Will the Gators come calling?
From staff reports / Charlottesville Daily Progress
June 8, 2007

According to the Gainesville (Fla.) Sun, O’Connor may be a candidate for the newly vacated position at the University of Florida.

On Thursday, Florida fired coach Pat McMahon and the newspaper cited O’Connor, Vanderbilt coach Tim Corbin and Kentucky coach John Cohen as the leading candidates.

O’Connor, who just completed his fourth year at UVa and boasts a 177-66 record at the school, has turned down previous offers from Auburn and Notre Dame.


 

UF fires McMahon
By BRANDON ZIMMERMAN
Sun sports writer
June 07. 2007 4:17PM

Jeremy Foley lost his confidence in Pat McMahon. And that ultimately led to McMahon's dismissal from Florida.

McMahon's six-year career as Florida's head baseball coach came to an end Thursday afternoon when he was fired by the Gators.

"When you lose confidence in a situation," Foley said. "It's hard to get it back."

McMahon led Florida to unprecedented heights, but also new lows after arriving Mississippi State in 2001.

McMahon led the Gators to their first two Super Regional berths and their first National Championship Series appearance during the 2005 College World Series.

The Gators, however, failed to capitalize on that success. Florida went just 57-58 and failed to make the NCAA regionals the past two seasons.

"If you look at the last two years we've taken a step back," Foley said. "And that goes back to that confidence issue I was eluding to."

McMahon was not available for comment and did not return a message left on his cell phone Thursday evening. He did, however, release a statement through UF.

"Our athletics director has decided to move our baseball program in a different direction," the statement read. "I am extremely disappointed. I know in my heart that I have given every fiber of my body to run all areas of the program in a first-class manner with the highest principles."

Foley said McMahon was understandably upset.

"He didn't agree with the decision," Foley said. "I didn't expect him to. It's understandable there was a great deal of disappointment. But Pat's a pro."

McMahon, 54, was under contract through the 2010 season, a deal that paid him about $160,000 annually. Just last year, he was contacted by LSU and Notre Dame in regards to their head coaching vacancy's, but told the schools he was happy at Florida.

His Gator career would end on May 25 when Florida was eliminated from the SEC Tournament. McMahon then held his postseason evaluation meeting with Foley on May 31 after Foley returned from the SEC meetings in Destin.

Foley told McMahon to come back Wednesday with a vision for Florida's future. The two met Wednesday, Foley contemplated his decision Wednesday night, and a decision was reached Thursday afternoon.

"I asked Pat to come in and give a vision for where we were headed," Foley said. "I wanted a vision. And candidly, when I evaluated everything, at the end of the day, the confidence that this was going to turn around, I didn't have it."

McMahon's firing came as somewhat of a surprise as news spread Thursday. Two-time SEC player of the year, Matt LaPorta, expressed shock when he learned of McMahon's firing over the phone.
"I love that guy," LaPorta said. "He's been there for me through everything, good and bad. He's a great person, always has been. I love him. It's a shame."

Foley understands his decision may prompt some criticism. Some were curious when Foley fired Andy Lopez in 2001 after Lopez had just led the Gators to the NCAA regionals.

"When you make a change like this people will agree with you and people will disagree with you," Foley said. "Especially when you're dealing with someone as great as Pat McMahon."

Foley will now move forward in a search of Florida's next coach. A few names that may emerge as candidates are Virginia coach Brian O'Connor, Kentucky coach John Cohen, a former UF assistant, and Vanderbilt coach Tim Corbin.

 

A's snag Doolittle
By Jay Jenkins / jjenkins@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
June 8, 2007

The “Price” was right for the top pick in the Major League Baseball draft.

Perhaps the same could be said for what Cincinnati, Oakland and ultimately the Chicago Cubs pulled off early in the first five rounds of the two-day, 50-round event in regards to players boasting ties to the Virginia baseball program.

Fourteen picks after Tampa Bay selected Vanderbilt pitcher David Price, the Reds selected catcher Devin Mesaraco, a high school star that has signed a National Letter of Intent to play at Virginia.

Later in the draft, first baseman Sean Doolittle, a three-year standout at UVa, was picked by the A’s with the 41st pick, a supplemental first-round choice. Also, as the first day was coming to a close, Cavalier outfielder Brandon Guyer was scooped up by the Chicago Cubs in the fifth round with the 157th overall selection.

While likely losing all three players for the upcoming year - and Mesaraco for at least three years - Virginia coach Brian O’Connor applauded each.

“It is an exciting day because it is an exciting day for those players,” O’Connor said. “They all have aspirations of playing at the next level and you want to see them realize their dreams.”

O’Connor also knows the fingernail-chewing impact.

“It is a big day for the future of the program because of how bad you could potentially be hurt in the recruiting process,” he added.

Mesaraco saw his stock rapidly increase over the past few months, leaving many experts to predict that he would go even higher than where he was actually selected.

The Reds cannot work a deal with the catcher until after he graduates high school, but the Pennsylvania product knows that something is imminent.

“Once school is out, I am pretty sure that I will [sign a contract],” Mesaraco told The Daily Progress. “It is a tough thing. I was really hoping to be a Cavalier but with the draft, you can’t turn that stuff down.”

Mesaraco said he envisioned playing for O’Connor and associate head coach Kevin McMullan for months.

“That was the ultimate second option,” he said. “UVa was my perfect school and I can’t say enough about the program and the school and it will be a tough decision, but stuff happens.”

Mesaraco’s selection did not shock O’Connor.

“I am not surprised at all. He is a great athlete,” O’Connor said. “He is a great player and we hate to probably lose him but it is a great opportunity for him and I can understand why the professional baseball people liked him.

“It was the same reasons that we liked him.”

Doolittle and Guyer are expected to join Mesaraco as signees. Both would have enjoyed completing their final years of eligibility at Virginia, but the signing bonuses for players drafted in their spots are likely too much to pass up.

While Doolittle did not discuss a contract with his advisor, former UVa standout Jason Cook, he expects to do so in the next few days.

“I am still in a relative state of shock … and it is still kinda sinking in and it has been a crazy, whirlwind experience since I got picked,” Doolittle said. “We haven’t started talking numbers - I haven’t even really looked at what slot money is going to be for that number pick - but whatever it is at 41st overall, it is going to be a relative no-brainer.”

Doolittle, who grew up in a military family, lived in California for three years as a child and attended numerous Oakland games with his dad.

“When I used to go to ball games when I was little, I used to wear an A’s hat pretty well,” Doolittle joked. “Hopefully, I will look as good in green and yellow as I did in blue and orange.”

Guyer said the news of his selection came as a shock - and for good reason. On Saturday, Guyer dislocated his shoulder sliding headfirst into the plate for a run against Oregon State in a regional that Virginia eventually lost.

“Going into the draft, I felt like I was going to be coming back for my senior year,” Guyer said. “I am just really thankful. I knew I put myself in a good position with the year that I had but God was obviously looking over me.

“I can’t really explain how I feel right now. I am just so glad that one team took a chance with my shoulder situation as it is. I think my college career is over.”

Other third-year players at UVa, including pitchers Michael Schwimer and Pat McAnaney, and incoming recruits may be able to say the same thing today after the final 45 rounds of the draft are completed.

That has O’Connor sitting in a precarious situation.

“[Today] is probably the biggest day because of how many of our players and recruits could be drafted,” the skipper said. “It could drag out through the summer and be a long process because they can sign up until August 15th.”
 

Cavs had season to remember
By Whitelaw Reid / wreid@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
June 8, 2007

It was at the Final Four in Philadelphia two weeks ago when Virginia found itself trailing Duke by nine goals in the second half.

That was about the time Blair Weymouth’s parents started gathering their belongings and preparing for their flight home to New Hampshire.

It’s a good thing they never actually left Franklin Field for the airport. They would have missed the greatest comeback in Division I women’s lacrosse postseason history.

Virginia ran off 10 straight goals to shock Duke - not to mention Rich and Kathy Weymouth - and advance to the finals.

Of course, UVa wound up losing to Northwestern in the title game. But when Weymouth and her teammates look back on the 2007 season in 20 years, it is the win over the Blue Devils that they’ll probably be talking about.

“To be in the record books is pretty cool,” Weymouth said. “I’ve never even heard of somebody coming back from that big of a deficit. It’s definitely something we’ll always remember for sure. It’s also something Duke will remember, too, unfortunately. It was an amazing thing to be a part of it.”

Even though Virginia came up one win short of the school’s fourth national title, coach Julie Myers said she couldn’t be more proud of what her team accomplished. After the victory over Duke, she received an e-mail from UVa men’s coach Dom Starsia.

“He said, ‘You guys played like warriors,’” Myers said. “To get that kind of acknowledgement from someone we respect so well …

“The girls really played tough and left everything on the field. That makes for a pretty content feeling.”

Especially when you consider that Virginia played Northwestern tougher than anybody else. The top-seeded Wildcats, who finished the season on a 21-game winning streak, only defeated UVa by two to win their third straight title. Their average margin of victory prior to that was 11 goals.

“I think we played as well as we could,” Weymouth said. “To come so close and not win was obviously frustrating, but at the same time Northwestern was a really good team and should be given respect.

“I wish we would have come out on top, but I have two more years, so I’m excited about that.”

What made Virginia’s run to the final particularly sweet was the fact that it had been knocked out in the first round of the tournament last year, on their own home field, by Princeton. This year, UVa hammered the Tigers in the first round, then beat a very good North Carolina team en route to Philadelphia.

UVa (19-4) won two out of three against UNC, including a decisive victory in the ACC Championship. The team’s 19 wins tied for the most in school history.

Next season, Virginia loses key seniors in Kate Breslin, Jess Wasilewski, Jessy Morgan and Megan Havrilla. However, it returns talented underclassmen like Weymouth, Brittany Kalkstein, Kaitlin Duff and goalie Kendall McBrearty.

In addition, Virginia will have Whit Hagerman and Allo Perry back in the fold. Both players missed this season with injuries.

“It’s nice to be a spring sport and have the time to figure out who’s gonna balance our midfield like Jess did and have that stick like Kate, or Megan’s left hand or Jessy Morgan’s leadership,” Myers said. “We can use the time in the fall to our advantage.”

Myers said the remarkable season her team was able to put together is just starting to sink in.

“It really was amazing,” she said. “It was a year where everyone on the team - my staff, the players, everyone - just did a great job with every little detail.

“It’s one of the few summers that even though we lost - I’m pretty much at peace. I feel like there’s not a whole lot we could have done differently.”

 

U.VA. NOTES
Friday, Jun 08, 2007 - 12:06 AM
 

FORMER CAVS TO SUIT UP FOR FLAMES
The University of Virginia's influence on Liberty University's football program will be strong this season.

Flames coach Danny Rocco is a former Virginia assistant, of course, but that's not all. His roster is likely to include more than a half-dozen former Cavaliers, including offensive linemen Eddie Pinigis and Marshall Ausberry, defensive end Vince Redd, kicker Noah Greenbaum, safety Ryan Best and, perhaps, wide receiver Bud Davis. Safety Robbie Catterton, who played for Virginia in 2003, is another possibility, though Rocco said yesterday that he's not sure of Catterton's plans for the coming school year.

Liberty went 1-10 in 2005. A year later, in the Flames' first season under Rocco, they finished 6-5, and he was named Big South Conference coach of the year. Liberty's ascension should continue this season.

Playing the waiting game

Virginia's Sean Singletary, a rising senior who has twice made the all-ACC first team, did not receive high marks from analysts for his play at the NBA's pre-draft camp in Orlando, Fla., last week. Neither did another guard from U.Va., J.R. Reynolds, who was a senior in 2006-07.

Cavaliers coach Dave Leitao was in Orlando to show support for Singletary and Reynolds.

The 5-11 Singletary has been working out for NBA teams this week. If he wants to return to U.Va., he has until June 18 to withdraw from the draft.

Some mock drafts list Singletary as a late second-round pick. Others don't have him going in either round. Nonetheless, those close to the U.Va. program would not be surprised if Singletary remains in the draft.

Cavaliers end season beaten and bruised

Losing outfielders Brandon Guyer (shoulder) and Brandon Marsh (wrist) to injuries Saturday hurt U.Va. in the NCAA baseball tournament -- neither played again in the regional at Davenport Field -- but the absence of shortstop Greg Miclat might have been a bigger blow.

Miclat, a 5-9, 170-pound sophomore from Concord, N.C., missed the postseason after having surgery on the labrum in his throwing shoulder. In 45 games this season, he hit a team-high .376 and stole a school-record 32 bases. Miclat's replacement at shortstop, freshman Tyler Cannon, hit .279.

"We overcame a lot," U.Va. coach Brian O'Connor said Tuesday after a season-ending loss to Oregon State. "Tyler Cannon stepped in and did a great job, starting the first ACC weekend against Wake Forest, and did a phenomenal job at shortstop. And no discredit to him, but the little guy that played there last year and played there the first 10 ballgames [this year] is a great player, and one of the best players on our field.

"It's like asking the basketball team to play without Sean Singletary. That's what Greg Miclat means to this team. He's that kind of player."

Incoming lacrosse recruits loaded

Twin brothers Rhamel and Shamel Bratton, the nation's most heralded high school lacrosse players, will enroll at U.Va. this summer. Coach Dom Starsia already has commitments from several players in the Class of 2008, including Steele Stanwick, a junior attackman from Baltimore.

The Baltimore Sun this week selected Stanwick as its player of the year. Also named to The Sun's All-Metro first team were two other U.Va. recruits: St. Paul's Chris Clements and Severn's Nick Elsmo.

The Washington Post's All-Metro first team includes three Virginia recruits: Elsmo, Georgetown Prep senior defenseman Bray Malphrus and Robinson senior attackman Matt Kugler.

- Jeff White
 

Duke reaches settlement with former coach
Terms of the 'amicable, fair financial' deal between Pressler, university not disclosed
By Aaron Beard
The Associated Press
Originally published June 7, 2007, 9:10 PM EDT

RALEIGH, N.C. // Duke University has reached a financial settlement with Mike Pressler, the former men's lacrosse coach who lost his job in the wake of since-debunked rape allegations involving his team.

Though the university would not disclose terms of the deal, a school official confirmed Thursday that Duke reached "an amicable, fair financial settlement" with Pressler a few months ago.

"Coach Pressler is an excellent coach and did a great job building the Duke men's lacrosse program," John Burness, Duke's vice president for public affairs, told The Associated Press. "Unfortunately last spring it was essential for the team to have a change of leadership in order to move forward.

"We regret the negative consequences this decision had on Coach Pressler. He and Duke reached an amicable, fair financial settlement in which Duke recognized his contributions to the lacrosse program and the circumstances of his departure."

Lee Southren, Pressler's agent, declined to comment Thursday night.

Pressler was in his 16th season at Duke when a woman told police that she was attacked by three players at a March 2006 team party where she was hired to perform as a stripper. The allegations eventually led the university in Durham to cancel the remainder of the highly ranked team's season and accept Pressler's resignation.

Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty and David Evans were indicted on charges of rape, kidnapping and sexual offense. They were later cleared by state prosecutors, who called them "innocent" victims of a "tragic rush to accuse."

The Blue Devils returned to field this season and reached the NCAA championship game under coach John Danowski, losing by a goal to Johns Hopkins on Memorial Day.

Pressler is the only Duke official who lost a job as a result of the case, even though an internal university investigation concluded he was the only school employee to take significant action when accusations of wrongdoing -- including disorderly conduct and public urination -- emerged about the lacrosse team.

He finished his Duke career with 153 wins, three Atlantic Coast Conference championships and 10 trips to the NCAA tournament. He was the U.S. Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association's coach of the year in 2005.

Pressler has helped write a book about his experience that goes on sale Tuesday, the same day the prosecutor who labeled the lacrosse players "hooligans" goes on trial for several ethics violations tied to his handling of the case.
 

Feds show up, search Vick's site
Warrant executed at property in Va.
By STEVE WYCHE
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 06/08/07

Federal authorities have opened their own independent investigation of dogfighting at a Virginia property owned by Falcons quarterback Michael Vick, and the state prosecutor said he sees only one target.

"Michael Vick, is he the target? Who else would be?" Commonwealth attorney Gerald Poindexter said in an interview with the Journal-Constitution.

"I never imagined such interest," Poindexter said. "Obviously if the feds come in, the jurisdictional basis is some sort of interstate violation. We don't know what it is — the training of dogs, gambling, racketeering, whatever they want to call it."

Poindexter said federal charges could result in more severe punishment than the maximum five-year prison term in Virginia for dogfighting and animal cruelty.

James P. Knorr, from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, has been involved in the investigation for weeks. Knorr contacted Poindexter at 3:15 p.m. Thursday and told him federal agents and state police were at Vick's property at 1915 Moonlight Road and were going to search the grounds under the authority of a "sealed" warrant.

Local authorities were invited to observe, but Poindexter said deputy sheriff W.R. Brinkman was the only member of local police to go.

Chuck Rosenberg, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, who would have authorized the warrant, declined comment through a spokesman.

Vick denied involvement in dogfighting in his one public statement shortly after police searched the grounds April 26 and seized 66 dogs, mainly pit bulls, and evidence of dogfighting. Vick has since repeatedly refused comment on the advice of his attorney and did so again Thursday at the team's Flowery Branch headquarters. His attorney, Lawrence Woodward, has not returned repeated phone calls.

Television footage of the search showed at least seven vehicles on the premises. State police carried cardboard boxes from the area behind the house where there are dog kennels. A black SUV carrying plastic containers and boxes left the property and returned several times.

A search warrant requested by federal authorities was not executed last week after Poindexter and sheriff Harold Brown objected to some of the language. According to that warrant, which was to expire Thursday, an informant stated that up to 37 dog carcasses could be found buried on the property.

Poindexter and Brown said investigators were in South Carolina last week to talk to an inmate who said he had information about the Surry County case.

South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster, who instituted an Anti Dog Fighting Task Force, said he would not be surprised if the person who contacted Virginia officials was one of the people he convicted. In November 2004, David Ray Tant, whom the prosecution called the No. 2 pit-bull breeder in the country, was convicted and sentenced to 40 years in prison.

McMaster said Tant could be an informant who could link interstate information to the Virginia investigation.

"I would not be surprised," McMaster told the AJC on Thursday. "These people have national magazines. They speak in code, use language that's known only to them to explain the duration and the viciousness of the fight. Who overcame what and who won. They publish that in magazines that circulates all over the world.

"This is a group of people who know each other."

During his 2004 case, Tant contended he no longer fought dogs and that he moved exclusively into breeding after he was given immunity from previous dogfighting charges to testify in a federal case in 2001.

Virginia authorities have not ruled out continuing their own investigation. Poindexter said federal and state authorities could share information as the investigation proceeds.

The federal involvement is the latest development in a case that started in April when police went to Vick's property in a drug investigation after the arrest of Vick's cousin, Davon Boddie.

After seizing evidence related to the drug search — including guns, ammunition, drugs and drug paraphernalia, according to the search warrant — police issued a second warrant to investigate dogfighting and animal cruelty after finding the dogs and other items used for dogfighting.

The Newport News Daily Press spoke with Boddie Thursday. Boddie said he is solely to blame and denied dogfighting took place at the property. Poindexter, Brown and other authorities have said evidence showed the contrary.

Boddie issued an apology to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, who has the authority to suspend Vick under the league's player-conduct policy.

"I want [Goodell] to know that everything going on is really my fault," Boddie said. "They're just making Michael look like something he's not. I want to apologize to Atlanta Falcons fans for what's going on. It's a lot of drama."

Goodell, who spoke to Vick at the NFL draft in April, has said he is closely monitoring the dogfighting investigation. NFL security offered its help with the case on more than one occasion and has a local agent tracking developments.

— Staff writers D. Orlando Ledbetter and Chris Vivlamore contributed to this report.