dailypress.com
U.Va. alum eager to boost recruiting
David Teel
May 20, 2009

Jason Williford returns to the University of Virginia as an assistant basketball coach with a clear and daunting challenge:

Help assemble recruiting classes as good as his own.

Williford arrived at Virginia in 1991 with Cory Alexander, Junior Burrough, Yuri Barnes and Chris Alexander. Some rankings pegged them the nation's No. 2 freshman group behind Michigan's Fab Five.

Both classes flourished.

Coach Steve Fisher's Wolverines advanced to consecutive national-championship games before NBA defections splintered the team. Jeff Jones' Cavaliers embarked on the program's most successful four-year run before or since the Ralph Sampson Era.

"Who better to sell the program than someone who knows what it's like day-to-day and who experienced some success?" Williford said. "We were pretty good."

Williford is right on both counts.

Virginia's coaching staff has lacked alumni flavor since Jones' forced departure in 1998, a void that certainly contributed to the Cavaliers' subsequent decline — one NCAA tournament victory since — and the failed head-coaching tenures of Pete Gillen and Dave Leitao.

Hired in March from Washington State, Tony Bennett is Virginia's fourth big whistle in 13 years. His appointment of Williford rates as his wisest move to date.

Not that Williford, 35, is a cure-all for a program lately more comatose than Jack Bauer. Five seasons at Boston University and the last four at American University do not necessarily portend the next Roy Williams.

That said, his suburban Washington, D.C., recruiting connections, Richmond roots (John Marshall High Class of '91) and U.Va. degree are ideal.

"I think ultimately it is important," Williford said of alumni presence. "I'm honored that it was me."

It might have been other former Virginia players. Anthony Solomon is a Notre Dame assistant; Richard Morgan has worked at several schools, including Hampton, East Carolina and Appalachian State; Ted Jeffries coached at William and Mary before becoming a fund-raiser.

Most of Virginia's ACC rivals also value pedigree. Georgia Tech, Miami, Maryland, North Carolina, North Carolina State and Duke employ graduates on their men's basketball staffs, while Wake Forest's includes a former Winston-Salem high school coach.

But there is a downside, as Jones, Williford's boss at American, warned.

"He loves the school," Jones said. "He believes in it. He's of the mind-set he wants to be a part of getting things turned around.

"But I told him, 'J, there's a lot of pressure on you. Sure, Tony Bennett is the head coach, and he's on the hot seat. But you're the guy from U.Va., you're the guy with (state) ties. People are going to look at you and say, Who are they signing?' The bottom line is they've got to get better players."

Williford understands.

"It scares me a little bit," he said. "I have a lot to live up to. I feel like I'm going to have the weight of the world on my shoulders. …

"You've got to recruit good guys, four-year guys, who understand the academic (element). You've got to play solid defense. People say you have to get in-state guys, and I appreciate that, but you have to win first."

Like Bennett, Williford has paid homage to Boo Williams, whose Hampton Roads-based summer program is among the nation's best. Unlike Bennett, Williford has a history with Williams.

During the late 1980s and early '90s, Williford played for Richmond Metro against Boo teams that included Old Dominion signees Petey Sessoms and Mario Mullen, North Carolina recruit Ed Geth and point-guard extraordinaire Mike Evans — academic issues short-circuited his college career.

A 6-foot-6 forward, Williford started for three seasons at Virginia. He never averaged more than 9.8 points, but during his career, the Cavaliers never had a losing ACC season — the only comparable stretch in program history was a five-year run from 1979-83, the last four of which encompassed Sampson's time.

In Williford's senior year, 1995, Virginia was 25-9 overall, 12-4 in the ACC, and advanced to the NCAA Midwest Regional final — the Cavaliers lost to defending national champion Arkansas. No non-Sampson Virginia team has won more games overall or in conference.

Williford met his wife, Kwamina, during college, and they are expecting their second child. Kwamina is a lawyer, and the family has long hoped for a homecoming.

In 2005, Williford interviewed for a position on Leitao's first Virginia staff. Leitao instead offered an administrative post, director of basketball operations, which Williford declined.

When assistant coach Gene Cross resigned a year later, Williford applied again. Leitao opted for the more established Bill Courtney.

"The first time I was a little disappointed," Williford said. "The second time I wasn't disappointed. I understood. … If I was going to lose to anybody, Bill deserved it. He helped build that George Mason (Final Four) team. I know the business. I understand it's about winning and losing.

"I had a very good thing at AU. Unless it was Virginia, I was never really looking to move anywhere. Ultimately, I'm not in it for the money — my wife does very well. I'm in it for giving something back to the guys. …

"There's a lot of work to be done, but I wouldn't have it any other way. It's great to be home."


 

Virginia TE Andrew Devlin wants to transfer to Pitt

"I got my full release from the University of Virginia in writing this week and I was in the South Side meeting with the Pitt coaches today," Devlin stated on Tuesday afternoon. "Right now I'm looking into the admission process and going through that. I'm excited for new opportunities."

Pitt officials declined comment on the matter.

"When I went to Virginia, they ran an offense like Pitt's, with a lot of two-tight end sets and all of that," Devlin said. "But then they brought in a spread offense and I was moved to defensive end in February. The tight end position was being downsized if not eliminated altogether in their offense, and they wanted me to get on the field at d-end, so I went out there and gave it my all, but I just wasn't happy.

Devlin was in possession of nearly 30 offers before committing to Virginia in August of 2006. At the time he committed, Devlin said that he chose the Cavaliers over Pitt and Boston College.

"It was Virginia over Pitt," he said Tuesday. "At that time, with the Virginia offense and the circumstances down there, it was the best way to go. But the circumstances changed.

"I wanted to be closer to home, too. It was tough for my parents to get to Charlottesville for the games.

"Overall it just made sense: [Pitt is] pretty much everything I was looking for when I said I'm going to go somewhere else. But it was a tough decision to make, just leaving your friends from your first two years of college. That was a really hard decision."

Devlin will add depth to Pitt's tight end corps, which will lose Nate Byham, John Pelusi, and Dorin Dickerson after the 2009 season. After those three seniors, Pitt has redshirt freshmen Mike Cruz and Justin Virbitsky and incoming freshman Brock DeCicco.

"The depth chart looks good, but no matter where you go you'll have to compete for a starting job, so I know I'm going to have to compete."

Devlin, who currently checks in at 6'6" 257, will have to sit out the 2009 season due to NCAA transfer rules, after which he will have two years of eligibility.

"It will give me a year to get acquainted with everyone and the offense and it will give me a year to develop even more."

As a member of the class of 2007, Devlin ranked No. 13 in the state of Pennsylvania and No. 22 among the nation's tight end prospects. After registering nine receptions for 118 yards and two touchdowns along with 45 solo tackles, 11 tackles for loss, and two sacks during his senior year at Mt. Lebanon, Devlin was named all-conference at tight end and second-team all-state at defensive end. He was also named to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Fabulous 22 that year.

In addition to being a standout on the football field, Devlin was a key piece of Mt. Lebanon's WPIAL championship-winning basketball team in his junior year, and he finished his hoops career with 1,062 points.
 

Cornell enjoying run to final four
Wednesday’s edition of The Baltimore Sun will include a feature on Big Red senior midfielder and Tewaaraton Trophy finalist Max Seibald, but Cornell’s run to the final four is somewhat surprising considering the injuries the team had to overcome.

Starting defensemen Nick Gradinger and Max Dorne missed the entire season with back injuries, senior midfielder Tommy Schmicker tore a knee ligament on March 17, and senior midfielder and faceoff specialist John Glynn has been playing despite a dislocated right elbow.

"Guys have carried the load, whether it’s big or small, and we have had some unfortunate situations due to injury this year, especially at the faceoff ‘X’ and the defensive end," coach Jeff Tambroni said. "But thankfully, guys have stepped up at the appropriate times and have been prepared to do so at the appropriate times, enabling us to kind of keep that momentum and have small successes along the way."

It also helps to have the leading candidate for Freshman of the Year on your squad. Attackman Rob Pannell ranks third in the country in assists (38) and eighth in points (59). But his value is not just limited to personal statistics, according to Tambroni.

"He sees the field so well, and he plays with such great maturity," Tambroni said. "Our other two attackmen, Chris Finn and Ryan Hurley, can really get comfortable and kind of settle into the roles that they’re most suited for. He’s also allowed our midfield – especially guys like Max Seibald and John Glynn – a little bit more freedom and room up top. Last year, I felt like defenses really pushed up top when the ball was behind, and they didn’t slide very often below the goal line, which made it very difficult for those middies up top. Now we feel like we have a little bit more of a presence back on the attack, which allows Max and John a little more freedom up top. So his impact is immeasurable."

Posted by Edward Lee
 

Virginia hits its stride
By Whitey Reid
Published: May 20, 2009

After a somewhat disappointing end to the regular season and a quick exit in the ACC tournament, things didn’t seem all that promising for the Virginia men’s lacrosse team — even after UVa was tabbed as the No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.

The forecast has changed rather quickly, though.

First was an 18-6 thrashing of Villanova in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Then came a 19-8 dismantling of Johns Hopkins in front of a national television audience on Sunday that earned UVa a trip to the Final Four in Foxborough, Mass., this weekend.

Virginia has announced its presence to the college lacrosse world — with authority.

“[They] just seem to be on a tear right now,” Duke coach John Danowski said during a teleconference on Tuesday. “They’re relaxed and loose, and playing great.”

Virginia (14-2) will be meeting Cornell in the semifinals on Saturday. If UVa can get past the Big Red (12-3), it would face the Syracuse-Duke winner in the championship game on Monday.

Earlier in the season, Virginia defeated Cornell at Klockner Stadium, 14-10. That game, however, seems like ages ago.

“We’re just really proud and humbled to be heading back to the semifinals again,” said Virginia coach Dom Starsia. “It’s been a long season for us. Our kids have been through a lot. We clearly have been playing a little better these first two playoff games and hope that we can continue with that trend as we move forward here.”

With the win over Hopkins on Sunday, Starsia became just the fourth coach in history to win 300 games. Starsia, whose 27 NCAA wins are the most all-time, has taken Virginia to the Final Four in five of the last seven years, including the last two in a row.

Having coached 10 years at Brown, Starsia is very familiar with Cornell.

“I have great respect for the Cornell program, always have,” Starsia said. “I will tell you frankly that in a lot of ways, I may have modeled how I would like my teams to play after those Cornell teams in the mid-70s. I always enjoyed those teams.”

Cornell, which defeated Hofstra and Princeton on its way to the Final Four, is no stranger to NCAA success. The Big Red won three titles in the 1970s, including the first-ever championship in 1971.

In 2007, Cornell made it to the semifinals before losing to Duke, 12-11.

Big Red coach Jeff Tambroni, like Danowski, has been very impressed by Virginia’s recent play.

“They seem to be playing with a lot more urgency right now,” said Tambroni, whose team lost to Ohio State in the tournament last season. “They really seem to be playing well together. I think the chemistry of this group is something that really stands out.

“The offensive and defensive ends of the field seem to be feeding off each other … looking for each other on offense and sliding on defense. They seem to be playing their best lacrosse at this time of the year.”
 

Moran: Underdog role should drive Cornell
Former coach keeps close tabs on program
By Brian Delaney
bdelaney@gannett.com

Soaking up Cornell's 6-4 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse quarterfinal victory over Princeton at Hofstra on Saturday was former Big Red coach Richie Moran, his Irish eyes smiling at every celebrating red jersey with the program's latest Final Four berth tucked securely away.

"I'm so excited, I could walk to Foxborough," he said Monday.

It's been 32 years since Cornell won a national title in lacrosse, which was Moran's ninth year as coach. After runner-up finishes in 1978, 1987 and 1988, the Hall of Famer waited 19 years to see Cornell reach the sport's biggest stage again.

Although he remains behind the scenes as much as possible, Moran is still a vital part of the program's success. He speaks with the current coaching staff on an almost daily basis, and takes the time to meet with the players and impart his advice - albeit selectively.

His trained eye will be watching closely on Saturday afternoon, when Cornell (12-3) plays top-seeded Virginia (15-2) in a national semifinal game at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass.

Game time is approximately 30 minutes after the noon semifinal between Syracuse and Duke, and both contests will be televised by ESPN2. The championship will be played at 1 p.m. Monday.

Moran spoke at length about everything from Cornell's underdog role this weekend to the reunion feel that Saturday's quarterfinal game took on at Shuart Stadium.

One thing was clear - he's confident about Cornell's chances this weekend.

"The beautiful thing about an underdog is you have to scratch for everything that happens," said Moran, who coached Cornell for 29 seasons and finished with a career record of 257-121-0. "You have to leave everything on the field. You have to work harder than ever before. You have to do the unusual, and you can't do that if you're floating on the field."

If there's one team in this Final Four capable of staying grounded, it's Cornell.

No one outside its own locker room is likely to give the Big Red much of a chance against the Cavaliers or Orange, who beat the Big Red by scores of 14-10 and 15-10, respectively, earlier this season. Cornell did beat Duke, 10-6, in mid-March.

But there are certain intangibles, Moran said, that will serve Cornell well against Virginia, which dismantled Johns Hopkins 19-8 in the quarterfinals and Villanova 18-6 in the first round.

"It's a team that has got such remarkable determination," Moran said. "The determination with this team, I've marveled at all year. When they come back after a loss ... they're a very hardworking team in practice.

"Our teams in the championship years were the same way. There's something about getting a feel when you can reach for a championship; you seem to have a more intense focus in practice and you want the players who haven't played a lot to develop quicker in case they have to be used."

Players from Cornell's championship teams - and Maryland's runner-up teams in '71 and '76 - were in attendance Saturday, and the tailgate quickly turned into a party of nostalgic storytelling.

There is sure to be more of that in Foxborough. In 2007, when Cornell last reached the national semifinals, Moran stood at the head of the alumni tailgate tent, greeting old friends and talking strategy with former players. After Cornell lost to Duke, 12-11, he spoke with members of the team in the coaches' office.

Since retiring in 1997, Moran has also busied himself as president of the Irish Lacrosse Foundation.

The key to Cornell winning two games this weekend, Moran said, is to get timely production from "unknowns."

"In all honesty, if you asked a lacrosse fan to name some names on that team, you would hear Moyer, Seibald, Glynn, and maybe a little Pannell. So really it is a team of unknowns, and the unknown and the underdog - that is beautiful chemistry. Beautiful chemistry. I love it.

"The unknown is going to happen. Somebody that hasn't really played in the eyes of the staff, who's great at defense, great at ground balls, scoring, assists, saves, that's the unknown. The unknown is going to have to be there on Saturday."

If Cornell finds a way to win two games, the team bus may very well pass Moran on the Massachusetts Turnpike - walking his way back to Ithaca, his Irish eyes smiling the whole way.

End of an era
Jeff White
May 19, 2009

CHARLOTTESVILLE – If you’ve heard Doug Tarring on radio broadcasts of U.Va. men’s lacrosse games – he’s often the color analyst for WINA— you’re undoubtedly aware that he knows the finer points of the game.

What you might not know is what an illustrious coaching career Tarring had at St. Anne’s-Belfield School, which is right around the corner from his alma mater, U.Va.

His final season as the Saints’ boys lacrosse coach ended Saturday with his seventh state title. STAB edged St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes 9-8 in the Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association’s Division I championship game in Richmond.

A couple of nights later, Tarring announced his retirement as coach, though he’ll continue as STAB’s athletic director. His top assistant, Bo Perriello, will succeed Tarring as head coach.

“I feel like I’m turning the program over to the right guy at the right time,” Tarring told me this afternoon. “Bo’s certainly going to be a great replacement, and there won’t be any difficulty in transition.”

In Tarring’s 31 seasons as the Saints’ coach, they piled up 407 victories. STAB won state titles in 1980, ’82, ’86, ’89, 2000, ’08 and ’09.

His final team finished 16-1, and as many U.Va. fans know, its standouts include three future Cavaliers: senior defenseman Howie Long, junior attackman Owen Van Arsdale and junior goalie Austin Geisler.

Van Arsdale, whose father, Marc, is Virginia’s associate head coach, was named MVP of the state tournament. He totaled 92 points, on 36 goals and 56 assists, this season.

“He has a great vision for the game,” said Tarring, who was a four-time letterman at U.Va. “He understands it. He’s a kid that really wants the ball in his stick at the critical time.

“He reminds me of an old-style attackman, because he does everything: He rides, he picks up ground balls, he feeds and he scores.”

That Van Arsdale battled Long in practice every day helped both. Sometimes Van Arsdale got the better of Long, and sometimes it went the other way, Tarring said, but “I think they recognized that was an opportunity for each of them.”

Long’s athletic bloodlines are impeccable, of course. His father, Howie, is a former NFL star. His oldest brother, Chris, starred in football at U.Va. and now plays for the St. Louis Rams. The middle brother, Kyle, plans to enroll at U.Va. this summer and join the football team.

At 6-1, Howie isn’t as tall as either of his brothers, but he’s a superior athlete who Tarring said has made great strides on the lacrosse field.

“From ninth grade to 12th grade, he probably has come as far as any player we’ve had, to get to the level where he is now,” Tarring said. “When he played middle school, he was a midfielder, and we didn’t project anything at that point. We knew we had a good athlete, but we didn’t really know where he fit in or what position he’d be playing.

“The decision to give him a long stick was frankly because his stickwork wasn’t as good as some other guys’. We knew we had an athlete, we knew he liked to be physical, but the stickwork part of it, he had to catch up. And between his 10th and 11th grade year, that was the place he made the biggest jump— his ability to handle the stick.”

Geisler is a boarding student from Stafford County. He made 31 saves in the final two games of the state tournament, and “a lot of them were spectacular saves,” Tarring said.

“He’s a great passer, he’s got great presence around the goal, and he’s got who a lot people consider to be the best goalie coach in the country in Rodney.”

That would be Rodney Rullman, who starred in the cage at U.Va. and who has tutored a long line of standout goalies at STAB.

“Very few programs have a goalie coach at this level who can literally take the position and break it down [so minutely],” Tarring said.

Tarring hopes to celebrate another championship this month. He’s headed to Foxborough, Mass., this weekend for the NCAA final four. Top-seeded Virginia meets No. 5 seed Cornell in the second semifinal Saturday.


 

Packer tabbed to start ACC tournament opener
By Jay Jenkins
Published: May 20, 2009

A flashback could have made the decision for Virginia coach Brian O’Connor.

In selecting an opening-game starter for the ACC tournament, the Cavaliers’ skipper could have analyzed film of a start made April 21, 2007 at Clemson.

In that road game, Matt Packer, a previously unknown rookie, retired 16 of the 22 Tiger batters he faced. All the while, the southpaw failed to allow an earned run, buying time for a late-game victory for the Cavaliers.

It will, in fact, be Packer that takes the ball in Virginia’s long-awaited opener in the ACC tournament against Clemson (39-11, 19-11 ACC) on Thursday at 8 p.m. at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park in North Carolina. The league tournament itself will start today with three contests, and five games will be played before Virginia takes the field.

“He was a freshman at the time and was in our rotation,” O’Connor said. “Matt Packer pitched a great ballgame against a Clemson team that eventually advanced to a Super Regional.”

History, however, was not the determining factor in O’Connor’s decision-making process.

“I think he gives us the best chance to win that first game,” O’Connor pointed out following Tuesday’s practice session in Durham, N.C. “It is also done based on last weekend and who has had proper rest and what you want to try to do working into next weekend and an NCAA Regional.”

Packer, a junior, started in the series opener last week against Virginia Tech, making his first league start of the season. The junior pitched six innings and allowed four runs (two earned) as he gave up five hits and three walks to the Hokies.

While he did not factor into the decision, three errors committed by third baseman Steven Proscia skewed Packer’s final line. Virginia (39-12-1, 16-11-1 ACC) ultimately lost 5-4 on a walk-off homer in the 10th inning.

“Even after some of the errors, I was able to keep us in the game and we were right there in the end,” said Packer, who boasts an ERA of 3.97. “It felt good to know that I could throw 100 pitches or more if I needed to.”

Packer (3-4) led the nation in earned run average in 2008 as he worked as a starter and a reliever, but the lefty struggled at times pitching out of Virginia’s bullpen this season.

That said, Packer was elated that O’Connor would turn to him against third-seeded Clemson.

“It is great to know that your coach has that much confidence in you to put you in the first game of the tournament,” Packer said.

O’Connor also announced that rookie Danny Hultzen (7-1, 2.28 ERA) would start against North Carolina in Friday’s game, which is slated to start at 8 p.m.

Hultzen, who also rotated between first base and designated hitter, was named the ACC freshman of the year on Monday. He became the first Cavalier in program history to win the award.

“I am happy for Danny,” O’Connor said. “He is very deserving. Obviously to be a Friday night starter and have the numbers that he did and hit in the middle of our lineup is a tough thing for a freshman to do.

“There is no question that he deserved that award.”

Hultzen shifted focus from the individual award to the job that the offense and defense managed in his seven victories.

“Nobody can win an individual award without the team,” the rookie said. “It is definitely a team thing. I just happened to get the award for it.”

It was not an honor that Hultzen contemplated during the season.

“I didn’t really think about that for one minute,” he said. “I don’t want to think about that stuff while I am playing. I just want to play my game.”

The final starter, which will work against seventh-seeded Duke on Saturday at 8 p.m., will be announced later in the week. Options include RHP Andrew Carraway, RHP Robert Morey and RHP Will Roberts.