New recruit, Young, is Pearman-esque
By Jerry Ratcliffe / Daily Progress sports editor
July 17, 2005

The last time Virginia went hunting for a running back in South Jersey, the Cavaliers came up with Wali Lundy. This time, Wahoo coaches came up with a back who is more similar to Lundy’s former running mate, Alvin Pearman.

Kordell Young, a 5-foot-9, 184-pound speedster from West Deptford, N.J., committed to Virginia on Sunday, choosing the Cavs over Boston College, Maryland, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Illinois, Rutgers and others.

“Of the 10 offers I received, Virginia was the only one that really stood out to me,” Young said Sunday night. “Before any school had offered me, Virginia was No. 1 on my list, just ahead of Penn State. But I wasn’t sure Virginia would offer.”

When the offer came, Young jumped at the chance.

“I came down for a visit a couple of weeks ago and I liked what I saw,” he said. “The academics impressed me most. But I felt comfortable in the weight room because everything they do is similar to what we do, and that made me feel more at home.”

Young said he wanted to be part of a college program that would allow him to be his best.

“I don’t want to be anywhere that people don’t work hard,” he said. “My life is based on hard work. I like the way that Virginia pushes you both academically and athletically.”

While he is a tailback and cornerback in high school, Young said he would play anywhere that he can contribute to the program. Young said UVa assistant coach Mike Groh was reminded of Pearman when he studied Young’s films.

Pearman, a first-team All-ACC tailback last season, was drafted by the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars, and was noted for his determination, versatility and leadership.

“I will bring anything to the table that they expect of me,” Young said. “I like to run the ball, but I will do anything to play.”

As a tailback in the Wing-T offense, Young rushed 109 times for 1,260 yards and 22 touchdowns as a junior. He believes he has good hands, even though his high school team doesn’t pass the ball much. Defensively, the corner had 42 tackles, three forced fumbles and an interception en route to making the All-South Jersey team, all-conference and all-county.

Don’t let his size and 4.38 (clocked in a combine) speed fool you. He’s also tough.

“I like to think I’m what ever any coach wants me to be,” Young said. “I’m strong for my size [squats 500 pounds] and I don’t mind running between the tackles. People think I’m crazy, but I don’t mind getting hit a little bit. Football is a contact sport.”

Former UVa player pleads guilty to charge
By Jessica Kitchin / Daily Progress staff writer
July 15, 2005

Former University of Virginia basketball player Elton E. Brown pleaded guilty to a concealed weapons charge in Albemarle General District Court on Friday, but all parties agreed to drop the more serious charge of brandishing a firearm.

Brown, 21, was sentenced to a 10-day suspended jail term and ordered to pay $66 in court costs. The charges stemmed from an altercation that took place May 11 at the Charlottesville Fashion Square mall in Albemarle.

Brown’s attorney, Larry Woodward, said that Brown had legally purchased a semi-automatic pistol at a gun store, but did not have a concealed weapon permit, which is a misdemeanor under Virginia law.

“He always admitted that he had the gun and always admitted that he kept it under the mat in his car,” Woodward said.

Woodward said the brandishing charge was dismissed because Brown didn’t point the gun at anyone.

“He’s a very nice kid from a very nice family, and he’s not a person anyone will have to worry about,” Woodward said.

Brown is planning to leave for Las Vegas on Saturday for basketball camp, Woodward said.

Brown was charged with brandishing a firearm when acquaintance Derrick Jones, 28, swore out a warrant against him following a dispute outside the Belk department store at the Fashion Square.

At the time of the arrest, Jones said the incident stemmed from an ongoing disagreement over a woman. The two had had several telephone arguments, Jones said, and had agreed to fight outside after an encounter in Belk, where the woman worked. Jones said that Brown went to his truck and when he came back with a gun, Jones returned to the store and called 911.

There was no physical contact between Brown and Jones at the incident and the two have had no contact in the time since.

Jones was not at the hearing and could not be reached for comment.

Brown is the 20th all-time scorer for the University of Virginia men’s basketball team and was one of the team’s captains for the 2004-05 season.

Team officials declined to speak about the case.

Cavaliers get QB commitment
Pennsylvania's Verica runs West Coast offense in high school
By Jerry Ratcliffe / Daily Progress sports editor
July 15, 2005

When Virginia quarterbacks coach Mike Groh went searching in the spring for another signal-caller to add to the Cavaliers’ stable, Marc Verica was one of the prospects to catch his attention.

Groh liked what he saw of Verica in the Nike Training Camp in State College, Pa. It garnered the recruit an invitation to Virginia’s football camp, where the pro-style quarterback continued to impress. In fact, his performance there prompted Virginia to offer a scholarship.

Verica accepted on Thursday as the 6-foot-2,

205-pound quarterback from Drexel Hill, Pa., became the Cavaliers’ 11th commitment for the recruiting class of 2006. He had also been offered by Wisconsin, but was being recruited by Boston College, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Michigan State and Syracuse.

One offensive coordinator who is familiar with the Monsignor Bonner quarterback described Verica as a good athlete with a lot of tools. He can throw on the run and has good velocity on the ball.

Verica told Mike Farrell (www.thewagononline.com), a frequent contributor to The Daily Progress’ recruiting coverage, that Mike Groh had called on Thursday to inform him that UVa was going to offer him, but needed a quick decision from the Pennsylvania prospect.

“Virginia was my top school and if they offered, I was going to accept it,” Verica told Farrell. “I’m a quarterback that fits their program because they said they were looking for a tough guy with a strong arm.”

As a junior, he passed for 1,700 yards and 10 touchdowns from Bonner’s West Coast offense, which resulted in him being named all-Catholic, all-Delco, all-city and his team’s offensive MVP.
 

Virginia lands defensive end
By Jerry Ratcliffe / Daily Progress sports editor
July 14, 2005

Up until midway through his junior season at Deep Run High School in Glen Allen, Sean Gottschalk hadn’t played much football and was playing mostly off raw instinct. Then something happened.

“I think it was in game five of last season when all of a sudden things started to click for him,” said Deep Run coach Lenny Pritchard. “It literally was like someone turned his light switch and Sean became a human highlight film.”

Gottschalk’s light was burning brighter than ever after the 6-foot-5, 267-pound defensive end committed to Virginia on Wednesday morning, choosing the Cavaliers over at least

15 other Division I-A offers. His final five schools were: UVa, Boston College, Miami, Georgia and Ohio State.

The big end said he eliminated the Buckeyes and the Bulldogs from his list before also discarding Miami, leaving him to decide between UVa and BC. For Gottschalk, it was a no brainer.

“I have wanted to go to Virginia since I was six years old,” said the rising senior at Deep Run, a school that is only three years old. “I was thinking about committing the week that UVa offered me, but then I got five more offers in the same week, so I had to sit down and analyze.”

Certainly the prospect had weighed all the pros and cons. He loved Virginia’s mix of academics and football and the Cavaliers’ potential in the ACC. Charlottesville is less than an hour’s drive from his home and he had natural ties to UVa. His father graduated from UVa Law School and his mom graduated UVa’s Curry School of Education.

While he had attended BC’s camp, the only camp he did attend, and is a fan of Eagles’ coach Tom O’Brien, the lure of the Wahoo was too much for BC to overcome.

On Monday, Gottschalk drove to Charlottesville and just hung out before making his final decision.

“I didn’t want any of the coaches to know I was there, not because I was sneaking in, but I just wanted to see what UVa looked like in a non-football atmosphere,” the recruit said. “I just wanted to be a normal kid walking around and I really liked it. I’ve always liked it, but I just wanted to make sure before I pulled the trigger.”

Gottschalk is Virginia’s 10th early commitment to the 2006 recruiting class and the second defensive end, joining Nate Collins of Stamford, Conn., who committed last week.

The transformation of Gottschalk from a player with practically no football background to a major college prospect was an interesting process. He played one year of middle school, suffered a foot problem in the opening game of his freshman year and didn’t play the rest of the season.

It took him most of his sophomore year just to get a grip on things and then halfway through his junior campaign, things just clicked.

“It was amazing to watch,” said Pritchard, who played for coach George Welsh at Virginia. “From a coaching perspective, the coaches here at Deep Run were saying, ‘Can you imagine what if this [the clicking in part] would have happened two years ago?’ He would have been rated through the roof. No one really even knew that Deep Run existed.”

While some preseason ratings have Gottschalk ranked 15th in the state of Virginia, Pritchard totally disagrees.

“He’s better than that,” the coach said. “I’m listening to a lot of college football coaches who come in here and study him. Sean kind of slid under everybody’s radar screen, but from what the coaches say, he’s definitely one of the top five prospects in this state.”

While he will eventually come to Virginia as a defensive end, he was also offered as a tight end by at least two schools, Ohio State and North Carolina. But his home is on defense.

Gottschalk is an explosive defender. He is extremely quick, particularly in his first few steps for a player his size (he’s still growing).

“He can get off the ball in a hurry, which presents all kinds of problems for people trying to block him,” Pritchard said. “He runs well for a big man, having been timed from 4.85 to 5-flat in the 40.”

Gottschalk is also supremely confident in his abilities.

“I’m a very explosive big man,” he said. “Unless you’re a high-caliber tackle, I’m going to get around you. I still can improve on my techniques and moves, but in Virginia’s 3-4 scheme a lot of my job is to get the offensive linemen out of the way so the Butkus candidates [Ahmad Brooks] get the plays.”

Gottschalk said he has no problem with that concept.

“Getting sacks is great, but in our defense I have tight end responsibility first,” he said. “I have to make my reads, and then I can go after the ball. Seven sacks in the scheme we run is actually pretty good, but I hope that this year I can get set free a little more.”

Pritchard remembered a game from last season when Gottschalk whipped the offensive tackle trying to block him, then fought off two running backs assigned to block him and still put pressure on the quarterback, forcing a throw out of bounds.

“At that time Sean was only 230 pounds,” Pritchard said. “The more he learns how to use his body and not expose his chest and allow people to hold him, he’s only going to get better. He is still raw and has a lot to learn, but his best football is ahead of him.”

Hargrave loaded again with addition of ‘Big Ticket’
No more football for Welsh
By Doug Doughty
THE ROANOKE TIMES

If The Roanoke Times had home delivery in Chatham, it could be argued that “Timesland” was home to the top private-school and prep-school programs in the country.

Even though Oak Hill Academy is located more than 100 miles from Roanoke in Mouth of Wilson, it is considered to be in Timesland because The Roanoke Times has same-day home delivery in Grayson County.

Hargrave Military Academy is in Chatham, which is only 64 miles from Roanoke, but because Chatham is in Pittsylvania County and The Roanoke Times does not circulate in Pittsylvania County, Hargrave is not in Timesland.

Not that we’d know what to do with Hargrave anyway. We cover Oak Hill differently than we cover the other high schools in our area, and, as opposed to Oak Hill, Hargrave has postgraduate players and competes against other postgraduate programs.

It has competed very well, ranking No. 1 among prep schools in 2004, when it was 25-1, and finishing No. 2 this past season, when it was 28-1. Over the past four seasons, Hargrave is 106-4.

Those numbers will be hard to top – only an undefeated season would do – but, on paper, an offseason infusion of talent could leave coach Kevin Keatts with his most gifted team ever.

In addition to the usual number of postgraduates, Keatts has added three players who would have been seniors elsewhere in Virginia if they had not transferred.

Vernon Macklin, a 6-10 player who played previously for Norcom High School in Portsmouth, is rated the No. 5 prospect in the country by Prep Stars.

Hargrave also added 6-2 Stefan Welsh, a combination guard from Woodside High School in Newport News, and Stephen Kendall, a 6-4 guard from the Blue Ridge School.

Kendall, who committed to Virginia last fall but has re-opened his recruiting with the consent of both parties, came to Hargrave for a visit and actually worked out for Keatts.

“He can fill it up,” Keatts said. “I don’t want to get into this business of ‘is he an ACC player or not?’ But, he has a chance to be very, very good.”

Schools in the running for Macklin include Georgetown, North Carolina, Wake Forest, Virginia and Virginia Tech, with Ohio State, which already has a monster class committed for 2006, doing its best to get in the picture.

Macklin, nicknamed “the Big Ticket,” was seen as a candidate to go directly to the NBA before the NBA Players Association agreed to an age limit, 19, as part of its new collective bargaining agreement.“But that’s never come up when I’ve talked to him,” Keatts said.

“I think that’s what people around him had been speculating.”

Macklin will be joined on Hargrave’s front line by Marreese Speights, a 6-10 post player from St. Petersburg, Fla., who already has committed to Florida. Speights has not graduated from high school.

Postgraduates at Hargrave will include 6-6 Tyler Smith, a 2005 Tennessee signee from Pulaski, Tenn.; 7-foot Jonathan Mandeldove, a 2005 Virginia Commonwealth signee from Stone Mountain, Ga.; and 6-1 Armon Bassett from Terre Haute, Ind.

Bassett, who did not sign, is more of a typical Hargrave player in that it was known for a while that he would not qualify. Hargrave has had high-school players in the past, including former UVa forward Jason Clark, but frequently they have had issues – such as age – that made eligibility iffy at their previous schools.

Oak Hill, for one, was reluctant to get involved with Kendall because he had repeated a grade after transferring from Albemarle High School to Blue Ridge.

Keatts said that Arkansas, Tennessee and Marquette are among the schools pursuing Welsh, who also has attracted interest as a wide receiver in football. Hargrave football coach Robert Prunty can look but not touch.

“From now on, it will be strictly basketball,” Keatts said. “I can’t let Prunty get a football player out of [the basketball program] and you can tell him I said that.”

OF THE SCHOOLS eliminated by the state’s highest-rated offensive line prospect, Alex Stadler from Liberty High School in Bealeton, most conspicuous by its absence is Virginia.

The Cavaliers were relatively late in making an offer to Stadler, and “that may be a small part of it,” Liberty coach Tommy Buzzo wrote in an e-mail. “But, I truly believe, with the conversations we have had, he likes the other schools better.”

UVa has not enjoyed much success at Liberty, surprising given the school’s relative proximity in Fauquier County. The Cavaliers were among the finalists in 2001, when mammoth Liberty lineman Brandon Gore announced before his senior year that he would sign with Virgginia Tech, but Gore noted that Florida State was his second choice.

VIRGINIA’S STRATEGY with Daryl Robertson, a defensive lineman from Liberty High School in Bedford, was to try and remain involved without offering a scholarship.

“UVa has done that with all of our guys over the past three years,” said Minutemen coach Chris Watts after Robertson picked Virginia Tech over Maryland.

COACH TOM HALL from Manchester High School in Richmond reports that 6-foot, 220-pound fullback Ryan Stratis has heard from a wide range of schools that includes Virginia Tech, Duke, Wake Forest, Richmond, James Madison and William and Mary.

“Great kid, great student, great football player,” Hall called him.

DUKE FOOTBALL RECRUIT, a 6-6, 300-pound lineman from Clearwater, Fla., will become the third member of his family to sign a letter-of-intent with an ACC football program, all with different schools. Joe Holt signed first with Virginia, where he was a reserve and did not complete his college eligibility, then Jon signed with N.C. State, where he has been a back-up at offensive tackle.

Cavaliers get ninth commitment
By Jerry Ratcliffe / Daily Progress sports editor
July 8, 2005

Nate Collins knew that when he showed up to football camps at Virginia, Boston College and UConn the past few weeks that he wouldn’t be the biggest guy at his position, or the fastest. But he also knew that he might just be the best combination of the two.

The 6-foot-2, 270-pound defensive end/outside linebacker from Fort Chester, N.Y., certainly opened enough eyes during his camp at UVa to garner an offer to become a Cavalier. He accepted on Tuesday night and announced his decision on Friday, becoming the ninth Virginia commitment for the recruiting class of 2006.

“I think my performance down there at Virginia’s camp was the icing on the cake for their coaches,” Collins said. “The first couple of days I was involved with linebacker drills, the next couple of days I was in the linemen’s camp. Then I had a workout session at both spots.”

College coaches at several schools have been impressed with Collins’ size and speed.

“When they saw I was 270 and was running a 4.76 in the 40, they were like, ‘Wow,’” Collins said. “I think that was a big factor for coaches.”

But Collins, who is from Fort Chester, but attends King & Low-Heywood Thomas School across the border in Stamford, Conn., brings much more to the table.

“He moves well,” said his high school coach Danny Gouin. “He’s a terrific basketball player as well. But he’s also strong. He’s one of the strongest kids I’ve ever coached, including Jim Pynes [a former All-America center at Virginia Tech]. Nate has a bigger bench going into his senior year than Jimmy did.”

Gouin said that the last time Collins maxed out in the bench, it was a lift of 345 pounds.

“Nate’s the best kid in our league,” Gouin said. “We’re in a small, private league. He’s big and fast and once he gets up a head of steam, nobody tackles him. He’s a dominating player.”

Gouin takes advantage of that combo of size and speed by lining up Collins at tailback, fullback and tight end on offense, linebacker and defensive end on defense.

As a junior, Collins generated 850 yards rushing and 10 touchdowns on offense in eight games. Defensively, he led the team in sacks (11), tackles for loss (14) and blocked punts in making the All-New England team.

“Defensively, Nate is a very good pass rusher. He’s a very active kid,” Gouin said. “He chases down a lot of plays because teams will try to run away from him. He’s led our team the last three years in sacks and tackles for loss. He’s so quick, teams can’t block him.”

Gouin said that Boston College and UConn, along with William & Mary and a few Ivy League schools were recruiting Collins, but had not officially offered him. Apparently, Virginia wanted to beat the other schools to the punch.

“I loved the Virginia campus when I came down for camp and the atmosphere down there,” Collins said. “My family used to vacation at Virginia Beach every summer. The academics at UVa are a big factor, too. They showed the most interest in me, so I had decided that if they offered, I would accept.”

The 17-year-old said he believes he has a natural instinct when it comes to getting around blockers and getting his hands on the quarterback.

Cavaliers recruit a fan, too
Deep Run football star Gottschalk grew up pulling for U.Va.
BY TIM PEARRELL
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
Jul 14, 2005

A rapid climb up major football recruiting lists culminated for Deep Run High defensive end Sean Gottschalk yesterday when he committed to the University of Virginia.

The 6-5, 267-pound rising senior chose U.Va. over Miami (Fla.), Ohio State, Georgia and Boston College. He's the 10th player to commit to U.Va. for 2006.

"Being a fan of U.Va. my entire life, it's the best mix for me academically and athletically," said Gottschalk, who has a 3.7 GPA and has scored more than 1,100 on the SAT. "And . . . it's only 50 miles from my house."

Gottschalk said his father received a law degree from U.Va. His mother received her master's degree there.

Limited football experience coupled with Deep Run's second-year varsity program left Gottschalk under the recruiting radar before this past season.

Deep Run coach Lenny Pritchard said Gottschalk, a second-team all-Colonial District selection, became a dominant force in the season's second half. Game tapes, calls and offseason work attracted the major programs.

Gottschalk has put on 27 pounds since season's end. His 40 time is between 4.85 and 5.0.

"You're talking about a kid who's got very limited football experience who's only going to get better," Pritchard said. "He's got all the physical tools. What sets him apart is he's extremely explosive off the football.

"Every coach who's come in here thinks he's a top-five recruit in the state."

U.Va. adds ninth recruit for 2006
Collins hopes for slot at inside linebacker, may play nose tackle
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Jul 9, 2005

The University of Virginia football team keeps piling up commitments. The latest - the Cavaliers' ninth for 2006 - is from Nate Collins, a rising senior at King & Low-Heywood Thomas School in Stamford, Conn.

The 6-2 265-pounder impressed U.Va.'s coaches during a recent camp in Charlottesville. Virginia then became the first school to offer Collins a scholarship, which he quickly accepted.

Collins, a resident of Port Chester, N.Y., hopes to play inside linebacker at Virginia but may end up at nose tackle. "I just want to get on the field," he said.

He's been timed in 4.76 seconds in the 40-yard dash and has distinguished himself as a running back in high school. "My biggest thing is speed," Collins said. "I know I'm big, but I've always been a quick guy."

Of U.Va.'s nine commitments, five are from players who live in New York or New Jersey. Another is from Pennsylvania. - Jeff White

Fans swap Directors' Cup rank in a flash
Published July 10 2005
David Teel

Stupid question for all you University of Virginia faithful: Would you trade the Cavaliers' national runner-up finishes in women's lacrosse and rowing this year for Virginia Tech's ACC football championship?

Told you the question was stupid. Of course you'd swap. You'd sacrifice two bicuspids, one thumb and a kidney-to-be-named-later for that football title.

Indeed, life is all about priorities, and priorities are what make the Directors' Cup intriguing.

Consider those bosom buddies Virginia and Virginia Tech. For the just completed 2004-05 academic year, the Cavaliers matched their second-best Directors' Cup ranking, placing 13th in the all-sports standings. The Hokies were 58th, their highest finish in the Cup's 12 years.

Since Virginia never has tumbled out of the final top 30, the Cavaliers appear far superior to the Hokies. Every year. And for anyone who holds golf, field hockey, football and basketball in equal regard, that certainly is the case.

But aside from Directors' Cup groupies (you should see their secret handshake), few, if any, fans are that egalitarian. They want to win in football, men's basketball and, occasionally, women's basketball.

It's no different than politics. The elephants and donkeys can babble all they want about grassroots: school boards, city councils and statehouses. But what they really covet is the big stuff: the White House, Congress and Supreme Court.

On the big stuff, Virginia Tech fares just fine. The Hokies have won five of the last six football games with Virginia, and their outright ACC championship, in their inaugural year of membership no less, must gall blue-and-orange types no end. The Cavaliers, you see, never have won the ACC outright.

In men's basketball, Virginia has won 10 of the last 15 against Virginia Tech, 22 of the last 30. But the Hokies and Cavaliers split last season, and Virginia Tech (8-8) lapped last-place Virginia (4-12) in the conference race. Moreover, in just two years, coach Seth Greenberg has brought long-absent aggression to Virginia Tech's recruiting.

In women's basketball, Virginia boasts more tradition (21 NCAA tournament bids in the last 22 years) than Virginia Tech and a 6-4 edge in the last decade, including a sweep this season. But the Hokies have raised their national profile, qualifying for eight of the last 12 NCAA tournaments.

So who rules the commonwealth? Regardless of your thoughts (I'd declare it a photo finish best settled by an Al Groh-Frank Beamer Texas Hold 'em grudge match), the Directors' Cup makes clear the challenges of the ACC.

Two conference schools cracked the top 10, Duke at No. 5, North Carolina at No. 9, and even with its best finish, Virginia Tech was last among the ACC's 12 members. Of the six Bowl Championship Series conferences, only the Big Ten (all 11 schools in the top 50) was better than the ACC.

Dynamics similar to Virginia Tech-Virginia are evident among the state's smaller outfits. Take William and Mary and James Madison. The Tribe ranked 76th in the Directors' Cup, 24 spots ahead of the Dukes and behind only six schools from outside the Division I-A power structure: Princeton, Harvard, Denver, Dartmouth, American and Cornell.

But as proud as William and Mary is of its nationally ranked men's and women's tennis teams, here's a hunch that most Tribe loyalists would have been happier with a victory over eventual champion JMU in that national Division I-AA football semifinal.

Not wanting to embarrass schools lower on the food chain ("We're No. 250!!"), the Directors' Cup rates only the top 100. Hampton and Old Dominion did not make the list.

The Directors' Cup champ was Stanford - for the 11th consecutive year. Texas, UCLA and Michigan followed.

Think any of them would trade places with No. 10 Southern California in exchange for the Trojans' back-to-back national football titles?

You bet your bicuspids.

Yevoli leaves squad amid controversy
Attackman was urged to play hurt according to father, head coach Dom Starsia denies accusation
Walker Freer, Cavalier Daily Associate Editor

After initial resistance from men's lacrosse team officials, Virginia granted attackman Joe Yevoli a release last week, allowing him to contact other schools regarding the possibility of transferring for his senior season. Yevoli sat out last season due to a misdiagnosed back injury and first requested the release at the end of May after, according to his father, he was urged to play hurt and then kicked off the team.

Following a denial by the team to grant Yevoli a release in May, he appealed the decision and in accordance with NCAA procedure had his case presented at a university hearing in late June. Should Yevoli now choose to officially leave Virginia, a subsequent request and release to transfer is merely a formality.

Neither Yevoli himself nor his father, also named Joe Yevoli, could be contacted following the outcome of the hearing, although the Yevoli's father went on record last week to talk about his son's experience with the team and head coach Dom Starsia over the past year.

The problems between Yevoli and the team began in the spring of 2004 during the attackman's junior season when he was injured during the team's first spring scrimmage. His injury was diagnosed by team trainers as a hip injury and he played the rest of the season in pain, recording his lowest totals for goals (19) and points (31) since arriving at Virginia. The pain continued to persist and in September, 2004, Yevoli visited his family doctor in New York where he was diagnosed with having three stress fractures in his back. These fractures forced Yevoli to sit out Virginia's fall tournaments and scrimmages and eventually led to him red-shirting his entire senior season. According to the attackman's father, Starsia wasn't content with the decision.

"Starsia didn't like that [decision]," Yevoli said. "He thought Joe should play at 70 percent."

Starsia said that forcing Yevoli to play hurt was never an issue.

"We all wished Joe could have played but no one forced him to play or expected him to play if he wasn't going to be healthy," Starsia said. "After he decided in January that he wasn't going to play we never pressured him to play."

Even though Yevoli ended up medically red-shirting his senior season, he still attended the majority of the team's practices and following an agreement he made with Starsia, worked towards graduating while also beginning the process of rehabilitating his back.

But whatever the situation was between Yevoli and the team, it all changed in the week leading up to Virginia's NCAA quarterfinal game against Navy May 21.

"He officially got kicked off the team the Wednesday before the Navy game in the NCAA tournament," Yevoli said. "[Assistant coach and former Virginia attackman] Connor Gill called him up and told him that he wasn't traveling with them to Baltimore [site of the quarterfinal] and that he was off the team."

Starsia denied these allegations, saying that Yevoli was never kicked off the team and simply didn't make the travel list for the quarterfinal.

Whether officially kicked off the team or simply left off the travel list, Yevoli immediately requested a release to contact, which if granted gives a player permission to contact other schools about the possibility of transferring. The team promptly denied the request.

Starsia explained the reasoning behind the denial.

"If there's some indication that someone wants to explore transferring, we could indicate that we are not prepared to release them to play," Starsia said. "We don't have to release somebody. If the school says they don't want to release you then you have the right to appeal that decision. None of that is out of the ordinary."

Upon being denied, Yevoli quickly appealed the team's decision and waited for a hearing to be arranged by the University, one that finally took place on June 30 –- a date which Yevoli and his father felt was much later than it should have been.

"It took four or five weeks [for a hearing to be arranged]," Yevoli said. "What he [Starsia] was trying to do was to hold him up. We weren't allowed to attend the hearing. I told someone in the Athletic Department, 'He could be calling my son a mass murderer' and he said, 'That's just how we do it down here'."

While it is true that Yevoli wasn't allowed to contact other schools until being given his release, Starsia contends he was never aware of any discontent by Yevoli prior to the request.

"The first time there was a possibility of Joe not coming back was following the end of the season," Starsia said. "I never suspected that he wanted to leave or that he would request a release to contact until the season was over. The reason it took so long was that we just needed to catch our breath and figure out where we were."

Another reason Starsia cited for the original denial was that in lacrosse, a player who chooses to transfer can suit up immediately for his new school -– meaning Virginia could quickly end up facing Yevoli during the 2006 season. In NCAA Division I football and basketball, transfers must sit out one year before being allowed to play for another team.

"I'm comfortable that we followed what the NCAA allowed and I'm not angry or anything," Starsia said. "He got the release that he asked for. [But should] he want to talk about the possibility of staying at Virginia, my door would be open to that."