Rams want old story, new chapter
By Jim Thomas
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
05/15/2006

The Rams hope fifth-round draft pick Marques Hagans is the next Antwaan Randle El. Not that this is a new story line for Hagans. Far from it.

Six years ago, Hagans committed to Indiana University, where he was supposed to be Randle El's successor. Instead, Hagans spent a year at prep school getting his academics in order, and then signed with the University of Virginia.

Randle El, of course, went on to fame and fortune in the NFL with Pittsburgh, and now, Washington.

"He's done a tremendous job in the NFL making a name for himself being a receiver, punt returner, and doing trick plays," Hagans said.Advertisement

The Rams would like nothing better than for Hagans to do the same in St. Louis.

Like Randle El, Hagans spent most of his college career playing quarterback. And he posted some impressive numbers throwing the football for the Cavaliers, including a 62.3 career completion percentage that's second-best in school history.

But at 5 feet 9 1/2 inches, Hagans knew his QB days were over the moment his college career ended.

"There's not too many quarterbacks in the NFL under 6 feet," Hagans said. "If God didn't bless me with the ability to play other positions, I'd probably be kind of stuck. But since I can do other things, like play receiver and return punts, it wasn't a big change."

While backing up Matt Schaub in '02 and '03, Hagans returned 57 punts, one of which went for a 69-yard touchdown against West Virginia in the Continental Tire Bowl. He also carried 47 times for 198 yards and four TDs in those two seasons. He caught 28 passes for 262 yards in '03. (Once Schaub left for the NFL's Atlanta Falcons, Hagans became Virginia's starting quarterback in '04 and '05.)

"What he is is a heck of a football player," Rams coach Scott Linehan said Sunday, following the second day of the team's rookie minicamp. "For a guy to be able to do what he's done - play a number of positions in his college career and be successful at it. Come to an NFL minicamp and play receiver full time, and be really effective. ... That's hard. That's not a natural thing."

Hagans will be given every opportunity to nail down the punt-return job this coming season.

"But you've got to be able to play another position, and he's showed that at receiver, he fits in there pretty well," Linehan said.

With only a morning practice remaining today to conclude the minicamp, Hagans' work at wide receiver has been a pleasant surprise. He has made some tough catches, diving for a sideline pass Saturday, and coming back across his body for a pass thrown behind him Sunday.

"He just makes plays," Linehan said. "Making tough catches is part of making plays. But what he does is catch the ball well with his hands. A lot of times, guys that convert over (to wide receiver) want to 'body catch.' He catches everything with his hands and goes out and gets the ball. And that's something that's really hard to teach. That's a good start."

Besides his pass-catching work at Virginia, Hagans also some played wide receiver in high school. In the 10th grade, he caught passes from Ronald Curry, the college quarterback- turned-NFL wide receiver of the Oakland Raiders.

"So (wide receiver) is nothing that's impossible," Hagans said. "I've done it before. I think the main thing for me is just learning the basic fundamentals of how to be a true receiver, as opposed to just playing it for a little bit and then going back to quarterback. Now, I'm a full-time receiver."

Even if Hagans continues to progress at wide receiver, he doesn't figure to be more than a situational player on a unit that features Torry Holt, Isaac Bruce and Kevin Curtis. His greatest impact as a rookie could come returning punts, where his knack for making the first guy miss will come in handy.

"It's not something that you can work on," Hagans said. "Half the time when I do stuff, it's not even planned. It just happens. It's like instinct. I thank God for the ability that he gave me, but I don't know where it comes from."

Hagans lacks blazing speed, with 40 times in the 4.5- to 4.6-second range. But he insists, "I've never been 'walked down' from behind in a game. ... I have game speed."

He's also got plenty of personality. His nickname is Biscuit. One of his listed hobbies is watching the Cooking Channel. And he has 24 tattoos ... all from a fellow Hagans refers to as "Ben in Charlottesville." He has a tattoo of his home state. A tattoo of his area code. And tattoos devoted to deceased friends.

From time to time, he hangs out with NBA All-Star Allen Iverson, who's also from the Tidewater area of Virginia.

And one other thing: His father used to be a wide receiver.

"So maybe this was meant to be," Hagans said, smiling.
 

Cavs pull out wild win at Old Dominion
From staff reports / Charlottesville Daily Progress
May 17, 2006

NORFOLK - Baseball is a funny game.
Virginia coach Brian O'Connor has said that countless times during his program's magical season.

Those words rang true again Tuesday night.

Down two runs entering the ninth inning, the sixth-ranked Cavaliers did the unthinkable - they put together a three-run rally to claim an 11-10 victory over Old Dominion at Bud Metheny Complex.

In the ninth, Virginia (42-11) got a leadoff homer from catcher Beau Seabury, the first homer of his Cavalier career, and a two-out, bases-loaded single from senior Tom Hagan that led to two runs. Vir-ginia closer Casey Lambert struck out two batters in the ninth on his way to his eighth save of the season.

Old Dominion, which is tied for first in the Colonial Athletic Association, drops to 38-13 on the sea-son.

Given the fashion - UVa gave up six runs in the first inning - O'Connor said the win was as re-warding as any in his three years at Virginia. ODU knocked off UVa 5-1 in February in Charlottesville.

"This win ranks right up there. That was a complete team victory," said O'Connor, whose team tied the program record set two years ago for regular season wins. "It is not too often that you fall behind 6-0 and 7-1 on the road against an NCAA-caliber team and come back and win. It was a great road win for us."

Virginia pounded out 17 hits in the game as every starter recorded at least one hit. That helped take starter Shooter Hunt off the hook.

Hunt never made it out of the first as ODU sent 12 batters to the plate in the six-run inning.

Virginia started its comeback in the third with a lone run. The Cavaliers added three in the fourth and one in the sixth and seventh, respectively.

ODU plated one in the third and one in the fourth before O'Connor handed the ball to former starter Pat McAnaney. The sophomore southpaw pitched four scoreless innings in relief, striking out six bat-ters.

"Pat was definitely the difference maker in the game," O'Connor said. "He kept the game in check and gave us an opportunity to rally for the win in the ball game. If he doesn't do that, we don't win. If he gives up a couple of runs, we don't win that ball game."

Down 8-6 entering the eighth, UVa got RBI singles from Hagan and Jeremy Farrell to tie the game.

The lead would not stand. Set-up man Michael Schwimer gave up two runs in the bottom of the eighth as he allowed two singles, a walk and hit a batter.

That set the stage for Virginia's second ninth-inning rally of the season and Hagan's heroics.

"Tom Hagan has been clutch all year," O'Connor said. "David Adams had a tough strikeout with the bases loaded and one out and Tom picked him up. That's what our guys have been doing all year. That's why I really believe that this is a complete team. They pick each other up.

"In one game it might be pitching, but in the next game, like tonight, it might be the offense that wins the game."

Virginia returns to action on Thursday at 7 p.m. as it opens a three-game series with Virginia Tech at Davenport Field.
 

UVa family loses one of its own
By Jerry Ratcliffe / Daily Progress sports editor
May 17, 2006

Scattershooting around the ACC, while mourning the loss of a great Wahoo ...
They called him "Blackie" and he was considered well ahead of his time as an offensive football mind. But most of all, they called him Coach.

George Blackburn, who guided Virginia football for six seasons (1965-70), died Monday in Dublin, Ohio. He was 93.

Looking back on Blackburn's accomplishments, he was somewhat of a miracle worker, taking over a Cavalier football program that was trying to emerge from its darkest era.

Blackie coached UVa to a 29-32 record during those six seasons, was ACC Coach of the Year in 1968, when he led the Wahoos to a 7-3 record, its first winning season since 1952. Virginia finished third in the league in 1968 and produced the ACC Player of the Year in running back Frank Quayle.

It was in that '68 season that Blackburn truly showed his offensive brilliance in a home game against a high-flying Tulane team. The Cavaliers won, 63-47.

"I've been around football for 40 years and each year I recognize how far ahead [Blackburn] was," said Quayle, now a successful real estate man in Charlottesville and analyst for UVa football radio broadcasts. "He was a brilliant offensive mind, and I was the recipient in so many ways of his expertise."

In addition to Quayle, Blackburn produced another ACC Player of the Year in quarterback Bob Davis in 1966. Blackburn's teams led the conference in total offense, scoring offense and rushing offense twice, and passing offense once during his era.

A native of Columbus, Ohio, Blackburn graduated from Findlay College in 1936. He was head coach at Miami (Ohio) University (1948) and Cincinnati (1955-60) before coming to UVa as an assistant to Bill Elias for one season prior to taking over the program. He also was an assistant coach for Sid Gillman at Miami and Cincinnati, and under Earl Blaik at Army.

Following his career at Virginia, Blackburn worked as a scout for several NFL teams.

He is survived by his wife of 68 years, Elaine, of Friendship Village in Dublin, Ohio, and four children. For details of funeral arrangements, visit the UVa website, www.virginiasports.com.

Hokies series

UVa is requesting that fans wanting to attend this weekend's home baseball series against Virginia Tech, should get their tickets in advance.

A record three-day crowd of 7,367 watched the Cavs take two of three from Carolina last weekend, including capacity crowds of 2,624 for the Friday and Saturday games. Less than 1,000 general admission tickets remain for the Friday-Saturday games with the Hokies.

Thursday's and Friday's games start at 7 p.m., with Saturday's set for 2 p.m.

This will be the final games of Virginia Tech coach Chuck Hartman's long career.

Around the league ...

...Virginia should jump considerably in the Director's Cup with a strong finish by its men's lacrosse, baseball, and tennis teams. The Cavs were 37th after the winter sports but could leapfrog a lot of teams in the coming weeks. ... Duke has lined up a basketball game with Gonzaga, but alas, a year too late. The Dookies will meet the Zags on Dec. 21 at Madison Square Garden, but it won't showcase J.J. Redick or Adam Morrison, who both will be in the NBA.

... New N.C. State coach Sidney Lowe has completed his staff: Monte Towe (resigning his head coaching position at New Orleans to become associate head coach at his alma mater); Larry Harris, who was retained from Herb Sendek's staff; and Quentin Jackson, a point guard for the Wolfpack in 1987, who has been out of the game for the past seven years. ... I don't know about you, but it looks like an excellent juncture for Dave Leitao's Virginia program to pass both State and Wake Forest in the ACC pecking order.

... Florida State coach Bobby Bowden has been elected to the College Football Hall of Fame along with Penn State coach Joe Paterno. Virginia Tech's Bruce Smith was also voted in.

... The ACC baseball tournament returns to Jacksonville, Fla., next week where last year's event drew more than 60,000 fans. But, what's this? The Boss is now involved?

That's right, George Steinbrenner and his endless checkbook are attempting to lure the 2007 and '08 ACC baseball tournament to Tampa. The Yankees' owner, who recently threw a lot of donor money into UNC's baseball program, has guaranteed considerably more than the $75,000 offer by Greensboro, N.C., or what Jacksonville is currently paying for the event.

Apparently the ACC is mulling over offers from Greensboro, which is in its second year in a new minor league stadium; Tampa's Legends Field (where the Yankees hold their spring training); Jacksonville (which hosted last year and this year); and Fenway Park ... yes, that Fenway Park, where the Boston Red Sox and Boston College have submitted a joint bid for the tournament.

Don't know about you, but how can you turn down Fenway?

 

Cavs, Hoyas to vie in quarterfinals
Virginia, Georgetown will play for first time since NCAAs in'03
Richmond Times-Dispatch May 16, 2006
NCAA LACROSSE
U.VA. VS. G'TOWN
SUNDAY:
3 p.m., Towson, Md.

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Virginia's game against Georgetown in the NCAA men's lacrosse tournament will start at 3 p.m. Sunday.

The top-seeded Cavaliers (14-0) will meet the eight-seeded Hoyas (11-2) at Towson, Md., in the second game of a quarterfinal doubleheader. No. 2 seed Maryland will face No. 7 seed Princeton at noon.

ESPNU will carry both games.

Of the top eight seeds in the 16-team NCAA tourney, only No. 6 Cornell failed to advance to the quarterfinals. Virginia beat Notre Dame 14-10 in the first round, and Georgetown edged Navy 9-7.

U.Va. and Georgetown have scrimmaged each other for years, but they've met only once in a game. In 2003, the Cavaliers whipped the Hoyas 12-7 in the NCAA quarterfinals and went on to win the title, their second under coach Dom Starsia.

The Virginia-Georgetown winner will take on No. 4 seed Johns Hopkins or No. 5 seed Syracuse in the NCAA semifinals May 27 at Philadelphia. Hopkins ousted U.Va. in the semifinals last year and then beat Duke for the NCAA crown.

-- Jeff White
 

Cavs mourn passing of Blackburn
The former coach, 93, was the first to sign black players to football scholarships at UVa.
By Doug Doughty
981-3129

Over a 32-year span from 1952-1984, no Virginia football team won as many games as the 1968 squad coached by George Blackburn.

Blackburn, also responsible for the first UVa integrated recruiting class, died Monday in Dublin, Ohio.

He was 93.

"I wouldn't have traded him for any college coach in America," said Gene Arnette, who quarterbacked UVa's 1968 team that went 7-3. "When he walked in a room, he just exuded football knowledge."

Blackburn, a Miami (Ohio) colleague of Hall of Famer Sid Gillman, had a 29-32 record in six seasons (1965-1970) at Virginia. The Cavs led the ACC in total offense in 1966 and 1968, passing in 1965 and rushing in 1967.

"He had an amazing offensive mind," said Tom Fletcher, who got his college start as an assistant to Blackburn and later served as an assistant at North Carolina and Virginia Tech. "He was ahead of his time."

Virginia had not had a black football player on scholarship until Blackburn recruited the 1970 freshman class that included Lexington's Stanley Land, Kent Merritt, Harrison Davis and John Rainey.

"I was involved with that," said Fletcher, whose Southwest Virginia ties helped land Rainey. "He told us, 'Let's recruit the guys on the basis of their skills and they'll be all right. We don't have to recruit a guy just because he's black.' "

Blackburn had integrated teams at previous coaching stops, Fletcher added, and didn't think race was an issue.

"I don't think [Blackburn] noticed any difference," Arnette said. "He was going to evaluate you as a football player. Those [black] players who came here in 1970, they were on the cutting edge. Without someone of his personality and character, I'm not sure they would have come to Virginia."

Blackburn would have had the distinction of taking Virginia to its first bowl game, but the Cavaliers had seven fifth-year seniors in 1968. At the time, the NCAA allowed fifth-year seniors to play in the regular season but not in a bowl game if they had a degree. The Cavaliers withdrew from consideration for the Liberty Bowl and did not make their first postseason appearance until the Peach Bowl in 1984.

In 1970, Virginia lost 17-14 to visiting Maryland in the season finale to go 5-6. Within days, Blackburn was notified by athletic director-in-waiting Gene Corrigan and vice president of student affairs D. Alan Williams that UVa would be making change.

Blackburn hadn't returned home by the time a news release had been distributed to newspapers and his firing had made the nightly news.

"The shot already had been fired and I was dead," Blackburn said at the time. "My wife greeted me at the door with tears in her eyes."

In Arnette's eyes, Blackburn was a victim of pre-Proposition 48 academic standards that prevented UVa from recruiting some of the same players as its ACC rivals. Four other UVa head coaches between 1953-1964 had not come close to Blackburn's winning percentage, but by 1970, there was a diminished acceptance of losing at UVa.

Blackburn earned respect as a scout for New Orleans, Houston and New England during his post-Virginia career and remained in touch with some of his former players, who still remember his "blackie-isms."

"Every so often, he'd say something about Tinkers to Evers to Chance," said Fletcher, referring to a famous double-play combination from baseball's early years. "Nobody knew what he was talking about, but nobody forgot about it either."
 

Just 'Hoo do they think they are?
The 'Hoo Crew at a November 2005 game against Liberty. Now at U.Va., being a fan in the “good” seats requires not only strong school spirit but also a strong attendance record, among other things ...
By ED MILLER, The Virginian-Pilot
© May 16, 2006

They’re wild. They’re zany. They’re spontaneous.

OK, maybe not so spontaneous.

“Members must arrive a minimum of thirty (30) minutes before the start of each home game,” reads one of the many legalistic-sounding rules and regulations of the ’Hoo Crew, a new student fan group at the University of Virginia. The group’s goal is to create a “rabid, hostile” environment for basketball games at the school’s new $129.8 million playpen, John Paul Jones Arena. Assuming “rabid and hostile” can be achieved in an orderly fashion.

“The ’Hoo Crew Executive Board will record proper attendance,” the rule continues. “One (1) tardy will be allowed per semester without penalty. Two (2) tardy arrivals in one semester will be considered the equivalent as missing (1) game.”

Miss more than two basketball games per semester and you become a former member of the ’Hoo Crew.

The group, sponsored by the Virginia Athletics Foundation — the athletic department’s fund-raising arm — is at the center of a controversy over the fairness of the student seating arrangement at the new arena.

Some find the group’s regulations overly restrictive, the whole idea too contrived. ’Hoo Crew members are required to pay a $20 membership fee, stay for the entire game and wear an orange ’Hoo Crew T-shirt. Orange and blue body paint is also considered proper attire.

“I personally think they’re sort of ridiculous,” said Matt Boucher, a junior from New Jersey and the sports editor of the student newspaper, the Cavalier Daily.

Membership in ’Hoo Crew is strictly voluntary. The problem, as some see it, is that the group has been granted exclusive access to the best student seats at the new arena: 492 prime sideline spots. If it fills those, ’Hoo Crew has rights to 216 additional seats behind one basket.

Other students will be relegated to less-desirable seats.

The seating arrangement has touched off a debate at U.Va. Since all students pay the same activity fee, shouldn’t they all have a shot at sitting in the best seats?

Virginia’s athletic department doesn’t think so. It sees the club as a way to guarantee student attendance at all games — the Longwoods and Elons, as well as the Marylands and Dukes — and a chance to cultivate future donors, says Dirk Katstra, executive director of the Virginia Aid Foundation.

“Anything that can be done to motivate students to come on a consistent basis is good for our team,” Katstra said. “Our goal is to create this mind-set of 'students, we need you there.’ ”

Virginia’s basketball team, which hasn’t had a winning ACC season since 2001, has been unable to create that mind-set by itself. Over the final two seasons in 41-year-old University Hall, students used their entire allotment of 2,700 tickets once, said Dick Mathias, Virginia’s athletics ticket manager. For some nonconference games last season, as few as 450 students showed up.

“U.Va. students, when it comes to basketball, are pretty fair weather,” said Danny Rubin, a senior from Virginia Beach who said he’s attended virtually every home game the past four years.

Mandating attendance is one way to create a home-court advantage, something that has evolved naturally at other venues, most famously Duke’s Cameron Indoor Stadium .

Duke has no university-sponsored student fan club, but other schools do. In fact, Virginia is following a trend in which students must earn the right to prime seats at popular events, rather than just line up for them, or put their names in a lottery.

At N.C. State, members of the Student Wolfpack Club earn good seats at football and basketball games by attending lower-profile contests like swim meets and wrestling matches. The university sets aside 800 seats for basketball, 900 for football.

“Those students are going above and beyond what the general student is doing as far as supporting Wolfpack athletics,” said Media Hooks, assistant director of the Wolfpack Club, N.C. State’s equivalent to the Virginia Athletics Foundation.

Arizona has “Zona Zoo.” Michigan State has the “Izzo Zone,” named for head coach Tom Izzo. Wake Forest has the “Screaming Deacons.” At Stanford, it’s the “Cardinal Sixth Man Club.”

The groups have varying regulations and requirements. Most are affiliated with their athletic departments’ fundraising or marketing arms.

’Hoo Crew was started by students who pitched the idea to the athletic department in 2004, Katstra said. The group came under the umbrella of the aid foundation in 2005 and was given seats at University Hall last season. Other students sat at the opposite end of the court, creating “something of a rivalry” between the groups, according to a Cavalier Daily article.

The athletic department held two student forums in March before awarding the ’Hoo Crew prime real estate at the new arena. Sean McLernon, a columnist for the school paper, thinks a student vote should have been conducted.

“We’re all about student self-governance here,” he said. “The fact that they have pretty much closed out all courtside seats from regular students is unfortunate.”

Graham Tucker, a junior who is president and founder of the group, declined to comment for this story, referring questions to the athletic department.

Before the creation of ’Hoo Crew, all students had equal access to tickets. Students used an online system to request tickets, printed them out and then lined up to get seats. If demand exceeded supply, students entered their names in a weighted lottery. A student who attended 10 games, for example, had a better chance of getting a ticket than one who has attended just two.

In recent years, demand has rarely exceeded supply. And with the opening of Virginia’s new arena, supply is growing.

John Paul Jones Arena has 3,250 seats for students, 550 more than University Hall. Approximately 1,900 student seats are in the lower bowl. Students not in the ’Hoo Crew will still have access to good seats. Just not the best ones.

Hence the debate, which has been carried on in the student press and on the basketball message board of a fan Web site, thesabre.com. One letter writer accused the ’Hoo Crew of a “greedy attempt to control the fan base” at men’s games.

Others have said the group stifles individuality and have complained about the attendance requirement.

“I would sure love the opportunity to get into the good seats when I have the time to wait to get into the arena,” wrote one fan, who said he will be in law school next year and won’t have time to attend every game.

’Hoo Crew members, for the record, can avoid being marked absent if another U.Va. student takes their place.

Katstra said he understands why some students who want to attend just a few games might feel the new system is unfair. “But if you’re willing to come to the North Carolina game and stand outside for three hours, do you have more of a right to a better seat than someone who made the commitment to come to say, the Longwood game?”

Rubin, the senior from Virginia Beach, said with the new arena opening, and with the program attempting to rebuild under new coach Dave Leitao, having a strong student turnout can’t be left to chance.

“If they were a top-10 team, every student would go,” Rubin said. “Right now, they need our help.”

 

Swofford: 1 year in, big ACC a big hit
Football, finances on rise; some concerned about men's basketball
KEN TYSIAC
ktysiac@charlotteobserver.com

AMELIA ISLAND, Fla. - ACC Commissioner John Swofford started the league's spring meetings Monday morning by describing the results of expansion as "extraordinary."

"I don't see how we could be any more pleased at this point," Swofford said later Monday, clubs in hand, as he prepared to head to the league's afternoon golf outing.

After one academic year as a 12-member conference, the immediate results of expansion are as predicted when the ACC was debating the merits of expansion three years ago.

The ACC has improved its financial standing and increased its visibility by expanding its geographic footprint. It has upgraded its football, but some wonder if ACC men's basketball paid a price.

ACC basketball has lost its popular home-and-home scheduling format and placed just four teams in the 2006 NCAA tournament.

"That's something that should concern us," said coach Leonard Hamilton, the Gastonia native whose Florida State team went 9-7 in the ACC but failed to make the tournament. " ... I'm sure we'll be discussing it."

Money matters

The 2004-05 academic year was the greatest financial challenge for the ACC because it had added Miami and Virginia Tech to reach 11 members and needed one more school to hold a lucrative conference football championship game.Nonetheless, the revenue the conference paid per school was about the same that year as the previous year, Swofford said. Adding Boston College in 2005-06 allowed for the league's first championship game last season. It exceeded expectations by producing in excess of $10 million in revenue, including broadcast rights.

Despite the increased costs of traveling to Boston and Miami, said Clemson athletics director Terry Don Phillips, ACC schools are netting at least as much money from the conference as they were before expansion.

Renegotiations of the ACC's television contracts has played a large part in the post-expansion fiscal success.

"It's not a tremendous financial windfall whatsoever," Phillips said, "but in terms of your footprint on the Eastern seaboard and the quality of league that it is, the fact that you haven't gone backward financially I think is tremendously significant."

TV audiences have rewarded the ACC's TV partners. No league had higher college football ratings on ESPN last season.

Football thrives

The NFL draft this month provided a striking glimpse at how strong the ACC has become in football. By the end of last fall, no team in the conference was in the mix for the national title, yet coaches were saying the league's talent and depth was startling.

The draft proved their point. Including N.C. State defensive end Mario Williams, the No. 1 overall pick of the Houston Texans, 12 ACC players were first-round picks. No other conference had more than nine.

Boston College, Miami and Virginia Tech have strengthened a league whose previous members went 0-8 against Florida State for three consecutive seasons after the Seminoles entered the league in 1992.

"The team that wins the first conference championship game (Florida State) ends up the season with five losses," said N.C. State coach Chuck Amato. "If a team goes undefeated in this league, they're ready for the Super Bowl."

But 2005-06 also legitimized concerns that ACC basketball would suffer while ACC football thrived. George Mason of the Colonial Athletic Association reached the national semifinals and championed the cause for mid-majors to receive at-large bids.

Meanwhile, no ACC team advanced past the Sweet 16, and the ACC tied its smallest amount of NCAA tournament teams on a percentage basis (.333) since the field expanded to 64 teams in 1985.

"This is a conference that over the course of time has proven that they produce national champions and NCAA tournament teams, and things haven't changed," said Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg. "We have to make sure that people understand that this is a special place."

Strong across the board

Bobby Purcell, the executive director of N.C. State's Wolfpack Club athletics boosters, hopes his team's next football trip to Boston College happens in September, when the weather is warmer, rather than November.

Despite the cold, Purcell said fans enjoyed touring a city some had never visited.

"It's going to be a nice destination city for our fans," Purcell said.

Four months later, Maryland, Duke and North Carolina visited Boston to give the ACC three teams in the Final Four in women's basketball for the first time, with Maryland capturing the NCAA title.

The ACC has four teams in the top 12 of Baseball America's rankings, and had three field hockey Final Four teams and eight teams in the NCAA men's soccer tournament.

"We're extremely strong across the board in every sport," Phillips said, "and I think for the long-term good of the conference, it's good that it's become known as a comprehensive league."

 

Basketball coaches express frustrations
Men want expanded NCAA tournament
KEN TYSIAC
ktysiac@charlotteobserver.com

AMELIA ISLAND, Fla. - ACC spring meetings The heated discussion Tuesday morning at the ACC spring meetings showed why the idea of expanding the NCAA men's basketball tournament is gaining momentum.

Tournament managing director Greg Shaheen spoke to ACC coaches who were frustrated that just four of the conference's 12 teams received NCAA tournament bids. Florida State was the second team with a winning conference record to miss the field since it expanded to 64 teams in 1985.

"We as coaches feel that for whatever reason, the strength of our conference has not been totally appreciated as a league," said Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton, a Gastonia native, "and there's no question that we have just as many teams in our league that deserve to go to the NCAA tournament as any conference in America."

Virginia athletics director Craig Littlepage, chair of the NCAA Division I men's basketball committee, said coaches in other conferences also are complaining. He said the Big East received eight bids and wanted nine. The Missouri Valley Conference received four bids and wanted five.

At the Final Four this spring, Syracuse's Jim Boeheim was among a handful of National Association of Basketball Coaches officers advocating expanding the tournament. Littlepage said the issue will be reviewed.

"The most compelling reason to start to review it is the fact that there are so many very good teams from different areas of the country and at different levels that it becomes more and more difficult to distinguish between teams and pick the teams that are going to be in that at-large field," Littlepage said.

That did little to soothe the bruised egos of ACC coaches, who met with Shaheen along with the ACC athletics directors in a closed-door session Tuesday.

Afterward, N.C. State AD Lee Fowler -- a former Division I men's basketball committee chair -- joked with Shaheen, asking if he was still bleeding. ACC Commissioner John Swofford told reporters to take note that Shaheen was leaving in good health.

"What we discussed was how the 10 individual (selection) committee members (operate), and the reality is, each of them is going to frame the information in a different way," Shaheen said.

George Mason's reaching the Final Four after receiving an at-large bid as a member of the mid-major Colonial Athletic Association gives ACC coaches more reason to worry. Shaheen said George Mason verified there are quality teams everywhere.

Littlepage said Shaheen also advised coaches on their nonconference schedules.

"Generally teams are advised to schedule a balanced schedule, as good a schedule as possible home and away, avoiding playing the bottom teams in the bottom-rated conferences," Littlepage said.

Hamilton applauded Shaheen for showing up and addressing the coaches' complaints. But Hamilton said the Ratings Percentage Index used by the committee remains a mystery.

Adding a few teams to the NCAA tournament might not ease concerns. One idea being floated by those favoring expansion is raising the play-in games from one to four, so each bracket will have one.

"I don't think we can automatically assume that adding teams would make it better," Littlepage said. "But it may. If adding teams can make it better in some way, I think we're all in favor of doing something that can make it better."

 

Lacrosse player facing rape charge releases polygraph test
BY SHARIF DURHAMS
Charlotte Observer

DURHAM, N.C. - A Duke University lacrosse player indicted on rape charges this week released a polygraph examiner's report Tuesday that he says bolsters his claim of innocence.

Joe Cheshire, attorney for lacrosse team co-captain David Evans, provided the two-page report Tuesday from polygraph examiner Robert Drdak, a former FBI agent from Charlotte.

Drdak wrote in his report that Evans said neither he nor anyone else assaulted a dancer hired for a March 13 party for the lacrosse team. Drdak's letter also says he believes Evans told the truth during the exam.

Cheshire said the exam took place a few weeks ago over a period of several hours at his Raleigh office. Moira Bitzenhofer, Cheshire's paralegal, said Tuesday the firm does not have a transcript of all the examiner's questions or a copy of the data Drdak analyzed from the polygraph machine.

Evans, 23, became the third lacrosse team member Monday to be arrested and charged with rape, sexual offense and kidnapping in connection with the party. An exotic dancer hired for the party says three lacrosse players sodomized, raped and beat her. Team members Reade Seligmann and Collin Finnerty also have been charged in the case.

At a news conference Evans held just before he was arrested and released on $400,000 bond, he said he told police early in the investigation that he would submit to a polygraph exam. Investigators declined to take him up on the offer, Evans said, so he asked his lawyer to hire a polygraph examiner.

"I passed it, absolutely," Evans said. "I have done nothing wrong."

Drdak, Durham Police spokeswoman Kammie Michael and Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong did not return calls seeking comment Tuesday.

The CIA, FBI and other law enforcement agencies use polygraph exams despite questions scientists have raised about whether they are accurate.

Some experts say polygraphs are only useful because people subjected to the exams believe that they work, according to a recent Washington Post story on polygraphs used to question CIA employees.

Meanwhile, Evans' attorneys waved a first appearance in court that had been scheduled for Tuesday, according to court officials. A judge scheduled another hearing for Evans during the week of June 19, according to the Superior Court Clerk's office. A hearing for Seligmann is scheduled for Thursday. Finnerty is supposed to have a court appearance in mid-June.Questions and Answers

Lacrosse co-captain David Evans, who was charged in the Duke University rape investigation this week, hired a polygraph examiner in April to question him about the party. His lawyer released the following questions and answers from the polygraph report Tuesday.

Question: On March 13 or March 14 at the lacrosse party, did you physically assault the accuser?

Answer: No.

Question: On March 13 or 14 at the lacrosse party, did you sexually assault the accuser?

Answer: No.

Question: On March 13 or 14 at the lacrosse party, did you actively participate in a sexual assault of the accuser?

Answer: No.

Question: Did you see or hear anything on March 13 or 14 that would indicate the accuser was sexually assaulted at the lacrosse party?

Answer: No.

Question: Did you have any firsthand information that the accuser was sexually assaulted at the lacrosse party on March 13 or 14?

Answer: No.

 

Duke case follows no ordinary game plan
Evans' claims of 'fantastic lies' just latest odd turn in a rape investigation full of them
By Jeff Barker
Sun Reporter
Originally published May 17, 2006

A district attorney says, weeks before anybody is charged, that he is convinced a woman was raped.

A just-indicted defendant bypasses his attorney and proclaims his innocence directly to the media.

Legal experts say they've never seen anything like the rape investigation involving three members of the Duke lacrosse team, a case where participants are defying convention about when to speak and to whom.

There is the unusually high volume of public pronouncements, which means there is plenty for the public to digest. And, there is plenty to misunderstand as well.

Among the things experts say need interpretation are the grand jury indictment process and the case's DNA evidence, which appears to be more complicated than many people imagine.

"I think the public is very confused at this point," says Lawrence Kobilinsky, a DNA expert at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City.

DNA evidence might be critical in the case of David F. Evans, who on Monday became the third Duke lacrosse player to be indicted in the alleged rape of a 27-year-old woman at an off-campus house in March. Evans, a 23-year-old senior captain who attended the Landon School in Bethesda, took the unusual step of addressing the public on the day he was charged, accusing the prosecution of "fantastic lies."

His attorney, Joseph Cheshire, said the possibility could not be ruled out that an artificial fingernail found in a trash can at the house might have contained Evans' DNA. The accuser had told police she clawed at her attackers during a party on March 13 at which the rape allegedly occurred. Cheshire called the DNA link too weak to be conclusive.

But Kobilinsky said there are too many variables for the public to dismiss such evidence based on so little information.

If the DNA evidence on Evans is a partial match, "there are good partials and bad partials," Kobilinsky said. "You can get the whole gamut of possibilities. It could be a very poor partial or an extremely powerful partial."

Since the full DNA report has not been released, Kobilinsky said he has "not heard anything to indicate if it was skin or blood or semen. Who knows what it is? If she scratched a guy, we would expect to find skin and blood."

Lacrosse team members had long said that DNA test results would prove their innocence. An initial set of test results found no matches between the accuser and the players, leading defense attorneys to call on District Attorney Michael Nifong to drop the case last month.

Nifong was talking publicly about the case before charges were filed, but has since been declining interview requests and was unavailable for comment yesterday.

New York attorney David Feige, author of a recent book on the criminal justice system, said the prosecution's claims and the accuser's story have seemed to shift to account for an absence of DNA and other evidence.

"First she says [according to a Duke-released report] that she was raped by 20 people, then she says it was three. Then maybe the players wore condoms. What I find is the speculation conforms itself to the lack of evidence," Feige said.

But Wendy Murphy, a New England School of Law professor who teaches a seminar on sexual violence, said there is a possibility of the existence of DNA evidence of a different sort.

"Perhaps her DNA showed up on an object," Murphy said. "If there is any evidence of her body fluids on an object, then this case is over for the defense."

The father of the accuser, a student at North Carolina Central University who was hired to strip and dance at the party, has told MSNBC that his daughter may have been raped with an object such as a broomstick.

One piece of already-established DNA evidence could work against the accuser. A vaginal swab taken from the woman contained DNA matching an unidentified man who is not a lacrosse player, according to Cheshire.

"She clearly had sex with somebody, and any genital trauma could be consistent with that," Kobilinsky said. That evidence could undercut claims made by authorities that she had injuries after the party that suggested she was raped and sexually assaulted.

Feige said he felt badly for the indicted Duke players, including sophomores Collin Finnerty, of Garden City, N.Y., and Reade Seligmann of Essex Fells, N.J., who, whether found innocent or guilty, will forever be tainted. "You never get your reputation back, and that is the monstrousness and tragedy of the criminal system," he said.

Feige said many people believe grand juries function like trial juries. In fact, he said rules of evidence are significantly relaxed, and the defense doesn't present a case to the jurors.

But Murphy said: "There is a vetting process. And if you go in there and your evidence doesn't stand up, they are not idiots. They are not just rubber stamps."

After being indicted, Evans wanted to publicly show his face to avoid being branded by the prosecution, experts say.

His father, Washington attorney David C. Evans, was asked about that strategy yesterday by The Sun. He replied in an e-mail message: "Our son's statement says it all. We are very proud of Dave and all the Duke lacrosse players."