Mathis chooses to leave Virginia
By ANDREW JOYNER
Daily Progress staff writer
J.C. Mathis, a 6-foot-8 sophomore forward on the Virginia men’s basketball
team, has opted to leave UVa and will transfer to another school, according to a
school release Wednesday.
The school’s statement did not indicate which school Mathis will transfer to,
but according to sources, he could end up at a school near his native New York
City.
Phone calls to Mathis’ dorm room and to his father, Johnny Mathis, who was
also his high school coach at John F. Kennedy High School in the Bronx, N.Y.,
were not immediately returned.
“I sincerely appreciate J.C. Mathis’ contributions to our basketball program
the past two years,” Gillen said. “I wish him much success in his future
endeavors.”
Mathis, a Brooklyn, N.Y., native, started the first 20 games of this past season
for the Cavaliers but saw his minutes decrease dramatically over the final
games. He did not start the final nine games of the season and only once played
more than 10 minutes in his final five games and did not play at all in
Virginia’s 92-72 loss to N.C. State in the ACC quarterfinals. He finished the
season averaging 4.9 points and 4.0 rebounds a contest but had failed to score
more than six points in any of his final nine games and had five games in which
he scored no points.
Mathis’ best performances of the season were a 16-point, five-rebound effort
against Rutgers and a 20-point, 15-rebound night against VMI.
Gillen had originally placed Mathis in the starting lineup because he said the
sophomore “did the things that don’t get noticed.” One of those things,
said Gillen, was being the best interior defender on the team.
Yet, two things seemed to lessen Mathis’ minutes. First was the development of
freshman forwards Jason Clark and Elton Brown and the other was the return of
Adam Hall from a foot injury. When Hall returned late in the season, Gillen
reverted to his “small lineup” that featured Chris Williams as the power
forward, Hall as the small forward and Watson at center. Such a unit left no
room for Clark, Brown or Mathis as starters and progressively it was the two
freshmen, not Mathis, who received the minutes in the frontcourt off the bench.
The situation may have been even bleaker next season with the addition of junior
transfer Nick Vander Laan into a frontcourt rotation that already includes
Watson, Clark and Brown.
Mathis played in 29 games his freshman season and averaged 3.4 points and 2.1
rebounds. Mathis is the eighth player to leave the program before completing his
eligibility in Gillen’s four-year tenure, though three of those players left
within the first few weeks of Gillen’s arrival in Charlottesville in April
1998. He is the second player actually recruited by Gillen’s staff to
transfer. Fellow sophomore Maurice Young left the program and transferred to St.
Bonaventure in November.
Mathis’ departure does free a scholarship up for Gillen and his staff. With
most high school players already committed to school at this juncture, Virginia
might be left to explore transfer candidates if it chooses to fill that
scholarship.
The Job Is Schaub's
The University of Virginia's spring media guide lists the pronunciation of the junior quarterback's name as "rhymes with job."
And for the first time in his UVa career, the quarterback job belongs to Matt Schaub and just Matt Schaub. And if the Cavaliers are to rebound from their first losing season in 14 years, the lanky signal-caller will be a key ingredient.
Shaub alternated with Bryson Spinner last year in a classic quarterback confrontation, the tall pocket passer against the scrambling, athletic quarterback. So even were the two quarterbacks that they each started six games.
At 6-5 and 226 pounds, Schaub would be the tall pocket passer, and he was more effective in the aerial game, completing 58.3 percent of his passes (140-of-240) for 10 touchdowns and 1,524 yards. Spinner won more games but left school in the winter, saying he needed a change.
So for the first time in his career, including a battle for the backup job two years ago, Schaub isn't bumping heads with another quarterback for his place in the hierarchy. And if you're of the John Madden school of thought that having two quarterbacks means you really don't have any, then this situation alone could make the Cavs better in 2002.
If Schaub thinks so, he isn't saying. Even with the lessened competition, he seems intent on pushing himself. He put on nearly 10 pounds of muscle in the weight room and he went into the spring with a new attitude, anything but cavalier.
"I'm more relaxed this year but that's because of the experience I got last season," Schaub said. "I have a much better grasp of the offense and I'm confident I can perform. No one will put any more pressure on me than I put on myself."
Schaub wouldn't be the first Cavalier QB to blossom into something special. Just since 1984, the Cavaliers have produced quarterbacks like Don Majkowski, Shawn Moore, Matt Blundin and most recently, Aaron Brooks. In the last 12 years, five different UVa QBs have led the ACC in passing and Moore led the entire nation in 1990.
Schaub has the tools to join that list. He's tall in the pocket and has a good strong arm, to say nothing of experience in offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave's NFL-styled system. That offense had it's ups and downs last year with the revolving door at quarterback and with the loss of 2000 ACC rushing leader Antoine Womack to injury in the season-opener.
But sophomore Alvin Pearman looks ready to literally carry the load at tailback. And if there's an obvious strength in Charlottesville this fall, it's at the skill positions where senior receiver Billy McMullen not only headlines a great cast of pass-catchers but also ranks on the very short list of the top players at that position in the country.
It hardly seems fair, the 6-5 Shaub lobbing balls to the 6-4 McMullen over helpless defensive backs but that may be a familiar sight this season. McMullen caught a school record 83 passes last year, accounting for 1,060 yards and 12 touchdowns. He broke Herman Moore's school record for receptions by 29 catches and has a legitimate chance to become just the third ACC player ever with over 200 career catches.
Wake Forest's Desmond Clark and Florida State's Peter Warrick are the others and McMullen needs 59 catches to join them.
That chase and the fortunes of the Cavaliers rest on the strong arm of Schaub, who certainly seems primed for the challenge.
"Schaub has a year under his belt, and he has certainly taken to the leadership role in the offseason," said coach Al Groh. "He gives a sense to the other players that, 'I'm he leader of the offense and you can count on me to do all the right things.'"
Schaub is the only UVa quarterback with any experience, so he'll need to stay healthy. Groh has been assembling a hulking, NFL-style offensive line in front of him to protect the team's best interests. Junior center Kevin Bailey highlights a line that returns three starters and has a wealth of inexperienced players waiting in the wings.
In addition to McMullen on the receiving end of his passes, junior Michael McGrew seems ready to emerge as a top-flight receiver. He was named the most improved player on offense this spring. Sophomore Ottowa Anderson and junior Ryan Sawyer are also legitimate threats to make Air Groh more than a passing fancy.
"I wanted to improve on my ability to make good decisions, to be quicker and faster," Schaub said. "I've learned that if I can get the ball to the open man as fast as possible, they can make plays. All the pressure isn't on me. I think I'm getting smarter and maturing as a quarterback."
The Cavaliers don't have another mature QB on the roster. With Spinner gone, redshirt freshman Marques Hagans (5-10, 198) emerged as the backup in spring practices. Coaches like his athleticism and winning attitude but his size may be a problem.
The offense takes on a different look with Hagans at the helm. Musgrave runs more sprint outs and bootlegs to help create passing lanes. Hagans hasn't mastered the variety of throws Schaub displays, either. He still needs work on his touch passes, and he may be pushed if incoming freshman Anthony Martinez (6-3, 217) is as good as advertised.
Martinez of Montpelier, Va., was a consensus Top 100 prospect and was rated the fourth best high school quarterback by Tom Lemming. He completed 104-of-202 passes for 1,912 yards and 17 touchdowns last season at Patrick Henry High School.
The only other candidates are sophomores returnees David deLaureal (6-3, 200) and Billy Schweitzer (6-3, 210), neither of whom have taken a snap in a game. Schweitzer was out in the spring with a sprained knee.
Groh has said he'd like to bring in at least one quarterback every year to assure himself of four quality signal-callers in the program at all times. Right now, though, he'll settle for one proven starter having a breakthrough year.
"(Schaub) needs to play more consistently than he played last year and nobody knows that more than he does," said the coach.
And nobody wanted the job more than Schaub, according to Groh. "You can see he's very comfortable with being the quarterback," he said. "You have to be comfortable with that. Everybody wants to be the quarterback, but in reality, not that many of them would really enjoy it. Matt really enjoys being the quarterback."
And now that he has the job, Schaub has the chance to make this Virginia season very enjoyable, too.
U.Va.'s Mathis to transfer
J.C. Mathis, a former starting forward, is leaving the University of Virginia men's basketball program and will transfer to another school.
The 6-8, 225-pound Mathis, a rising junior, ended last season as a seldom-used reserve, and his prospects for 2002-03 didn't look promising. Travis Watson, Jason Clark, Elton Brown and Nick Vander Laan all figured to play more than Mathis in the frontcourt.
Mathis' departure means U.Va. has no one left from the two-man recruiting class that enrolled in the summer of 2000. Swingman Maurice Young quit the team early last season and later transferred to St. Bonaventure.
Reached last night at home in Brooklyn, N.Y., Johnny Mathis said his son hadn't decided where he would transfer.
Mathis, who averaged 3.4 points and 2.1 rebounds as a freshman, started the Cavaliers' first 20 games last season but struggled with turnovers and shot selection.
He played a total of 39 minutes in the final five games. Mathis finished the season with averages of 4.9 points, 4 rebounds and 1.8 turnovers.
He shot only 47.9 percent from the foul line and 44.2 percent from the floor.
His finest game came Jan. 24, when he had 20 points and 15 rebounds in a 93-59 win over Virginia Military Institute.
"I sincerely appreciate J.C. Mathis' contributions to our basketball program that past two years," U.Va. coach Pete Gillen said in a statement released by the school.
U.VA. NOTES
PROMOTIONS? Walt Fuller is moving his stuff into Tommy Herrion's old office at University Hall, but Virginia men's basketball coach Pete Gillen has yet to announce how he'll fill the vacancy created by Herrion's departure.
Herrion, who had been Gillen's lead assistant, was hired as the College of Charleston's head coach last month. Michael Malone, a New York Knicks assistant who worked for Gillen at Providence and U.Va., was considered the leading candidate to replace Herrion if Gillen went outside the program. Gillen may be leaning, however, to bumping up Alexis Sherard to the slot held by Scott Shepherd and elevating Shepherd to Fuller's former position.
Sherard, 32, succeeded Malone as director of men's basketball administration after the 1998-99 season. Shepherd, 35, recently completed his third season as a Virginia assistant. Fuller, who turned 38 on Thursday, left William and Mary's staff to become a U.Va. assistant in 1998.
INCOMING: Don't be surprised if U.Va. adds a transfer before next season. Gillen figures to have at least one scholarship available for 2002-03. Roger Mason Jr., who declared last month for the NBA draft, isn't expected to return for his senior season, and another Virginia veteran is likely to transfer to another school.
Mason took his final exams at U.Va. this month, but he's spent most of the past six weeks in the D.C. area, where he works out with former NBA head coach Bernie Bickerstaff. Even though the recent decisions of Duke's Mike Dunleavy and other underclassmen to enter the NBA draft could push Mason out of the first round, the 6-5 guard seems determined to stay in the draft, sources said.
Should Mason return to Virginia, he would probably be the preseason choice as ACC player of the year.
BIG RED RISING: Third-seeded Virginia (10-3) will meet sixth-seeded Cornell (10-3) Sunday afternoon in an NCAA men's lacrosse quarterfinal in Baltimore. The Cavaliers, who had a first-round bye, haven't played since April 30. The Big Red hammered Stony Brook 12-3 in the first round Saturday.
The NCAA tournament victory was Cornell's first since 1988, when it crushed Virginia 17-6 to advance to the title game. That was also the last time these schools met in men's lacrosse. U.Va. leads the series 3-2.
Top-seeded Johns Hopkins plays Massachusetts in a noon quarterfinal Sunday at Homewood Field. The U.Va.-Cornell game will follow at about 3 p.m.
GOING GONZO: Former U.Va. assistant Bobby Gonzalez has been named one of five court coaches for USA Basketball's 2002 men's junior national team trials, May 31 to June 2 in Colorado. They'll conduct drills, coach scrimmages and work with players at the tryouts.
Former U.Va. coach Terry Holland chairs the USA Basketball committee that selected the court coaches. Gonzalez, who spent six years as an assistant under Gillen at Xavier, Providence and U.Va., recently completed his third season as Manhattan's coach.
DETOURS: Twenty-six football players signed letters of intent with U.Va. with February. Several members of that group may have to enroll elsewhere in 2002-03.
Offensive lineman Robert Jenkins, a freshman at Nassau Community College on Long Island, N.Y., isn't likely to be admitted at U.Va. this year. Jenkins met NCAA academic requirements coming out of high school and, in fact, first signed with the Cavaliers in Febuary 2001. But Virginia's admissions office steered him to junior college and still has reservations about his transcript.
The status of defensive linemen Robert Armstrong and Keenan Carter, 12th-graders at Washington-Lee and Potomac high schools in Northern Virginia, respectively, also is uncertain. Armstrong recently scored above the NCAA's required minimum on the SAT and said Monday that he'll qualify for freshman eligibility if his spring grades are good. If Armstrong falls short, though, or U.Va. doesn't admit him, he'll spend a year at prep school.
The same is true for Carter, who may have more ground to make up academically than Armstrong. - Jeff White