U.VA. NOTES
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Jun 29, 2005

ALL ACCOUNTED FOR: Football coach Al Groh said all of his returning players are enrolled in the second session of summer school at Virginia. The third session begins July 14. Thanks to a rule change by the NCAA, all of the Cavaliers' incoming recruits will be enrolled in that one.

"I guess common sense finally won out," Groh said.

For several years, the NCAA has allowed schools to pay the summer-school costs of incoming basketball recruits. Until this year, however, a football recruit who wanted to attend summer school had to pay his own way.

Groh applauds a rule change that he considers overdue.

"Besides the socialization that goes along with it, they can get with their upper-class teammates and begin training for the season," he said. "They also get a tremendous opportunity to get off to a head start academically."

THE LIST GROWS: U.Va. has received its seventh football commitment for 2006. It's from Chris Dalton, a rising senior at West Iredell High in Statesville, N.C.

Dalton, a 6-1, 165-pound wide receiver, also had a scholarship offer from Clemson, West Iredell coach Mark Weycker said last night. Dalton caught 37 passes for 525 yards and five touchdowns in 2004. He returned 14 kickoffs for 336 yards and two TDs, intercepted four passes as a defensive back and returned a blocked punt for a TD.

He was timed at 4.33 seconds in the 40-yard dash during a recent Shrine Bowl football combine in North Carolina. At the state Class 2A track meet, Dalton placed fifth in the 110-meter hurdles as a sophomore and second in the 300-meter hurdles as a junior. His vertical leap has been measured at more than 35 inches.

"He has great speed, he has a nice frame, and he's not even 17 years old," Weycker said. "I foresee him three years into college being 195 pounds and not losing any quickness or speed."

ALMOST THERE: Pending the NCAA Clearinghouse's approval, football recruit Kevin Crawford will be admitted to U.Va. this summer. That was the word last night from Crawford, a recent graduate of Gar-Field High who met with U.Va. officials yesterday in Charlottesville.

"It was a little shaky," Crawford said of his academic standing, but he's been told to report to U.Va. on July 6.

The 6-3, 275-pound defensive lineman said he met yesterday with defensive coordinator Al Golden, football administrative assistant Tom Sherman and Kristie Beets, who works in the athletic department's academic affairs office.

"I wouldn't say I was excited," Crawford said. "I was relieved."

Crawford struggled as a Gar-Field senior but received an invitation to play in the Good Samaritan Bowl, an all-star game held June 11 at Annapolis, Md. His coach was Dan Makosy from Damascus (Md.) High.

"He's very good," Makosy said. "He could have played on both sides of the ball for us and started. He played defense for us, and he played very well.

"My first impression was, 'What a great kid.' He did everything we asked him to do."

WARMING TREND? Fork Union Military Academy's postgraduate football program has sent numerous standouts to U.Va., among them Almondo Curry, Billy McMullen, Darryl Blackstock, Merrill Robertson and Zac Yarbrough. The flow has slowed recently, however, after relations between Groh and FUMA's longtime coach, John Shuman, cooled.

Only three players on the Cavaliers' 2005 roster prepped at FUMA - quarterback Marques Hagans, nose tackle Keenan Carter and linebacker Jon Copper - and Groh declined to offer a scholarship to Shuman's son, Ryan, who signed with Virginia Tech in 2004.

The elder Shuman is in Charlottesville this week, though, working as an instructor at U.Va.'s four-day camp for high school players.

SMALL WORLD: Walt Fuller filled the vacancy created at LaSalle when assistant Steve Seymour left to join new basketball coach Dave Leitao's staff at U.Va. Fuller spent the past seven seasons at Virginia as an assistant under Leitao's predecessor, Pete Gillen.

Seymour is a close friend of Tommy Herrion, the former U.Va. assistant who's now coach at the College of Charleston. Like Fuller, Seymour worked as an assistant at Drexel under Bill Herrion, one of Tom Herrion's older brothers.

POSITIVE OUTLOOK: Sean Singletary's decision to have surgery on his left shoulder, which bothered him throughout his first season at U.Va., meant he wouldn't be able to try out for a USA Basketball team this summer.

"But it's all for the betterment of my future," said Singletary, a rising sophomore point guard, "and I just had to get it taken care of and out of the way, so later on in my career it won't be a lingering injury."

ON THE GRIDIRON: U.Va. linebacker Ahmad Brooks, a rising junior, is one of 50 preseason candidates for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, given annually to the top defensive player in college football. Brooks was a finalist for the Butkus Award last season. . . . Virginia's Sept. 3 opener against Western Michigan at Scott Stadium is likely to start at 6 p.m. The game won't be televised. - Jeff White

'Tis Not Always Better To Receive
Tackling a big move Former Cav, Cadet Patrick Estes makes move to offensive line to bolster chances to make 49ers
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
Jun 29, 2005

Tight end Patrick Estes? He's history. Meet offensive tackle Patrick Estes.

After running routes on pass plays at Benedictine High and the University of Virginia, Estes is trying to become a full-time blocker in the NFL.

In April, the San Francisco 49ers drafted him in the seventh round, and Estes initially lined up with the team's tight ends in offseason workouts. About a month ago, however, the Niners' new coach, Mike Nolan, broached the subject of a position change with Estes.

"He told me I had a better chance of making the team at tackle," Estes recalled recently in a phone interview.

And so Estes, 6-7, agreed to a move that wasn't unexpected. He may have run on a championship 400-meter relay team at Benedictine, but by the time he ended his career at U.Va., Estes weighed 280 pounds and had become known more for his blocking than his receiving.

"I kind of knew it was coming," Estes said of the position change.

The 49ers' OTAs - organized team activities - are over for the month, but Estes stayed in San Francisco to train with the team's other rookies. He's up to 290 pounds and hopes to add another 10 by the start of training camp late next month .

At 6-7, 300, Estes would be plenty big enough to play offensive tackle in the NFL, and he "has very good feet and very good quickness, so that's going to help him," said Andy Heck, assistant offensive line coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars. "The question is, how quickly can he master the techniques [needed to block] top-flight pass-rushers?"

Heck, a former U.Va. assistant, qualifies as an authority on the subject. He played tight end at Notre Dame before moving to offensive tackle before his senior season. He later played 12 seasons in the NFL as an offensive lineman.

"The biggest challenge is to learn to pass-protect," said Heck, who coached Virginia's tight ends in 2003 after two years as a graduate assistant. "That's the most difficult thing for any offensive lineman to learn and then get good at. And then to start from scratch at a late date can make that a tough job."

Then again, Heck noted, in "some ways, a guy who's played tight end could have an advantage there because he's generally got good feet. [Estes is] a hard worker, and he's a smart guy, and certainly, I think, having been exposed to a pro-style offense [at U.Va.], probably one very similar to the one he'll be running there in San Francisco . . . he's going to pick it up very quickly."

Estes showed promise as a pass-catcher after arriving at U.Va. in 2001. Once tight end Heath Miller began to blossom as a receiver, though, Estes' role changed. As a Cavalier, he caught 28 passes for 252 yards and five touchdowns, but 13 of those receptions came in his sophomore year.

"Patrick did a lot of blocking for us at Virginia and, I thought, steadily improved over the course of his career," Heck said.

U.Va. led the ACC in rushing last season, thanks in part to Estes' prowess at the point of attack.

"I think there's going to be a lot of carryover for him in the run-blocking," Heck said. "The techniques are the same, and the principles are the same."

Estes, who graduated from U.Va. in December with a degree in archaeology, will fly home this week after attending the NFL Rookie Symposium in West Palm Beach, Fla. He'll get to see his family in Chesterfield County before resuming his bid to become an accomplished tackle.

"I'm starting to feel more comfortable," Estes said, "but I've still got a long ways to go with it."

 

POWERPOINT
Will U.Va.'s Singletary emerge as the ACC's best in backcourt role?
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
Jun 28, 2005

CHARLOTTESVILLE Sean Singletary should be delighted, right? After all, when Wake Forest's Chris Paul, Georgia Tech's Jarrett Jack, North Carolina's Raymond Felton and Maryland's John Gilchrist decided to leave college early to pursue NBA careers, the challenge Singletary could expect to face in 2005-06 became considerably less daunting.

Yet the exodus of four of the nation's premier point guards doesn't seem to please Singletary, a 6-0, 180-pound rising sophomore at the University of Virginia.

"I'm kind of disappointed that those guys didn't come back and play," the former schoolboy star from Philadelphia said Friday afternoon at University Hall. "Obviously, if they were here, the level of competition would be that much higher, and I'd probably get that much better playing against those type of guys. . . . I don't like to take the easy way out."

Of the early departures, Singletary said, Paul had the most talent, "but I think Raymond Felton was the better overall player. Jarrett Jack, he has a pro body. But I'm going to miss playing against all those guys, because it's an opportunity to get better."

With Virginia Tech's Zabian Dowdell, Miami's Anthony Harris, Duke's Sean Dockery and Clemson's Vernon Hamilton, among others, back in 2005-06, the ACC won't lack experience, or talent, at the point this coming season. But it's not a stretch to suggest Singletary may emerge as the conference's best at his position.

Asked if he ranked himself against the ACC's other point guards, Singletary said, "Not really, and even if I did, I wouldn't say." He flashed a smile, then added, "But all the cards are in the right place for me. All I got to do is go out and there and prove myself."

On a U.Va. team that finished 14-15 in 2004-05, Singletary battled shoulder and ankle injuries but was the only player to start every game. In voting for ACC rookie of the year, he finished runner-up to UNC forward Marvin Williams.

Singletary averaged 10.5 points, 3.9 assists, 3.0 rebounds and 1.7 steals and shot 77.5 percent from the line. He made only 38.5 percent of his field goal attempts, but his myriad skills stamp him as a rare talent.

No one needs to tell Dave Leitao that. Leitao, who succeeded Pete Gillen as the Cavaliers' coach after the season, will rebuild around No. 44.

"He expects a lot out of me, definitely," Singletary said. "But the most that he says is, 'I want you to go out there and be the leader of the team. I know you're young, but you're not a freshman any more, so it's just time to lead.' "

The braces Singletary wore on his teeth last season are gone. Also absent is the harness he wore at times to keep his left shoulder from popping out. Singletary is recovering from arthroscopic surgery on that shoulder.

"I'm almost 100 percent," said Singletary, who works out on his own several times a day but, as a precautionary measure, hasn't been cleared to play in pickup games.

He and Leitao have formed "a real strong relationship," Singletary said. "I think he's just going to be the backbone of the team, as a head coach should be. He's going to be real strict, and guys aren't going to be getting away with a lot of the stuff we got away with last year . . . It's his way or the highway, I think."

After seven years at U.Va., Gillen resigned under pressure in March. Singletary stood by him loyally all last season and says he would have returned to Virginia had Gillen kept his job.

"I'm going to give it all I got, no matter who's coaching," Singletary said. "Unfortunately, Coach Gillen was a real good guy and a real good coach, but like I said before, the respect part, he wasn't getting it from the players. That's why the change was made, I believe."

Groh picks up a recruit
Intensity of U.Va. coach pulls Herzlich to join the Cavaliers
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Jun 22, 2005

CHARLOTTESVILLE - Perennial NCAA power Johns Hopkins offered Mark Herzlich a lacrosse scholarship, but he wants to play football in college. He plans to do so at the University of Virginia.

Herzlich, a 6-4, 245-pound linebacker from Conestoga High in Berwyn, Pa., near Philadelphia, committed to U.Va. this week. The rising 12th-grader chose Virginia over Boston College and also had scholarship offers from North Carolina, Vanderbilt, Duke and Army.

U.Va. and BC were "pretty much neck and neck," Herzlich said Monday night, but he found coach Al Groh's intensity appealing and liked the warmer weather in the South.

Conestoga plays a 5-2 defense that is similar to U.Va.'s 3-4 scheme. Herzlich, who made 145 tackles as a junior, is projected to play inside linebacker at Virginia. He's the sixth player to commit to the Cavaliers for 2006.

Herzlich, who carries a 4.5 grade-point average and scored 1,320 on the SAT, said he grew up watching Marquis Weeks star for Conestoga. Weeks started at safety for U.Va. as a graduate student in 2004. - Jeff White
 

Herzlich commits to Cavaliers
By Jay Jenkins / Daily Progress staff writer
June 22, 2005

It is easy to make comparisons between Mark Herzlich and former Virginia and current Atlanta Falcons’ defensive lineman Patrick Kerney.

Both were standouts in football on the defensive side of the ball. Both were standouts in lacrosse. Both are considered to be very athletic for their stature.

You can now add another reason for the comparison. Herzlich confirmed on Tuesday that he made a verbal commitment to play football at the University of Virginia.

Herzlich, a rising senior at Conestoga High in Wayne, Penn., becomes the sixth known commitment for the recruiting class of 2006.

As far as the comparisons to Kerney go, Herzlich said the more the merrier.

“A lot of people have compared me to Patrick Kerney over the years. I believe that I am [similar],” the 6-foot-4, 247-pound standout said. “I would love to be compared to a guy like Patrick Kerney [when my career is over at UVa]. If I can work to my potential and become as good as he is, that would be fantastic.”

Unlike Kerney, Herzlich expects to play inside linebacker in the Cavaliers’

3-4 defensive alignment and cited the formation as a reason for his decision.

“That helped me decide. It swayed my decision a lot because in the 3-4 defense they like bigger linebackers and that is what I am,” Herzlich said. “If I played in the 4-3 [defense] … I would be most likely a rush defensive end, but I guess my love is at linebacker.”

With four other scholarship offers in hand (Boston College, Duke, Louisville and Vanderbilt) and a ton more on the way, Herzlich said he heard many programs talking about the positions that they envisioned him playing.

Herzlich said coaches at North Carolina talked to him about playing in the backfield so he could “go out and catch passes for them.” Boston College, who proved to be the finalist with UVa, talked to him about playing tight end.

“I have very good hands,” said Herzlich, who intercepted three passes last season. “I think my hands are one of my good traits and just my sense for the ball.”

Herzlich’s hands are just part of the reason that the recruit is considered athletic. In addition to running the

40-yard dash in 4.75, he has played for his high school lacrosse team for the past three years, two as an attacker and one as a midfielder.

Virginia lacrosse coach Dom Starsia was, in fact, recruiting Herzlich to play at UVa and was the reason for his first visit to Charlottesville.

Herzlich said he knew he wanted to make his choice early, although even he was surprised at how quickly he came to the ultimate decision.

“After I called [assistant] coach [Bob] Price and told him I was committed to Virginia, I had a sense of relief but also a sense of excitement because I know I am going to a great school and I am going to be very happy there,” Herzlich added. “I was thrilled.”

Herzlich said his commitment is “very solid” and he will camp at Virginia later this summer, which will mark his sixth visit to campus.

Having made five previous trips, one would think that Herzlich has all the T-shirts from the UVa Bookstore that he might need. Think again.

“I could always use a couple extra,” Herzlich joked.

Cavaliers add punter. Ryan Weigand, a junior college punter from Pasadena City (Cal.) College, committed to play at UVa over the weekend and will be eligible this fall.

Weigand, who has three years of eligiblity remaining, is expected to compete with rising sophomore Chris Gould for the starting job as the Cavaliers’ punter in 2005.

As a freshman this year at Pasadena City, Weigand punted 55 times for an average of 40.3 yards for his team, which went 3-7. He also placed 12 of his kicks inside the opponent’s 20-yard line. Gould averaged 38.6 yards per punt after earning the starting nod late in the season, just prior to the Georgia Tech game.

Weigand (6-foot-2, 190 pounds) also drew interest from Akron, Northwestern, Oregon and Tulsa before UVa came into the picture.

As a rookie, Weigand was second team All-Conference and was named to the 2004 Grid-Wire junior college All-American team as a scholar-athlete.

Leitao's first UVa coaching staff is officially complete
By Andrew Joyner / Daily Progress staff writer
June 22, 2005

The Virginia men’s basketball staff is now officially set.

Virginia coach Dave Leitao announced the completion of his staff Tuesday with the appointments of Steve Seymour as assistant coach and Drew Diener as director of basketball operations. Seymour and Diener join assistant coaches Gene Cross and Rob Lanier on Leitao’s staff.

Diener has already been working in his current role for well over a month while Seymour was officially hired last week.

“I am extremely pleased to have completed our staff with two high quality people,” Leitao said in a news release. “We set out to get great chemistry within our office and I think we will more than have that.”

Seymour was an assistant coach at LaSalle last season after spending the three previous seasons on Lanier’s staff at Siena. During his time at Siena, the Saints captured the 2002 MAAC Championship and recorded the second ever NCAA Tournament win in school history.

From 1991 to 2001, Seymour coached at Drexel, the last two seasons as head coach. Thus, Seymour’s addition makes Virginia one of the rare staffs that features three current or former Division I head coaches - Leitao, Lanier and Seymour.

In two seasons, the Dragons had a 28-29 record under Seymour, including a 21-15 record in the America East. The previous eight seasons, Seymour was Bill Herrion’s top aide as Drexel posted a 134-47 record. During that time, the Dragons won three consecutive America East championships and made three

NCAA Tournament appearances, including an upset of Memphis in the first round of the 1995 tournament.

Seymour began his coaching career as an assistant coach at St. Anselm College in New Hampshire for three seasons. Two of those seasons, the Hawks played in the NCAA Division II Tournament.

A native of Rockland, Mass., Seymour is a 1981 graduate of Bridgewater State (Mass.) with a bachelor’s degree in physical education.

“With Steve, we’ve got a guy with great experience who has proven he can effectively help any program,” Leitao said. “As a former head coach, he will bring a mentality that our kids will definitely benefit from.”

Diener was the graduate assistant operations director for the men’s basketball program at DePaul University last year. Prior to joining the DePaul staff, he was an assistant coach at Northridge Prep in Niles, Ill., for one season.

A native of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, Diener is a 2003 graduate of Saint Louis University with a bachelor’s degree in elementary education.

Diener was a member of the basketball team at Saint Louis and he ranked sixth on the program’s career three-point field goals made list with 124 when he graduated. He made 40 percent (124-310) of his three-point attempts during his collegiate career. Diener was named the team’s Most Improved Player as a junior. Saint Louis participated in one NCAA Tournament and in the National Invitation Tournament twice while he was a member of the team.

“Drew is a young man who has future success written all over him. He did a terrific job for us last year and as he gains experience will prove to be a very good coach,” Leitao said.

Class allows UVa to think forward
Basketball recruiting
By Doug Doughty
doug.doughty@roanoke.co m 981-3129
The Roanoke Times

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- It would be safe to say that Dave Leitao was not attracted to the Virginia men's basketball coaching position by the press clippings of the players recruited by predecessor Pete Gillen.

That's not to say that Gillen and his staff left the new staff in a bind.

Leitao and his coaches have been able to turn their attention to 2006 and beyond with the understanding that there may be help available in the presence of incoming recruits Laurynas Mikalauskas, Mamadi Diane and Sam Warren.

Warren, son of 1980s Texas A&M star Rudy Woods, is viewed as a project. However, Mikalauskas and Diane could help next season.

"I think everybody is starting at the same point," Leitao said. "Obviously, some guys have experience, some guys have had success, but I can't tell you exactly what I'm going to get from the veterans, never mind a first-year guy.

"I won't go so far as to say 'any contribution they make will be a bonus,' because we'll need contributions from as many angles as we can get."

The most glowing scouting report on Mikalauskas comes from one of his future teammates, J.R. Reynolds, who has played against Mikalauskas in pick-up games this summer.

"He's opened all of the players' eyes," said Reynolds, a junior from Roanoke. "I love him. He's a hard worker, a rebounder, he can score. I think he's a great catch."

At 6-foot-8 and 240 pounds, Mikalauskas, a native Lithuanian from the Blue Ridge School, has an ACC body. The Cavaliers had wide bodies last year, too, and the question is whether Mikalauskas will furnish some much-needed athleticism.

"No question," Reynolds said. "Definitely. He dunks everything, or tries to dunk everything. He plays great defense. He's physical. He can bang."

Reynolds isn't alone in his thoughts.

"Those observations are pretty much universal, based on what I've heard from other players who have seen him," Leitao said.

As far as post-season honors, Diane, a 6-foot-5 forward is the most decorated. He was a first-team All-Washington Metro selection for a DeMatha program that won the city championship.

UVa assistant coach Gene Cross liked Diane's athleticism when he saw him in an open gym at DeMatha this spring, "and I started to believe, after a while, that he wasn't going to miss a shot."

As a senior at Cherry Creek High School near Denver, Warren averaged 6.3 points and 3.7 rebounds, numbers that sparked speculation over his UVa future.

There have been occasions, when other schools have made coaching changes, that players have been released from letters-of-intent at their request or by mutual agreement or by staff decision.

"I've been through that before, in my previous spot [at DePaul], where we had a young man ask out of his scholarship," Leitao said. "We didn't hear anything like that from these three, nor was there any of that on our end."

Leitao would be fortunate to get the same kind of production that Gillen got from Chris Williams and Adam Hall, players who signed with predecessor Jeff Jones but never played for him. Williams is the No. 7 scorer in UVa history and Hall was an 1,100-point scorer and an ACC All-Defensive team choice.

Said Cross: "We wouldn't want to cheat those kids into thinking, even remotely, that they're a lost class at all."