U.Va. turns up in-state effort
Deep Run's Snyder latest football recruit for '09 from state
Wednesday, Jun 04, 2008 - 12:06 AM Updated: 02:57 AM
By JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- As signing day for football approached in February, fans and media members across the commonwealth raised this question time and again:

Why can't U.Va. recruit in-state?

Of the 18 players who signed with the University of Virginia on Feb. 6, only three attended state high schools. Virginia Tech, meanwhile, signed 22 players from the state. Rarely, if ever, had the Cavaliers fared so poorly with state prospects.

"I think it's just a one-year thing," John Shuman said at the time, and Fork Union Military Academy's longtime postgraduate coach appears to have been correct.

U.Va. added its 11th recruit for 2009 yesterday when Deep Run defensive end/tight end Jake Snyder committed. With eight months to go until the next signing day, nine recruits are Virginians, including two prospects from Tidewater, a region where Al Groh and his staff hadn't done well in recent years. The Hokies, meanwhile, have only one commitment for 2009 -- from Stone Bridge High's David Wang -- though they're likely to pick up several in-state recruits in the next few weeks.

"I'm surprised, just based on the historical aspect," said Zirkle Blakey, editor and publisher of the popular VirginiaPreps.com site. "Last year and even the year before, Tech was way out in front early.

"A year ago if I'd said that Virginia was going to have a big lead in in-state commitments, and two would be from the 7-5-7 [area code], people probably would have asked, 'What are you smoking?'"

So what's different this year? It's not the Cavaliers' recruiting philosophy, according to Groh.

"Our approach has been straight-line from the start," Groh said. "We've never wavered on it. We have a model on what we think is necessary in players to fit into this environment and be successful in all phases, and we always want to start with Virginia players that fit our model.

"That's always going to be a varying thing. Sometimes the pool of [in-state] players who fit our model is smaller."

That was the case with the state's Class of 2008. Recruiting analysts predicted that the Class of 2009 would look more favorably upon the Cavaliers, and things have played out that way.

"Virginia has worked really hard," Blakey said, "and the academic profiles of the top 30, top 40 prospects are a better match for Virginia than they were a year ago."

The loss of defensive coordinator Mike London, who left to become head coach at the University of Richmond, was expected to hinder Virginia's recruiting efforts in the state. But London's successor, Bob Pruett, has proved to be an excellent ambassador for the Wahoos in Tidewater, and wide receivers coach Wayne Lineburg, who joined Groh's staff in 2006, is a relentless recruiter.

Other factors in U.Va.'s fast start in-state include Groh's job security and Tech's scholarship crunch. A year ago, Virginia was coming off a 5-7 campaign, and speculation was rampant that the 2007 season might be Groh's last at his alma mater. But the Cavaliers won nine games, and Groh was named ACC coach of the year.

Virginia Tech had even more success last season, beating U.Va. and then winning the ACC championship game. But the Hokies signed a huge class -- 31 players -- in February. They have far fewer scholarships to offer in 2009 and so haven't been able to pursue as many in-state prospects as usual. That's made life easier for U.Va., too.

In a recruiting year in which Virginia figures to sign at least 22 players, 12 or 13 -- if not more -- could come from this state.

"It's always a positive," Groh said. "If we could do it all within a tight radius, that would be great. Sometimes circumstances are otherwise."


 

Cavs land another in-state commit
By Jay Jenkins
Published: June 4, 2008

When quarterback Scott Deke scooped up a bad snap in the spring game in April, he saw a streaking player and quickly fired a 42-yard pass to walk-on wideout Matt Snyder, a relative unknown.
Virginia football fans, get to know the name — especially the last name.
On Tuesday, Snyder’s younger — but bigger —brother verbally committed to play football at the University of Virginia.
Jake Snyder, a two-way standout at Deep Run High in Glen Allen, became the 11th commitment for the Class of 2009, continuing the Cavaliers’ recent in-state dominance. Jake Snyder, who had an ever-growing list of offers, is the ninth recruit from Virginia to offer a verbal assurance.
Standing at 6-foot-4 and 240 pounds, Jake Snyder has showcased his talent at tight end and defensive end in such strong fashion to land offers from Ohio State, Penn State, Louisville, Virginia Tech and Boston College.
The offers came rolling after he had 14 catches for 260 yards and five scores and had four interceptions, eight sacks and 58 tackles on defense as a junior.
It was his first offer, however, that meant the most.
“I got the offer from Virginia back in December,” said the younger Snyder, who was a first team defensive performer in the Colonial District. “It was shortly after the high school season ended and they were the first ones to offer which was a really big deal. I thought about it for a while and waited to see who else came in during the recruiting period and it was always in the back of my mind.”
Eventually, and after watching numerous suitors hold their spring games, Jake Snyder settled on following his brother and former Deep Run defensive end Sean Gottschalk to UVa.
“It is very exciting and it feels good to have it over with and have it done and be able to focus on this upcoming season,” he said.
“There were a lot of factors, but the first thing I was looking at was the school, the academics, and UVa is a great school. And with the football program, the coaches have done a great job with everything and I like that part of it, too.
“Location was also a big part of it. It is under an hour drive and if I need to get home for the weekend or the day, it is not impossible. That was a good thing, and having my brother play there doesn’t hurt either.”
The elder Snyder joined the program as a walk-on after landing a tryout and has progressed up the deep depth chart at wide receiver, and served as a sounding board for his brother during the recruiting process.
“We talked about it. He was pretty good about being impartial about it the whole time and made me make my own decision,” Jake Snyder said. “He wouldn’t try to persuade me one way or another, and I definitely asked him about it — the whole experience, the team and everything, what the locker room is like, what are games like? I just wanted to get a feel for it and it definitely helped to have him up there to help guide me with it.”
Possessing a 4.0 grade point average and a 1,300 on the SAT, Jake Snyder said prides himself on paying attention to detail — inside the classroom and on the field.
“I think that is one of my stronger points,” he said. “I want to make sure that I focus on detail and make sure that I do it as well as I can do it, not necessarily perfect, but I am going to do everything to the best of the ability that I have.
“I am going to make sure that I give everything that I have to everything that I do.”
While being switched to tight end is a remote possibility, Jake Snyder expects to start out at defensive end as his first preseason practice begins at Virginia in 14 months.
“I do like defense better,” he admitted. “I feel like it’s more my style; I like making the plays.
“It is a very fundamental position and like to put myself in that position where I can work off the offensive line and do my own thing.”

 

End is just beginning to learn with the Rams
By Bill Coats
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
06/02/2008

Rams defensive end Chris Long (left) disengages from offensive tackle Stephen Sene to pursue the ball carrier during a Rams minicamp at the Russell Training Center in Earth City.
(Chris Lee/P-D)

Irked that his hottest new prospect turned the wrong way during a drill at Rams Park, defensive line coach Brian Baker marched up to Chris Long and spread his arms.

"Does this look like Virginia to you?" Baker blurted. "This is the NFL."

So goes the early ripening of the No. 2 overall selection in April's draft. Long, a 6-foot-3, 279-pound defensive end out of the University of Virginia, is getting pounded left and right — more mentally than physically — as the Rams rush to bring him up to speed.

"We've thrown a lot at Chris, and that was the objective," said coach Scott Linehan, who anointed Long the starter on the right side shortly after the Rams picked him. "He's seen a lot of offense since he's been here. Once that starts to click in with him, I know he's going to really take off."

Long, 23, acknowledged that he struggled at times during his first nine pro practices: three at minicamp and six in organized team activities.

"It's humbling," he said. "A lot of it flew by quick. But you see the big picture and you realize it's a cycle and you're starting over again."

Long is adjusting to a new spot — he played mostly on the left side in college — as well as a new scheme. Virginia ran a 3-4 defense; the Rams' base is a 4-3. Not to mention a large leap in the talent pool.

As he adapts, he's fighting a natural urge to think rather than react.

"You're always thinking until you get to that point where you know (your assignments) like the back of your hand," he said. "The sooner the better. But I don't anticipate getting to the point where (veteran linemates) Leonard Little is or La'Roi Glover is or James Hall is overnight. I'm just going to have to keep working."

The Rams also opted for a defensive lineman in the first round last year, taking Nebraska's Adam Carriker in the 13th overall slot. Carriker, who started all 16 games at tackle his rookie season, has become a trusted counselor to Long.

"It's great to have somebody with that perspective right next to me working," Long said. "He told me, 'They're going to ask more out of you.' And that's understandable. As the guy who was picked first by this organization this year, you know there's a bull's-eye on your back. You just have to give it the best you can give it."

After recording 14 sacks and 23 quarterback pressures last year for the Cavaliers, Long is learning quickly that raw ability isn't enough at this level. Even the smallest detail must be mastered, he explained. Seemingly fundamental tasks now are serious challenges.

"Your technique has to be flawless," he said. "Things you did in college don't work at the pro level."

Long concedes that despite his first-round status, he's a work in progress. "As Coach told me, 'We've gotten through the A's, now we can go to the B's. It's baby steps; just take it day to day,'" he said.

Progress has been gradual but notable, Linehan said.

"He looks a lot more comfortable just in little things like his stance and getting the call and relating it to the situation," Linehan said. "The bright spot for him is how fast he's picking everything up. He has absolutely no anxiety whatsoever about being out there."

Some might wonder whether Long is anxious about his financial situation, since Miami tackle Jake Long and Atlanta quarterback Matt Ryan, the Nos. 1 and 3 picks respectively, have signed lucrative contracts. Not so, he insisted.

"I don't even pay attention to that," he said. "I haven't talked to my agent in a week and a half. I just go out and play ball; I'll worry about that when the time comes."

When a questioner challenged the sincerity of that response, Long laughed and shot back: "I swear to you, there's nothing I'd rather be doing than sitting in my hotel room with the phone off after practice. I don't worry about that stuff."

He offered two other assurances:

— That he'd be signed and on hand when the Rams assemble for training camp July 24 at Concordia University in Mequon, Wis. "I was never into that holdout business," Long said. "That's real important to me ... as a teammate more than anything."

— That no matter how hard and how often Baker drills him, he doesn't replay his position coach's words in his dreams. "No, I get my sleep in," he said. "Anyway, those would be nightmares, not dreams."

bcoats@post-dispatch.com | 314-340-8189

UVa’s First Three Football Games to Be Televised
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 06/03/2008

Charlottesville, VA – As part of the announcement of early-season television selections, the Atlantic Coast Conference announced today that Virginia’s first three games of the 2008 football season will be televised and the game times are now set for those contests.

The Cavaliers’ home opener at Scott Stadium on Aug. 30 will kickoff at 3:30 p.m. and be televised by ABC (regional) and ESPN2. UVa’s Sept. 6 home contest vs. Richmond is slated for a 3:45 p.m. start and will be carried by ESPNU. Virginia’s first road game of the season at Connecticut on Sept. 13 will start at 7:30 p.m. and also be shown by ESPNU.

Virginia’s opener against USC will air regionally on ABC and to the rest of the nation on ESPN2. It is one of three ACC games to receive expanded coverage through the league’s television agreements with its broadcast partners.

After the first three weeks of the season (games through Sept. 13), game times and TV will be announced weekly with ESPN/ABC and Raycom Sports making their choices with a 12-day advance notice beginning on Monday, Sept. 8 (for games on Saturday, Sept. 20).

Season tickets and mini-ticket packages are still on sale for Virginia’s 2008 campaign.

The Season Kickoff mini-package includes the Cavaliers’ games vs. USC (Aug. 30), Richmond (Sept. 6) and East Carolina (Oct. 11) and is available for $101. The ACC mini-package is available for $168. The package features the Cavaliers’ four ACC home games against Maryland (Oct. 4), North Carolina (Oct. 18), Miami (Nov. 1) and Clemson (Nov. 22).


 

UVa recruit garners national recognition
By Whitey Reid
Published: June 3, 2008

It was at a tournament over Christmas in Orlando back in 2006 when Virginia coach George Gelnovatch became convinced that Chris Agorsor was the “real deal.”
Agorsor was only a sophomore in high school at the time, but Gelnovatch and his staff zeroed in on the Owings Mills, Md. native and decided to make him a top recruiting target.
That decision looks pretty savvy now.
On Monday, Agorsor was named the 2007-08 Gatorade National Boys Soccer Player of the Year.
Past winners of the award include — in their respective sports — Alex Rodriguez, Emmitt Smith and Lisa Leslie.
In addition to recognizing athletic excellence, the award also takes into account academic achievement and “character on and off the field.”
Agorsor graduated near the top of his class from the McDonogh School — a year early.
“He’s got it all,” said Gelnovatch, who was able to beat out a slew of schools for Agorsor’s services, mainly because he was able to identify the forward as a top player before everyone else. “Not only does he have the soccer, but he’s an articulate, intelligent kid who also has leadership skills. These kids don’t come along very often.”
The 5-foot-9, 145-pounder had 24 goals and eight assists in just 15 games for McDonogh in leading it to the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Championship this past season. Agorsor finished his career with 55 goals and 22 assists.
A standout in the United States Soccer Federation Under-18 Development Academy and a multi-time travel squad invitee to the U-20 National team, Agorsor recently spent three days in England competing with the U-20 squad against English Premier League reserve teams.
Agorsor’s incredible athletic ability is the first thing that caught Virginia’s staff’s eye. Gelnovatch says Agorsor is the best athlete he’s recruited since Brian West, who went on to play MLS.
“He’s very fast and very strong for his size,” Gelnovatch said. “He’s not a big kid, but he’s strong and he’s tough. It’s not easy to knock him off the ball.
“[Former UVa player] Adam Cristman was pretty fast and could get behind people, but Chris is a different gear.”
Gelnovatch says Agorsor has the skills, too.
“He has good feet. He can beat people one on one and is a very good finisher. A lot of times kids who are very fast and very athletic sacrifice the soccer or the finishing, but he has that stuff.”
Gelnovatch believes Agorsor — provided he doesn’t eschew college for a pro career — can make an immediate impact.
“I tell all of our kids —and that includes the National Gatorade High School Player of the Year — that there are no guarantees you’re starting … I don’t promise anybody that they’re going to come in and start.
“But he has all the tools to come in as a first-year guy and score goals for us.”

 

Outfielder might be a high selection, but will likely opt to play in college
By DAVE ZEITLIN

Unionville senior Pete Hissey boasted an on-base percentage of .672 this season for the Indians. The University of Virginia recruit is rated as one of the top high school outfield prospects in the country.WEST CHESTER -- Pete Hissey pressed his cell phone hard against his ear. On the other end was a strange, but vaguely familiar, voice. The news this man delivered seemed unfathomable.

“This is Bob Howe from the Baltimore Orioles,” the voice said. “Do you have aspirations to play professional baseball?”

The call began to break up, so Hissey, a star outfielder at Unionville High School, spoke as loudly as possible. He realizes now he probably sounded like a little kid on Christmas.

“Wow,” he exhaled. “It’s my dream to play professional baseball!”

The call ended a few minutes later, leaving Hissey with all kinds of emotions: a blur of shock, confusion and satisfaction.

Then, his cell phone buzzed again. It was Malvern Prep’s Chris Gosik, a star baseball player in his own right and one of Hissey’s best friends.

“Hey Pete, have you gotten any calls recently?” Gosik asked.

“Well yeah,” Hissey said, gushing. “The Baltimore Orioles just called!”

At that moment, Hissey’s pro dreams crashed down around him. On the other end of the line, about 10 people were hysterical.

“Pete,” Gosik said bluntly. “That was my dad.”

AdvertisementHissey laughed then ... and he laughs again now, from the patio of his beautiful West Chester home, on the cusp of one of the most important days of his life, as he retells the story of his “first” call from a scout.

That prank occurred about a year ago.

Today, Pete Hissey is one of the most sought-after high school players in the nation and may very well be selected in the early rounds of this week’s Major League Baseball First-Year Playoff Draft.

No joke.

The professional?

Pete Hissey has as sweet a left-handed stroke as you’ll see in high school. He has an acute baseball sense and wreaks havoc on the base paths. This season for Unionville, he hit .509 with an absurd .672 on-base percentage, to go along with 26 stolen bases. And when he roams center field, his teammates take notice -- even if he’s just firing a one-hopper to the plate during warmups.

“One day,” Unionville right fielder Tim Do says, “I get to tell my grandkids I played with Pete Hissey.”

Even so, the surprise Hissey felt when the scouts -- the real scouts -- told him he could play professional baseball wasn’t fabricated. The notion still hasn’t even hit his dad.

“Sometimes, I really can’t believe it,” David Hissey says.

Believe it or not, the Unionville standout might be taken as early as the third round in Thursday’s draft.

In a recent ranking, Baseball America called Hissey, a University of Virginia recruit, the 65th best hitter in the nation and the 136th best prospect overall. And perhaps just as important, the scouts have been pleased with Hissey’s mental makeup -- based on a process that has been both endless and weird.

Here’s an example of weird: The Atlanta Braves asked Hissey if he was afraid of animals in cages.

Here’s another: The Milwaukee Brewers gave him a vision test in which he had to wear special sunglasses and stare into a computer screen for 45 minutes.

“They basically try to find out if you’d lie, cheat and steal in 200 different ways,” Pete says.

A test is hardly needed to determine that answer.

When the Unionville senior speaks, he does so with both a level of maturity and humility, with a splash of self-deprecation sprinkled in. One second, he’ll say something like “I just have to keep my head down and work.” The next, he’ll talk about faking an injury after a tryout at Citizens Bank Park so he can stay in the locker room and meet Chase Utley.

The kid’s funny, too -- whether he’s mouthing an aww sound as his parents talk about meeting in college or saying, “That’s a plug,” to the tape recorder after boasting about making the Daily Local News All-Area team in basketball.

“He’s very level-headed and he’s certainly intelligent,” Unionville baseball coach George De Donado says. “He loves to play the game, and he has a strong drive to be successful.”

A more biased source, his mother, agrees.

“He’s very humble,” Laurie Hissey says. “Whatever he does, he does to the best of his ability -- whether it’s school or mulching the garden.”

Baseball, too.

But it’s the combination of all of Hissey’s best traits -- his superb baseball skills and his natural ambition to better himself (maybe not the garden mulching) -- that has led to one of the toughest choices he’s ever faced.

It’s a decision many people would love to have ... but it’s not an easy one.

Minors or College?

During the college basketball season, Pete and his dad sat down in front of the TV for a Virginia-North Carolina game on ESPN. Just as Virginia point guard Sean Singletary was keeping the undermanned Cavaliers in the game, the camera spanned the crowd and showed a riled-up UVA baseball team.

At that point, Pete’s decision was a no-brainer. He would honor his commitment to the University of Virginia. He would live the life of a college student: jumping up and down during ACC basketball games, eating pizza in the dorms at 3 a.m., striving to make the College World Series every season.

What a dream that would be.

Or ...

He could follow his more immediate plans, heed the advice of the videos the scouts have showed him with guys like Chipper Jones staring into the camera and saying “Signing out of high school was the best decision I ever made” and take the guaranteed, perhaps life-altering, money a professional organization would offer.

What a dream that would be.

“It’s that volatile,” his father says. “He’ll want to go to Virginia one day, and the next day he’ll want to go pro.”

Pete admits that he doesn’t think he can beat the college experience, and is probably leaning toward wearing Cavalier blue and orange. That has made what’s called his “signability” low -- meaning he has scared off pro franchises by telling them that he might not sign even if drafted.

But certain teams are still going hard after the speedy outfielder. This weekend, Pete had a tryout with the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park, and on Monday he’ll head to Boston for a personal workout for Red Sox brass. Afterwards, he’ll meet Boston’s hot young general manager Theo Epstein.

“If you talk to me Monday after Fenway,” Pete says, “I’ll say I’ll sign anywhere.”

Making the decision even more difficult is that it’s a binding one. As opposed to basketball, when a player can jump from college to the pros at any time, baseball players are required to stay at least three years in college if they don’t sign after high school.

Also, Pete won’t have very much time to decide. A likely scenario will be that a team, like the Red Sox, will call him about 10 minutes before their pick and ask him if he’ll sign for a certain amount of money. Pete will have to tell them his answer right then. “It’s not a contractual obligation,” David says, “but an ethical obligation.”

Another possibility is that a team will select Pete late in the draft, follow him throughout the summer to see if he’s worth early round money and make an offer before Pete leaves for college.

Or, because of his low signability, he won’t be drafted at all -- despite his gaudy rankings.

Either way, one thing is for certain: Pete Hissey will be playing baseball at a very high level very shortly.

And whatever he ends up deciding will be OK with his family.

“You just have to make a decision and live with it,” Pete’s father says. “There’s no second-guessing. You just have to go with it.”

Says his oldest brother, Dave, “It’s a win-win either way.”

A family affair?

Behind the Hissey house, there is a field of overgrown grass and weeds -- nothing special, nothing out of the ordinary. Not long ago, however, on that same patch of grass, there was a baseball field that would have made Ray Kinsella proud -- a literal diamond in the rough.

For years, David, a former college baseball player at William and Mary, would come home from work and hit grounders to Pete and his three brothers: David Jr., the oldest, Matt, the second, and Ryan, the youngest.

Matt was never as athletically inclined as his other brothers, so his dad would offer him quarters for every ball he caught because, as Pete says, “Matt loves money.”

Dave, a right-hander who now stars for Emory High School, would crush balls deep into the meadow, but Ryan and Pete, both powerful lefties, eventually started pulling balls into the forest to the right of the field, thus ending the game.

“We did it because it was fun,” Pete’s father says. “I’d get home early and hit fly balls to the kids just because it was fun.”

“Sports,” interjects Laurie, who played field hockey and lacrosse at William and Mary, “are an opportunity for fun.”

Many times, the Hissey clan would head over to Unionville High School, smack the ball around the diamond and then head over to Landhope, where they’d buy some iced tea, steal some ice and drink and laugh outside the store.

One time recently, however, a trip to Unionville turned out be more than the elder Hissey had bargained for. Upon arriving to throw batting practice to Pete, David got to talking to one of the scouts who’d be watching the session.

Throughout the baseball season, scouts came to watch Pete, so that was really nothing out of the ordinary -- except this time, it was the national scouting director of the Boston Red Sox who would be observing.

“After I left, Pete called me to say he hit great,” David says. “I was like, ‘I don’t know if you hit great or not. I wasn’t watching the ball. I was trying to throw it over the plate!’”

Hissey’s glory days, after all, are long behind him. He’s reminded of this during the few Coatesville Adult Baseball League he plays in when the 20-somethings call him “Mr. Hissey” and he can no longer get around on 70 mile-per-hour fastballs.

But that’s fine with him. These days, the elder Hissey is content with hitting grounders to his dog, Callie, and watching his children grow into star baseball players and fine young men. The dream for him has already been realized.

The dream for two of his sons, however, is still out there, waiting to be attained.

All of his life, Pete looked up to his older brother, Dave. He followed him to the ballfield. He trained with him on the track at Unionville High. He even had the same haircut as him.

The saddest moment of Dave’s life might have been when Pete lost his baby fat, got really fast and had a serious growth spurt to surpass his older brother in height.

“He’s gotten so big,” Dave says. “He turned into a baseball player.”

But Dave still sees Pete as his little brother. Less than a week after the prank call from Chris Gosik’s dad, Dave picked up the phone to hear someone say he was from the Yankees. The call, to say the least, was met with heavy skepticism.

“I was real close to hanging up,” Dave says. “I want to protect my little brother.”

But this was no joke, and a short time later Pete was at Yankee Stadium, taking batting practice in the House that Ruth Built.

Now, Pete has something of a Ruthian dream. He wants to play professional baseball with his older brother Dave, who is currently playing in an elite summer league before returning for a fifth year at Emory. Dave wants that, too -- although he wouldn’t be drafted until 2009 and is still a long-shot because of his advanced age.

“That would be so cool if we all played together,” Dave says. “I always thought as the oldest brother, it would be my turn first. But it would be really cool down the road if Pete decides to do it and I get picked up. I couldn’t think of anything better.”

Why stop there?

“It would be pretty cool if we both got drafted and both played professional baseball -- all three of us,” Pete says, including his youngest brother, Ryan, an eighth-grader.

“And Matt could be our agent.”