Wright eyeing UVa program
By Whitelaw Reid / Daily Progress staff writer
May 7, 2006

Some good news for Wahoo Nation came out of Day 2 of the Southern Invitational. Very good news.
Chris Wright, one of the top high school point guards in the country, told The Daily Progress that Virginia is one of the schools in the running for his services.

Wright said he's been very impressed with what UVa has been able to do in a short amount of time under coach Dave Leitao.

"Virginia's doing well," said Wright, after leading Boo Williams, his AAU squad, to an easy 87-62 win on Saturday after-noon at University Hall. "They were picked to finish last in the ACC last season and finished much better than that. They have a First-Team All-ACC player [Sean Singletary] and Coach Leitao is a great coach. He has a great coaching staff that has a plan. They have the John Paul Jones Arena. Everything looks good and seems on the rise."

In the wake of North Carolina State coach Herb Sendek's departure for Arizona State, the 6-foot-1 rising senior from St. Johns College in Washington, recently backed out of his verbal commitment to the Wolf-pack.

"I was upset," Wright said, "but he made the best decision for his fam-ily, so I wish him the best and hope he does well out there."

Clearly, N.C. State's loss could be Virginia's gain.

Rivals.com rates Wright as a 5-out-of-5-star recruit. According to Rivals, Wright has been offered a scholarship by Virginia, Maryland, Wake Forest, Villanova and Georgetown, among others.

Recruiting analyst Bob Gibbons said the 190-pound Wright could very well be the best point guard prospect in the class of 2007. Boo Wil-liams, Wright's coach, concurred.

"He's a scoring point guard," Williams said. "He can lead, and he's big and strong. He has a lot of good things about him."

Williams said he has no idea which school Wright might be leaning toward, but said Virginia wouldn't be a bad spot for his floor general.

"You get a kid like that, that's a good way to start off," Williams said. "There wouldn't be any drop off in replacing Singletary."

On Saturday, Wright showed why he is so sought after. On several occasions, he simply moved the ball ahead via the pass - something of a lost art in today's play-ers who tend to overdrib-ble.

"He's a great team player," said AAU coach Mark Scott, whose team lost to Wright. "He got his teammates involved in the game."

In addition to his playmaking skills, Wright also showed an uncanny ability to slice through defenders and finish strong at the rim.

On one play in the sec-ond half, he used a hesi-tation move and crossover dribble to perfection, then spun in the lane and banked in a shot as he was being fouled.

Wright has drawn some comparisons to Allen Iverson, who also played for Boo Williams.

"Just being mentioned in the same sentence as Allen Iverson is pretty amazing," Wright said. "What he has done for basketball is remarkable.

"I'm just trying to get better and keep improv-ing every day. Every-body's so good now. You have to keep getting better and never be satis-fied. That's my big thing."

Even if Wright doesn't choose Virginia, the fact that recruits of his caliber are now giving serious consideration to UVa speaks to the inroads that Leitao has made since arriving in Charlottes-ville.

When pressed about his top college choice, Wright, who is very polite and articulate, said: "Whoever shows the most interest in me and who I feel most comfortable with is where I'll go."

 

Top picks' draft fates entwined
Bob Glauber
FOOTBALL
May 7, 2006

There may not be any obvious connection between the top draft picks of the Jets and Giants, but look a little closer, and you'll see a tie-in between Jets offensive tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson and Giants defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka.

In fact, had the two men not met in one-on-one drills at the Senior Bowl in Mobile last January, who knows if they'd have ended up where they are today? And if Kiwanuka, a former Boston College star, hadn't been injured in a game against Ferguson's Virginia Cavaliers, there's a good chance the Giants would never have had the chance to draft him.

Go back to the Senior Bowl practices, where scouts gathered to watch the premier talent in advance of last weekend's draft. Ferguson already was the consensus choice as the top blocker in the draft, and he only enhanced that position when he went up against Kiwanuka.

Ferguson continually dominated Kiwanuka, and many scouts immediately put a red flag up when assessing the defensive end's potential. One scout who watched the drills suggested Kiwanuka's wiry frame (6-5, 260 pounds) would be insufficient to withstand the punishment in the NFL trenches.

But the Giants' scouting staff lives by this rule when judging talent: Never downgrade a player based on what he does at the Senior Bowl.

Instead, the Giants took into consideration what happened to Kiwanuka in a game against Virginia last October, when he was cheap-shotted by Ferguson's teammate, Brad Butler. The hit was so vicious that Butler was suspended for a week by coach Al Groh. Kiwanuka suffered ligament damage to his right knee, although he did not require surgery. He was, however, slowed by the injury the remainder of the season.

"If he didn't have that injury, I think he'd have been a top 10 pick," said a scout who monitored Kiwanuka before the draft.

A top 10 pick? Then the Giants would never have had the chance to get him. Drafting 25th, the Giants instead traded down with the Steelers at No. 32. Pittsburgh chose Ohio State wide receiver Santonio Holmes and the Giants took Kiwanuka.

There was some speculation that the Giants would target North Carolina State defensive tackle John McCargo, who would have filled a glaring need along the interior defensive line. But a person familiar with the Giants' draft-day thinking said Kiwanuka had a much higher grade than McCargo, and that even if the Bills hadn't traded up to No. 26 to take him, the Giants would have selected Kiwanuka.

For the Jets, it was an easy decision to take Ferguson. After cursory talks to move up to No. 2 to take Reggie Bush, the Jets settled on the player they'd targeted for most of the spring. It was the guy who pushed Kiwanuka around like a tackling dummy back in Mobile.
 

Trying to lift NFL stock
After dismissal from Virginia, Brooks eyes the supplemental draft
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER May 5, 2006

If you're looking for Ahmad Brooks, you won't find him in Charlottesville.

Brooks, a former all-ACC linebacker, is no longer attending classes at the University of Virginia. His home for the past month has been an Atlanta suburb, where he's training and trying to raise his stock in the eyes of NFL teams.

"He's doing great," said trainer Chip Smith, the founder and president of Competitive Edge Sports in Duluth, Ga. "He's doing everything that we ask him."

In January, after weighing his options, Brooks announced he'd put his NFL dream on hold and would return for his senior season at U.Va. He didn't make it to spring practice. Virginia coach Al Groh said in late March that, for unspecified reasons related to "focus, commitment, dependability," he'd dismissed Brooks, Tony Franklin and Vince Redd from the team.

Neither Brooks nor his family has spoken publicly about his dismissal. But Brooks has hired an agent, Greg Williams of Raleigh, N.C., and hopes to be selected in the NFL's supplemental draft this summer. To that end, he's living at a Duluth hotel near the Competitive Edge facility and working out daily with Smith, who's trained hundreds of NFL players, including linebacker Brian Urlacher and Keith Brooking.

For about five hours each day, Brooks runs, lifts and performs linebacker drills under the tutelage of Smith. Brooks' training partners include NFL linebackers Nate Wayne (Lions) and Hannibal Navies (Bengals), and they're also acting as mentors, Smith said.

Brooks isn't in great shape. Even so, his rare blend of size, speed and athleticism remains dazzling. "These veteran players who are with me, they watch him move and say, 'Wow,'" Smith said.

"If somebody will give him a shot and he'll walk the straight and narrow and stay focused on being a football player, I think he could be a Pro Bowl player as a rookie . . . He's got a long way to go, but I tell you, he has all the tools to be a great one."

As a senior at Woodbridge's Hylton High, Brooks was USA Today's prep defensive player of the year. He led the Cavaliers in tackles as a true freshman in 2003 and again in '04, when he was all-ACC and a Butkus Award finalist.

Brooks, who stands 6-4, played at about 262 pounds in 2004. He hasn't been that light since. In March 2005, Brooks had knee surgery, and he ballooned in the months that followed. Brooks missed much of last season because of knee, ankle and back injuries, and the extra weight didn't help.

"That was one of the negative things that I think caused his demise at Virginia," Smith said. "When he got hurt, he didn't rehab like he should have and put some weight on."

Smith declined to say how much Brooks weighed when they started training together. Brooks, who has a nutritionist overseeing his diet, has dropped about 12 pounds since then, Smith said, and the "goal probably is to have him between 260 and 265. At that weight, he's probably going to be as athletic as any linebacker I've worked with."

In the wake of Brooks' problems at U.Va., NFL teams have questions about his work ethic, his passion for football, his ability to keep his weight down and his character. Those around Brooks know it will take time for him to rehabilitate his reputation.

"For now, the most important thing is for him to work out and be ready," said Williams, Brooks' agent. "I certainly believe he'll get an opportunity somewhere. It's just a question of being ready to take advantage of that opportunity when it comes."