5/3/02 - Size Does Matter

Arena’s size is up in the air
By JERRY RATCLIFFE
Daily Progress sports editor

Scattershooting around the ACC, while noting that size really does matter when it comes to building a new basketball arena …
We may get some inkling of what Virginia’s future arena will be like on May 9. That’s when UVa athletics director Craig Littlepage and architects present their ideas about the facility to a segment of the Board of Visitors. But there is no guarantee that the size and shape of the place will be resolved in that meeting.
The major hang-up heading into the presentation is just what size to make the arena. There are two strong opinions concerning that matter: 1.) make it 12,500 seats; or, 2.) make it 15,000 capacity.
There are good arguments presented by both sides. Those in favor of the 12,500 seats believe that if UVa builds anything larger, then the arena will lose the atmosphere created by a larger structure and that the home-court advantage would be negated.
Those in favor of a bigger arena point out that the facility is supposed to be used for more than just basketball and the extra seating would be a bonus for those events, such as concerts. That same group is somewhat misinformed that a 15,000-seat facility could qualify to host NCAA first-round events and the ACC tournament.
Wrong.
The ACC does not allow its basketball tournament to be played at the home courts of any of its nine schools. Charlottesville doesn’t have the hotel space to host the NCAA opening round.
Another good point in support of the larger seating capacity is the future. When University Hall was built in the 1960s, original plans called for the arena to seat much more than the current 8,392. Wahoo basketball was so bad in those days and so poorly attended that critics scoffed Virginia would never be able to fill such a facility.
Perhaps there could be a compromise in that UVa builds a 12,500-seat arena with the capability of expanding to 15,000 seats in the future if warranted.
Whatever the BOV decides, hopefully the emphasis will be placed on making it a first-class facility.

Still open

Al Groh’s slogan for football recruiting prospects is: “The chase is never over until the Waffle House closes.”
While the spring drills are over, the coaches haven’t stopped working. Instead, they are scattered all across the state during the month of May to evaluate potential recruits. Of UVa’s 10 coaches, seven are allowed to hit the recruiting road at any given time.
“We will try to get into every school in our in-state territory,” said Groh on Thursday. “Then we will go to the out-of-state areas to evaluate [academically and athletically] those players that we have listed as good prospects.”
Groh said moments after the spring game that more than 130 prospects were in attendance (some that comprised the top 10 class from last February).
“During the evaluation we have to make sure the players are properly rated from top to bottom,” said the coach. “We also have to make sure that we leave plenty of spots for the elite players because that’s what makes an elite team.”

Free agents

While only three Virginia players were taken in last week’s NFL draft, seven more Cavaliers have since signed as free agents.
The list includes: punter Mike Abrams to Tampa; linebacker John Duckett to the Buffalo Bills; fullback Tyree Foreman to the Chargers; offensive tackle Jermese Jones to the Steelers; wide receiver Tavon Mason to the Jets; offensive guard Evan Routzahn to the Colts; and defensive end Darryl Sanders to the 49ers.

Around the ACC … Speaking of free agents, Clemson quarterback Woody Dantzler, has agreed to a contract with the Dallas Cowboys as a running back and kick returner (he was not rated as a QB by scouts but was ranked the No. 12 running back by draft guru Mel Kiper Jr. … Clemson didn’t have a single player drafted for only the second time in the last 16 years. … Virginia’s early-season opponent, South Carolina, is running out of tailbacks: projected starter Ryan Brewer re-injured tendons in his left ankle during spring drills and is expected to be in a cast for at least six weeks, followed by two months of rehab; backup Thez Robinson may undergo surgery due to a sprained right knee; and incumbent starter Derek Watson was booted off the team by coach Lou Holtz after Watson was charged with possession of marijuana. …
Michigan has dropped its home-and-home football series with North Carolina, which was scheduled for 2009 and 2010. The reason? Michigan’s new policy to schedule home-and-home nonconference series only with Notre Dame. … Duke basketball recruit Sean Dockery, a 6-3 McDonald’s All-American from Chicago, has met the NCAA’s minimum academic requirement for freshman eligibility. … The ACC baseball tournament, which will be held later this month in St. Petersburg, Fla., (no that’s not a typo), should be a thriller-diller with five teams ranked in the latest unofficial RPI baseball ranking’s top 15: (Boydsworld.com) No. 1 Clemson; No. 2 Wake Forest; No. 5 Florida State; No. 6 Georgia Tech and No. 11 North Carolina.

By DOUG DOUGHTY
Exclusive to roanoke.com by 5 p.m. Thursdays

Two weeks ago, in his first appearance before the Roanoke Valley Sports Club, Virginia athletic director Craig Littlepage said almost matter-of-factly that his goal is for UVa to have the No. 1 athletic program in the country.

"What else is he going to say?"

That s how skeptics might respond, but I don't think Littlepage was being totally unrealistic. If the measure of the No. 1 program in the country is the Sears Directors Cup, then there's no reason the Cavaliers can't be competitive.

After all, North Carolina was the winner of the first Sears Cup in 1993-94 and, as recently as 1999, Virginia was eighth. If Carolina could do it, why can't Virginia.

To get to No. 1, however, Virginia or any other school would have to get past Stanford, which has won the Sears Cup in seven of the eight years it has been awarded, including the last seven.

An eighth straight Sears Cup is guaranteed, given Stanford's 399-point lead over North Carolina.

WHILE STANFORD is a private school and North Carolina and Virginia are both state schools, they share broad-based athletic programs. Stanford has scored points this year in football, men's basketball and women s basketball, but where it cleans up are the so-called Olympic sports.

In the winter season alone, Stanford was sixth in fencing, sixth in men s gymnastics and sixth in women's gymnastics sports in which Virginia does not compete.

On the other hand, there are a handful of sports in which Virginia competes that are not as common in the West, such as men's and women's lacrosse. To become another Stanford, the Cavaliers need to excel in those sports and others, such as women's rowing.

Frequently, they have, only not during the postseason. Actually, the Cavaliers demise usually starts late in the regular season, witness men's soccer, men's basketball, women's soccer and both lacrosse programs.

It is a department-wide malaise, one for which there is little explanation.

Since a run of men's soccer championships in the early 1990s, the only UVa programs that consistently are at their best at tournament time are men's and women's swimming. Mark Bernardino, who heads both programs, ought to give a seminar on preparing a team for postseason play.

In the past two years, UVa's only ACC championships have come in women's swimming and women's rowing, which is not a record befitting a program with Littlepage's aspirations.

VIRGINIA WAS 14TH in the Sears Cup standings at the end of the winter and there is considerable room to make a move in the spring. The UVa men's lacrosse team has been ranked No. 1, the women's lacrosse team got as high as No. 3 and the women's rowing team was No. 6.

Unfortunately for UVa, Sears Cup points are awarded for rankings in football only. In everything else, it's what you do in the NCAA Tournament or meet or regatta, if you're a rowing afficionado. If you lose 10 of the last 13 games in men's basketball and have to settle for an NIT bid, you could have gone 0-28 and gotten just as many Sears Cup points. Nobody cares if you were ranked in the Top 25 for 20 straight weeks.

Part of winning the Sears Cup is knowing and taking advantage of the system. Maybe the biggest part is playing your best at tournament time. There's nothing wrong with that, Sears Cup or not.

OXBOROUGH - Antwoine Womack, a 6-foot, 220-pound running back out of Virginia, looked a bit out of place at the recent minicamp at CMGI Field.

Womack is recovering from anterior cruciate ligament surgery and will likely be on the sidelines for 2002, but he is hoping for a speedy recovery and perhaps some playing time.

''It's been frustrating for me,'' said Womack, a hard-nosed runner in the Antowain Smith mode, though not as tall. ''The ball doesn't always bounce your way. You just take it as it comes - rehab and try to come back as soon as possible.''

You may ask, if a guy can't play, why draft him? The answer is that the Patriots think he's pretty good. And why not spend the 237th pick, in the seventh round, on someone who could pay dividends down the road?

''New England had called me early Sunday morning [the draft's second day],'' said Womack. ''They wanted to talk business. I thought it was going to be a free agent gig. I wasn't really stressed out over the draft because I wasn't expected to be drafted. They called my agent, and they drafted me.''

Womack has had off-field issues. He sat out the entire 1999 season after being convicted of misdemeanor assault and battery. He returned to football in 2000, and after he gained 160 yards on 16 carries against Brigham Young in the first game, the job was his.

That year, Womack led the Atlantic Coast Conference in rushing with 1,028 yards, scoring nine touchdowns. He's a pretty good kick returner, which is something the Patriots need.

He spent all but four games on the sideline last season, first injuring his right ankle, on which he had surgery. He gained 263 yards (153 vs. Penn State) on 63 carries but suffered the knee injury in the Gridiron Classic, ending his season and his hopes of being a second- or third-round pick in the draft.

He is considered a feisty and determined player, one who has learned from past mistakes and is ready to turn the corner on his life. The Patriots always do a thorough job checking the backgrounds of players with troubled pasts, and they believe Womack's troubles are over. Now it's just a matter of getting him healthy.

''I had a good experience here the past few days,'' said Womack. ''It's different than the collegiate level, but you have to adapt to it. I stretch, I listen to the plays. I'm just catching balls, and listening on special teams and learning.''

He has had a chance to get into the Patriots playbook and didn't seem overwhelmed.

''There are only so many ways you can run an offense,'' he said. ''The terminology is different, the plays are basically the same. It's a matter of getting the formations down. The protections are the hardest part.''

''I knew what I was getting into,'' he said. ''I spoke to the GM [ Scott Pioli] and the coaches. I feel odd not working with the guys, but all I can do is cheer them on.''

''I try to make the first man miss,'' he said, ''but I'm not a slashing-type runner. I just get first downs and touchdowns.''

He was highly recruited, and had so many colleges looking at him as early as his sophomore year in high school (Hampton, Va.) that his coach advised him to pick his five favorite schools and whittle them down from there.

''I had Penn State at the top because I loved the big, tough backs that came out of there,'' said Womack. ''After I visited there, I found the guys were a little cocky. The coaches weren't. When I went to Virginia, I knew that's where I wanted to go.''

UVa needs to get past late-season collapses