Singletary's decison is his alone
By Jerry Ratcliffe / jratcliffe@dailyprogress.com | 978-7251
June 14, 2007

The voice on the other end of the line couldn’t have been more serious when I was talking to Rob Lanier several weeks ago about what he was hearing about a former Virginia basketball recruiting target.

Lanier, who has since left UVa to become an assistant for Billy Donovan’s two-time national champion Florida program, blew off my questions and was insistent about one thing and one thing only concerning the Cavaliers’ basketball feature.

“What we need is Sean Singletary,” Lanier said.

At that time, news had not broken that Singletary was throwing his name into the NBA Draft process for at least a test run. I had no idea what Lanier was talking about and kept asking him about the other prospect.

“What we NEED is Sean Singletary,” Lanier repeated.

I thought to myself, what was he talking about? They already had Singletary. Then it hit me, but not as hard as it hit the UVa coaching staff.

No access

Ever since then, the Singletary draft process has been a mysterious saga. There has been no drama because there has been no access. The star Virginia point guard has granted no interviews and there has been no leaks about his mindset.

We simply don’t know what Sean is thinking, which is fine, because it’s Sean’s business what he does with his life.

Most likely, whatever the situation, it will become clearer to him in the next few days. He will work out for his hometown Philadelphia 76ers on Friday and, either before or afterward, will sit down with his great parents and come to a decision.

Will he stay or will he go? I have no idea. No one does other than Sean at this point.

Everywhere I have gone for the past month or so, that has been the $64 million question: “What’s Singletary going to do?” Even when I was at the NCAA tennis championships in Athens, Ga., a Bulldogs fan approached me and made that same query.

Deep impact

Certainly, Singletary’s decision will have major impact on Virginia’s basketball program, without a doubt the biggest impact any such decision has made since the days when Ralph Sampson used to tease us annually as to whether he would take the dough and turn pro.

Ralph always came back. We’re not sure what Sean’s going to do.

If he returns, Virginia should compete for the ACC title once again. He will be a three-time All-ACC player and possibly player of the year, and most likely a unanimous All-American. He’s the kind of kid that could get his jersey retired because he’s not only a great player, but a great person.

If he doesn’t return, Virginia will probably struggle to have a winning season. Coach Dave Leitao will almost be starting from scratch with a new backcourt and without the leadership and grit of Singletary.

Obviously, the Wahoo guard is attempting to find a club where he might be able to make the roster as a free agent because if you believe the word on the street, he’s not a first-rounder and no one wants to be picked in the second round because there’s no guaranteed money or anything else.

Pete Newell’s son, Tom, who knew a little something about basketball and who used to pal around with this columnist from time to time back in the day, told me something that stuck.

A lot of making it in the NBA is finding the right fit. It doesn’t matter what team might be interested in a player or what team drafts a player. What matters is does that guy fit that team’s system and can he find his niche on that roster.

That’s probably what Singletary is trying to find out. Otherwise, he’s just going through the process and trying to find out what he needs to work on. NBA folks have indicated his defense and decision-making as a point guard could use some polish.

Selfishly, I would love to see him come back for another year because it would probably enhance his draft status and as a fan of the game of college basketball, I love to watch him play. I love his intensity, his competitiveness.

I’m not a fan of the NBA’s developmental league. I believe another year in college is better than a year in that band of wannabes and basketball vagabonds.

I have never criticized a kid for leaving school early, particularly after Anthony Poindexter, the hardest hitting defensive back I’ve ever seen, decided to return to UVa and suffered a horrible knee injury that cost him riches and a long pro career.

That’s not likely to happen in basketball, but only Sean Singletary knows what’s best for his life.

The rest of us will have to wait.

 

Shabaz signs on with UVa
By Jerry Ratcliffe / jratcliffe@dailyprogress.com | 978-7251
June 14, 2007

Virginia’s run in the NCAA men’s tennis championships is already paying dividends for coach Brian Boland’s Cavaliers in recruiting.

Boland confirmed Wednesday that Virginia has signed one of the world’s top junior players in Michael Shabaz of Fairfax. Shabaz will enroll at UVa for the fall semester and immediately join the tennis team.

“He’s a world class talent,” Boland said. “He’s a great student of the game. He’s exciting to watch. He’s really the complete package.”

Shabaz, who sat out the past tennis season to focus on academics, has played in all the Grand Slam junior events and teamed with Jesse Levin of Boca Raton, Fla., to claim the 2005 Wimbledon boys doubles championship.

“He’s someone who can bring us to another level and we’re really excited about it,” said Boland, who directed the Cavaliers to the NCAA team semifinals before losing to champion Georgia on its home court last month. “He’s going to help our team tremendously ... it’s a big boost for our program and puts a rather large target on our back.”

That’s what Boland wants with his program, to be the one team that everyone else is gunning for and with most of his team returning from this year’s national semifinals, that’s what he’ll get.

“Michael has always been one of the top one or two recruits in the country (along with Atlanta’s Donald Young, whom Shabaz has beaten twice),” Boland said. “Michael is a special young man and he’s from the state of Virginia, which doesn’t happen very often.”

The Virginia coach said that Shabaz has already beaten several All-Americans in college over the past few years, including players from Ohio State, Miami, and Illinois.

“He’s very serious about coming to Virginia and doing well as a student and getting his degree and playing professional tennis after his college career,” Boland said. “I’m excited to work with him.”

 

U.VA NOTES
Thursday, Jun 14, 2007 - 12:07 AM

RILEY IS FEATURE GUEST AT HOOPS CAMP
Miami Heat coach Pat Riley will be in Charlottesville to speak this weekend. His audience? Many of Virginia men's basketball coach Dave Leitao's recruiting targets for the next few years.

About 120 players - boys who will be in grades 9-12 in 2007-08 - will attend a camp at U.Va. on Saturday and Sunday. Riley, who has won five NBA titles as a head coach, will address the campers Saturday night.

Among those expected to play at the camp are DeShawn Painter, a rising senior from Norfolk, and Josh Hairston, a rising sophomore from Fredericksburg. Benedictine High's Ed Davis, who heads Virginia's wish list for 2008-09, has been invited, but it's not clear if he'll make it up to Charlottesville for any or all of the camp.

U.Va. guard Sean Singletary was scheduled to work out for the Heat in Miami on Saturday. That workout might have to be rescheduled because of Riley's travel plans.

Singletary, a rising senior, has until Monday to decide whether he's staying in the NBA draft or returning to U.Va.

Garden state football connection

U.Va.'s incoming class of football recruits, unlike its predecessors during Al Groh's tenure as coach, includes no one from New Jersey.

That won't be the case next year. The Cavaliers' fourth commitment for 2008 is from Billy Schautz, a rising senior at Bergen Catholic in Oradell, N.J.

The 6-4 225-pounder has played safety, linebacker, wide receiver and, because of his strong arm, quarterback in high school. As a senior, Schautz said yesterday, he expects to be used as a wideout/tight end hybrid on offense and an outside linebacker on defense. He's projected as an H-back at U.Va., though linebacker may be a possibility, too.

Schautz visited U.Va. on Monday and Tuesday. Virginia is the first school to offer him a scholarship. Other schools that have been recruiting him include Maryland, Rutgers and Boston College.

His father, Ken, started at defensive end at Colgate, also the alma mater of U.Va. wideout Andrew Pearman's father. Schautz's sister, Kelly, played soccer and threw the javelin at Rutgers.

O'Connor: 'Ingredients here' for Series trip

If Louisville and UC Irvine can reach the College World Series - as each has done for the first time this season - then why not Virginia?

"I don't think there's anything that would prevent us," baseball coach Brian O'Connor said. "We've had that opportunity the last four years. It just hasn't happened yet. But I think all the ingredients are here at Virginia for us to continue knocking on the door."

O'Connor, whose record as U.Va.'s coach is 177-66, recently agreed to a three-year contract extension that runs through 2012. He's led the Cavaliers to the NCAA tournament in each of his four seasons, but never past the regional.

The University of Florida recently fired its baseball coach. The Gators were interested in O'Connor, but his contract extension "was not a response to that situation," he said. "It was something [U.Va. Athletic Director Craig Littlepage] and I had been working on for some time. It just so happened to coincide [with Florida's search]."

U.Va.'s veterans in 2008 will include Tyler Cannon, who as a freshman this season took over for the injured Greg Miclat at shortstop. With Miclat due back, Cannon might be used at several positions next season. Could catcher be one of them?

"I don't know," said O'Connor, whose incoming recruits include two junior-college catchers. "He's a pretty darned good catcher, I'll tell you that."

Starsia startled by arrest news

The news that one of his former players had been arrested in New Jersey caught U.Va. men's lacrosse coach Dom Starsia off guard.

Adam Fassnacht, a recent graduate of U.Va., faces an aggravated-assault charge in connection with a June 1 incident in Princeton, N.J.

"I really like and trust Adam, and it's unfortunate he got in the middle of this," Starsia said yesterday.

Fassnacht, who was a three-sport star at Robinson High in Northern Virginia, took most of the faceoffs for U.Va. as a senior this season.

Starsia said he didn't know enough about the incident to comment on Fassnacht's role.

"I will say this: Adam is a three-time [member of the] ACC academic honor roll, and he never was in a lick of trouble here for four years," Starsia said. "You talk to the other players, and he was the voice of reason on weekends."

In the crease

U.Va. recently received the ACC's sportsmanship award for men's lacrosse. This marks the fourth year in a row that Starsia's program has been so honored.

Four ACC teams play men's lacrosse: Virginia, North Carolina, Duke and Maryland. The winner of the annual sportsmanship award is determined by a vote of the league's coaches and players.

- Jeff White

 

Hokies, Cavs add recruits
Virginia Tech grabs its third commitment since Saturday, while UVa gets H-back Billy Schautz.
By Doug Doughty
981-3129

Virginia Tech's latest football recruit, linebacker Lyndell Gibson from Salem High School in Virginia Beach, has a colorful way of describing his playing style.

"How would I describe myself?" Gibson said Wednesday. "Dominant ... goon ... raw, like raw material."

Gibson, a second-team All-Group AAA selection as a junior, is one of three players who have committed to the Hokies since Saturday.

Also, Virginia has taken its fourth commitment for the class of 2008 from Bloomfield, N.J., athlete Billy Schautz.

Schautz, who started at quarterback last season for Bergen Catholic, said he passed for 500 yards and eight touchdowns before he was injured. Upon his return, Schautz (6 feet 4, 225 pounds) moved to receiver and had more than 600 receiving yards and scored 11 touchdowns.

Schautz, projected as a stand-up tight end or H-back by the Cavaliers, said he has run the 40-yard dash in 4.58 seconds.

Tech took commitments Tuesday from Northeast Guilford (N.C.) lineman Mike Via and Eric Martin, a 6-2, 236-pound tight end from Hylton High School in Prince William County. Martin, who had 15 receptions for 210 yards and four touchdowns last season, secured an offer at Tech's one-day camp this weekend and committed on the spot.

Gibson (5-11, 225) was named first-team All-Tidewater and Beach District player of the year last fall, when he had 108 tackles, including 14 sacks, and three forced fumbles.

Gibson runs 40 yards in 4.7 seconds and has a best of 335 pounds in the bench press. At a combine this spring, he did 26 repetitions of 185 pounds.

The offer from the Hokies came approximately one month before he went to Tech for the one-day camp last weekend.

"I didn't really plan on committing at the time," said Gibson, who was recruited to Tech by assistant coach Curt Newsome, "but the atmosphere was perfect, a nice, little environment."