Zeglinski eager to strut his stuff
By Whitey Reid
Published: June 18, 2008

There was something different about Sammy Zeglinski as he hung out on the sidelines at Elite Camp earlier this week.

Sure, the Virginia guard wasn’t trudging around with any sort of cast or protective boot on his right foot.

But there was something more.

Zeglinski, who missed almost all of last season following two ankle surgeries, was smiling a lot.

That’s something you didn’t see very much out of the Philadelphia native during the 2007-08 campaign.

Ah, the joy of being pain-free.

Zeglinski told The Daily Progress that his ankle is feeling good. The 6-foot, 175-pounder has been participating in pickup games since about the middle of last month.

“Right now it’s at about 90 percent,” Zeglinski said. “And my game is at about 90 percent. I’m just trying to get back in the flow of things and stuff.”

Zeglinski, who turned 20 on Monday, appeared in just eight games as a freshman. The peak of his frustration was not having the chance to play against his brother, Joe, when Hartford visited John Paul Jones Arena in December.

Fortunately, the season didn’t turn out to be a total wash for Zeglinski since he was granted a medical redshirt and still has four years of eligibility remaining.

In addition, he had the opportunity to learn from All-ACC guard Sean Singletary, who was also his former high school teammate at the William Penn Charter School in Philadelphia.

Zeglinski says he has a different feeling heading into this season.

“It’s real exciting that I’ll be able to take more of a role on the team this year,” he said, “especially being healthy now. The expectations are definitely higher for me with Sean gone and I’m looking forward to fulfilling them.”

Zeglinski used most of his down time from the injury to work on his shooting. In his limited time on the court last season, he showed a nice perimeter touch. However, his best attribute is clearly his playmaking.

“He’s a very good passer and does a very good job of getting everyone involved,” said Virginia assistant coach Bill Courtney. “He really sees the floor well and is really crafty with the basketball.”

It should be interesting to see how UVa’s lineup shakes out. Heading into the season, Mamadi Diane is probably the only surefire starter.

Zeglinski will most likely be competing for minutes with Calvin Baker and highly touted freshman Sylven Landesberg. At least one thing in Zeglinski’s favor is that he’s probably the only pass-first guard on coach Dave Leitao’s roster.

This summer, Zeglinski plans on continuing his rehabilitation and brushing up on his shooting and defense.

“I want to be in the best physical condition that I can be in and be ready for when we go to Canada,” said Zeglinski, referring to Virginia’s exhibition games in Montreal over Labor Day weekend.

Then Zeglinski smiled.

“It’s definitely a lot more fun when you get to play and not just watch,” he said.

 

Diane has foot surgery
By Whitey Reid
Published: June 18, 2008

Just when the Virginia men’s basketball team looked like it was getting as healthy as it’s been in some time, it was hit with another setback.

On Wednesday, sources told The Daily Progress that UVa forward Mamadi Diane — the team’s leading returning scorer — recently underwent surgery on his left foot and is expected to be out of commission for at least a couple of months.

According to the sources, Diane was bothered by the injury at the tail end of the season. When it didn’t show any signs of improvement in the last few weeks, he elected to have the surgery.

Diane probably won’t be able to play when Virginia travels to Montreal for a series of exhibition games over Labor Day weekend in September. However, if all goes well with his rehabilitation, he should be ready to go by the official start of practices in October.

Diane, 21, joins a laundry list of Virginia players who have had physical problems over the last nine months.

Will Harris, Sammy Zeglinski and Tunji Soroye missed virtually the entire 2007-08 campaign with injuries, while Lars Mikalauskas played in only 20 games before undergoing offseason shoulder surgery.

Diane’s health is, arguably, most paramount to the program. With Sean Singletary gone, the 6-foot-5 wing will be counted on heavily.

The former DeMatha Catholic (Md.) star, who averaged 11.8 points and 5.5 rebounds last season, is just one of two seniors on the roster (along with Mikalauskas) and is the squad’s most talented perimeter player.

Last season was a very up-and-down one for Diane, mirroring his first two years.

He had 20 points in a Jan. 19 home victory over Boston College, but then scored just two points on 1 of 8 shooting in a dreadful 82-51 home loss to Clemson on Feb. 7.

Diane was demoted to the bench after that game, breaking a string of 53 consecutive starts dating back to his sophomore year.

But now it’s obvious there may have been a reason for Diane’s sub-par performances down the stretch.

If there is a positive to Diane’s absence, it may be that other players such as Jamil Tucker, Solomon Tat and Mustapha Farrakhan may get more of an opportunity to show what they can do.

However, a healthy Diane is vital for a team that has lost its best player and is coming off a 10th-place finish in the ACC.

 

Versatile Kelly draws big-time interest
By Whitey Reid
Published: June 21, 2008

A 6-foot-8 former college basketball player and a 5-foot-7 former college volleyball player have a child together.

What do you have 17 years later?

A freakishly talented, 6-foot-9 basketball player who is being recruited from coast to coast.

Rising high school senior Ryan Kelly, who has been in Charlottesville all week for the NBA Top 100 Camp, is one of Virginia’s main targets for the Class of 2009.

“He’s a very skilled big man who can score inside or out,” said recruiting guru Bob Gibbons. “He passes well and he’s the ultimate competitor.

“It’s all ahead of him. What he needs is some strength and conditioning, but I think he’ll be a major college player and possibly a future pro.”

Virginia has gone after a player of Kelly’s ilk in each of the last two years. In 2007, West Virginia prep star Patrick Patterson chose Kentucky over UVa. In 2008, Richmond’s Ed Davis eschewed the Wahoos for North Carolina.

However, Virginia looks to have a better shot at landing the skinny, 205-pound Kelly than it did Patterson and Davis.

Kelly’s parents were both Ivy Leaguers — his dad played at Yale, while his mom played volleyball at Penn.

Kelly, who grew up in New York but now resides in Raleigh, N.C., seems to be placing an equally high priority on academics.

“I think Virginia would offer a great academic opportunity since he’s a really good student,” Gibbons said. “I think [Dave] Leitao and his staff have an excellent chance.”

Kelly arrived for the NBA Top 100 Camp a day early so that he could get a little better look at the Virginia campus than he did on his first visit last summer. Kelly’s tour guides were UVa players Sammy Zeglinski and Will Sherrill.

“I’m trying to meet the players because those are the guys you’re going to be with all the time,” Kelly said. “I think that’s one of the biggest factors because there’s got to be somebody who you like being with. You got to like the guys.”

Kelly, who watched Virginia players take part in a pick-up game on Monday night, is rated as 4-star recruit (out of five) by Rivals.com. He looks to be a more talented version of the Plumlee brothers, Mason and Miles, whom Virginia recruited last year but are headed to Duke.

Kelly’s biggest attribute is his court savvy. He sees the floor like a guard and knows seems to understand the game extremely well.

Of course, Virginia is not alone in its pursuit of Kelly. The other schools in the hunt are North Carolina, Wake Forest, Stanford, Vanderbilt, Davidson, Georgetown, Notre Dame and N.C. State.

Kelly says the fact that UNC appears — as usual — to be completely loaded at his position will weigh into his decision.

“You certainly have to look at that,” he said, “but at the same time as a basketball player, you kind of have to go into it knowing that you’re going to be the best player and are going to work your hardest to be the best player. I look at it that way. I worry about me. I’m going to do my best and I think that’s going to be the best.”

Kelly hopes to trim his list of schools down to four or five by the end of July. He says he wants to go through the process at his own pace.

“To be honest, if I really got a gut feeling and really wanted to go somewhere, I would [commit],” he said, “but I’m just taking it one step at a time.”

Kelly called Virginia “a great academic institution” and Leitao “a great coach.”

“What I like hearing from coaches is not necessarily what I’m good at,” Kelly said, “but what I need to work on. [Leitao] makes a point to tell me those things, which is good because I want to get better and need to know the things I need to work on.”

Kelly refuted the notion that UNC, Wake and N.C. State might have the inside track on him because of their proximity to his home in Raleigh.

“I live in North Carolina,” he said, “but I’m from New York. I wasn’t like an ACC fever kind of guy. I just love college basketball, so that’s not really a factor for me.”

Kelly has liked what he has seen from Virginia on the recruiting trail — namely the addition of McDonald’s All-American Sylven Landesberg — and the direction that the program is headed.

“One of the things they struggled with last year was that [Sean] Singletary — he was just their whole offense,” Kelly said. “Now they’re bringing in more players that can do different things and in the future are looking really positive.”

Kelly is a fan of the motion offense that Leitao employs. It’s similar to the one his Ravenscroft High squad uses.

“I can be the guy that’s in the post,” said Kelly, who averaged 24 points, nine rebounds and four blocks as a junior, “or I can be the guy that can flash high post, do pick-n-roll, shoot 3s, do a lot of different things and showcase my versatility.”

Like only the son of a basketball and volleyball player can.

 

Little consensus on UVa signee
Why the lack of basketball prospects
By Doug Doughty

I must confess that the start of this week’s Notebook Plus was delayed by a trip to Salem for the International Softball Federation’s Senior World Cup.

Let me first clarify that I was writing about the tournament, not participating in it, though I was certainly eligible for the latter.

Much of my time this week has been spent preparing The Roanoke Times’ annual basketball recruiting wrap-up, which belatedly appears each June.

The Roanoke Times was one of the first sports departments to cover recruiting and no matter what you think of retired ex-sports editor Bill Brill, he was responsible for that.

Now, there are a dozen or so online services that rank the nation’s top basketball prospects and The Roanoke Times’ annual top 40 has become an anachronism among daily newspapers, but, at one time, Brill’s list was the gospel.

There was a time, even since I’ve been at The Roanoke Times, when Brill’s list was carried across The Associated Press wire. I don’t know when Brill stopped doing it, but I think it was well before his retirement in 1991.

Originally, Brill talked to coaches cronies like George Raveling before doing his list, but it eventually became a compilation. Before doing this year’s list, I reviewed the McDonald’s and Parade All-America teams, but also took into account the online ratings that appeared on rivals.com, scout.com and prepstars.com.

After the fact, I also came across USA Today’s All-America team, consisting of three five-man teams that included juniors, and didn’t see anything that called my picks into question.

Interestingly, one of the toughest players to rate is Virginia signee Sylven Landesberg, a 6-foot-6 wing player from Flushing, N.Y., who was named to the McDonald’s All-America team, as well as the Parade All-America second-team.

There are 10 players on each of the Parade All-America teams, which also included five juniors. Three of the juniors were on the Parade second team, which put Landesberg among the top 17 seniors, at least in Parade’s eyes.

There are 25 McDonald’s All-Americans, which would make Landesberg a unanimous Top 25 prospect, except that he was rated 66th by rivals.com, 44th by scout.com and 29th by prepstars.com.

After sorting all of that out, I picked Landesberg 24th, which actually wasn’t the lowest rating for a combination Parade-McDonald’s All-American. Nothing against North Carolina, but I had Tar Heels’ point guard signee Larry Drew ranked 34th.

Like Landesberg, Drew made the Parade and McDonald’s All-America teams, but he was rated 71st by rivals.com and 67th by scout.com (22nd by Prep Stars). Few players were the subject of as much disagreement as UNC signees Drew and Tyler Zeller.

Zeller, a 7-footer from Washington, Ind., made first-team Parade All-American, as well as McDonald’s All-American, but was rated 33rd by rivals.com and 21st by parade.com.

For the Virginia Tech basketball fans in the Notebook Plus readership base, top recruit Victor Davila was rated 96th by prepstars.com and 136th by rivals.com. I can say that Greenberg thinks that Davila is vastly underrated.

(Stories about Landesberg and Davila will appear in Sunday’s print editions of The Roanoke Times).

MAYBE THE GREATEST revelation upon researching the recruiting section was the dearth of in-state boys’ basketball prospects who were recruitable at the Division I high-major level.

Here’s all you need to know: Aside from point guard Brandon Jennings, rated the No. 1 prospect in the country, Oak Hill Academy did not have another senior sign a letter-of-intent this season.

Oak Hill does have a couple D-I prospects in its junior class, including 6-9 Tiny Gallon, rated 36th in the class of 2009 by prepstars.com; 6-6 wing Brian Oliver, who is rated 82nd, but it’s not like Oak Hill not to have multiple signees.

Of course, Oak Hill’s top players rarely come from Virginia, but I continue to include Oak Hill on our lists because it is located in Virginia and does not have postgraduates. I will include players from the postgraduate teams at Fork Union and Hargrave only when those players are in their fourth year of high school, such as Florida recruit Deshawn Painter, who is transferring after his junior season at Booker T. Washington in Norfolk.

The top Virginia-bred player in the 2008 senior class was North Carolina-bound Ed Davis, but even Davis went to a private school, Richmond’s Benedictine High School. The highest-rated VHSL product to sign a men’s basketball letter-of-intent this year was Nansemond River guard Andre Jones, who is going to Winthrop.

Given its success over the past decade, Winthrop might be considered a mid-major program but it plays in a league, the Big South, that most would consider low-major Division I.

WHAT MAKES THAT confusing is the fact that Virginia was loaded with high-major Division I women’s basketball recruits this year, six who are headed to ACC schools, five of them from VHSL programs.

Moreover, it appears that 50 or more football players from Virginia will sign with Division I-A programs, which would be an all-time high. I just read a VirginiaPreps.com piece on Bethel High School defensive end James Gayle, a 6-4, 220-pounder with four I-A offers.

Gayle is the nephew of Washington Redskins defensive back Shawn Gayle but I swear I had never heard of him. It seems that Division I-A football players like the younger Gayle are popping up in Virginia every other day.

Dave Leitao and the Virginia Cavaliers: A Defining Season
by Ben Allaire (Columnist)
0 comments 61 reads
June 20, 2008

Next season, the training wheels are off.

When Dave Leitao started at Virginia, he knew he had a solid backcourt—Sean Singletary and J.R. Reynolds, both of whom were recruited by his predecessor—to anchor the team.

With their graduations, the team comes completely under Leitao’s direction. These are his players. This upcoming season is a preview of what Leitao’s Virginia program will look like for years to come…if Leitao is around long enough.

Leitao’s hard work gives many reasons to be optimistic. <!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><!--[endif]-->

Last year’s team lacked interior defense. Fans watched as team after team eviscerated the Cavaliers in the post. Virginia’s ineptitude was largely the product of injuries to big men Lars Mikalauskus and Tunji Soroye. Behind those two, the team had paltry few post players, a function of the recruiting gap left by former coach Pete Gillen.

Leitao certainly has been given enough time to fix the problem, but hadn’t until this season. He hit a home run on the recruiting front, enlisting two towers for the post: John Brandenburg and Assane Sene.

Those two excellent recruits, coupled with the return of a healthy Lars Mikalauskas, Jamil Tucker, and Mike Scott, ought to shore up Virginia's porous defense.

Brandenburg and Sene should provide a nice complement to Virginia’s existing group.

Neither Mikalauskas nor Scott, both listed at 6’8”, possesses the length necessary to play significant minutes at the five spot. Tucker, on the other hand, is somewhat of a liability in the post and might be considered a taller three because of his perimeter oriented style, though he does do a solid job on the defensive glass.

This leaves the door open for Brandenburg, listed at 6’10”, and Assane, 7’0”, to step in at the five.

On the perimeter, Virginia returns a cadre of unspectacular players. That’s not meant to be a slight. Next to the highlight reel Singletary put out, most of the perimeter players in the ACC appear unspectacular.

Senior Mamadi Diane, the team’s leading returning scorer, junior Calvin Baker, and sophomore Jeff Jones all suffered through bouts of inconsistency this past season. Diane always appeared to be on the verge of becoming a dominant scorer, only to have committed an inopportune turnover here or an unnecessary over-the-back call there, frustrating both fans and Leitao.

Jones was unable to regain the form that saw him drop five threes in an exciting opening win against Arizona.

Baker showed marked improvement throughout the season and played a key role in Virginia’s late season “surge,” winning four of six to close out the regular season.

Sammy Zeglinski and Mustafa Farrakhan are two up-and-comers that didn’t get much chance to prove themselves last year. Singletary’s loss means that point guard duties will most likely fall to Baker, but if Baker does not improve his turnover rate this season, then Zeglinski might be able to take over his spot.

In this vein, there’s reason to optimistic too; Leitao landed Sylven Landesburg, Virginia’s first McDonald’s All-American since Majestic Mapp. He’s listed as a small forward with a good mid-range game. Hopefully, his addition will round out the roster and leave Virginia with enough scoring options to make it through the season.

Leitao, however, needs some luck for this upcoming season to pan out. The injury bug bit last year’s team hard. This offseason has already seen Diane go in for foot surgery and Mikalauskas has gone under the knife to fix up his shoulder.

More than any other year during his tenure, Leitao will be judged on his success with this very green roster. The Cavaliers right now possess a lot of unknowns and will be hurt by this in the preseason polls. Most media outlets will look at last year’s season, note the loss of Singletary, and bury them.

Don’t be fooled. Watch this team. There are good ingredients here. Bill Simmons might purport that this season has Ewing theory potential. I’m not sure if I’m ready to put that stamp on it yet, but I think the potential for sucess is good.

The season will have its up and downs, but a middle of the pack finish in the ACC has to be considered a success for the Wahoos and Leitao. The strength of North Carolina, Duke, and Wake Forest will make it difficult, if not impossible to contend for any sort of title.

If Virginia can pull out the type of season Virginia Tech did last year, Leitao will have done an excellent job with this bunch and will deserve whatever kudos come with it.

If Virginia wallows at the bottom of the standings and the players don’t display improvement, then speculation about Leitao’s future will surface.

Either way, it ought to be interesting.


 

Summer Hoops Preview: Part IV
Submitted by jpg on Fri, 06/20/2008 - 01:37

Newsobserver.com blogs

Virginia
2007-08 record: 17-16, 5-11 ACC (10th)

Postseason: CBI (2-2) lost to Bradley in the fourth round

Projected starting lineup: G Sam Zeglinski, G Calvin Baker, F Mamadi Diane, F Mike Scott, F Laurynas Mikalauskas

New additions: F Sylven Landesberg, F John Brandenburg, F Assane Sene

Dave Telep's recruiting analysis: "Landesberg is the definition of the sum is better than the individual parts. He contributes with the pass, he can score as a 2 or a 3. He's a winner and it's a mentality he's going to bring to Virginia. ...Brandenburg is a rebounder with good size but he's never been a big scorer. They're going to have to hope that his offense improves."

Outlook: As bad as the football season promises to be for the Wahoos, the basketball season will be even worse.

Sean Singletary carried Virginia to five ACC wins last year — a year after the Hoos won 11 and shared first place with UNC in the regular season. Singletary, and his 19.8 points and 6.1 assists, are gone.

In his place comes Sammy Zeglinski, whose freshman season was derailed by ankle injuries. So not only did Dave Leitao waste Singletary's senior season with a pedestrian supporting cast, he didn't even have the chance to groom Zeglinski, who went to the same high school as Singletary. Leitao better hope Zeglinksi has the same playmaking skills, not that the Hoos are a point guard away from the Final Four.

UVa needs better players. Period. Sylven Landesberg, a McDonald's All-American, is only the third top-100 recruit on UVa's roster, joining sophomore guard Jeff Jones — who should displace William & Mary transfer Calvin Baker as the starter but who knows with Emperor Leitao — and junior forward Jamil Tucker.

Jones and Tucker averaged 15 minutes a game last season, so Landesberg, even with his reputation, may want to get comfortable with the seating arrangements at John Paul Jones Arena.

Virginia's frontcourt is functional but hardly overwhelming. Mike Scott had a nice freshman season, averaging 5.2 boards a game, but the next time he creates his shot will be the first.

Laurynas Mikalauskas missed 13 games with a shoulder injury but when he returned he scored in double-figures in six of the final 10 games.

That leaves the immortal Mamadi Diane, who averaged 11.8 points per game, but was as likely to score six points as he was 20. You never know which Diane you're going to get.

This Virginia team will be more predictable. There's a chance here — if Leitao takes it — to develop the younger players and maybe build for the 2009-10 season. Of course, UVa didn't collect $191 million for a new arena for a never-ending rebuilding cycle. Leitao, despite an inspiring start to his tenure, is officially on the clock.

McAnaney, Diamondbacks agree to terms
By Jay Jenkins
Published: June 21, 2008

Virginia pitcher Pat McAnaney agreed to terms with the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday.

McAnaney, who finished his four-year UVa career with an 18-7 record, is slated to fly to Arizona on Sunday to sign the official paperwork.

The southpaw was an 8th-round draft pick by the Diamondbacks and becomes the fourth Cavalier to sign, joining reliever Michael Schwimer, second baseman David Adams and first baseman Jeremy Farrell.

ACC honors Sullivan
Wednesday, June 18, 2008 1:04 AM EDT

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - Former Bishop Feehan High swimming great P.J. Sullivan, a fourth year swimmer at the University of Virginia, was selected as the Atlantic Coast Conference's Scholar-Athlete of the Year for men's swimming.

Sullivan, a 2008 NCAA Honorable Mention All-American in the 200 breaststroke, was recognized by the ACC, which honors top student-athletes in their respective sports. Candidates for the awards must have maintained a 3.0 grade point average for their career, as well as a 3.0 during the last two semesters.

Sullivan has been a mainstay for the Cavaliers the past four seasons. A member of the 2005, 2006 and 2008 conference championship teams, Sullivan is a three-time ACC event champion and a six-time all-conference member.

The two-time NCAA qualifier scored 52 of a possible 60 individual points at the 2008 ACC Championships while competing in the breaststroke and individual medley events. He also qualified for the Olympic Trials and will participate in that event this summer.

Sullivan, a resident of Franklin, graduated from Virginia with a degree in Economics. He is a two-time member of the All-ACC Academic men's swimming and diving team. He has made the Dean's List on four occasions and is a seven-time member of both the ACC Academic Honor Roll and the Virginia Athletics Foundation Academic Honor Roll.




 

Duke football loses on field, wins in court
Luciana Chavez, Staff Writer
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Duke University avoided paying the University of Louisville $450,000 for opting out of three football games, but the school had to trash itself to do it.
Duke's lawyers argued that the Blue Devils football team, 13-90 since 1999, was so bad any Division I team could have replaced them on the Cardinals' schedule.

On Thursday, Louisville's breach of contract suit, filed in Franklin County (Ky.) Circuit Court, was dismissed because Judge Phillip J. Shepherd found the argument used by Duke lawyers too compelling.

According to the Louisville Courier-Journal, the judge stated in his summary:

"At oral argument, Duke (with a candor perhaps more attributable to good legal strategy than to institutional modesty) persuasively asserted that this is a threshold that could not be any lower. Duke's argument on this point cannot be reasonably disputed by Louisville."

Louisville was unhappy with the result. Duke was not.

"We're disappointed with the ruling," Louisville spokesman Kenny Klein said. "We will take our time to review the decision and explore our future options."

Duke associate director of athletics/communication Jon Jackson said in a statement, "We are pleased that the court agreed with Duke's legal position in this case and now consider the matter closed."

The contract set up football games for 2002, 2007, 2008 and 2009. A penalty of $150,000 per game would be assessed if a date with a "team of similar stature" could not be scheduled.

Duke lost the 2002 game 40-3 in Durham