Virginia football adds three recruits
Orange County nose tackle Chapman commits to the Cavalier program
By Jerry Ratcliffe / Daily Progress sports editor
June 13, 2005

Virginia’s football program took a step toward solidifying its defense for years to come over the weekend as the Cavaliers received three new commitments.

Asa Chapman, a 6-foot-5, 350-pound nose-tackle from nearby Orange High School was the only local commitment of the trio. But the UVa coaching staff returned to the northeast corridor to land the other two prospects.

Almondo Sewell, a 6-2, 235 inside linebacker from Trenton Central High in Trenton, N.J., joined John Kevin Dolce, a 6-3, 225 outside linebacker from St. Anthony’s in South Huntington, N.Y., as the Wahoos’ latest commitments.

Virginia hosted less than 20 prospects on Saturday as the recruits received plenty of interaction with all of the Cavaliers coaches. All of those attending had previously been offered scholarships by the Cavaliers, including Sewell, who had waited a long time for this day to come.

“Virginia has always been my No. 1 school,” said the New Jersey linebacker. “I’ve wanted to be either a Cavalier or a Cornhusker ever since I started playing football in seventh grade.”

According to Sewell, who moved from Jamaica to Trenton for his second grade of elementary school, he fell in love with UVa on TV, watching Patrick Kerney lead the Cavalier defense.

Sewell said he had received offers from Michigan, Purdue, Michigan State, Rutgers, Temple, and that Oklahoma was trying to get him to come out for a visit.

The all-area backer, who had 92 tackles (35 solos) and a sack last season, said he had 22 tackles in one game, but usually gets double-teamed by opposing offensive lines.

“Virginia’s coaches told me they like unselfish players, so that means I’m their type,” said Sewell, who has 4.5 speed in the 40. “The team always comes first. But I play hard-nosed football. I like to hit. I don’t shy away from contact.”

Chapman is already a mountain of a man. A member of The Daily Progress All-Central Virginia team as a junior, he plays offensive and defensive tackle for the Orange County Hornets, but will move to the middle for the Wahoos.

While he was being recruited by several schools, including Nebraska, Tennessee, Virginia Tech, Boston College and some others, UVa was the only school that had offered him to this point. The Cavaliers began recruiting him earlier this spring.

“The other schools that recruited me weren’t offering me anything. They were just saying why I shouldn’t go to this school or that school. Other coaches tried to put down the other schools that were recruiting me,” Chapman said. “They didn’t tell me anything about themselves. Virginia was the only school that told me about themselves.”

The Orange lineman said he liked everything about UVa, from the weightroom to the stadium to the coaches and academics.

Dolce plays defensive end for St. Anthony’s but will move to outside linebacker when he comes to Virginia in the fall of 2006.

He said he was aware of Coach Al Groh’s success in coaching linebackers in college and the pros, but that wasn’t what influenced him to come to UVa.

“I know about [former Cavaliers outside linebacker] Darryl Blackstock getting drafted and Virginia’s coaches think I can play that position well,” said Dolce, who has 4.7 speed. “I’ve been doing my research on Coach Groh and linebackers he’s coached. But for me, I didn’t care what position I played. I’ve never really played linebacker before.”

However, a defensive end isn’t that different than an outside linebacker in Groh’s 3-4 defense.

Dolce said he had offers from Michigan State, Illinois, Minnesota and Rutgers but expected more in the fall.

“As soon as Virginia offered me I looked into the school more,” he said. “Virginia has amazing academics and amazing athletics, and I really felt like I could trust their coaches.”

As a junior, the New Yorker had 57 tackles and four sacks.

“People said I had a good year last year but when I watch the tapes of my junior season, I feel like I’m looking at a different guy,” Dolce said. “Because I have worked out hard and gone through speed training, I feel like I’m a completely different player than the one I was watching on tape. The sky is the limit for me.”

Dolce said he brings more than just one trait to the Cavalier table.

“I bring speed, strength, relentlessness,” he said. “My motor never stops running. I love the game.”

The Cavs now have four commitments for the next recruiting class.

Extra college football matchup doesn't mean better games
By Jerry Ratcliffe / Daily Progress sports editor
June 12, 2005

For those football fans out there who applauded the NCAA for approving a 12-game college regular season beginning in 2006, you might want to reconsider.
If you believe the extra game is going to result in more “big-game” matchups, think again. It won’t. Particularly in major conferences that now play a league championship, such as the ACC, SEC and Big 12.

Taking it to the bank
The 12th game is all about money. Teams with the largest stadiums will “buy” an extra home game against an almost certain gimme opponent. Not many major teams out there are going to risk going on the road to take on a higher ranked opponent with the extra game.
In other words, get accustomed to a steady diet of teams from the MAC and the Sun Belt. They’re on their way.
As one major college coach said last week, the feeling is that if you’re a school in a conference that is split into two divisions, then the only thing you’re really concerned about is winning that division and making it to the league championship game. That in itself offers up a BCS bid to the winner and probably a pretty decent bowl game to the loser.
So, say if you’re Virginia playing in the ACC’s Coastal Division, then why should Al Groh worry about playing a strong nonconference schedule? All he has to do is win the Coastal Division and he has a shot at a BCS game and no less than a good bowl game if his team loses.
That’s pretty much the philosophy of every head coach in the country who is playing in a conference division.

Not so tough slates
A quick inspection of perennial Top 10 programs’ future schedules and even most of the ACC schools’ future slates confirms our suspicions. Unless a school plays a strong traditional nonconference rival, say a Boston College vs. Notre Dame, USC vs. Notre Dame, Florida State vs. Florida, etc., don’t expect your school’s future 12th game to be a flashy matchup.
Here’s a few for example, although most schools’ 12th game isn’t readily available:
Auburn plays Tulane, Temple and Villanova in ’06, with one more game to be added.
Alabama: Hawaii, Louisiana-Monroe, Florida International.
Florida: Southern Miss, UCF, FSU.
Georgia: UCF, UAB, Colorado, Georgia Tech.
LSU: Louisiana-Lafayette, Arizona, Tulane.
Tennessee: Cal, Marshall, Memphis.
Texas: North Texas, Ohio State, Rice.
Clemson: Ball State, Temple, South Carolina.
Georgia Tech: Notre Dame, Troy, Georgia.
Virginia Tech: Kent State, Ohio (in ’06); LSU, William & Mary in ’07, although LSU was scheduled as a payback game from years ago.
N.C. State: UCF, Southern Miss in ’06.
UNC: Rutgers, South Florida, Notre Dame in ’06.
Maryland: Middle Tennessee, Florida International, West Virginia in ’06 and ’07.
While this doesn’t reveal the 12th opponent but for a couple of schools, there is no compelling reason for most Division I-A schools, particularly the strongest ones, to play an elite opponent with the extra game. Instead it will be like most big-time basketball programs adding a cupcake at home in December to add revenue to the program.
You play a lower tier I-A opponent, or even a I-AA opponent now that you can count that win toward a bowl (one AA win is permissible annually), make a big multi-million dollar payday for the host athletic program, payoff a have-not program that is happy with a big payoff for the visit, minimize the risk of a loss, and everybody’s happy.
Except maybe for the fan. Even a certain segment of them will be happy because that adds yet another win for their alma mater.
But for the fan who loves college football overall, most of the really exciting matchups are going to be conference games. All the other stuff, well, that’s what the bowls are for.
We don’t know all of Virginia’s future schedules, but we do know the Cavs will play a home-and-home with Pittsburgh, will play a road game at Middle Tennessee in exchange for four home games against MAC opponents.
And if the MAC is already here, can the Sun Belt be far behind?
But you can’t blame Groh for thinking that way. If everyone else is doing it, then why take unnecessary risks. Focus on the Coastal and don’t worry about anything else because nothing else really matters now.

A rant about receivers
Nick West
TheWagonOnline.com Columnist

In recent years, Virginia fans have been frusturated by head coach Al Groh's inability to land a wide receiver with a high national ranking and the ability to come in and excel right away, a la Georgia Tech's Calvin Johnson and USC's Dwayne Jarrett. (Grumble.) UVA had a lot of success with Billy McMullen in Groh's first two seasons, eventually sending him off to the Philadelphia Eagles in the 4th round of the 2003 NFL draft, but that didn't help us attract any 4-star talent at receiver. Meanwhile, Virginia Tech has benefitted from relationships with high school coaches in recruiting a good, young receiving corps. That was definitely the case with Eddie Royal, for example.

What kills me, though, is that Tech doesn't exactly put out a lot of receivers with big numbers. Here are the top two wide receivers for both UVA and VT over the past few years:

2004:
Josh Hyman - 27 receptions for 491 yards and 5 touchdowns
Eddie Royal - 28 receptions for 470 yards and 3 touchdowns
Michael McGrew - 30 receptions for 355 yards and 2 touchdowns
Deyon Williams - 19 receptions for 261 yards and 1 touchdown

Totals:
VT - 55 receptions for 961 yards and 8 touchdowns
UVA - 49 receptions for 616 yards and 3 touchdowns

2003:
Ernest Wilford - 55 receptions for 886 yards and 3 touchdowns
Justin Hamilton - 23 receptions for 282 yards and 1 touchdown
Ryan Sawyer - 39 receptions for 481 yards and 2 touchdowns
Ottowa Anderson - 33 receptions for 407 yards and 2 touchdowns

Totals:
VT - 78 receptions for 1168 yards and 4 touchdowns
UVA - 72 receptions for 888 yards and 4 touchdowns

2002:
Ernest Wilford - 51 receptions for 925 yards and 7 touchdowns
Shawn Witten - 25 receptions for 306 yards and 1 touchdown
Billy McMullen - 69 receptions for 894 yards and 3 touchdowns
Michael McGrew - 27 receptions for 428 yards and 2 touchdowns

Totals:
VT - 76 receptions for 1231 yards and 8 touchdowns
UVA - 96 receptions for 1322 yards and 5 touchdowns

2001:
Andre Davis - 39 receptions for 623 yards and 7 touchdowns
Jarrett Ferguson - 25 receptions for 256 yards and 3 touchdowns
Billy McMullen - 83 receptions for 1060 yards and 12 touchdowns
Tavon Mason - 30 receptions for 341 yards and 2 touchdowns

Totals:
VT - 64 receptions for 879 yards and 10 touchdowns
UVA - 113 receptions for 1401 yards and 14 touchdowns

So if we directly compare the top wide receivers of Groh with those of Beamer, we get:

VT - 273 receptions for 3369 yards and 30 touchdowns
UVA - 330 receptions for 4227 yards and 26 touchdowns

So yeah, clearly Al Groh doesn't put a priority on throwing the football to his wide receivers, while Virginia Tech does. Seriously. What's as interesting as the final stats is to look at how they've progressed from 2001 to 2004:

Tech:
2001 - 64/879
2002 - 76/1231
2003 - 78/1168
2004 - 55/961

UVA:
2001 - 113/1401
2002 - 96/1322
2003 - 72/888
2004 - 49/616

So while UVA's receiving numbers have kept up a consistent downward trend, Tech's have risen since 2001 in a sort of bell curve. In other words, Tech throws the ball to WRs more than they used to, and UVA does so less.

The numbers lead to one conclusion: Al Groh works with what he has. Back when we had an All-ACC caliber wide receiver, we threw the ball all the time. Now that we don't have any of those, but we DO have outstanding running backs and tight ends, we use those more often. Let's look at Virginia's rushing stats since 2001, as well as the top tight ends:

Top Rushers:
2001 - Alvin Pearman - 88 for 371 yards and 1 TD
2002 - Wali Lundy - 196 for 826 yards and 6 TD
2003 - Wali Lundy - 227 for 929 yards and 10 TD
2004 - Alvin Pearman - 195 for 1037 yards and 10 TD

Team Rushing Yards:
2001 - 1272 yards, 3.4 per rush
2002 - 1777 yards, 3.7 per rush
2003 - 1693 yards, 3.9 per rush
2004 - 2914 yards, 5.3 per rush

Leading Tight End:
2001 - Chris Luzar - 33 receptions for 380 yards and 0 TD
2002 - Heath Miller - 33 receptions for 327 yards and 9 TD
2003 - Heath Miller - 70 receptions for 835 yards and 6 TD
2004 - Heath Miller - 41 receptions for 541 yards and 5 TD

We see a steady and really remarkable upward trend in Virginia's rushing and tight end stats from 2002 -- Billy McMullen's senior season -- to last season. That corresponds perfectly with a drop in wide receivers' receptions and yards. Last year's leading rusher, Alvin Pearman, and top tight end, Heath Miller, were both high NFL draft picks.

Meanwhile, the team's top wide receiver, Michael McGrew, was an undrafted free agent. Clearly the team's offensive talent was concentrated at TE and RB, not at WR, and coach Ron Prince's playcalling reflected that.

Next season, Virginia's receiving corps has an opportunity to step up and reassert itself in the offense. The team's returning tight ends have combined for 14 receptions, 168 yards, and 0 touchdowns, a significant drop off from Miller's All-American production, while Wali Lundy's back-ups, Michael Johnson and Cedric Peerman, have combined for 89 carries, 514 yards, and 2 touchdowns. Oh, and all of that belongs to Michael Johnson, as Peerman redshirted last season. Coming into last season, Virginia's top three running backs had almost 4600 career rushing yards split between them. This year it'll be around 3100, with 85% of that going solely to Lundy. Even though both young back ups at running back show a lot of promise, overall the position is less stacked than it has been the last two seasons.

Not that the receiving corps is terribly experienced either. Assuming Ottowa Anderson re-joins the team this summer after sitting out last season due to "personal issues" the returning wide receivers look something like this:

Ottowa Anderson - 38 games, 62 receptions, 703 yards, 5 TD
Deyon Williams - 20 games, 27 receptions, 383 yards, 2 TD
Fontel Mines - 18 games, 13 receptions, 133 yards, 1 TD
Emmanuel Byers - 3 games, 4 receptions, 31 yards, 0 TD
Theirrien Davis - 4 games, 1 reception, 15 yards, 0 TD
Ron Morton - 4 games, 1 reception, 11 yards, 0 TD
Brandon Woods - 0 games, 0 receptions, 0 yards, 0 TD
Maurice Covington - 0 games, 0 receptions, 0 yards, 0 TD

So amongst 8 receivers, that's 87 games, 108 receptions, 1276 yards, and 8 touchdowns. Let's look at Billy McMullen's 2001 stats one more time: 83 receptions for 1060 yards and 12 touchdowns. So we now have an answer to the age old riddle, how many wide receivers does it take to screw in Billy McMullen's lightbulb?

Coach Groh has reportedly concluded after watching last season's losses over and over again that Virginia needs to throw the ball downfield more often. That can only mean more opportunities for the wide receivers to step up and make big plays. For high school seniors, it means that their future at Virginia is bright. The coaching staff has previously demonstrated a desire to throw the ball to wide receivers who can catch it, and the current depth chart shows that a talented young receiver can step right in and earn a starting spot. Anderson and Morton will be gone after this season, and Williams and Mines will be seniors. There is absolutely no reason why a player of Vidal Hazelton, Percy Harvin, Chris Bell, or Brandon Caleb's caliber couldn't come into Charlottesville and immediately get 30-40 catches and 500-600 yards, at an absolute minimum. Meanwhile, last year's 4-star Eddie Royal picked up less than 30 catches and less than 500 yards in Blacksburg last season.

Other programs will try to sway young receivers away from UVA, arguing that Coach Groh runs the ball too much and never calls for 20+ yard throws. That is simply factually incorrect. Instead, the coaching staff has been using a simple formula of logic: our running backs are currently way better than our wide receivers, so we'll run the football more. As the receivers improve, so will the number of passes to them.

3 choose UVa for football
The Cavaliers now have four commitments for their 2006 class.
By Doug Doughty
981-3129
The Roanoke Times

Almost four months after taking its first football commitment for 2006, Virginia shifted into another gear over the weekend.

The Cavaliers took three commitments in connection with its elite junior day Saturday, two coming from linebackers recruited by defensive coordinator Al Golden.

The third commitment was from Asa Chapman, a 6-foot-5, 340-pound defensive lineman from Orange County, east of Charlottesville.

Chapman came to Central Virginia from the same New Jersey-New York corridor that produced the other two players who committed to UVa over the weekend, outside linebacker John-Kevin Dolce (6-2, 225) from St. Anthony's High School in South Huntington, N.Y., and middle linebacker Almondo Sewell (6-2, 235) from Trenton (N.J.) Central High School.

Sewell said he runs 40 yards in 4.5 seconds, speed he put to use as a tailback, rushing for more than 750 yards and 11 touchdowns while sharing time. Oklahoma, Michigan and Purdue were in contact, "but Virginia was my No.1 choice even before I went down there," he said Sunday.

Dolce said he got an offer three weeks ago and "had a lot of time to think it over before I went down there."

"UVa had the combination of athletics, academics and trust between me, the coaches and the other players," Dolce said.

Dolce said he had received offers from Illinois, Minnesota, Rutgers and Michigan State.

George Johnson Jr., an outside linebacker from Glassboro, N.J., had committed to the Cavaliers in February.

U.Va. adds 3 to 2006 class
Defensive tackle and 2 linebackers commit to Cavs during visit
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
Jun 13, 2005

CHARLOTTESVILLE - The University of Virginia football team's recruiting class for 2006 grew over the weekend.

U.Va. invited many of its top targets for 2006 to visit Saturday. More than a dozen showed up, and three committed to play for the Cavaliers.

Joining George Johnson, who committed in February, in Virginia's recruiting class were linebackers John-Kevin Dolce and Almondo Sewell and defensive tackle Asa Chapman.

All are rising 12th-graders. Chapman, however, isn't expected to meet NCAA eligibility standards coming out of Orange County High next year and said he's more likely to enroll at U.Va. in 2007. He's likely to spend 2006-07 at a prep school, probably Fork Union Military Academy.

Dolce (6-3, 225), who's from the ultra-successful program at St. Anthony's High on Long Island, N.Y., is projected to play outside linebacker in U.Va.'s 3-4 defense. He said last night that he also had scholarship offers from Michigan State, Rutgers, Illinois and Minnesota.

"I wanted the perfect combination of academics, athletics and trust between myself, the players and the coaches," Dolce said, "and I think I can get that at Virginia."

Dolce's teammates last season at St. Anthony's, which has won four consecutive Catholic High School Football League titles, included Max Pomper. Pomper will enter U.Va. on a lacrosse scholarship this coming school year.

Sewell (6-2, 235) might play inside linebacker at U.Va. He said yesterday that he carries a 3.0 grade-point average and runs the 40-yard dash in around 4.5 seconds.

Sewell, who also plays baseball for Trenton Central, said he's "tough and quick and real fast to the ball" as a linebacker. As a running back, he rushed 82 times for 756 yards and scored 11 touchdowns in 2004.

At 6-5, 350 pounds, Chapman is a huge presence on the line, yet he "runs well," Orange coach John Kayajanian said last night. "That's the difference between him and a lot of big kids. He can run, and he hasn't reached his potential yet."

Chapman, who moved to Orange from New Jersey before his sophomore year, was named to the all-Region II second team in 2004. The Hornets finished 8-2 last fall.

 

U.VA. NOTES
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Jun 9, 2005

PROMISING OUTLOOK: Virginia's chances of making a third consecutive trip to the NCAA baseball tournament improved Tuesday. That's because none of the Cavaliers' incoming recruits was selected on the opening day of the major-league draft.

From a class that some analysts ranked in the top 10 nationally, coach Brian O'Connor expects several incoming freshmen, including infielder David Adams (Margate, Fla.) and pitcher Shooter Hunt (Wyckoff, N.J.), to play significant roles in 2006.

"Those are front-line marquee players that are difference-makers," O'Connor said yesterday.

Each is talented enough to have been drafted Tuesday, but they made it clear to pro scouts that only too-good-to-turn-down offers would keep them from matriculating at U.Va.

The Detroit Tigers, however, chose Adams yesterday in the 21st round. Should Detroit fail to sign one of its top draft choices, it might have enough bonus money to persuade Adams to turn pro.

"That'll keep us on the edge of our seats all summer," O'Connor said.

Texas selected Hunt in the 34th round yesterday.

ONE FOR THE AGES: U.Va.'s new basketball coach, Dave Leitao, spent three seasons at DePaul University, but he never got to meet the man who was perhaps the school's most famous alumnus.

George Mikan, who died last week, had serious health problems late in his life and didn't make it back to DePaul during Leitao's tenure there.

"But we were fortunate to get [former DePaul basketball coach] Ray Meyer back in the fold, and he had contact with [Mikan]," Leitao said. "Through Ray Meyer, we were able to find out how he was doing."

TAKING HIS TIME: With the summer recruiting period set to open early next month, Leitao still has a spot to fill on his staff. Leitao, who's been on the job at U.Va. since mid April, knows his final hire won't have much time to get settled in Charlottesville before hitting the road. So be it.

"My focus is getting it right," Leitao said.

WINDY CITY CONNECTION: U.Va. basketball coaches historically haven't recruited much in Chicago, but that's changing.

"The staff at Virginia is doing a terrific job in Chicago," Brian Stinnette of ChicagoHoops.com told the Chicago Sun-Times. "They are recruiting Chicago harder now than they did at DePaul. A lot of kids are in love with the ACC."

Gene Cross was one of Leitao's assistants at DePaul. Cross, born and raised in Chicago, followed Leitao to U.Va., but neither has lost touch with recruiting contacts in Illinois.

WAIT AND SEE: Overall, the football recruiting class that signed with U.Va. in February is strong academically. But three of its members - linebacker Olu Hall, offensive lineman Branden Albert and defensive lineman Kevin Crawford - have yet to clear admissions at Virginia, sources said.

Hall and Albert originally signed with the Cavaliers in February 2004, but neither met NCAA eligibility standards coming out of high school. They spent the 2004-05 school year at Hargrave Military Academy, where they played for the postgraduate team. Crawford is a senior at Gar-Field High in Dale City.

Crawford's final season at Gar-Field didn't go well. After eight games, Gar-Field coach Joe Mangano said, he dismissed Crawford for violation of team policy. Crawford hadn't played well to that point, making only 15 tackles, Mangano said.

In other football news, U.Va.'s Sept. 17 game at Syracuse will start at noon. The game will be shown on ESPN or ESPN2. The Cavaliers beat the Orange 31-10 at Scott Stadium last season.

HOOP IT UP: Former U.Va. basketball assistants Rod Jensen and Alexis Sherard have found new gigs. Jensen, who was on Pete Gillen's staff at Virginia in 2002-03 and '03-04, has been hired as an assistant at UNC Greensboro. Sherard, who spent six seasons, including 2004-05, at U.Va., now is an assistant at Liberty University.

IN THE CREASE: Men's lacrosse coach Dom Starsia said Tuesday that it's "probably 50-50" as to whether Joe Yevoli will return to U.Va. for a final season.

A three-year starter at attackman, Yevoli redshirted this season because of a back injury. He graduated from Virginia last month but has a season of eligibility left. Starsia said he hopes to meet with Yevoli, who's back home in Long Island, N.Y., in the next week or so to resolve the issue.

Yevoli has 82 goals and 48 assists as a Cavalier. He was named ACC rookie of the year in 2002 and a second-team All-American in 2003, when Virginia won the NCAA title. - Jeff White