into the box. After working the count to 2-1, Miclat took off on a pitch that bounced in front of junior catcher Jason Stifler, putting Miclat in scoring position for the hot-hitting Grovatt. After continuing to battle to a 3-2 count, Grovatt was twice spared from ending the game with a foul ball out down the third-base line; the third baseman came within inches of making a diving grab on the first, while the second barely cleared the wall to the Virginia bullpen.

"The umpire seemed to have a pretty high zone," Grovatt said. "The whole at-bat I was trying to fight off pitches. You have to make adjustments when the umpire's got a big zone."

On the next pitch, however, Grovatt popped up to shortstop and, throwing his bat to the ground in disgust, ended Virginia's chances of another late-game comeback.

"That kid has come through in the clutch so many times in these first 30 ballgames," O'Connor said of Grovatt. "He had a great at-bat."

In both games, Miclat was called upon to squeeze a runner home in the midst of a late comeback; Tuesday, his sacrifice bunt scored senior Patrick Wingfield in the eighth for the winning run. Yesterday, with freshman Jarrett Parker on second and freshman Tyler Biddix on third with no outs and the score 7-4 in favor of Towson, Miclat elected to bunt again. This one was even better than the one the night before, as a hard bunt down the right side of the infield forced the first basemen to come off the bag and play it, scoring Biddix and moving Parker to third, while Miclat reached first without a throw. Sophomore Tyler Cannon then flied to right, scoring Parker. Grovatt's pop-out to short, however, ended the ninth-inning rally.

In its loss last night, Virginia did not face a deficit until the fourth. After sophomore Jeff Lorick went down with a knee injury in warmups, according to O'Connor, Rule, a usual reliever who sported 9.58 ERA coming into the game, was called upon to make the start. The transfer from William & Mary got off to a positive start with some help; after the first two batters of the game reached on a walk and a single, Rule fanned the next batter on a 3-2 pitch with both runners moving on a hit-and-run, and sophomore catcher Franco Valdes threw out the runner going to third for a strike-him-out, throw-him-out double play. The next batter then singled, apparently scoring the runner from second, but the umpire upheld an appeal by Virginia that he failed to touch home, negating the run and ending the inning with the third out.

In the fourth, however, Rule was not so fortunate -- he allowed four hits, including a solo homer to start the inning, while recording just a single out before being pulled for freshman Robert Morey.

"I think it's just a confidence thing," O'Connor said of Rule's struggles this season. "He went out there and gave us three solid innings [Wednesday], but unfortunately the fourth inning unraveled on him."

Morey didn't fare much better; he allowed two more hits and a walk that led to five more runs, three charged to Rule and two to Morey before the inning was over. The Tigers added another run to Morey's line for their seventh and final run of the game, giving them as much of a cushion as they would need.

In the early stages of Tuesday's game, the Virginia offense was also effective against Towson's starting pitcher, as junior Austin Hurd allowed four runs in the first inning. Poutier's implosion for six runs in the second, however, erased the Cavalier lead, and a back-and-forth battle ensued; Virginia took the lead back to 8-6 in the sixth, and Towson knotted the score at eight in the eighth before Miclat bunted the winning run home. Senior Michael Schwimer pitched a perfect ninth to seal the win.

Virginia next faces one of its most daunting opponents of the season: No. 2 Florida State, in a three-game series in Tallahassee, Fla.

 

Leitao looks to fix Cavs’ defensive problems
By Jerry Ratcliffe
Published: April 3, 2008

When Dave Leitao walked out of Virginia’s locker room the night that the Cavaliers’ basketball season came to an uneventful close last week, he chose his last words carefully.
The UVa coach told his team in no uncertain terms that when practice started again, the Cavaliers would definitely learn to play good defense.
Those practices started promptly at 6 a.m. this past Monday and have continued on through the week. To say the least, they have not been a stroll through the park.
Leitao wants to learn who is serious about the game of basketball and who wants to play the game the way he expects it to be played. Defense is the foundation for everything that goes right or wrong in basketball as far as the Virginia coach is concerned and we expect that anyone who isn’t willing to get serious about defense might as well get used to sitting on the bench.
Wisdom from the past
The late, great Red Auerbach, who coached all those Boston Celtics championship teams, once said about defense:
“Defense is just hard work. There will be nights when your shots don’t fall, but you can play good defense every night.”
Red believed in that as much as he did a good cigar and Leitao shares that philosophy. He promised that his next team would be a better defensive one.
“I look at it more as a mindset,” Leitao said. “Some of that mindset you get to control and other times you have to be able to trust that they can take a certain amount of pride and understanding with it. Somewhere along the line there was a disconnect with a lot of that.”
Leitao’s team from a year ago, the one that was ACC regular season co-champion with North Carolina, was one of the league’s best defensive squads. Conversely, this team, which finished near the bottom of the conference and with an overall 17-16 record, was next-to-last in both scoring defense and field goal percentage defense.
Built on ruggedness
Virginia basketball, as far back as this columnist can remember, has always been about toughness, about defense and rebounding.
When Terry Holland was coach, the Cavaliers were the top scoring defense team in the ACC eight times between 1975 and 1988. His predecessor, Jeff Jones, who also played for and studied under Holland, coached the last two UVa teams to lead the ACC in that category in 1991 and 1992.
Between those two coaches, UVa led the league in field goal percentage defense five times — the only times the Cavaliers have led the ACC in that category in 54 years.
Leitao believes that part of the problem is the statistics of the game. Offense is glorified, particularly by ESPN’s nightly highlights and other such venues.
Defense is rarely mentioned.
“Typically, young people, basketball players, are generally judged by a stat sheet and defense doesn’t show up as much as a stat,” Leitao said.
“Pistol” Pete Maravich once said: “Some people worry about statistics, but I worry about winning. Statistics are for losers.”
That is one of the messages Leitao is attempting to convey to his young players.
“I have to make them understand that we’re not going to go anywhere or do anything unless we can stop people,” the fiery UVa coach said.
For the record, Virginia gave up 74.8 points per game this past season, while opponents shot an average of 44.9 percent over 33 games. Those same foes converted 36.7 percent of their 3-point attempts, all numbers that are plainly unacceptable.
Last season’s team that made it to the NCAA Tournament, finished second in the ACC in field goal percentage defense, allowing 32 opponents to shoot an average of 40.8 percent.
In these postseason practices, it appears to be Leitao’s way or the highway in terms of effort and defense.
“I think you have to be demanding ... maybe not a taskmaster,” Leitao said of getting his points across. “There are certain things that I believe in that a team must believe in and I have to get that across to the guys.
“Getting back on the court and establishing that is important,” the coach said. “It’s an effort thing as much as a technical issue.”
Defense is more about desire, determination and pride than anything else. Over time, Leitao will find out who is willing to hustle and that could make a huge difference in how the Cavaliers fare come next season.

 

A toxic combination
By Whitey Reid
Published: April 3, 2008

You don’t need to be John Wooden or even Isiah Thomas to figure out where things went wrong for the Virginia men’s basketball team in 2007-08.
On offense, UVa was too one-dimensional. On defense, well, the Cavaliers had dementia.
Throw in a couple of injuries, inexperience at a couple key positions and the loss of J.R. Reynolds to graduation and you have a big mess.
The toxic elements added up to a 17-16 record and 10th-place finish in the ACC.
It was hard to see it all coming. A year before, Virginia had won a share of the regular-
season league title and made it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
The upward trend seemed to be continuing. In the first week of the season, Virginia flew to Tucson and knocked off then-No. 17 Arizona.
In that game, UVa star Sean Singletary had help from his friends. Freshman Jeff Jones looked like the second coming of Reynolds in nailing 5 of 7 from
3-point range. Mamadi Diane and Jamil Tucker were a combined 5 of 6 from downtown. Lars Mikalauskas and Ryan Pettinella hauled in 10 rebounds.
Defensively, Virginia held a potent Arizona team — which featured two likely NBA lottery picks (Jerryd Bayless and Chase Budinger) — to 48 percent, while shooting 51 percent themselves.
“It goes [down] as a statement,” Virginia coach Dave Leitao told The Daily Progress back on Nov. 17. “You’re playing a ranked team that doesn’t lose too much in this building, so [the win] has to be right near the top.”
Unfortunately for Leitao and Virginia fans, things quickly disintegrated from there.
UVa was wretched in the Philly Classic. The Cavs played uninspired in wins over Drexel and Penn before getting smacked around by Seton Hall in the championship game.
But the true sign that Virginia might be in serious trouble came against Xavier on Jan. 3 when the Cavs were embarrassed, 108-70.
That game set the tone for conference play where Virginia found a way to lose all the close games that it had managed to pull out the season before.
UVa had lost just once at John Paul Jones Arena in its inaugural season. By the end of January, the Cavs had lost three times at home.
Offensively, Virginia was hurt by the absence of Mikalauskas, who missed the entire month. The Lithuanian was the only true low-post option at Leitao’s disposal.
Without him in the lineup, the ball almost never went inside and Virginia became even more reliant on the 3-point shot than it already was.
That put pressure on Diane and senior Adrian Joseph to pick up more of the slack for Reynolds.
Joseph got off to a great start, but playing out of position at power
forward caught up to him by the time the non-cupcake portion of the schedule began.
Diane, as he did in his first two years, showed flashes of greatness, but couldn’t ever put together more than a couple good games in a row — until it was too late.
Meanwhile, Jones had already gone into the tank. After his impressive coming-out party in the desert, the first-year shooting guard didn’t make another 3-pointer for two months, a span of 19 games.
Leitao admitted that his team’s offensive woes stemmed this season, in part, from the lack of an inside game.
“You’ve got to be able to put the ball below the free-throw line and enter it around the basket in order to have some success,” he said. “We didn’t do that enough.
“Teams started to zone us at the end of the season, daring us to [go inside] because they left a lot of open pockets in the interior of their defense.”
On the defensive end, Virginia clearly missed senior Tunji Soroye. The 6-foot-11 Nigerian, who appeared in just two games all season, would have given the team, if
nothing else, a shot-blocking presence.
Virginia finished dead last in the ACC in swats.
“It’s not just having a shot blocker — it’s having [Soroye] in the lane,” Mamadi Diane said. “He changes a lot of shots and keeps guys from penetrating.”
But the deficiencies on defense were more mental than physical. How else to explain that 31-point home loss to Clemson on Feb. 7? Virginia allowed the Tigers to shoot 62 percent (16 of 26) from 3-point range.
“I look at it as a mindset,” said Leitao, when asked about his team’s season-long defensive malaise. “Some of that mindset you get to control, other times you have to be able to trust that they can take a certain amount of pride and understanding with it.
“Somewhere along the line, there was a disconnect with a lot of that.”
A mini turning point in the
season came on Feb. 12 when Mikalauskas returned to the lineup. The fiery big man gave Leitao’s lethargic squad a shot of badly needed adrenaline.
Virginia lost to North Carolina at home by a point, but the Cavaliers competed — something they hadn’t done in a while.
UVa finished the regular season by winning four of its last six. The Cavs, behind an unbelievable performance from Singletary on Senior Night, knocked off Maryland in a game that almost made Wahoo Nation forget about the misery it had endured until that point.
But the feel-good vibes quickly vanished after a weak effort against Georgia Tech in the ACC Tournament and uneven performances in the inaugural College Basketball Invitational.
“I told the team that the next year started when that final whistle blew,” said Leitao, who has been running his players into the ground with 6 a.m. workouts all week. “I know that I’m more determined than ever to make sure we do the proper things in the offseason to get us ready for the next year.”