Coach's advice pays off for Ferguson
Virginia football coach Al Groh attends the NFL Draft at the invitation of Jets newcomer D'Brickashaw Ferguson.
By Doug Doughty
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Some people might have spotted Virginia football coach Al Groh on the stage Saturday at Radio City Music Hall and thought nothing of it.

"I was the only college coach who was there," said Groh, who joined the family of first-round NFL Draft pick D'Brickashaw Ferguson.

Actually, there were two college head coaches there, Groh and Kansas State's new head coach, Ron Prince.

Prince was Ferguson's offensive-line coach for four years at Virginia.

"D'Brickashaw invited his high-school coach [Russ Cellan], his college coach and his college position coach," Groh said. "It's just another measure of D'Brickashaw. His appreciation speaks to his humility and how grounded he is."

Groh has been a college head coach for 11 seasons at Virginia and Wake Forest, and he was a college assistant for a decade before that. None of his players ever had invited him to the draft before.

"The thought of being there never crossed my mind till he invited me," Groh said.

It was not unfamiliar territory for Groh, who in 2000 served as head coach of the New York Jets, the same team that used the fourth pick to select Ferguson.

"It's almost become custom that the Jets fans are going to razz their pick," Groh said. "It seemed like he got a very positive response."

And the cheers didn't turn to boos when Groh took the stage.

"I was able to stay pretty anonymous," he said.

Ferguson's selection, the highest for a Virginia player since 1942, came 15 months after a meeting between Groh and Ferguson's parents after the 2004 season.

"The two players who've done the best job of taking all the information given them and making good decisions were Heath Miller and D'Brickashaw," Groh said. "I told Heath, 'You're welcome to stay, [but] I think you're ready to go, I think you're going to play well. I think you're ready to handle that lifestyle.' "

Miller, the nation's top tight end in 2004, was drafted in the first round by the Pittsburgh Steelers last year and now wears a Super Bowl ring.

Groh said the Ferguson family asked him to come to Freeport, N.Y., last year to discuss whether or not Ferguson should return to UVa for his senior year. Groh felt Ferguson who never was redshirted, was still a young player who needed to get bigger and stronger.

"He dramatically improved his game," Groh said. "He probably made himself $5 or $6 million by staying."

The decision that few people could understand this year, in hindsight, was Kai Parham's decision to pass up his final season of college eligibility. Parham, a first-team All-ACC linebacker, failed to crack 5.0 seconds for 40 yards at the NFL combine and went undrafted.

Groh did not advise Parham to go pro but said it would come off as sour grapes if he second-guessed the decision now. Parham ended up signing a free-agent contract with Dallas -- no coincidence, as it turns out. Cowboys head coach Bill Parcells and Groh were longtime NFL coaching associates.

"I didn't have to call [Parcells] after the draft," Groh said. "He routinely calls me before the draft and asks about our players."

Groh said he was pleased that all of his nine NFL-bound players were going to good situations. That included free agents, a number that grew to five when linebacker Bryan White signed with the Jets.

White, who turned heads when he ran a 4.69 40 at UVa's pro timing day, and Ferguson weren't the only UVa players to go to the Jets. Defensive end Brennan Schmidt, who like White has a background in the 3-4 defense favored by new Jets coach Eric Mangini, also signed as a free agent.
 

Questions abound as academic year ends
It’s a numbers game for football, men’s basketball coaches
Doug Doughty

Before directing the readers to Notebook Plus for the remainder of the summer, I must confess that there are some loose ends that remain untied as the Virginia sports year comes to a close.

For one thing, it would be interesting to know who’s going to be on the UVa men’s basketball roster at the end of the summer.

It’s safe to say that signees Will Harris and Jamil Tucker will join Ryan Pettinella, a transfer from Pennsylvania by the way of Cincinnati and Monroe (N.Y.) Community College, but who else?

With those three, Virginia will have 11 players on scholarship, a number that will not change with the addition of Andy Burns, a 6-foot-8 walk-on from Bishop Ireton in Alexandria.

There has been talk of Burns sitting out the 2006-2007 season as a redshirt, but if anything happens to centers Jason Cain, Tunji Soroye or Pettinella, the Cavaliers might need him. Of course, they got through the 2005-2006 with two post players – Cain and Soroye – so three should be enough.

It is amusing to think that Virginia spent most of the year trying to stay under the 13-scholarship limit and now the Cavaliers have two scholarships to give.

They probably could get 6-foot-5 Nigerian Solomon Tat to sign right now – both sides, seemingly, are agreeable – but it wouldn’t mean anything if Tat’s visa isn’t extended.

While a letter-of-intent would bind Tat to Virginia, that doesn’t concern the Cavaliers. UVa has been unwavering to Tat and Tat has been unwavering to UVa, but, if he is required to return to Nigeria, that isn’t going to matter.

Tat, who has gone to school and played basketball in Stockbridge, Ga., was one of three players who committed to the Cavaliers during the fall. One of them, 6-8 Johnnie Lett from Mobile, Ala., actually signed with UVa.

Lett still may meet NCAA eligibility guidelines but he has agreed to go to Hargrave Military Academy for a year before moving to Charlottesville. UVa made the same overtures to 6-8 fall recruit Andy Ogide from Dallas, Ga., but Ogide, a 3.8 student, decommitted and signed with Mississippi.

If Virginia had its choice, the last two scholarships would be filled by Tat and 6-foot McDonald’s All-American Scotty Reynolds from Herndon High School. Reynolds was released from the letter-of-intent he signed with Oklahoma before Sooners’ coach Kelvin Sampson went to Indiana, but it is expected that Reynolds will end up at LSU.

Virginia was involved for a time with Ben Uzoh, a 6-2 combination guard from San Antonio, Texas, who signed Sunday with Tulsa. Uzoh visited Tulsa, Wichita State and Creighton but also had UVa and Oklahoma on his list.

It is possible that there could be a late addition to UVa’s roster – and not just Tat – but the number of quality prospects is dwindling.

AS FOR FOOTBALL, the magic number in recruiting this year is 14, as in “UVa can sign only 14 players,” but I don’t believe it.

Those calculations may have been based on the fact that Virginia has so few seniors, but scholarships always open up – at UVa, at Virginia Tech, anywhere.

At the end of spring practice, Virginia had 60 scholarship players in good standing, with 24 recruits on the way. Throw in four players suspended prior to the 2005 season – Ron Morton, D.J. Bell, Philip Brown and Chris Johnson – and that makes 88.

Add safety Tony Franklin, left off the spring-practice roster, and that makes 89. Franklin is very iffy after a one-game, in-season suspension and a later marijuana arrest, but head coach Al Groh hasn’t entirely closed the door on him.

Obviously, Virginia will be down to 85 scholarships by the start of the season. It has no choice. But the number “89” includes only nine seniors (Marcus Hamilton, Michael Johnson, Christian Olsen, Jeff Schrad, Jason Snelling, Fontel Mines, Gordie Sammis, Deyon Williams and possibly Franklin). What about 2007?

For the sake of argument, let’s say Virginia gets down to 85, which it will. With the departure of nine seniors, the Cavaliers would be at 76 and could sign only nine players for 2007. Where does the number “14” come from?

First of all, not all of the 24 recruits are going to qualify. The best guess is that 6-8 of Virginia’s signees might have to go to prep school, but eventually the Cavaliers would hope to sign them again, or would they?

There’s been speculation already that Winston-Salem quarterback O.C. Wardlow will re-open his recruiting now that Virginia has taken a commitment from West Springfield QB Peter Lalich, but who else will opt out?

My guess is that the remaining scholarships will come from various sources. It would be a surprise if Morton and Bell return this year and Brown and Chris Johnson are no lock. Walk-ons Mike Robertson and Ben Parziale probably would not return for a fifth season of eligibility in 2007 and there are other variables, such as the academic difficulties that caused three players to miss spring practice altogether.

In the end, there should be plenty of scholarships. Wherever the number “14” came from, it could not have included the 2006 recruits who may have to spend a year in prep school.

BY THE TIME this column resumes in August, the start of the school will be around the corner and, one way or another, the numbers will add up to 85 and 13.
 

Men's tennis to host regional; women earn No. 2 seed at Duke
By Sean McLernon / Daily Progress staff writer
May 4, 2006

The NCAA Men's and Women's Team Championship field was announced Wednesday night and both Virginia teams have to be pleased with where they ended up.
The men (21-8) were awarded the No. 8 seed overall and will host the first two rounds for the third straight season. The Cavaliers take on Army (12-15) on May 13, and if they win, they will face the winner of the Kentucky/Wake Forest match in the second round the following day.

The women (13-9) head to Duke as the No. 2 seed in that regional, going up against Alabama (11-11) in the first round on May 12, before a potential rematch with the ACC-rival host team in Saturday's second round. The Cavaliers took down then-No. 10 Duke on March 25 in Charlottesville for the first win over a top-10 opponent in school history.

In his first year at the helm of the Virginia program, women's coach Mark Guilbeau led the Cavaliers to their first tournament berth since 2003 when the Cavaliers advanced to the second round. Having coached at Kentucky for nine seasons, Guilbeau knows Virginia's first round opponent well.

"Any team you get out of the SEC is going to be a tough team in terms of fighting their way into the tournament," Guilbeau said. "I like our depth against them, I feel we fit them really well."

After finishing the season 6-15 overall and 2-8 in the ACC in 2005, Guilbeau and the Cavaliers have turned things around, more than doubling last year's win total and earning a No. 26 national ranking.

"We've come a long way," said sophomore Rachel Del Priore. "Initially we set a goal to get into the tournament, but a few weeks into the season we changed our goal to advancing as far as we can."

The men's team is used to success, advancing to the round of 16 the past three seasons. What the squad is not used to, however, is entering the tournament coming off of a loss.

Doug Stewart said that could be a good thing for the Cavaliers.

"It might be better this way," Stewart said. "We all feel like we have something to prove."

Stewart is one of four seniors in Virginia's starting lineup looking to capitalize on their last chance to bring home an NCAA title. The Cavaliers entered the season ranked No. 1 in the country, but have lost eight times this year, including a defeat in the ACC Championship match against Duke.

Virginia coach Brian Boland still likes his team's chances going into the tournament.

"This team is extremely hungry," Boland said. "We haven't done everything we had wanted to this season, but these are the matches that matter. We are right where we want to be."

Should the Cavaliers get through to the round of 16 they will likely face ACC rival Miami, the tournament's No. 9 seed. The Hurricanes beat Virginia 4-3 in Charlottesville on April 7.
 

New charges filed against Sampson
Ex-U.Va. star faces false-statement, mail-fraud counts
BY TOM CAMPBELL
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER May 5, 2006

Former basketball star Ralph Sampson is scheduled to appear in court on May 16 to answer new charges.

A federal grand jury has doubled the number of charges facing former University of Virginia and NBA basketball star Ralph Sampson.

As a result, a trial scheduled for May 16 on perjury charges related to a child-support case will instead be an arraignment on the new charges.

The superceding indictment, dated Wednesday, adds mail fraud and making a false statement counts to the original charges of perjury and making a false claim. The first indictment was handed up in January.

A new trial date will likely be set at the May 16 hearing before U.S. District Judge James R. Spencer.

Authorities allege that Sampson, who lives near Atlanta, lied about his financial situation to a U.S. District Court in Georgia to obtain court-appointed counsel. Sampson made his first court appearance in Georgia after being charged with child-sup- port violations in Virginia.

Sampson has already pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Richmond to charges of failing to pay court-ordered child support for two of his children by two women. Those children live in Northern Virginia.

Sentencing on the child-support case was delayed after the perjury charges came up. Sampson remains free on bond, with travel restrictions.

The new indictment alleges that when Sampson went to court on the child-support charges he declared under penalty of perjury that he was self-employed by "Sampson Communications" and had no income.

According to the indictment:

Sampson was employed as a consultant for a company and was being paid $5,000 per month. He also had a contract with another company that gave him a $200,000 residence in exchange for making commercials and promotional appearances, the indictment says.
Sampson also denied that he owns a $43,000 SUV, which he purchased using a corporate identity. He also sent documents regarding the SUV from Georgia to Virginia for the purpose of defrauding a financing company. And he lied to a U.S. probation officer by telling her that the SUV he drove was owned by his father, Ralph Lee Sampson Sr.