Zeglinski could be key for Cavs
By Whitelaw Reid / wreid@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
June 17, 2007

Sean Singletary must decide by Monday whether he is staying in the NBA Draft or returning to Virginia.

No player on the current UVa roster could be affected more by his decision than incoming freshman point guard Sam Zeglinski.

Zeglinski, who attended William Penn Charter High in Philadelphia - the same high school that produced Singletary - was the first signee of the Dave Leitao era.

Virginia recruited Zeglinski with the idea that he would serve as Singletary’s understudy for the first year, then take over the playmaking reins the following season.

However, Singletary’s departure for the pros would change all that.

“It would be great to have him back,” Zeglinski said, “but if he goes, I wish the best of luck to him. Either way, I have to be ready to play.”

Zeglinski, like almost every other Virginia player, has had limited contact with Singletary. He says he has no idea what his former high school teammate will do.

The 6-foot Zeglinski, who, along with incoming Virginia freshmen Mustapha Farrakhan, Mike Scott and Jeff Jones, was taking part in Virginia’s Elite Camp on Saturday, says he would be up for the challenge of playing a bigger role than he originally anticipated.

“Whatever Coach needs, I’ll be ready to do,” Zeglinski said.

Virginia assistant coach Steve Seymour says the staff plans on taking things slowly with the freshman and hasn’t thought about how many minutes Zeglinski will be penciled in for if Singletary should bolt.

“What we want him to do is come in and get settled academically and socially with being at school and get acclimated to the environment that we have here, and get him assimilated into the whole conditioning thing and going to school,” Seymour said. “We haven’t gotten that far down with our thought process. We want to prepare him for the academic rigors and then the athletic rigors.”

Zeglinski would be the only pure point guard on the roster. Farrakhan and Jones are considered combo guards.

“He’s got a real IQ for the game and a nice feel for when to get people the ball,” Seymour said, “and for where they can be effective.

“Sammy just has that pass-first, shot-second mentality.”

Zeglinski says he has always modeled his game after the Phoenix Suns’ Steve Nash.

“I like his vision and how can get the ball to anybody on the court, and he gives it to them in a spot that makes it easy for them to get a basket.”

Jones, who, like Zeglinski and Singletary, hails from Philadelphia, is hoping Singletary returns.

“I know his family and I know they’ll help him make the right decision,” Jones said. “It would be so much better for me if he does come back. I’d have somebody to learn from and could be like a big brother.

“But if he doesn’t, we all know he’ll have made the right decision for him.”

Zeglinski, who committed to Virginia early in his junior year, is just excited to be in Charlottesville.

“It’s great to finally get down here,” he said, “and play and work out with all the guys.”

Whether or not one of those guys is Singletary remains to be seen.

Dunks

Scott, a 6-foot-8 forward, sprained his left ankle on Saturday. He was on crutches and wearing a protective boot. Scott said he did not believe it was broken. … The camp concludes today, while the NBA Top 100 Camp starts on Tuesday.

 

Cavs double their 2008 commits
4 more players select Virginia
By Jerry Ratcliffe / Daily Progress sports editor
June 16, 2007

When Rodney McLeod arrived on campus for Virginia’s “Junior Day” recruiting event on Saturday, he had no intentions of making a decision on his college choice.
Things changed quickly for the blue-chip cornerback as the day wore on.
By the time the event ended Saturday afternoon, McLeod found himself among four new Cavalier football commitments, doubling the size of UVa’s recruiting class for 2008. Insiders said that Virginia’s coaches were not only excited about the four new commitments, but believed they had made healthy progress with several other prospects about to enter their senior year of high school.
McLeod joined big-time running back Torrey Mack and defensive backs Devin Wallace and Ausr Walcott as the newest Wahoos to commit.
Mack, who has 4.48 sprinter’s speed as a highly pursued running back, is perhaps the biggest name of the bunch. The 6-foot, 195-pound tailback from Stratford (Conn.) High School, is rated by Rivals as a four-star prospect and the No. 18 overall athlete in the nation.
Mack told The Daily Progress on Saturday night that he was offered by Virginia, Michigan, Florida, Penn State, Virginia Tech, Boston College, Iowa, Maryland, Syracuse and Connecticut, among others.
“I got down there Saturday morning and was there about five hours, and obviously I liked what I saw,” Mack said. “I visited down there last February and Virginia has been my leader ever since. I just feel comfortable there.”
Mack said that he rushed for 1,800 yards and 26 touchdowns en route to earning first-team all-state honors as a junior last season.
“I was excited to get the recruiting process over so I can concentrate on football,” Mack said. “Coach Groh told me I had enough talent to start right away, but that it would be up to me. I like their offense because they like to run the ball.”
Mack said that he is a slasher-style back with breakaway speed, but added, “I can run between the tackles.”
McLeod and Wallace said that they didn’t plan to commit Saturday but were overwhelmed with what they saw.
“I liked everything; that’s what sold me,” said McLeod, a 5-10, 180 corner with 4.4 speed. “The coaching staff is family-oriented and straight-forward. The players seem to love their program. But the education was the No. 1 thing that stood out to me. They kept emphasizing that, when you leave Virginia, you will have a degree that means something and my mother really liked that.”
McLeod is a senior at DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, Md., where he is a wide receiver and corner. He is rated the No. 8 overall prospect in the state of Maryland and the No. 55 wide receiver in the nation by Rivals.
He had offers from UVa, Virginia Tech, Michigan State, Boston College, Maryland, Syracuse, Illinois and UConn.
“I had taken some unofficial visits this spring to Rutgers, Syracuse and Maryland and thought about taking some more, but [Saturday], something in me said that this was the right place for me,” McLeod said.
Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen had made McLeod one of the Terps’ top priorities in recruiting.
“He explained to me how I was a good fit for their program and that me and (former Maryland and DeMatha star defensive back) Josh Wilson had similar backgrounds and compared me to him,” McLeod said.
Wallace said he had briefly thought about committing, but only if he was blown away by his visit.
“Well, everything was amazing, the campus, the atmosphere, everything,” Wallace said. “I liked the academics, the coaching staff was down to earth and the football program is building. Virginia has one of the top defenses in the nation and it’s only going to get better.”
Wallace said he could play either corner or safety.
“Coach [Mike] London (UVa’s defensive coordinator) told me that he liked my game because I’m an aggressive corner, with the speed to lock a receiver up,” Wallace said. “I’m a hard hitter, too. I like to play physical.”
Wallace, out of Friendly High School in Fort Washington, Md., is rated the No. 16 overall prospect in his state. The 5-10, 192-pounder has 4.43 speed and was a track standout as well.
He recorded 84 tackles, had three sacks and an interception last season for Friendly, the undefeated state champions of Maryland’s largest class of high schools.
“My recruiting process really picked up this spring with schools flocking in,” Wallace said. “It was mind-blowing stuff, but I’m happy with my decision. I’m living a dream.”
Walcott, who couldn’t be reached for comment, is a 6-5, 200-pound defensive back (4.5 speed) from Hackensack, N.J.
He was offered by UVa, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Maryland, Minnesota, Rutgers and Syracuse.
Walcott is rated the No. 22 safety in the country by Rivals.
 

Saliba honored by committee, friends
U.Va. mainstay named as top D-I trainer; reputation in-state is near impeccable
Sunday, Jun 17, 2007 - 12:07 AM
By JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER

CHARLOTTESVILLE - A son of the Midwest, Ethan Saliba was not the most likely candidate to put down roots in the South. But nearly a quarter-century after arriving at the University of Virginia, the soft-spoken and gracious Saliba is still there, and he's become a beloved and influential figure in his professon.

"He's probably one of the most brilliant, tireless workers I've ever known," said Mike Goforth, the director of athletic training at Virginia Tech.

Saliba, assistant athletic director for sports medicine, is also U.Va.'s head athletic trainer. His contributions were recognized this month when the National Athletic Trainers' Association named him Division I athletic trainer of the year for 2007.

"I think he's a very overlooked asset at Virginia," said Evan Marcus, who worked closely with Saliba before leaving U.Va. in January to become the Atlanta Falcons' strength coach.

Saliba, 50, is a native of Lawrence, Kan. He was an offensive lineman at Southeast Missouri State for three years before transferring to the University of Kansas, from which he received a bachelor's in physical therapy in 1979.

After four years at the University of Nebraska, where he mixed classes with work as a physical therapist, he came to U.Va. in 1983 to finish his master's and pursue a Ph.D. He eventually earned his doctorate, in 1992, but not before being pulled into the world of athletic training. What started as an interim position under Joe Gieck became a career for Saliba.

Saliba succeeded Gieck as head trainer in 1998.

"My philosophy has always been, if you hire people with character who are smarter than you are and leave them alone, they'll make you look good," Gieck said, "and he certainly did."

Twenty-four years ago, Saliba and Gieck were the school's only full-time athletic trainers. Saliba now supervises a staff that includes 11 full-time trainers and nine graduate assistants.

The biggest change he's seen during his tenure, Saliba said, is the "volume and the intensity of demands placed on our athletes and teams. It's a 12-month-a-year commitment. There's no down time."

Not that Saliba takes many breaks himself. "He's just a workaholic," Gieck said.

In addition to his myriad responsibilities in the athletic department, Saliba is a professor at U.Va. He coordinates his training staff's work with that of Virginia's physicians and strength-and-conditioning coaches, and he also works daily with Al Groh's football team. He previously worked with U.Va. men's basketball program.

Saliba's wife, the former Sue Foreman, is an athletic trainer herself and an assistant professor in U.Va.'s Curry School of Education. With their 4-year-old son, Sami, they live east of Charlottesville next to the Rivanna River.

Like the river, Saliba rolls on.

"I got so busy here," he said with a smile. "Thank goodness I didn't look up for a couple decades. I might have gotten tired."

 

Panel disbars Duke prosecutor
Disciplinary committee says Nifong broke ethics rules
By Aaron Beard
The Associated Press
Originally published June 16, 2007, 6:32 PM EDT
 

RALEIGH, N.C. // District Attorney Mike Nifong will be disbarred for his disastrous prosecution of three Duke University lacrosse players falsely accused of rape, a disciplinary committee decided Saturday. Even the veteran prosecutor said the punishment was appropriate.

"This matter has been a fiasco. There's no doubt about it," said committee chairman F. Lane Williamson.

Nifong sat motionless, one hand resting over his mouth, as Williamson recounted how he engaged in dishonest and deceitful conduct. He said Nifong's early comments about the case -- which included a confident proclamation that he wouldn't allow Durham to become known for "a bunch of lacrosse players from Duke raping a black girl" -- were purposefully designed to boost his campaign for district attorney.

"At the time he was facing a primary, and yes, he was politically naive," Williamson said. "But we can draw no other conclusion that those initial statements he made were to further his political ambitions."

Nifong will not appeal the punishment, his lawyer said.

"He hopes this helps restore some of the confidence in the criminal justice system of North Carolina," said attorney David Freedman.

"On one hand, it's very devastating. On the other hand, he's been going through this process for a long time, so you always have some semblance of relief when the process is over with regardless of the outcome."

The North Carolina State Bar charged Nifong with breaking several rules of professional conduct, including lying to both the court and bar investigators and withholding critical DNA test results from the players' defense attorneys.

The committee, after deliberating for a little more than an hour on Saturday, unanimously agreed with the bar on almost every charge -- including the most serious allegations -- that Nifong's actions involved "dishonesty, fraud, deceit and misrepresentation."

State Bar prosecutor Douglas Brocker told the committee that as Nifong investigated the allegations that a stripper was raped and beaten at a March 2006 party thrown by Duke's lacrosse team, he charged "forward toward condemnation and injustice," weaving a "web of deception that has continued up through this hearing."

"Mr. Nifong did not act as a minister of justice, but as a minister of injustice," Brocker said.

The verdicts and the punishment did not appear to surprise Nifong, who acknowledged during sometimes tearful testimony Friday that he would likely be punished for getting "carried away a little bit" when talking about the case.

During Saturday's closing arguments, Williamson repeatedly interrupted Nifong's attorney, Dudley Witt, as he discussed the DNA testing.

Williamson questioned why it took several months for the defense to get DNA test results that found genetic material from several men in the accuser's underwear and body, but none from any lacrosse player.

"It wasn't just one little oversight," Williamson said later. "This was conduct over an extended period in a very high-profile case."

Aware of those test results, Nifong pressed ahead with the case anyway and won indictments against Dave Evans, Reade Seligmann and Collin Finnerty. State prosecutors later concluded the three players were "innocent" victims of a rogue prosecutor's "tragic rush to accuse."

Nifong made "multiple, egregious mistakes" as he pursued the charges, but not intentionally, his attorney said in closing statements.

"It didn't click," Witt said as he tried to explain one of his client's errors. "His mind is just his mind. That's the way it works. It just didn't click."

Brocker said Nifong had to have known he was making improper comments to reporters. Nifong said he regretted some of his statements, including a confident proclamation that he wouldn't allow Durham to become known for "a bunch of lacrosse players from Duke raping a black girl."

He also focused on when Nifong learned about the full extent of the DNA test results and when he shared that information with the defense.

Nifong gave defense attorneys an initial report on the DNA testing in May 2006 that said private lab DNA Security Inc. had been unable to find a conclusive match between the accuser and any lacrosse players.

But lab director Brian Meehan testified this week that he told Nifong as early as April 10, 2006 -- a week before Seligmann and Finnerty were indicted -- about the more detailed test results.

Nifong testified that when he gave the defense the initial report, he "believed at the time that I had given them everything."

The disciplinary hearing committee had the choice of suspending Nifong's law license or taking it away entirely.

Nifong told the panel hearing the case Friday that he would resign from his post as Durham County district attorney over his handling of the rape charges.

The players' attorneys have pledged to seek criminal contempt charges next week in Durham.