Hampton and Taylor have personal recruiter
Academics an issue for UVa recruits
Doug Doughty

There’s been an interesting twist to the recruiting assignments made by Virginia Tech following the arrival of three new assistant football coaches this past winter.

Recruiting coordinator Jim Cavanaugh, a fixture in the Richmond and Newport News/Hampton areas, has responsibility for every Peninsula District school except Hampton High School.

Staff newcomer Curt Newsome has been assigned Hampton, whose junior quarterback, Tyrod Taylor, is rated the No. 1 prospect in Virginia by The Roanoke Times.

Newsome coached at Kecoughtan High School in Hampton from 1987-1997 and is a good friend of Hampton High coach Mike Smith. Newsome recruited Hampton as an assistant at James Madison, where he coached until joining the Tech staff this past February.

Newsome will have responsibility for the Tidewater area previously patrolled by Bryan Stinespring and will recruit only Hampton on the north side of the water.

Tech was considered the leader for Taylor even before Virginia took a commitment from West Springfield quarterback Peter Lalich, the No. 2-rated quarterback in the state.

Mike Farrell of rivals.com reported earlier this week that Taylor has trimmed his list of schools under consideration to five – Tech, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina State and Tennessee.

According to Farrell’s report, Taylor has a 3.5 grade-point average and 1,200 on the SAT and may take his degree after the first semester and enter college in January. According to Farrell’s report, Taylor will go to camp at Florida and is considering camps at Virginia Tech and South Carolina.

ONE COACH WHO WILL BE WATCHING the various quarterback scenarios play out is Tommy Reamon, now preparing for his second season at Gloucester High School.

Reamon previously was the head coach at Ferguson High School, where he had Aaron Brooks when Bethel’s Allen Iverson was the area’s most-ballyhooed quarterback. At Warwick High School, he had Michael Vick when Hampton’s Ronald Curry was at the top of everyone’s list.

Now, he’s got his son, Tommy Reamon Jr., a 6-foot-2, 196-pounder who will be a junior next season and almost certainly will be overshadowed by Taylor. Tommy Sr. has a pretty good track record with quarterbacks, however, including Marcus Vick.

Reamon says he could have as many as five to seven Division I prospects in the top three classes at Gloucester, whose last ACC-caliber recruit was offensive lineman Turnley Todd, who went to Virginia in the early 1960s. Todd later worked on the UVa staff, then returned to Gloucester as a coach. Todd still teaches at the school.

Reamon knows he will have a Division I-A recruit this year in Aaron Taliaferro, a 6-2, 218-pound linebacker who had more than 100 tackles as a junior, including 19 sacks. Reamon says Taliaferro has offers from 12 Division I-A programs, including Virginia, Georgia, Maryland, Tennessee and Tech. Recruiting analysts consider UVa the team to beat.

“Stay tuned on this one,” said Reamon, who normally advises his players to take their allotted five campus visits. “Something could come up in the days ahead.

“He dominated the Peninsula District last year. He’s in the mold of the [Xavier] Adibis and the [Darryl] Blackstocks and the Chris Ellises. And, I know because I had to defense those people.”

Reamon has another prospect in his junior class, 6-foot, 175-pound cornerback Josh Reamon, whose father is Reamon’s brother, Charles. Tommy said his nephew has offers from Tennessee and Maryland.

Sophomores include 6-8, 375-pound Cody Beebe, who had a bad back this past fall but impressed Virginia coaches with his feet at the Cavaliers’ camp last summer and has an offer from Kansas State, whose new head coach, Ron Prince, previously worked at UVa. Reamon also raves about 6-4, 240-pound sophomore defensive end Josh Lovell.

REAMON SAID HE WAS “excited” to hear that Miami Dolphins coach Nick Saban has given an opportunity to Marcus Vick, who went undrafted after being dismissed by Virginia Tech following an All-ACC season.

“Marcus and I did a lot of talking during this process,” Reamon said, “especially the night of the draft and we talked the other day. He’s happy and, to the Virginia Tech fans, the young man is humble and he thanks them for the experience.

“He said, ‘Coach, I’ll never forget how it ended and I want to make right.’ I said, ‘Marcus, what you’re getting ready for is to live the rest of your life. You’re working like me and your momma and everyone else. You’re a working man. That’s what you’ve got to focus on and put everything else behind you.’

“He made some bad decisions but, because of his name, it just made it worse. Marcus will not be any trouble to Saban.”

UVA-WATCHERS HAVE discounted reports that as many as 6 to 8 Cavaliers signees may not enroll this fall, but two names have surfaced that I had not heard previously.

Virginia could be looking to place George Johnson, a linebacker from Glassboro, N.J., and Gavin Smith from Raleigh, N.C. I’m told that Johnson has met NCAA eligibility guidelines but that there has been a hold-up in getting him through admissions.

Perhaps, the Cavaliers could talk Johnson (or any other qualifier) into going to Hargrave or Fork Union, but that might be difficult if another I-A program jumps into the picture. Johnson is considered one of UVa’s top 5-6 recruits.
 

Strange offseason basketball bounces
David Teel
May 17 2006

William and Mary doomed, Duke saved. Virginia relieved, North Carolina State anxious.

Jeff Capel richer, Jeff Capel poorer.

So transpires college basketball's ever-eventful offseason.

William and Mary would have appreciated a tranquil spring and summer. Instead, freshman guard Calvin Baker, the Tribe's top scorer, decided to transfer.

Ouch. Except for once-a-decade-or-so weirdness, William and Mary cannot contend in the Colonial Athletic Association. No mystery why. The Tribe has too many academic standards, too little money and too dingy an arena.

But led by Baker, coach Tony Shaver had assembled a core of young talent that might have morphed into a decent CAA squad. Good luck now.

Baker's departure is reminiscent of 1998, when freshman forward Bill Phillips transferred to Saint Joseph's after helping William and Mary to a 20-7 season. Phillips thrived in the Atlantic 10, and the Tribe hasn't won more than 12 games in a season since.

A two-time state champion at Woodside High, Baker fancies himself an ACC-caliber player, and maybe he is - Virginia's coaches appear intrigued. Regardless, there's little doubt Baker undersold himself when he committed to William and Mary before his senior season.

Many doubted that commitment, and they were right - a year late. All parties concerned probably wish Baker's epiphany had come earlier.

Late decisions also defined Duke's 2006-07 prospects - for the better. First, after weeks of flirting with the NBA, Josh McRoberts elected to return for his sophomore season. Then, heralded prospect Lance Thomas signed with the Blue Devils.

McRoberts and Thomas are power players, and without them, Duke's front line would have been putrid. With them, the Devils have a fighting chance to remain among the top 10 despite the departure of senior All-Americans Shelden Williams and J.J. Redick.

McRoberts made a wise basketball choice - he's no more ready for the NBA than Vince Vaughn is for Hamlet. But the pros love his wingspan, shooting range and athleticism, and would have made him a top-10 draft choice.

Think McRoberts was tempted? The No. 10 pick in last year's draft - Andrew Bynum to the Lakers - was guaranteed more than $5 million over three years by the NBA's rookie salary scale.

Thomas, a 6-foot-9 forward, considered offers from Florida, Louisville and Rutgers before selecting Duke. He hails from Newark, N.J., where he played high school ball for Danny Hurley, younger brother of former Duke guard Bobby Hurley.

Virginia's relief also arrived in a 6-9 package. Jerome Meyinsse of Baton Rouge, La., didn't generate the recruiting buzz Thomas did, but Notre Dame and Southern California did express interest.

Meyinsse was not among the Cavaliers' primary, season-long targets. But forward Solomon Tat, a Nigerian attending high school in suburban Atlanta, may have to renege on his commitment to Virginia because of visa issues. Moreover, signee Johnnie Lett of Mobile, Ala., is headed to prep school for a year.

Speaking of Plan B: N.C. State athletic director Lee Fowler can relate. After offering the Wolfpack's head-coaching gig to a cast of thousands, he finally got a "yes" from Detroit Pistons assistant Sidney Lowe, the starting point guard on N.C. State's 1983 national-championship team.

Problem is, Lowe never has coached in college. Fawning over snotty recruits, shepherding them through English 101, monitoring the police blotter: The jobs' joys are foreign to him, giving Wolfpack loyalists every reason to be skittish, Lowe's N.C. State pedigree notwithstanding.

Capel's Duke pedigree helped land him the Virginia Commonwealth head-coaching position at the ripe old age of 27. And it didn't hurt his chances when Oklahoma came calling last month.

A 100-percent pay increase ($300,000 to more than $600,000) will go plenty far in Norman, Okla., but it won't overcome the departure of three signed recruits. Quite fairly, the school granted releases to guard Scottie Reynolds, forward Damion Jones and center Jeremy Mayfield after Sooners coach Kelvin Sampson bailed for Indiana.

Soon to graduate from Herndon High in Northern Virginia, Reynolds is of particular interest. He not only played summer ball for Boo Williams' Hampton Roads-based team, but also heard overtures from Virginia and Virginia Tech.

Recruiting mavens say Georgetown and Villanova are the leaders for Reynolds, but as the last month shows, forecasting college basketball's offseason is a fool's errand.
 

Greensboro has seats, gets tournaments
Charlotte not in mix as ACC awards events to cities with high-capacity arenas
KEN TYSIAC

AMELIA ISLAND, Fla. - Charlotte was left out and Greensboro was the big winner Wednesday when ACC officials voted to award men's basketball tournament sites from 2011 through 2015.

The tournament will be held at the Greensboro Coliseum in 2011 and 2013-15. The Georgia Dome in Atlanta was awarded the 2012 tournament. The ACC has the ability to opt out of one tournament from 2013 through 2015 in Greensboro and award it to another site.

If that happens, Greensboro would get the 2016 tournament.

Charlotte Bobcats Arena remains the site of the 2008 tournament. Tampa (2007), Atlanta (2009) and Greensboro (2010) previously were scheduled as sites. ACC Commissioner John Swofford said availability of tickets was an important issue in awarding sites to Greensboro and Atlanta.

The ACC's expansion from nine to 12 teams has created extra demand for tickets. The Georgia Dome can accommodate 40,000 for basketball. Capacity at the Greensboro Coliseum is 23,745.

Swofford said that's 3,500 to 4,000 more fans than other arenas in the ACC's footprint -- including Charlotte -- can accommodate.

"With 12 schools, you need as many seats as you can get, but we still don't want to go to the big, large venue (Georgia Dome) every second year," said N.C. State athletics director Lee Fowler. "So we'll look at every third year going to a big venue, but then keeping it at the next-largest venue (Greensboro) those other years."

The ACC awarded sites without asking other cities to bid, Swofford said. Jeff Beaver, executive director of the Charlotte Regional Sports Commission, said he was disappointed Charlotte didn't have an opportunity to bid.

Swofford said Greensboro has done an excellent job maintaining its coliseum, which also was awarded the ACC women's basketball tournament through 2015. Charlotte has gone in a different direction, closing the Charlotte Coliseum, which seated 23,895 per session for the 2002, 2000 and 1999 ACC tournaments.

"Their circumstances are different (from Greensboro's)," Swofford said. "They have an NBA team, and that need has to be met first. And we've grown as a conference. We've never been to Charlotte that we didn't have a terrific experience, and I'm sure it will be the same in '08."

Conference officials left the ACC's spring meetings without taking action on future football championship sites. The ACC has a two-year contract with Jacksonville, Fla., for 2005 and 2006, with a two-year option for 2007 and 2008.

Swofford said ACC officials were "extremely pleased" with the way the inaugural championship was run last year and said Jacksonville has set a "very high standard" for future games.

Attendance was 72,749, but the game fell short of a sellout, and had many empty seats. Swofford said he would like to see a sellout. A determination on the option will be made around the time of this year's Dec. 2 championship game, Swofford said.

Beaver said Charlotte officials, who were outbid by Jacksonville for the inaugural games, will be prepared to bid again if asked by the ACC.

"We are very optimistic that Charlotte still will be given some consideration for the football championship after this two-year run," Beaver said. WINNER: GREENSBORO

The Greensboro Coliseum will host the ACC men's basketball tournament in 2011 and 2013-15. It had already been selected to host the 2010 tournament. LOSER: CHARLOTTE

Charlotte Bobcats Arena will host the 2008 ACC men's basketball tournament, but it struck out Wednesday as a site for 2011-15 events.

 

UVa still carrying memories of '04
By Whitelaw Reid / Daily Progress staff writer
May 20, 2006

A bitter loss to Johns Hopkins in the semifinals of last year’s NCAA Tournament has been considered something of a driving force for the Virginia men’s lacrosse team this season.

However, another open wound has been equally motivational.

In 2004, Virginia suffered its worst season in 38 years when it finished with a 5-8 record.

That may seem like ancient history to some UVa fans currently reveling in the glory of an undefeated season. But when Virginia players discuss 2004, their pain is still palpable.

As UVa prepared for its NCAA quarterfinal match against Georgetown on Sunday, coach Dom Starsia talked about the only losing season in his tenure.

“I’ve told people that if you want us to go back and fix 2004, be prepared for the fact that we might not be the same team that we are now,” Starsia said. “The influence of 2004 is a factor in who we were and who we’ve become as much as the end of last season.”

What made the team’s performance in 2004 so mystifying was the fact that it came on the heels on an NCAA championship the year before.

“We just couldn’t figure it out,” said Virginia senior Matt Ward. “We’d come out to practice and I thought we looked as good as the 2003 team that won the championship. We just couldn’t put it together on game day.

“To go 5-8 at Virginia, it was like, ‘Wow, we really let everyone down.’ [But] it really helped us to get better last year. Going through that experience as a sophomore showed me what it took to become a better lacrosse player and pushed the team to what we have been so far this year.”

Virginia senior Michael Culver called 2004 “an all-time low.” However, Culver said there was a silver lining.

“It kind of forged a special bond with our team,” Culver said. “It broke us down, so that when we were building our team back up, it was just so much more special.”

Culver said the biggest thing the team took away from the nightmarish season was that it couldn’t just go through the motions. It couldn’t take anyone lightly.

Culver has learned to savor every victory. Earlier in the season, a reporter asked Culver if he was disappointed with the team’s play, even though the Cavs were 3-0 at the time.

“I just kind of looked at him, like ‘Disappointed?’” Culver said. “At this time my second year we were 1-3 and had the worst start in UVa history.”

In 2004, Virginia middie Drew Thompson was a freshman with lofty expectations.

“I came in thinking, ‘OK, we’re definitely going to play in the Final Four,’” Thompson recalled. “After four games we were 1-3.”

Thompson said 5-8 is always in the back of his mind.

“It shows that you have to work for everything you get,” he said.

Culver used at least one oxymoron to sum up 2004.

“I think it was one of the most important failures that I’ve ever been a part of it,” he said, “and one of the most successful failures.”

But Starsia said there have been many learning experiences during the last couple of seasons.

“I think we’re a product of all the different things that we’ve done over time,” he said. “We happen to have a senior class that has been pretty intact since freshman year, so I think you can look at the quality of all the experiences. That’s what’s resulted in us being right here, right now.”

Where they are is three wins from another championship.

 

Cavs shut down Hokies
Thompson blanks Tech, picks up 10th win of season
By Jay Jenkins / Daily Progress staff writer
May 20, 2006

The scoreboard showed goose eggs where it mattered, but Virginia pitching coach Karl Kuhn had seen enough.

Kuhn’s starting pitcher, Jacob Thompson, was summoned into the tunnel behind the sixth-ranked Cavaliers’ dugout for an impromptu teaching point midway through the third inning.

Thompson was overworking against Virginia Tech and Kuhn knew it. After a quick check of the hurler’s mechanics, the rookie raced back onto the mound. And the rest, as they say, was history.

Thompson retired 10 straight batters, starting with the final out in the fourth, and received more than enough run support to pick up his first shutout on the mound in a 6-0 win over the Hokies at Davenport Field.

With the win, Thompson improved to 10-2 on the season, becoming the second Cavalier pitcher to reach double-digit wins in as many nights. Sean Doolittle (10-1) became the first UVa pitcher since 1996 to reach that plateau in a 4-2 win on Thursday over the Hokies.

“I never even thought that I would have two wins this year,” Thompson said, “much less 10.”

Thompson also became the first Virginia pitcher to shut out the Hokies in the long-standing rivalry since 1969.

Virginia, which managed just four hits on Thursday, jumped out early by scoring two in the first, one in the second and three more in the fourth before Hokie reliever Rhett Ballard silenced Virginia’s bats for the final 4.1 innings.

“Our intensity was better tonight than it was on Thursday night,” said Virginia coach Brian O’Connor, whose team improved to 44-11 overall and 20-9 in the ACC. “We came out right away swinging the bat aggressively and taking extra bases and stealing bases.”

UVa scored both its runs in the first off a one-out, opposite-field double by freshman David Adams.

In the second, Mike Mitchell plated a run with an RBI single and catcher Beau Seabury delivered the game’s biggest hit with a two-run homer in the fourth.

Seabury, who hit his first homer at UVa on Tuesday, said he was merely trying to get a sacrifice fly to drive in Tom Hagan from third.

Virginia Tech starter David Cross (3-8) instead gave Seabury a fastball that was right in his wheelhouse.

“It was up and in,” Seabury said. “At ODU, I was just looking for a pitch to drive and it just happened to go out.”

With the run support, Thompson settled down and kept Virginia Tech (20-32, 4-24 ACC) off-balance. The Hokies managed just four hits for the game, two of which came before the freshman’s chat with his pitching coach.

“Coach Kuhn told me that I was working way too hard,” Thompson said. “He said I didn’t look like myself. We went underneath the stands and did a few drills for about three minutes … not even with a glove or ball. Nothing.”

Coach Kuhn instructed Thompson to pitch with “less effort.” Thompson said he wished he could have used that piece of advice during his high school career.

“That’s the thing in college,’ Thompson said. “You can’t afford to make mistakes or they will make you pay.”

O’Connor said it was just another step forward for the Danville native.

“Jacob Thompson is having an unbelievable year for a true freshman,” O’Connor said. “It is amazing to think this kid is just 18. He has pitched into the sixth inning or deeper in every single one of his starts, and that is the sign of great consistency.

“He is going to be a great pitcher in our uniform for a long time.”

EXTRA BASES: Virginia will honor its senior class prior to today’s series finale at 1:30 p.m. The first pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m. One senior, Mike Ballard (7-2, 3.00 ERA), will start on the mound for the Cavaliers. … Sean Doolittle did not get a hit on Friday, snapping a 10-game hitting streak, but he did receive word that he was a semifinalist for the Roger Clemens Award, which is given annually to the nation’s top pitcher. … Virginia needs just six hits to set the program record for a season. UVa had 626 hits in 1985. … The shutout was the 10th for UVa this season. ... The Cavaliers have secured either the No. 2 or No. 3 seed in the ACC Tournament, which starts on Wednesday. Clemson will be the No. 1. UNC can clinch the No. 2 seed with a win today over Boston College or a Virginia loss to Virginia Tech.

 

Rizza's redemption
UVa senior ready to rebound from disappointment
By Jerry Miller / Daily Progress staff writer
May 19, 2006

It takes a certain mentality to rise to the occasion in pressure situations. Clutch players want the ball in their hands with seconds on the clock or when their match is on the line.

It's a stone-cold mindset. It's ice water in your veins. It's usually Rylan Rizza's makeup.

"Rylan looks at pressure as an opportunity," said Virginia tennis coach Brian Boland. "If it's 3-3 in a match, there is no one in college tennis a coach would rather have on the court."

That's why Boland was so disappointed with Rizza following his 6-2, 6-4 loss to unranked Andrew Hamar in Virginia's 4-2 heart-stopping victory over Wake Forest in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday.

"I was extremely disappointed with his performance," said Boland, who has a father-son relationship with his team, especially with the demonstrative Rizza. "I know he can play at a higher level."

He's right. Rizza has proven himself on countless occasions while at Virginia.

There was the 6-3, 6-2 win over Duke's Ludovic Walter, the nation's fifth-ranked player, in Durham, N.C., this year to help capture the Cavaliers' third consecutive regular-season title.

The California native was also one of two Virginia players (Treat Huey is the other) to win both of his singles matches against Miami, the Cavs' opponent on Saturday night in the NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16 at Stanford University.

Though it's no surprise Rizza stands in second place for career wins in Virginia history - Brian Vahaly 125, Rizza 121 - everyone was shocked to see the sociology major crumble like he did against Hamar in a pivotal matchup.

"There was no excuse for the way Rizza played," Boland said. "These are moments I expect Rylan Rizza to play his best tennis."

Rizza agreed.

"I just didn't come out to play," he explained. "I don't know if it was nerves or what. I don't want to make excuses so I won't, but playing indoors was a tough transition."

The Cavs, who had to beat Wake on Sunday to advance to Saturday's Sweet 16, were shuffled indoors at the last moment to the Boar's Head Sports Club from the outdoor courts of Snyder Tennis Center due to inclement weather.

"My game doesn't suit indoor tennis," said Rizza, eyes straight down and glued to a cracked-sidewalk. "It just doesn't."

Despite the meltdown, Rizza craves the pressure-packed situations. He wants to be on the court with his team tied 3-3 with all the attention zoned in on him.

"I like the one-on-one competition," he said. "In tennis you have the team aspect, but you still have that one-on-one competition. The best player wins. That turns me on."

With long black hair that's often bound in a ponytail, Rizza has looked more rock star and less college tennis player this season.

Because Rizza wears his emotions on his sleeve, it didn't really surprise anyone to see him show up at practice on Tuesday with braided cornrows - think the NBA's Allen Iverson or Shaun Livingston - in place of his Tommy Lee-like mane.

He'd like to forget Sunday's performance. Changing the look is one way to go about it.

"If you don't like pressure or stepping up in big moments, then you really shouldn't be competing," Rizza said. "That's why I play - to compete and win in those situations."

 

U.Va. is team on a mission
Cavaliers don't want to relive agony of last year's NCAA defeat
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER May 20, 2006
NCAA MEN'S TENNIS TOURNAMENT
MIAMI VS. U.VA.
THIRD ROUND:
Today, 9 p.m., Stanford, Calif.

For the University of Virginia men's tennis team, the postseason ended way too soon in 2005. The Cavaliers, seeded No. 2 in the NCAA tournament, fell in the quarterfinals to eventual champion UCLA.

"We were disappointed for a week, a month, the summer, then kind of got back and got over that," U.Va.'s Doug Stewart recalled. "But this is it. If we don't win it this time . . . for a lot of us, this is it for our tennis careers."

Stewart is part of a senior class that helped fifth-year coach Brian Boland revive a struggling program. The Wahoos went 20-8 in 2003, 24-4 in '04 (when they advanced to the NCAA tourney's round of 16), and 27-3 last year.

Virginia, seeded No. 8 in the NCAAs this year, takes a 23-8 record into its third-round match with ACC rival Miami (20-4) tonight at Stanford.

Of the Cavs' six seniors, three are from California: Stewart (Malibu), Darrin Cohen (Lafayette) and Rylan Rizza (Rancho Palos Verdes). In last weekend's second-round victory over Wake Forest, Rizza played No. 2 singles, Stewart No. 3 and Cohen No. 6.

"I've thought about this for a long time," Boland said, "and I don't think there's any better way for these guys, who came to Virginia and helped us build a program, to finish their careers, back home at Stanford. I'm excited for them. They've earned it, and now they're in the final 16, and I think they'll play well."

The Cavaliers are 1-1 against the Hurricanes. Miami won 4-3 in Charlottesville in the regular season, and U.Va. prevailed 4-2 in an ACC tournament semifinal at Durham, N.C.

Eight ACC teams advanced to the NCAA tournament's second round, and four are in the final 16. The tourney's No. 1 seed, Georgia, is from the SEC, but the Bulldogs aren't prohibitive favorites.

"There's a dozen or more teams that can win the national championship," Boland said, "and that's great for college tennis."

It took him three months to get over last year's NCAA tourney, Boland said, "so I don't want to go through it again. It was really painful to lose to UCLA. I felt like we had as good a chance to win a national championship as anybody, and I obviously feel more strongly than ever [this year], because we not only have one of the best teams in the country, we have the experience."


 

Test: Boyfriend likely sperm source
Report says it's not from players
Jim Nesbitt, Joseph Neff and Samiha Khanna, Staff Writers

DURHAM - The latest DNA analysis shows that the boyfriend of the woman who says she was raped by three men at a Duke lacrosse team party is the most likely source of sperm found in her body.
However, the director of the private laboratory in Burlington that conducted the test said it is impossible to pinpoint when the woman had sex.

"In general, if we test a vaginal swab, there's no way to determine how old the semen is on that swab," said Brian Meehan, laboratory director of DNA Security Inc. Meehan would not discuss the tests conducted in the lacrosse investigation.

As a rule of thumb, live sperm cells can live inside the body for 48 to 72 hours after sex, said Marcia Eisenberg, technical director for Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings, a forensic identity lab. Even after the sperm cells die, it is possible to extract DNA from fluid left in the body.

The sample tested by Meehan's lab was recovered from the woman during the administration of a rape kit and medical examination at Duke Hospital early the morning of March 14. This was shortly after the woman, an escort service dancer, told police she was raped during a team party at 610 N. Buchanan Blvd. that started March 13.

The lab report, requested by Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong and released to defense attorneys May 12, ruled out all 46 lacrosse players who submitted DNA samples as sources of the sperm and said there were no matches with the company's in-house data bank of 3,561 DNA profiles. The report said the boyfriend, who is not a suspect in the case, could not be excluded.

The DNA Security report said Dave Evans, one of three senior co-captains living in the rental house on Buchanan Boulevard, could not be excluded as the source of the DNA found on an artificial fingernail taken from a wastebasket in a bathroom at the house. But the report also noted that 14 of the 3,561 profiles in the company's DNA data bank could not be excluded as sources.

Nifong requested the second test by DNA Security because the Burlington lab has more sophisticated capabilities than the State Bureau of Investigation lab in Raleigh, defense attorneys said. The SBI tests showed no DNA links between the accuser and the members of the lacrosse team.

Evans, 23, of Bethesda, Md., is one of three players charged with first-degree rape, sexual offense and kidnapping in the case. The others are: Collin Finnerty, 19, of Garden City, N.Y., and Reade Seligmann, 20, of Essex Fells, N.J.

Attorneys for the three accused players have been trying to reconstruct the accuser's whereabouts and whom she may have encountered in the hours before she and another escort service dancer arrived at the team party.

As part of that effort, Kirk Osborn, Seligmann's attorney, asked Durham Superior Court Judge Ronald L. Stephens to order Nifong to turn over a cell phone the accuser left at the Buchanan Boulevard house. Stephens ordered the phone be examined and results provided to him for a review.

Where accuser went

On March 24, in her only interview with a reporter, the accuser said she was notified about 8:30 p.m. the night of the party that she was supposed to appear at the Buchanan Boulevard house about 11 p.m.

In an interview earlier this week, her father said he saw his daughter a few times March 13. That afternoon, he said, she picked up her two children from elementary school. About 9:30 p.m., he said, she brought the children to their grandparents' house for the evening.

"She was fine," he said.

After their arrival, he and his daughter took a short car ride about 10 p.m. to a neighborhood convenience store at Cornwallis Road and South Roxboro Street. He bought a pack of cigarettes but said he did not recall what his daughter purchased.

When the two returned to his house, the woman said she had to go out and wouldn't return until 1:30 a.m. He said he does not know whether she left in her own car or someone picked her up. He said she did call him to say she safely reached her destination -- about 11:30 p.m., about the start of a late-night talk show he was watching.

The man said he did not know his daughter was working as an escort that night. She didn't return until late the morning of March 14, the father said.