U.VA. NOTES
Wednesday, Jul 16, 2008 - 12:07 AM

Leitao is seeking guard's commitment
Men's basketball coach Dave Leitao is hoping to land a commitment this month from point guard Jontel Evans, a 5-11, 180-pound rising senior at Bethel High in Hampton.

Evans also has a scholarship offer from Marquette, but he'd like to attend a school closer to his home and is seriously interested in Virginia. Evans and his parents met recently with Leitao and other U.Va. officials in Charlottesville.

Also a football star at Bethel, where he made the all-Eastern Region second team at tailback in 2007, Evans plays basketball in the spring and summer for Boo Williams' powerful 17-and-under AAU team. That team played for the Nike Peach Jam tournament title last night in North Augusta, Ga.

"Hopefully, he is ready to make a decision in the very near future," Bethel coach Craig Brehon said Monday.

With Evans at the point last season, the Bruins advanced to the state Group AAA championship game for the first time since 1993, when their stars were Allen Iverson and Tony Rutland. Evans was named second-team all-region in hoops, too.

Evans is built like Jameer Nelson, Brehon said. "Strong legs, strong chest, strong arms."

Chance to meet team is set for Aug. 10
U.Va. football's "Meet the Team Day" will be Aug. 10 at Scott Stadium. Gates will open at 2 p.m., and Cavaliers coach Al Groh and his players will be available from 3 to 4:15 p.m. for photos and autographs.

U.Va. merchandise and concessions will be sold during the event, which also includes activities for youths. Parking is free.

Back to the future
The Sept. 6 football game between U.Va. and Richmond won't be the only attraction at Scott Stadium that day. Virginia's 1989 team, which shared the ACC title with Duke, will be recognized at halftime, and the game is being billed as a celebration of the 10-season span of U.Va. football that began in 1984.

During that period, the Wahoos, under coach George Welsh, won 72 games, played in six bowls and climbed to No. 1 in the national rankings.

Against UR, U.Va.'s players will wear throwback uniforms and helmets from that era. Tickets for the game are $16, about what they would have cost in 1989. Kickoff is set for 3:45 p.m.

In the crease
Faceoffs were a weakness for the U.Va. men's lacrosse team in 2008. Look for significant improvement next season.

Not only do coach Dom Starsia's recruits include one of the nation's best high school faceoff specialists, Ryan Benincasa, Virginia is adding a proven veteran in Chad Gaudet, who was honorable-mention all-Ivy League for Dartmouth in 2008.

Gaudet, who has a year of eligibility left, will pursue a master's degree at U.Va. in a new program offered by the McIntire School of Commerce.

He won 56 percent (144 of 247) of his faceoffs for the Big Green this past season. In Dartmouth's 11-7 loss at U.Va. on April 19, Gaudet won 11 of 21 draws.

With Brian McDermott battling injuries, midfielder Garett Ince took most of U.Va.'s faceoffs in the NCAA tournament this year. The presence of Benincasa, Gaudet and McDermott should allow midfielder Garett Ince, a rising sophomore, to concentrate more on his offense in 2009.

"Maybe he could be like [former U.Va. star] Drew Thompson and take half-a-dozen faceoffs and play a regular midfield shift for us," Starsia said.

Jewels of the class
Baseball America's high school All-America teams for 2008 include two incoming U.Va. recruits.

Danny Hultzen, a 6-2 left-handed pitcher from St. Albans School in Washington, D.C., made the first team. Steven Proscia, a 6-2, 210-pound infielder from Don Bosco Prep in Ramsey, N.J., was named to the second team.

Hultzen, whom Arizona selected in the 10th round of last month's Major League Baseball draft, went 13-0 with a 0.74 earned-run average this year, striking out 140 in 73 innings. Proscia hit .545 with nine home runs and 45 RBI. Minnesota drafted him in the 39th round last month, but, like Hultzen, Proscia has opted to attend college. - Jeff White

 

Brandenburg gives Cavs option down low
By Whitey Reid
Published: July 14, 2008

Ever since Virginia coach Dave Leitao came aboard over three years ago, he has run an offense that has been specifically designed to take advantage of his team’s greatest strength — its guards.
But with former All-ACC performers J.R. Reynolds and Sean Singletary no longer in the fold, times could be a changing.
Leitao will always be a firm believer that good teams require quality guard play to be successful, but with the addition of freshmen twin towers John Brandenburg and Assane Sene — and the potential emergence of senior Lars Mikalauskas as a viable low-post threat — Virginia may not be quite as reliant on its backcourt players as it has been in the past.
The implementation of a more diversified offense is one of the things that drew Brandenburg to Charlottesville. The 6-foot-11 St. Louis native chose Virginia over Stanford — a somewhat surprising decision since the Cardinal has a reputation for churning out NBA post players (twins Brook and Robin Lopez were both first-round draft picks last month).
“Coach has talked about using a two post player offense,” Brandenburg said, “which would obviously be really good for me.
“I think he just wants to achieve a lot more balance because last year it was really guard oriented. This year we want a better balance between guards and inside guys.”
While McDonald’s All-American Sylven Landesburg may have been Leitao’s most notable recruit, Brandenburg could wind up being his most vital. Good post players are always harder to find than good perimeter players, and by the looks of things Brandenburg has a chance to be quite good.
The first thing that jumps out about the 18-year-old is that he doesn’t really look the way one would expect a 6-foot-11-inch guy to.
Sure, he’s tall. He’s definitely every bit of the height he’s listed as. However, the 225-pounder’s mannerisms and physique seem to resemble a track and field star’s more than a basketball player’s.
In today’s era of hoops that puts a great emphasis on agility and versatility, that package happens to be a very good thing.
“He’s real athletic,” Landesberg said. “He runs the floor real well for a big man. I’m pretty confident he’ll beat his man down the court every time.”
Brandenburg, who says doctors have told him he’s not done growing, will be competing for playing time with Sene, Mikalauskas, junior Jerome Meyinsse and fifth-year Soroye (if he’s granted a medical redshirt).
The fleet-footed Brandenburg can’t wait to get going.
“I’m really excited about playing,” he said. “That’s one of the reasons I came here — because I thought I could play right away.”
Brandenburg is thankful for the way things worked out. If he had gone to Stanford, he would have been playing for an unfamiliar coach in former Duke assistant Johnny Dawkins. In the offseason, Trent Johnson, who recruited Brandenburg, left Palo Alto for LSU.
Leitao is certainly pleased to have Brandenburg — a 4-out-of-5 star recruit — on board.
“I’m happy to have someone like John for a number of reasons,” Leitao said. “This year we needed to address our frontcourt. John has athleticism, he’s got bounce and he’s got a good touch that I think will develop into a pretty good post option on offense. He has a lot of potential as a basketball player.”
As a sophomore in 2005-06, Brandenburg averaged 11.1 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.1 blocked shots a game for De Smet Jesuit High. He earned first-team All-Metro Catholic Conference honors and was named the conference’s Newcomer of the Year.
Last season Brandenburg was second in his conference in scoring and rebounding despite a balky back.
“It’s been fine so far,” he said. “It flared up a little during my senior year, but it’s been fine since then. I’m just rolling right now.”
The addition of Brandenburg and Sene has to make Virginia fans feel good since the team finished dead last in the ACC in shotblocking this past season.
“I think anytime you have guys with that kind of height and length, it gives you a chance to have a really good defensive presence,” said Virginia assistant coach Bill Courtney.
Virginia blocked just 2.36 shots per game last season, more than a block less than the next worst outfit, Georgia Tech (3.5 per game). UVa’s leading shotblocker was 6-foot-5 Mamadi Diane — he averaged .66.
Virginia’s lack of blocks — or any kind of interior intimidation — clearly had an effect on its overall defense. UVa ranked second-to-last in both opponents’ field goal percentage (.449) and opponents’ points per game (74.8).
One of the most exciting sequences of a recent scrimmage at Virginia’s Elite Camp occurred when Sene received a pass ahead of the field. The native of Senegal looked like he had an easy dunk, but Brandenburg chased him down and swatted his shot.
“He can run,” said Mikalauskas, referring to Brandenburg. “He’s friendly and looks like he’s going to be a really good teammate. He can be a building block for our program.
“He has a good mid-range jumpshot for his size. I think he and Assane are both going to be really good additions.”

 

Former UVa star Reyna to retire from soccer
Playmaker Claudio Reyna has played professionally for 14 years and was the U.S. national team's captain.
Wire service reports
6:31 PM EDT, July 15, 2008

After a 14-year professional career that saw him play in Germany, England and Scotland before returning to the United States, former Virginia Cavaliers star, U.S. national team captain and New York Red Bulls midfielder Claudio Reyna is retiring immediately, sources within MLS confirmed to ESPNsoccernet.com Tuesday.

Reyna joined the Red Bulls prior to the 2007 season. He played 27 matches over the course of two seasons, including six matches this year. But nagging leg injuries prevented Reyna from ever having the impact expected of him when he was signed for a two-year, $2.5 million contract by then Red Bulls coach Bruce Arena, who also coached him at UVa when the Cavaliers were the nation's dominant soccer program.

Reyna is scheduled to hold a press conference on Wednesday at St. Benedict's Prep, the New Jersey high school where his storied career began two decades ago.