Cavs open tourney with Pack again
By Jay Jenkins / jjenkins@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
May 23, 2007

When asked on Monday about playing Virginia in yet another ACC Tournament, North Carolina State coach Elliott Avent instantly started laughing.

“It wouldn’t be right if we didn’t open with Virginia in the ACC Tournament,” Avent said. “They could have announced that at the beginning of the year.”

Amazingly, and despite format changes, N.C. State and Virginia have managed to meet every year in the league’s postseason event since 1996.

“It is truly unreal,” Avent said.

Given recent results in the series, nobody could blame Virginia (41-13, 19-9) for hoping the tradition ends soon. The Wolfpack (36-19, 16-14), in fact, have won 43 of the last 60 head-to-head contests, including two games in a three-game set earlier this month at Davenport Field.

N.C. State might also be one of the hottest teams in the league at the moment, having won five of its last six games.

“I feel really good about our chances,” Avent said. “We are playing the best baseball that we have all year.”

Like Virginia, N.C. State has accomplished enough thus far to secure a berth in the NCAA Tournament. With that in mind, Avent said he is planning to hold his ace, Eric Surkamp, until Thursday against North Carolina and “probably” employ right-hander Clayton Schunick (5-2, 5.44 ERA) in today’s opener.

“Since we are in a regional and we have to get to the championship game or win it to probably host, we are thinking more about setting up our pitching staff for a regional,” Avent said. “What we are trying to do is keep Surkamp in the rotation that he has been in. “We also had a couple of things going on that I don’t like to talk about - Andrew Brackman has had a little tragedy in his life that he is dealing with so we are going to roll him back to Saturday, which leaves [today] open against Virginia.”

After serious debate, Virginia coach Brian O’Connor as elected to start righty Jacob Thompson this morning.

“He is going to get us off to a good start,” the skipper said. “I want us to get off to a good start, and Jacob has the best chance of doing that.”

Thompson, who is 10-0 with a 1.46 ERA, received a no-decision against the Wolfpack on May 11. The sophomore pitched 6.1 innings, allowing six hits and two runs, in a game that Virginia later won, 4-2.

Cavs' heart finally beating in rhythm
Middle of Virginia's order clicking at right time
By Jay Jenkins / jjenkins@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
May 23, 2007

With a savvy move, Virginia coach Brian O’Connor could have saved a few bucks on his budget.

The skipper could have saved ink costs by getting pre-made lineup cards that included three names.

This season, as was the case a year ago, Sean Doolittle, Brandon Guyer and David Adams have been fixtures in the marquee spots in the Cavaliers’ batting order.

Manning the Nos. 3, 4 and 5 spots, the trio has served as Virginia’s 1-2-3 punch. But interestingly enough, the threesome has typically failed to deliver in unison in the same game. Perhaps that is just baseball, a game that O’Connor often says is “loaded with failure.”

Should the trio remain productive simultaneously, as they were during a two-game sweep of Boston College last weekend, opponents may feel as though they are walking barefoot on broken glass.

Against the Eagles, the three sluggers combined to hit .500 with eight RBI and seven extra-base hits.

“It’s about time we are [clicking],” Guyer said. “It seems like we all haven’t been locked in at the same time the whole year. Either I was hitting good and they were struggling or they were hitting really well and I was struggling.

“We are finally locked in, and you couldn’t pick a better time to be locked in like we are right now. That definitely plays to our advantage.”

Virginia (41-13) will find out today. The Cavaliers open the ACC Championships in Jacksonville, Fla., this morning at 10 against North Carolina State.

UVa will also play Georgia Tech (Thursday, 4 p.m.) and North Carolina (Saturday, 1 p.m.) in the round-robin event.

O’Connor, who boasts a 4-5 record in three previous trips to the ACC Tournament, said he needs stars such as Doolittle, Guyer and Adams to help lead his team.

“When you get to the postseason, you need your marquee players to step up and perform to be successful,” O’Connor said. “I fully expect those three to help carry us the remainder of the year.”

He might not have been at liberty to stake such a claim a month ago.

Doolittle was slumping. Guyer, after a sizzling start, was starting to cool off, and balls hit off Adams’ bat seemed to have a tracking device set to find an opposing glove.

It was eerily similar, Adams said, to the funk that followed the Cavaliers around during a quick exit from the 2006 ACC Tournament and later in the Charlottesville Regional.

“Last year, we struggled towards the end of the season, especially playoff time,” Adams said, “but I think we are starting to come together, and that is what we needed after losing three in a row.

“I actually think we needed that [losing streak].”

Virginia’s associate head coach, Kevin McMullan, may have the best answer for the new results with the three sluggers.

It starts with continued self-evaluation, something each one of the All-ACC honorees is slowly mastering.

“All three have had different approaches,” said McMullan, who also serves as the team’s hitting coach. “Like anything, pitching always eliminates good offense. If you pitch, command the zone and hit guys’ cold spots, you have a chance to be successful [on the mound].”

Should an opposing pitcher make a bad pitch, McMullan said: “Those three guys have enough skills to make people pay for their mistakes out over the plate.”

Being the third hitter in the order, Doolittle, a junior, is perhaps the most important table setter. The 2006 ACC Player of the Year certainly demands the most respect, having hit 22 career homers.

After going 1 for 7 against James Madison on April 25, however, Doolittle was batting just .290 on the season.

“Some things you can’t explain,” McMullan said. “I do think he got more aggressive about a month ago, and I think because of that aggressiveness people started changing their pitching point a little bit.

“Anytime he uses the middle of the field he is in good shape. When he starts rolling on ground balls or slicing balls the opposite way, it is more of his plan than his approach.”

The tides have turned during the past 10 games - Doo-little is batting .436 (17 for 39) in that stretch and has had logged an extra-base hit in five straight contests.

In impressive fashion, a large number of Doolittle’s hits during that stretch have come with two strikes. McMullan said only two of his former pupils, Arizona Diamondbacks third baseman Chad Tracy, who played college baseball at East Carolina, and Washington Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman, have been better with two strikes.

“Doc is obviously in that class,” McMullan said. “I would like him not to get to two strikes, quite frankly, because of the part of the lineup that he is in, but I can tell you this: he doesn’t panic with two strikes when a lot of kids get outside themselves and can’t handle it.

“If he stays aggressive he will be fine.”

After posting steady power numbers and an increased batting average, the coaching staff switched Guyer and Adams in the batting order 20 games ago.

Guyer has already matched his 2006 numbers in homers (7) and doubles (19), which helped him break former Cavalier great Bill Narleski’s record with 53 two-baggers for his career.

McMullan said Guyer’s dedication in fall workouts in 2005 helped the outfielder transform “from a non-factor to an impact guy as a freshman.”

“Part of the reason we wanted him to come to Virginia was because he has tremendous work habits. He is very diligent,” McMullan said. “We thought when he got here as a freshman, that his better days were ahead of him if he could make adjustments and pay attention to what pitchers were trying to do him.

“If a guy doesn’t go behind blinders, pays attention to what people are doing and goes back to the drawing board and works on his game on a daily basis, I think it comes out as results.”

The same could be said for Adams, who stayed positive despite going through a mid-season slump that dropped his batting average more than 100 points. With 10 hits in his last 18 at-bats, the sophomore second baseman has seen his average climb to .371, and he has seven RBI and two homers in his last three games.

“David is a team player, No. 1,” McMullan said. “He never thinks anything is good enough. As a younger player, [being moved from fourth to fifth in the batting order] could have been detrimental to a kid, but part of his development is to understand that you are not going to get a hit every time up.

“If you stay persistent in your preparation, which he has done since he came to Virginia, the numbers will all balance out.”

Adams received a valuable lesson as a rookie, the coach said.

“Last year, David had 20 days of a bad stretch where he didn’t feel good or he didn’t feel good about himself and he couldn’t execute … now, here he is as a sophomore, and he probably had a 10-day stretch,” McMullan said. “It is inevitable that it’s going to happen in baseball. It is how you handle it from a maturity standpoint and stay really true to preparation and believe in yourself that matters. David has done that.

“Obviously he had a pretty good weekend [at Boston College], and I don’t expect anything different down the stretch.”

If the same can be said about all three, the postseason schedule could be a lengthy one.


 

Cavs assistant Lanier headed to Florida
By Whitelaw Reid / wreid@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
May 23, 2007

In the end, Rob Lanier said he went with his gut. And Lanier’s gut likely told him he’d be crazy to turn down a two-time reigning national champion a second time.

On Tuesday evening, Lanier told The Daily Progress that he has accepted an assistant coach’s position on Billy Donovan’s staff at Florida - the same position he turned down roughly a year ago.

“Last year I didn’t feel as though the timing was right,” Lanier said. “This year, for whatever reason - for no reason in particular - it felt like an opportunity that I had to take.

“I felt I needed to take a closer look at it this time. My wife and I felt like it was the right time to take advantage of the opportunity.”

Lanier was a head coach from 2001-05 at Siena before joining Dave Leitao’s staff prior to the 2005-06 season. The Buffalo native, who was also an assistant at St. Bonaventure, Rutgers and Texas, was considered Leitao’s right-hand man.

When Leitao was ejected from a game this season, it was Lanier who took over as head coach.

When reached by phone on Tuesday evening, Leitao said he would reserve comment on Lanier’s departure until today.

Lanier, who will be replacing Donnie Jones - who left Florida to become the head coach at Marshall - was offered the same position at the end of last season when the Gators lost Anthony Grant to VCU.

Lanier said Leitao understood his decision.

“He handles it the same way he handles everything - poise, intelligence and class,” Lanier said. “Having been a head coach, I know what it’s like getting the call and you learn that you’re losing a guy.”

Lanier is the second coach to leave Virginia in the two years that Leitao has been in Charlottesville. After the 2005-06 season, Gene Cross left for Notre Dame. Leitao took several months to fill that vacancy with former Providence assistant Bill Courtney.

Candidates to succeed Lanier may include Virginia Director of Basketball Operations Drew Diener and American assistant coach Jason Williford. Both were finalists for Cross’ spot last year.

Lanier, who played a large role in the recruitment of Ryan Pettinella and Jerome Meyinsse, said the decision to leave wasn’t easy.

“It felt like the right time to take a little bit of a leap of faith,” he said. “It’s always hard to leave a great place with great people around you that represent a great place like this. Our quality of life has been so good here, but we just had a feeling about it and went for it.

“Last year, as soon I got the call I knew what I wanted to do. This year, when the call came, there was a different feeling in my gut about it.”

 

Cavs at their most dominant
Virginia eyeing first-ever national championship
By Whitelaw Reid / wreid@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
May 23, 2007

Remember Pedro Cerrano, the character from the hit movie “Major League” - the guy who couldn’t hit a curveball to save his life?

The way senior Kerry Maher tells it, the University of Virginia women’s rowing team had a lot in common with Cerrano last season. When faced with adversity, team members didn’t always respond well.

“Weird things would happen,” Maher explained. “Somebody would lose a piece of equipment, something would break. We had different injuries. It was just a whole bunch of curveballs.”

Virginia wound up missing the NCAA Championships for the first time since the meet’s inception in 1997. Maher, a senior, says the team was “completely demoralized.”

This season, however, Virginia has bounced back to have one of its most successful campaigns ever.

At the recent South/ Central Regionals, UVa dominated the likes of Ohio State and Tennessee - two top-20 programs. Virginia became the first school to ever sweep all five events as well as all the preliminaries.

“The way we see it now,” Maher said, “we’re starting to throw curveballs at other people.”

Coach Kevin Sauer called his team’s performance at regionals the best in school history.

“It was a pretty special day,” Sauer said “The fact we were able to win all the races - it’s never been done before. It was pretty cool.

“If somebody had asked me to write it out, like a screenplay or something, I probably couldn’t have done a better job. It was pretty amazing.”

On Friday, fifth-ranked Virginia begins competition in the NCAA Championships at Melton Hill Lake in Oak Ridge, Tenn. The semifinals and finals are slated for Saturday and Sunday.

Sauer, who was named ACC Coach of the Year for the fourth time in his career this season, said the challenge is to keep the team’s momentum rolling.

“We’ve worked the kids really hard this week,” Sauer said. “I think they’re pretty sharp and ready to go.”

Virginia has compiled a staggering race record of 160-3 this season. The coach believes all the hard work that the team put in during the offseason is what is making the difference. He says every rower has made strides.

“It’s hard to pinpoint one kid in particular,” Sauer said. “The senior class has done a great job. The juniors and sophomores have really stepped up. And we have a fantastic freshman class.

“It’s been a team effort across the board.”

Of course, a little luck never hurt.

Earlier in the season, Chrissie Monaghan, a member of the varsity four boat, was badly injured in a bike accident. The senior spent time in an ICU unit, but, remarkably, has returned to action.

Augustus Stratos, a Charlottesville High graduate, had never rowed before stepping foot on campus. Now the sophomore is a member of the varsity eight boat.

All the stars seem to be aligning for the Cavaliers this season.

“I think everyone’s just taken a different commitment to it - individually and as a team,” said Maher, a member of the varsity eight. “People are working together differently and really working together. We don’t have any clashing at all and that’s made a big difference in not only doing the work, but doing it well.”

That has everyone thinking that an NCAA Championship is within reach. Virginia has never won a title in women’s rowing. In 1999, UVa finished tied for first with Brown, but lost in a tiebreaker. In 2005, the Cavs were runners-up to Cal.

“It’s been a goal ever since I’ve been a first-year,” Maher said, “but this year I think it’s something that seems even closer and within our grasp. We have a lot of speed and have been a commanding team.”

Added senior Melanie Kok, who also rows on the varsity eight: “It’s definitely something we’ve thought about and have been working toward for four years. It would definitely be a great thing if it happened.”

Sauer, who is in his 12th year at the helm, has taken Virginia to nine NCAA Championships. Only three other schools in the country have done that.

But winning it all is what he has been striving for ever since he helped take Virginia’s program to varsity status in 1995. (Prior to that, women’s rowing had been a club sport).

“It’s really hard to do,” he said. “There are 90 programs across the United States, from Southern California to Washington, to Harvard and Yale. … There’s just a lot of competition. To be able to pull it off, it would be a dream come true.”

Now that Virginia can handle those curveballs, nothing seems out of the realm. Maher says a major key to the team’s success has been taking a different mental approach.

“When something unexpected happens - at that moment your mind just clicks over to not freak out,” she said. “You have to take it and run with it. No matter what the situation, you just go with it.”

And, if all else fails, try a little voodoo like Cerrano.

 

U.Va. will try to make seeding hopes blossom
Performance in ACC tourney could affect site for Cavs in NCAA
Wednesday, May 23, 2007 - 12:06 AM Updated: 01:25 AM
By JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER

No matter what happens this week in Jacksonville, Fla., the University of Virginia will be among the 64 teams invited to the NCAA baseball tournament.

But how the Cavaliers (41-13) fare in Jacksonville, site of the ACC tournament, could determine where they play the first weekend -- and maybe the second, as well -- of the NCAAs.

Sixteen teams will host NCAA regionals (June 1-4). U.Va. was awarded regionals in 2004 and '06 and is likely to host one this year, too. The Cavaliers are No. 8 in the latest Baseball America rankings.

"I feel pretty good about it," fourth-year coach Brian O'Connor said, but "I don't think anything's a lock. I'd feel a lot better if we played well this week."

The top eight seeds in the NCAA tournament are assured of hosting Super Regionals if they advance past the first weekend. To earn one of those coveted seeds, U.Va. might have to win the ACC tournament.

"At least get to the championship game, if not win the whole thing," O'Connor said.

Virginia is seeded No. 3 in the ACC tourney. The Wahoos open today at 10 a.m. against sixth-seeded N.C. State (36-19), which has won six of the past seven games in the series. This will mark the 12th consecutive season in which these teams have met in the ACC tournament.

"I think it's good," O'Connor said. "They've had our number, that's for sure, but sooner or later that's going to change, and hopefully it's sooner."

The eight teams in the tournament have been split into two divisions. U.Va., N.C. State, No. 2 seed North Carolina and No. 7 seed Georgia Tech make up Division B. Division A consists of No. 1 seed Florida State, No. 4 Clemson, No. 5 Miami and No. 8 Wake Forest.

Each division will play a round-robin tournament, with the winners advancing to Sunday's championship game. U.Va. faces Georgia Tech (31-23) at 4 p.m. tomorrow and UNC (45-11) at 1 p.m. Saturday.

A commitment to pitching and defense is at the core of O'Connor's coaching philosophy, and his players generally have excelled in both areas during his tenure. Late in the regular season, though, uncharacteristic breakdowns plagued Virginia on the mound and in the field.

Before closing with two victories at Boston College -- the series finale was washed out -- the Cavaliers had dropped three of their previous four games.

"Obviously, we were disappointed in the last two games against N.C. State and the game against Coastal Carolina, but that happens," O'Connor said. "We bounced back, and all things are positive around our team going into the ACC tournament."

A school-record five Cavaliers were named all-ACC this week. Sean Doolittle, Brandon Guyer and Jacob Thompson were first-team selections. Casey Lambert and David Adams made the second team.

Lambert, who holds the ACC record for career saves, has been the Cavs' closer for four seasons. In the regular-season finale at BC, however, he made his first start of the year. In four innings, Lambert allowed two hits and one run and struck out three.

"I just wanted to take a look at him in that role, and he looked great," O'Connor said. "At least now, I know that's an option."

ACC tournament breakdown
FAVORITE: Top-seeded Florida State’s weaknesses were exposed two weeks ago when Clemson reached its bullpen. But the Seminoles can outscore anyone. The luxury of saving ace Bryan Henry for either Miami (Friday) or Clemson (Saturday) almost ensures their berth in Sunday’s title game, in which they potentially could feast on someone’s No. 4 starter.

CONTENDERS: The ACC knew what it was doing when it scheduled the No. 2 North Carolina/No. 3 Virginia showdown for Saturday. While the Tar Heels lack last year’s rotation headliners, they are well-rounded and savvy. Virginia, which thrives on pitching and the ability to manufacture runs by playing small ball, never should be discounted.

DARK HORSE: By its standards, No. 7 Georgia Tech is rebuilding and does not have the oomph at the bottom of its batting order to scare opponents. But the top six are formidable, and 6-foot-8 sophomore left-handed pitcher David Duncan could score an upset against Virginia or UNC.

MOST TO GAIN: No. 4 Clemson has a case for playing host to an NCAA Tournament regional. There also are plenty of reasons the selection committee should look elsewhere. The Tigers can strengthen their sales pitch by going 2-1. Anything less opens the door for a road trip next weekend.

MOST TO LOSE: The Cavaliers did themselves no favors in their pursuit of a national seed by losing two of three at home to North Carolina State in the next-to-last ACC series, then dropping another home game to Coastal Carolina. With table-setter Greg Miclat sustaining a season-ending injury last week, this ship could sink fast if Virginia tanks in the tourney.

WINNER: No. 2 UNC. The Tar Heels have lost 19 of 23 road games to Florida State since 1993, and because of location, the Seminoles might as well be considered the home team in this tournament. But UNC is the scrappiest club in the league and has the pitching depth to give Florida State a fight Sunday.

— Paul Strelow




 

Florida hires U.Va. aide
Lanier is leaving Leitao's staff to join Donovan's program
Tuesday, May 22, 2007 - 08:50 PM Updated: 09:15 PM
By JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- University of Virginia men's basketball coach Dave Leitao is losing an assistant to the reigning NCAA champion.

Rob Lanier, who came to U.Va. with Leitao in the spring of 2005, has accepted an offer to join Billy Donovan's staff at the University of Florida.

"I'm excited, and I'm saddened at the same time," Lanier said, "because it's never easy to leave a great place where there's special people."

After his longtime assistant Anthony Grant left Florida last year to become head coach at Virginia Commonwealth University, Donovan tried unsuccessfully to hire Lanier away from U.Va.

After the Gators repeated as NCAA champions in April, Donovan lost another assistant, Donnie Jones, who became head coach at Marshall. Donovan renewed his pursuit of Lanier, 38, and this time he got his man.

"I made the decision the same way I made the decision last year," said Lanier, a former head coach at Siena. "My gut told me something, and I followed it. And that was it . . . It was a great opportunity for me and my family in a lot of ways."

Lanier flew to Gainesville, Fla., on Monday morning. He returned to Charlottesville yesterday afternoon and informed Leitao of his decision.

"It's been a little bit of a whirlwind, and I hate it for Dave," Lanier said. "I went through the same thing as a head coach, with Steve Seymour."

Seymour, now a U.Va. assistant, left Lanier's staff at Siena in 2004 to accept a position at LaSalle. Before taking over at Siena, Lanier was an assistant at Niagara, St. Bonaventure, Rutgers and Texas. He has degrees from St. Bonaventure and Niagara.

The Times-Dispatch's attempts to reach Leitao last night were unsuccessful. Candidates for Lanier's position will include Drew Diener, 27, U.Va.'s director of basketball operations for the past two seasons.

 

Once a Celtic ...
UVa star J.R. Reynolds makes a triumphant return to Roanoke Catholic
By Doug Doughty

J.R. Reynolds knew that his return to Roanoke on Monday would involve the retirement of his Roanoke Catholic jersey.

Another presentation caught him by surprise.

“I think he was touched,” school president Ray-Eric Correia said.

Reynolds, who played on three state-championship teams during his four seasons at Roanoke Catholic, was awarded an honorary Roanoke Catholic degree Monday morning at a school assembly.

“Two degrees in two days,” said Reynolds, who received a diploma Sunday from the University of Virginia.

“Wow!”

Reynolds had spent his final year of high school at Oak Hill Academy, a national basketball power that was ranked No. 4 in the country in 2003.

“It always felt like a little something was missing,” Correia told students at the assembly.

If Reynolds had finished his career at Catholic, where he started as an eighth-grader and scored 2,237 points in four seasons, perhaps there would have been a ceremony in 2003.

“But, with the kind of career he had at Virginia, it would have been hard not to recognize him again,” former Catholic coach Dick Wall said.

Reynolds finished his UVa career as one of the top 10 scorers in school history and was one of the Cavaliers top three 3-point shooters.

After ceremonies at Roanoke Catholic, Reynolds attended an afternoon meeting of Roanoke City Council, where mayor Nelson Harris handed him a proclamation observing James R. “J.R.” Reynolds Day.

After that, Reynolds hoped to catch a few hours of sleep before a Roanoke Valley Sports Club banquet at which Virginia coach Dave Leitao was the featured speaker.

Wall, a lawyer who coached the Celtics throughout Reynolds’ career, had spoken earlier in the day.

“You may never see the combination of talent and virtuosity on the basketball court, together with the humility he carries,” Wall said. “There’s lots of good basketball players — maybe not as good as J.R. — but I believe today is for J.R. the person as much as it is for J.R. Reynolds the player.

“Graduating from college in four years is not a layup for people who don’t play big-time college basketball. I told people when he got here in the sixth grade that 'here’s a kid who’s going to graduate from one of the best universities in the country, with basketball as his ticket.’”

Reynolds was greeted at the assembly by a host of teammates from Catholic’s championship teams from 2000-2002.

“He came here in the sixth grade and I came here in seventh grade,” said Matt Nowlin, who went on to play at Division I Elon. “I was real disappointed when J.R. left for Oak Hill, but that was the best thing for him.”

Reynolds spoke briefly at the assembly, expressing concern that he might have accumulated some unserved demerits and noting that he had made sure that his shirt was tucked into his pants.

After the assembly was over, he signed close to 100 autographs.

“I loved this school so much and it was hard for me to leave, especially when so many people had done so much during the time I was here,” he said. “Some of the guys I had played with, I hadn’t seen them in a long time. People came all the way from Ohio.”

When last seen on a basketball floor, Reynolds had scored 28 and 26 points in Virginia’s two NCAA Tournament games — the first of his career. He had 22 points in the first half against Tennessee but sprained his ankle before halftime in a 77-74 loss.

Leitao said Reynolds could not have played the following week even if UVa had advanced. Reynolds also had a hip injury that contributed to a late-season drought.

“They said it was a stress reaction,” Reynolds said. “I can’t describe it. I took four or five weeks off, which was very hard, but I finally feel like I’m close to 100 percent. I just wish I’d gotten a feeling of what the NCAA Tournament was like in my first couple of years.”

Reynolds has been working out at an International Management Group training camp in anticipation of the annual NBA pre-draft camp in Orlando, Fla.

He has been listed as a second-round pick in several mock drafts.

“I don’t pay much attention to that talk because it changes all the time,” he said. “Right now, I’m just taking care of the things I can.”
 

Duke wants to restart clock
Extra eligibility is requested for lacrosse players
By Jeff Barker
Sun reporter
Originally published May 23, 2007

Duke is asking the NCAA to grant an extra year of eligibility to men's lacrosse team members whose 2006 season was cut short by the university after rape allegations against three players, according to a school official.
The rape allegations have since been discredited, and Duke would like the players to be able to, in effect, make up for lost time.
Duke's request has been filed "at the NCAA level," Art Chase, the school's sports information director, said last night. Chase said that, as a matter of protocol, the request was presented first to the Atlantic Coast Conference at its recent spring meeting of athletic directors and other officials.
Duke, which plays Cornell in the final four at M&T Bank Stadium on Saturday, has 12 seniors on the 41-man roster, including Matt Danowski, one of the nation's top attackmen. If the NCAA approved the request, the seniors could remain enrolled by pursuing a second major or entering a Duke graduate program. The team already has a graduate student, co-captain Ed Douglas (Gilman), who had a year of eligibility remaining because he didn't play as a freshman.
John Danowski, Duke's coach and Matt's father, said last night that it wasn't an appropriate time to discuss the request or which players might stay at Duke if it were granted. "We don't know what's going to happen," the elder Danowski said. "This game Saturday is so important to us and when the time comes we'll deal with it."
Danowski said Duke has 13 players coming in next season as freshmen.
NCAA spokesman Bob Williams said he hadn't seen Duke's application, which is called a season-of-competition waiver.
"The real issue is, are we talking about a suspension that was an institution's decision? This wasn't the NCAA's decision," Williams said. "We look at such requests on a case-by-case basis."
Duke initially suspended the season March 28, 2006, after an exotic dancer claimed she was sexually assaulted by three team members at a party at an off-campus house. A week later, Duke canceled the season.
Last month, North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper dropped charges against the three players, saying no attack occurred.
John Walsh of Bethesda, whose son, Johnny, is a senior on the team, said yesterday that he had long heard that Duke might seek relief for players who felt cheated out of a season. Duke had a 6-2 record when the season was canceled and was coming off a year in which it had advanced to the NCAA title game.
"I don't think my son would do it [remain at Duke]," Walsh said. He said his son already had a job lined up on Wall Street. "But someone like [Matt] Danowski and Zack Greer would obviously rewrite the records books if they had another year," Walsh said.
Williams, the NCAA spokesman, said he couldn't recall another case in which a team asked for an extra year. "Not to my knowledge, not an entire team," he said.