Virginia adds to in-state recruiting haul
By Jay Jenkins
Published: July 26, 2008

For Laroy Reynolds, the fact that the phone rang with an ACC coach on the line was special enough.
The message conveyed on the other end, however, made Memorial Day resemble Christmas morning for the versatile safety and wide receiver from Maury High in Norfolk.
Earlier this year on the last Monday in May, Virginia coach Al Groh did something somewhat out of the norm. That conversation eventually paved the way for Saturday’s verbal commitment from Reynolds, the Cavaliers’ 19th recruit for the Class of 2009. He is also the 11th in-state commitment for the program.
“I talked to Al Groh and he doesn’t offer players over the phone very often without seeing them first, but he did it for me because he felt that I was the right player and the right fit for the program,” Reynolds said. “That really was a step ahead of the other programs.”
The other programs that have offered Reynolds include N.C. State, Connecticut and Syracuse, and the 6-foot-1 1/2, 207-pound agile athlete said he received interest from East Carolina, Louisville, Tennessee and Virginia Tech.
Reynolds’ visit to Charlottesville, which concluded Saturday after his verbal to the staff, was his second visit to the university and the first, he said, since he took in the Cavaliers’ contest last year against Virginia Tech.
“I was just coming on a recruiting trip that day,” he said. “It kind of slipped through my mind that maybe I could be playing [at Scott Stadium].”
The position that Reynolds will man in that stadium remains a mystery — and he is comfortable with that.
“I feel that just widens the opportunity — it helps out the decision making of the coaches and myself,” Reynolds pointed out. “We will both make the decision at the right time, whether it is wide receiver or safety.”
While he does not have a preference, Reynolds does feel a tad more comfortable catching passes on offense at this point. Last season, he caught 18 passes for just over 500 yards and four touchdowns, and had over 70 tackles and an interception.
“I’d say I am better at receiver,” he said. “I am good at both, but I just think I am better at receiver.”
Hailing from a recruiting hotbed for Virginia Tech, Reynolds said bucking the trend was a non-factor and said he developed a comfortable relationship with lead recruiter Bob Pruett, Virginia’s first-year defensive coordinator.
“I know a lot of players do go to Tech, but a lot of people go to Virginia as well. It is about the same thing — Virginia or Virginia Tech,” Reynolds said. “And when I was younger, I just played football. I didn’t know too much about the teams.”
As odd as it may sound among many Cavalier fans based on some past recruiting patterns, credit for part of Reynolds’ early development and passion for football came from an unlikely source. That encouragement came from an eventual graduate of Phoebus High, a school that produced Xavier Adibi, Elan Lewis and other former Hokies.
When Reynolds was 8 years old, the future Phoebus football player pleaded for his friend to join his youth league football team.
“I wasn’t really sure about playing at first, but after he asked me to play for his team, I just started football,” Reynolds said. “And I have never stopped.”
Reynolds, who said he has a 3.6 grade point average, hopes to pursue an engineering degree at UVa.

 

A battle for grades
Four advisers devote their efforts to keeping U.Va. football players eligible
Friday, Jul 25, 2008 - 12:07 AM Updated: 01:10 AM
By JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER

On the field, the University of Virginia football team fared well last fall, winning nine games.

In the classroom, the news wasn't as good for the Cavaliers. In part because of the poor grades they earned in the fall, four football players were suspended from U.Va. in January, including starters Jameel Sewell and Chris Cook. Another starter, Jeffrey Fitzgerald, withdrew in February because of an academic issue and has since transferred to Kansas State.

Asked Monday if the academic casualties were aberrations, Cavaliers coach Al Groh said he hopes "that would be the case, but we took the circumstance very seriously. When a player comes, he should be expectant of success, and we all have a role in that. Every hallway that he walks down in the school, we want a high level of success."

Groh told reporters at the ACC Football Kickoff that his team's grade-point average for the spring semester was its highest for a U.Va. football team "in the last nine years," though he didn't disclose the figure.

U.Va. spokesman Rich Murray, in an e-mail to The Times-Dispatch last night, said the university does not "feel it's appropriate to provide the grade-point averages you request, but please be aware the improvement in this area is a result of an increased emphasis within the program supported by the athletics administration"

"If [the football program] doesn't work the way that I want, I take the blame for it," he said. "But in the area of academics, I thought our academic-advising people have done a thorough and diligent job. It's the strongest staff that we've had at any point in time."

Four academic advisers work solely with the football team at U.Va. Groh attributed his team's improved performance in the classroom to diligence on "everybody's part. My part, the players' part. . . . We've always been diligent with it, but perhaps the [suspensions] got the attention of some players that maybe the adult talking to them [did not]."

Even so, Groh said, in the end players must commit themselves to their schoolwork, no matter how much academic support the school provides.

Two Cavaliers made the ACC's 40-player all-academic team for 2007: tight end Tom Santi and wide receiver Staton Jobe. To be eligible for all-academic honors in the ACC, a football player must have earned a 3.0 GPA for the fall semester and maintained a 3.00 cumulative average during his academic career.

 

UVa gets another player from Tidewater region

Virginia continued to make its presence felt in the Tidewater region when it took an oral commitment from LaRoy Reynolds, a 6-foot-205-pound safety from Maury High School in Norfolk.

Reynolds, who is the 19th player to commit to Virginia for 2009, also had scholarship offers from North Carolina State, Syracuse and Connecticut.

Reynolds caught 18 passes as a junior at Maury, four for touchdowns, and there is a chance he can play on offense for the Cavaliers.

Less than 200 UVa season tickets remain

CHARLOTTESVILLE — Officials at the University of Virginia say fewer than 200 season tickets remain on sale for the 2008 football season.

The athletic department says fewer season tickets were available this season because of a restructured sales approach. The Cavs’ current season ticket total is 35,335 out of approximately 35,500 available season tickets.

That’s compared to 39,415 at this time last year and the final total of 39,532 for last season.

Season tickets cost $269 and include all seven home games. Virginia opens its season against Southern California on Aug. 30.

--Staff reports
 

Vick waits for chance
David Teel
July 27, 2008

On a prison cot a half-continent from home, Michael Vick finds comfort in nightfall.

Then he is alone. Guardedly optimistic. Profoundly sorry.

"He looks good, fresh and young, as young as he was coming out of high school," said Tommy Reamon, Vick's prep football coach at Ferguson and Warwick. "He's in good spirits considering the circumstances. He's found a way to attempt to get through each day."

Twice this summer, Reamon has visited Vick in the minimum-security camp at the U.S. Penitentiary at Leavenworth, Kan. His most recent trip was two weeks ago.

Sentenced to 23 months for his role in an interstate dogfighting operation, Vick was transferred to Leavenworth on Jan. 7 from Northern Neck Regional Jail in Warsaw.

Reamon said Vick works an evening shift in the camp kitchen. Pay ranges from 25-40 cents an hour, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, galaxies away from the $130-million contract Vick signed with the Atlanta Falcons in 2004.

Vick runs on an outdoor track, plays pickup basketball and occasionally tosses a football with other inmates.

"The bulkiness from weight-lifting in the NFL, that type of muscle is not there," Reamon said. "Yes, he's lost weight. He isn't in football condition."

On each trip, Reamon visited Vick on back-to-back days for three hours each. They met in a community room or, weather permitting, in the camp courtyard.

Vick's mother, his three children, and their mothers also have traveled to Kansas, Reamon said.

"As a coach, as a human being, as a person who cares about him and loves him, I wanted to be there for support," Reamon said. "He's a nice person who made mistakes.

"He said to me, 'Each day, it comes to an end.' His spirit is centered around that saying. I tell him, 'You're cleaning (your life) up, and one day you'll have the opportunity to show it.' "

I can hear many of you grinding your molars. You have no interest in, or tolerance for, saccharine odes to Vick's plight.

Point well-taken, and before firing off those nasty-grams, let's be clear: Vick's crimes were inhumane and undeniable. He lied to authorities and deserved jail time.

The Chapter 11 bankruptcy Vick filed this month? The indefinite suspension from the NFL?

Vick's fault. No one else's.

"I would like everyone to know what he's said to me on numerous occasions," Reamon said. "How he's so sad and sorry for getting involved with an association of people and how he made bad decisions.

"He said, 'Coach Reamon, you know how you told us about associations, even in high school? There's no age limit to it. What I've thought about in all the tough, lonely nights is, how did I put myself in this situation?' "

Vick rooms by himself, does not complain about living conditions or express safety concerns, Reamon said.

"He still has that smile that's so wonderful," Reamon added. "You see the people, the inmates, and they're (visiting) with their families. And they come up to Michael, not aggressively, but very politely.

" 'Michael, can we have an autograph? Michael, can we shake your hand?' Now I don't want people to misunderstand. He doesn't consider himself a celebrity. This is just human interaction."

Reamon's first interaction with Vick in jail came shortly after Vick entered the Northern Neck facility Nov. 19. The coach wept, but over the course of weekly visits found strength in a young man he considers family.

Now Reamon greets Vick as he used to, with a kiss on the neck and a hug.

Last month Reamon visited on the weekend before Vick's 28th birthday. So come his projected release date — next July 20 — Vick will be plenty young enough to pursue a return to football.

If state charges against him don't lead to additional prison time. If NFL commissioner Roger Goodell reinstates him. If a team is willing to employ him.

Providing Vick, a three-time Pro Bowl quarterback, clears those hurdles, there is no reason he should not play the game he once threatened to revolutionize.

"I'd like to say to you and America: He is paying his debt to society for his crimes," Reamon said, "and he has the right like you and I to seek a job when he finishes paying that debt."

 

Chiefs' Albert: "Time to play football"

Chiefs rookie offensive tackle Branden Albert had just finished signing his contract Thursday morning, assuring that he would be in training camp on time, when wide receiver Dwayne Bowe ran up to him in the Arrowhead parking lot and began hugging him.

"Hey, man, this is why I work so hard," Bowe said to a few fans huddled around. "It’s for Branden Albertguys like him! This guy is the man."

Albert shook his head and rolled his eyes.

"Oh, man, don’t do that to me," Albert said. "Don’t put the pressure on."

Albert, the Chiefs’ second first-round pick, was greatly relieved, though, to have the contract done.

"I knew when I went to bed last night that the deal would get done," Albert said. "I’m very happy about it. But I have a good agent, it’s all done.

"Now it’s time to play football."

Chiefs coach Herm Edwards couldn't agree more.

"Especially for us, it was important to have Branden here because he's going to be a starter for us and the offensive line needs to play together and respond to one another," Edwards said Thursday. "It hurt us last year when we lost so many of our offensive linemen through injury. This year we go to camp with all over offensive linemen up and ready to go."