McKay leaves Liberty to become U.Va. assistant
By Jeff White
Published: April 7, 2009

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Have you lost your mind?

Maybe Ritchie McKay hasn't heard those exact words, but he knows the decision he made last week puzzled many of his peers.

"In our profession, not many people go from head coach to assistant voluntarily," McKay said.

Yet that's exactly what McKay, 43, has done. He left Liberty University, where he went 39-28 in two seasons as head man, for the University of Virginia, where he'll be associate head coach under his friend Tony Bennett.

"Some people have reacted like, 'Why would he do that? He's already a head coach,'" McKay said Sunday night by phone from the Detroit airport.

"We won 23 games [at Liberty this season], so I wasn't running from anything. Some thought it was because Seth Curry left. Others thought it was just because I like to move."

Indeed, McKay has yet to put down deep roots at a school. In compiling a 204-186 record in 13 seasons as a Division I head coach, he's made five stops -- Portland State, Colorado State, Oregon State, New Mexico and Liberty. Still, McKay insists he loved Liberty and would have remained there if U.Va. were not such a special opportunity.

"I know who I am, and I know how my wife and I process things," McKay said. "We just felt it was right. Tony's a great friend and a tremendous coach, and I believe in him wholeheartedly. I wanted to come and serve him and see if we couldn't get the University of Virginia winning at a high level."

Bennett left Washington State last week to take the U.Va. job. His enthusiasm was palpable Wednesday when he discussed the possibility of hiring McKay.

"I think I may have hit a home run," Bennett said.

McKay and Bennett, both devout Christians, met when McKay was an assistant coach at Bradley and Bennett a star point guard at Wisconsin-Green Bay. Bennett's coach was his father, Dick, whose fans included McKay's boss at Bradley, Jim Molinari.

In 1992, Orlando McKay, a wide receiver from the University of Washington, was drafted by the Packers. Later that year, Ritchie McKay recalled, he made plans to visit Green Bay to watch his brother in training camp. Could you spare 15 or 20 minutes to answer a few questions? McKay asked Dick Bennett.

"He spent about two hours with me and would have spent more if I didn't run out of questions," McKay said. "I just saw in Tony's dad the most humble, authentic, genuine man that I think I'd been around since my own father."

Dick Bennett became a mentor to McKay, who subsequently grew close with Tony Bennett. "I think we just gained a mutual respect for one another," McKay said.

In the Big South Conference this season, only one team averaged more points per game than Liberty (75.5) -- Virginia Military Institute, which led the nation at 93.8. McKay says he's confident U.Va. will be more productive offensively under Bennett than many believe.

"If you watched his teams at Washington State play, this year they were a little less potent offensively, but the reason why sometimes their scores are low is because they really guard you," McKay said, "and if you take quick shots against them, you're in trouble."

The WSU teams that featured Derrick Low and Kyle Weaver won big, and they "didn't play like [Bennett is] rumored to coach," McKay said.

McKay said he and Bennett have talked often about the keys to succeeding in the ACC.

"I think a couple things that we agree on are A, you've got to guard. You've got to be tremendously sound defensively," McKay said. "But B, you've got to have scorers that can make plays, because you're playing against the highest level of athlete, at least at our level.."

. Yesterday was McKay's first day in Charlottesville as a U.Va. employee, but he knows his way around John Paul Jones Arena. Liberty stunned Virginia 86-82 there Nov. 25.

McKay noted with a laugh that he's 1-0 at the JPJ. "I hope we stay undefeated."



 

More names
Jeff White
Apr 06, 2009

CHARLOTTESVILLE – College basketball coaches like few things more than speculating about who’s going where in their profession.

U.Va.’s new coach, Tony Bennett, is in the process of filling out his staff, and others in the business are following the process with interest. Two assistants who might be candidates, according to coaches who were at the Final Four in Detroit over the weekend, are American University’s Jason Williford and Utah State’s Tim Duryea.

Williford, of course, needs no introduction to many U.Va. fans. The Richmond native starred at John Marshall High before enrolling at Virginia, where he started 83 games at forward for Jeff Jones.

A 1995 graduate of U.Va., Williford has made six trips to the NCAA tournament: three as a player, one as a Boston University assistant and two with American, where his boss is Jones.

In 2005, Williford turned down an offer to become Dave Leitao’s director of basketball operations at U.Va.

Duryea, 44, has spent eight years at Utah State, where he was promoted to associate coach after the 2007-08 season. He’s a former head coach at Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College, where his teams went 40-25.

At his introductory press conference last week, Bennett said two members of his Washington State staff might join him at U.Va. One of them is Ron Sanchez, and the other probably would be Ronnie Wideman, I’m told. What roles they would fill on Bennett’s staff, however, is unclear.

 

Virginia awaits Stony Brook for midweek series at home
Seawolves visit Davenport to challenge 26-5 Virginia squad, hope to build off dramatic weekend, 2008’s near-upset of Cavaliers
Aaron Perryman, Cavalier Daily Senior Writer
Published: Tuesday, April 7 2009

Freshman pitcher Danny Hultzen has seen success both on the mound and at the plate, putting up a 5-0 record, 2.17 ERA and a .355 batting average. After flipping the Terrapins Sunday in a 17-2 series-clinching win, the Virginia baseball team plays Stony Brook at home tonight and in New York tomorrow. Both games start at 6 p.m.

The Seawolves (12-11, 3-1 America East Conference), another midweek non-conference opponent, are coming off a dramatic, 10-inning 21-20 win against Vermont Sunday.

Since losing four straight to start the season, Stony Brook has gone 12-7 and has won seven of its last 10 games. Additionally, the Seawolves played the Cavaliers (26-5, 8-5 ACC) tough in both games of a doubleheader in Charlottesville last year but eventually fell in both, 3-0 and 6-4. Stony Brook held the upper hand in the second game with a 4-1 lead up until the eighth inning when Virginia scored five runs to surge ahead.

“We got to keep playing hard,” sophomore pitcher Tyler Wilson said. “We’ve got to keep carrying that momentum. You can’t take anybody lightly. I think Stony Brook kind of bit us last year, when they might have snuck one from us, so we’ve definitely got to take them seriously, build some momentum, keep the bats live and carry it into Georgia Tech [this weekend].”

Wilson picked up the win Sunday during his first weekend start of the year. He received a good deal of support from the Cavalier bats but was still impressive, giving up only two runs on six hits and striking out five.

“Wherever the team needs me to be, whether it be in the pen or starter, I’m happy to do whatever the team would like for me to do, and we have some great arms — [sophomore] Kevin Arico and [junior] Matt Packer — coming in [from the bullpen],” Wilson said.

Junior Neal Davis and freshmen Will Roberts, Sean Lucas and Justin Thompson all pitched an inning of relief Sunday. Each player gave a solid performance, giving up zero runs and only two hits total.

“Tyler had only thrown about 78 pitches, but I felt it was important to get those other guys work because we’re going to need those pitchers in the middle of the week and also on the weekends,” Virginia coach Brian O’Connor said. “So it’s important to get their feet wet and get them some experience, and I thought they all threw the ball well.”

During Saturday’s loss to Maryland, however, the bullpen could not back up the work of senior starter Andrew Carraway, as Arico and Packer gave up five runs total, allowing the Terrapins to capture the lead during a five-run eighth inning.

“There is [room for improvement in the bullpen],” O’Connor said. “Our bullpen needs to be more consistent. There’s no question about that. That’s not a knock on Kevin Arico or Matt Packer, because they didn’t get the job done yesterday; they’ve pitched so well so many times. But we’ve just got to be a little bit more consistent.”

One pitcher that could strengthen the bullpen is Davis.

“We’re trying to build [Davis] back up” from a shoulder injury, O’Connor said. “When we get him back to full strength, I think that will make a real difference in our bullpen because he’s done such a great job out of the bullpen in his first two years here.”

Whoever starts on the mound the next two nights for Virginia will have to contend with a Seawolf lineup that features seven players with averages greater than .300. Freshman catcher Pat Cantwell, who has started 12 games and appeared in 15, leads the team with a .405 average. Among regular starters, senior infielder Keith Fier, the only Seawolf to appear in all 23 games, bats a respectable .312. Senior outfielder Brian Witkowski headlines the power department with six homeruns; the Seawolves have belted 18 long balls total.

These numbers pale in comparison, though, to the Cavaliers’ offensive statistics — especially following the 17-run output against Maryland.

“You cannot control once the ball leaves your bat,” O’Connor said. “All you can control is the mindset that you have, and the approach and plan that you have when you go to the plate. Once it hits your bat, you can’t control it. And the key is though that they continue to square balls up and hit balls hard, and we’ve been doing that on a consistent basis.”

Stony Brook’s pitching staff holds a 7.47 team ERA and will have to contend with a Virginia lineup that has a team batting average of .364 and has knocked 29 balls out of the park.

O’Connor, however, is quick to acknowledge the nature of baseball, realizing that the statistics only say so much and every win takes a little bit of luck.

“Starting, especially [last] Tuesday at Radford, we’ve really swung the bats well, and if we continue to swing the bats like that, they’ll fall when they need to,” O’Connor said. “And in the sport of baseball, they don’t all the time, and when they don’t you have a tough time winning.”

Because of this, the Cavaliers are not taking the Seawolves lightly.

“Going into Stony Brook, we need to keep the game face ready to go and build some momentum going into Georgia Tech,” Wilson said. “We got a big weekend coming up. We need to look at Stony Brook and worry about them now before we start worrying about [Georgia Tech].”

 

Baseball Matches Up With Stony Brook in Midweek Series
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 04/06/2009

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 11 Virginia baseball team will take on Stony Brook in a two-game midweek series Tuesday and Wednesday at Davenport Field. Both games will start at 6 p.m.

Virginia (26-5, 8-5 ACC) comes off a 4-1 week, including an ACC series win over Maryland. The Cavaliers are ranked as high as No. 11 nationally this week (Collegiate Baseball Magazine).

Jarrett Parker (So., Stafford, Va.) leads the Cavaliers in batting at .424, which ranks second in the ACC. Parker is coming off a huge week in which he hit .524 (11-for-21) and scored 11 runs. He hit two doubles and two home runs and drove in six runs.

Dan Grovatt (So., Tabernacle, N.J.) is tied for fourth in the league in hitting at .408, while Steven Proscia (Fr., Suffern, N.Y.) ranks eighth at .393. UVa continues to lead the conference in batting at .364 and also is first in earned run average at 2.77.

Stony Brook (12-11, 3-1 America East) took three of four games against Vermont in its league-opening series last weekend. The Seawolves, a 2008 NCAA Tournament participant, finished off the series win with a doubleheader sweep Sunday, winning the opener, 6-3, and taking the finale, 21-20 in 10 innings.

Chad Marshall (.375) and Brian Witkowski (.365) are the Seawolves’ top two hitters, while Witkowski leads the team with six home runs and 24 RBI. Stony Brook is batting .304 as a team and has a 7.47 team ERA.

The teams met for the first time last year, with Virginia taking a doubleheader by 3-0 and 6-4 counts.

Tuesday is $2 Tuesday at the park, with $2 hot dogs and sodas available at the concession stands.

UVa returns to ACC play this weekend, traveling to Georgia Tech for a three-game series.

Virginia Factoids
- Virginia hit four more home runs last week, with two coming from Jarrett Parker. UVa now has 29 home runs this year in 31 games, topping the Cavaliers’ total of 25 from 2008 (62 games).

- Parker reached base to lead off all five games last week (scored four times). In all, he had a .600 on base percentage for the week.

- Parker has scored at least one run in 11 straight games and has a league-high 49 this season. The school record for runs in a season is 60.

- UVa’s had competed in seven straight ACC games which were decided by three runs or fewer before the 17-2 win Sunday. All five of Virginia’s losses have come by two runs or fewer, with four coming by a single run.

- Dan Grovatt is on a nine-game hitting streak. He also boasts a 19-game hitting streak this season.

- Virginia scored seven runs in the second inning Sunday. The seven-run outburst was UVa’s most runs in one inning in an ACC game since tallying seven at Wake Forest on March 10, 2007.

- Phil Gosselin had a career-best five RBI Sunday as he continued to rack up the RBI this year. He has 44 RBI in 31 games, more than doubling his total of 20 from all of 2008.

- UVa continues to lead the ACC in batting (.364) and pitching (2.77). In ACC games only, UVa also is tops in both categories, batting (361) and pitching (4.25).

- Virginia has at least 10 hits in 26 of 31 games this year, including 10 of 13 ACC games.


 

Shamel Bratton Named ACC Player of the Week
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 04/06/2009

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA –Shamel Bratton has been named the Atlantic Coast Conference men’s lacrosse player of the week for his play in leading Virginia to an 11-10 victory over North Carolina in the Inside Lacrosse Big City Classic at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.

This is the second time he has received the league’s weekly honor; he also received the award after the Cavaliers defeated Syracuse in late February.

The sophomore from Huntington Station, N.Y., led the team in total points (4) and shared as the leading goal scorer (3). Virginia fell behind by four goals (7-3), its biggest deficit of the season, midway through the second quarter before Bratton got going. He turned the momentum to Virginia’s favor with goals on three consecutive possessions over a three-minute-and-10-second span to pull his team within one goal at 7-6 at halftime.

Bratton’s three goals started the Cavaliers on a five-goal run that enabled them to seize control. Virginia took the lead for good with fewer than two minutes remaining in the third quarter. Bratton assisted on Garrett Billings’ goal with 9:59 left in the game, the team’s 11th goal of the game, as UVa took a two-goal lead. The Tar Heels scored later but were never able to tie the score.

Virginia returns to action Saturday against Duke in Durham, N.C. The game is set to face off at 4 pm and will be televised by ESPN2.