August 14, 2006
Chris Wallace
CavsCorner.com Publisher

When watching the Virginia defense practice this month, plenty of words come to mind. But the one that might just provide the best description is energy. The Cavaliers always seem to consistently have it on the defensive side of the ball, and it's a pretty good guess that the high energy level comes directly from defensive coordinator Mike London, who is as energetic on the practice field as any of his players.

Clint Sintim has been pleased with the defense thus far in camp.
Back at UVa in his new role, London finds himself having a blast. And that says a lot when looking at Virginia's personnel, which feature numerous young players at key positions.

But according to London, they all have something in common, and it's what he likes about this group with the season set to start in less than three weeks.

"We've got a lot of young guys, but they all want to learn, and it's good to see them making improvements," London said. "We don't have any stars, but these guys play as a team and rely on each other."

Heading into camp, it was safe to say that the Cavaliers had question marks at several positions, but the defense has performed admirably in camp to this point and has looked increasingly better with each outing.

"I think we're doing pretty well so far," said starting outside linebacker Clint Sintim. "But no defense should ever be satisfied, and we can always get better."

London has maintained that he wants to play a more attacking style of defense in 2006, and UVa should be able to do that thanks in large part to what is shaping up as an outstanding secondary.

"This is probably the best collective group of defensive backs that we've had since I have been here," said London, who is in his fifth season at Virginia and first as defensive coordinator.

Especially beneficial in the secondary was the return of starting safeties Tony Franklin and Nate Lyles. Both players' status was up in the air until just days before camp opened, but both are back in orange jerseys and playing extremely well.

"It's great to have those two guys back there," said Sintim of Franklin and Lyles. "There aren't too many guys in the ACC that hit like they do. They're great safeties and they're going to help us do a lot of things on defense."

Tony Franklin's return at safety has been beneficial for the Cavaliers.
It has been especially exciting for Virginia fans to see Lyles back in uniform after he sustained a season-ending neck injury against Georgia Tech last November.

Lyles has said he feels great and UVa coach Al Groh said Monday that the junior from Chicago has shown no signs of shying away from contact at any point during camp.

"He's the same old Nate," Groh said. "Whatever you remember Nate as, that's who he is."

While London has been pleased with what he has seen thus far, he also knows there is plenty of room for improvement in the coming weeks for his defense.

"There's still a long way to go, but we're optimistic," he said.

Quick kicks …

London said that redshirt freshman defensive end Jeff Fitzgerald is a player with a bright future in Charlottesville, adding, "He's still learning, but Jeff will be a good player. There are things he can do that others can't." Groh revealed on Monday that Fitzgerald, who is working with the first team defense at left defensive end, is playing at roughly 280 pounds right now.

London also spoke very highly of redshirt freshman cornerback Vic Hall. "I love Vic Hall," London said. "We're trying to emphasize causing more fumbles and creating turnovers and he's already done that five or six times in camp. He does what he's asked, and I'm excited about his role."

Another redshirt freshman who seemingly has a bright future is Rashawn Jackson, who has been impressive at inside linebacker. And Sintim said UVa fans are only seeing the surface of what Jackson has to offer. "Rashawn is picking it up. He's a player," Sintim said. "I'm in the room next to him at the hotel and all he does at night is study the playbook. I'm proud of him.

 

Virginia's Garrett has seen it all
Cavalier wide receivers coach is cut from the football cloth
By Jay Jenkins / Daily Progress staff writer
August 16, 2006

When John Garrett talks to Virginia’s wideouts about life in the National Football League, the coach knows what he is talking about.

When Garrett, the wide receivers coach at UVa since 2004, talks to his pupils about the ups and downs of college football, he also knows what he is talking about.

Like most of Virginia’s current assistant coaches, Garrett has experienced almost everything imaginable.

From being able to say he played and coached in the NFL to laying claim to having suited up for two, yes two, different Ivy League schools in college, Garrett has seen it all.

Such is the life of a man born into a family of football.

Garrett’s brothers, Jason and Judd, also played in the NFL and are currently working as assistant coaches with the Miami Dolphins.

His father, Jim, played and coached professionally and, in fact, coached his sons at Columbia University.

It was during his father’s lone season at Columbia that John Garrett missed the season with a broken collarbone. Columbia did not win a game that year, Jim Garrett later resigned and all three brothers transferred to Princeton.

It was “by the grace of God,” John Garrett says he was able to get out of the troubling situation.

“My dad … left after one year and I didn’t want to stay,” John Garrett said. “Princeton was gracious enough to allow the three Garrett’s to come back and enroll there.”

After dabbling in the professional ranks with the Cincinnati Bengals and the Buffalo Bills, Garrett landed a spot working within the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ organization in 1992. Three years later he was given his first shot coaching as an assistant with the Bengals.

He left four years later to join the Arizona Cardinals, only to return to the Bengals once again.

The road to Hooville

While working with the Bengals, Garrett moved from the sidelines to become a full-time scout for the organization, but he always knew his calling was to be a coach - again.

“I really always wanted to be a coach, because my dad was a coach for a long, long time,” Garrett said. “I always had to think like that as a player because I wasn’t as gifted as most. I had to be so technically sound and precise to succeed.

“I always had great admiration and respect for coaches and wanted to do it.”

The annual shuffle of college football coaches opened a spot at UVa in 2004 on the coach Al Groh’s staff. Garrett jumped at the chance.

“When this opportunity came up it was a chance to get back onto the field coaching at a great school, in a great area and with a great program,” Garrett said. “I couldn’t pass it up.”

Now three years later, Garrett walks around the McCue Center as one of the veterans on the staff. Ron Prince left to become the head coach at Kansas State. Danny Rocco is now at Liberty. Al Golden is the head coach at Temple.

“It is a little bit strange, but that happens,” Garrett said. “Things always change, but Coach Groh has a way of keeping it all the same, so to speak, where the program has a really sound foundation and he keeps running it the way that he would like.”

Practice makes perfect

During his three years in orange and blue, Garrett has seen numerous advances with Virginia’s wide receivers. Some are obvious. Others can’t be seen by outsiders.

Emmanuel Byers, a junior, is a prime example.

Byers has just 25 career catches for 250 yards, but Garrett has seen the youngster evolve from a student into a teacher.

“Emmanuel just decided when he was left off the travel squad for the Duke game his first year that, ‘Enough is enough. I’m going to learn all my plays and every assignment,’” Garrett said. “And now he just doesn’t know his assignment but he knows the whole play.”

It’s not uncommon, at least now, for Garrett to hear Byers helping the rookies.

“It was a joy as a coach to be installing a play or talking about a play and hear him in the back or during a play in practice in the back schooling up the younger guys,” Garrett said. “He would say, ‘Alright, now on this play you do this. If you get this coverage, you do that.’ That’s what you want: when they want to do it and they can articulate it.”

Garrett pleads for the attention of his players and gets it - for good reason.

“You can’t ask for somebody that loves football as much as he does,” said senior wide receiver Fontel Mines. “Coach Garrett always has something to coach you on. There’s always something that you can do better in his eyes and that’s what you need.”

From veterans to walk-ons, Garrett tries to coach them the same. That’s natural for a coach. It is within that process, as Garrett points out, that players start to progress.

“I tell them all the time, ‘Okay, young guys, what you are doing right now is just fighting to get practice reps, and then if you handle that you get practice reps with the good guys - the second- and third-teams.

“Then if you do well there, you are earning the trust of your teammates, you are earning the trust of your coaches, you are becoming dependable and then you get reps in the game,’” Garrett recounted. “It might be when we are ahead by 35 points at the end of the game, but they do well there, then ‘Hey, this kid is ready and he’s ready to get reps when it counts.’”

Virginia’s quarterbacks certainly hope so.

 

'Hoos who: Fontel Mines
By Jay Jenkins / Daily Progress staff writer
August 16, 2006

Long before the first official snap of the 2003 football season, former Virginia wide receiver Michael McGrew was lost with a broken leg, an injury suffered in training camp.

McGrew had been primed and ready for his final season as a Cavalier. It would have to wait a full calendar year.

Given that circumstance, it was only natural that McGrew’s situation entered the thoughts of Fontel Mines last week. That was when Mines learned his friend, perhaps his best friend, wide receiver Deyon Williams needed surgery on a stress fracture in his foot and would be sidelined indefinitely.

“Of course [McGrew] flashes in your head,” Mines said, “but you don’t want to think about the bad things all the time so you just try to stay positive with something like that.”

Mines and Williams, both seniors, came into school together in 2003, and given the bond, it was tough for Mines to head out to practice without Williams at his side.

“It was an adjustment that I had to make, but I just have to embrace the whole receivers corps and pick them up spirit-wise, on and off the field,” Mines said. “I am also trying to become more of a vocal leader.”

Virginia coach Al Groh is not worried about the latter. Groh said he saw leadership qualities out of Mines long before the injury to Williams.

“He’s been one of the best leaders on the team since last winter so there’s really not much else; obviously making plays in games is a significant thing, but his leadership, work ethic are excellent,” Groh said. “There’s not much more we can ask of Fontel.”

Regardless of Groh’s positive remarks, Mines is asking more of himself. With 41 career receptions, 28 of which came last year, Mines demands improvements from his own game.

“If you want to be a great player you always have to pressure yourself. Nobody else will,” said Mines, who scored two TDs last year. “I have been working hard in the offseason trying to correct some things in my game. Hopefully everything will work out.”

John Garrett, Virginia’s wide receivers coach, said the time that Mines has spent in the program has allowed him to learn “the style of coaching, the techniques and the assignments.”

What happens when a receiver does that?

“He begins to coach himself,” Garrett answered. “It is great when I come walking out to him and he says, ‘I got it. I know what I did.’ That means he is thinking like a coach,” Garrett said. “Fontel will say, ‘Don’t tell me, I know I have to get my hand inside.’ He is beginning to think like that, so it gets engrained into him.”

Mines remains on track to graduate from UVa with a degree in anthropology and maintains dreams of playing professional football.

For now, Mines is just trying to help improve Virginia’s offense.

“There is always something that I can do better or something that I can help the quarterback with, whether it is run-blocking or running after the catch,” Mines said. “There are a lot of things that receivers can do to aide their game.”

 

No break for Joseph
Small forward working to keep his place in lineup
By Whitelaw Reid / Daily Progress staff writer
August 16, 2006

Adrian Joseph could have been hanging out with family and friends in Trinidad for a portion of his summer. He could have been watching cricket matches, or just kicking back like most college students do at this time of the year.

Joseph thought better of it.

“I had the chance to go home,” said Joseph, a Virginia junior, “but I wanted to stay here and work out, and try and get better for the season.”

Not a bad call by the 6-foot-7 forward, especially when you consider the fact that he’ll be involved in one of the fiercest battles on the team this season - the one for playing time at the small forward or “3” position.

Joseph and sophomore Mamadi Diane will be vying for minutes not only against each other, but three highly touted freshmen - Will Harris, Jamil Tucker and Solomon Tat.

Of the three recruits, Harris - a 6-6, 225-pounder - is the only natural small forward. At the moment, the 6-9 Tucker looks like more of a power forward, while the 6-5 Tat appears closer to a shooting guard.

However, all three freshmen - depending on matchups - have the versatility to slide over to small forward.

Think that hasn’t crossed Joseph’s mind?

“It motivates me in a good way,” Joseph said, “just to work harder.”

Joseph said it didn’t bother him when he first learned that three out of the five members of coach Dave Leitao’s first recruiting class play his position. (Eric Wallace, a member of the 2007 class, also plays small forward).

“I didn’t view it like somebody was going to take my spot or anything like that,” Joseph said. “I looked at it as a way to get better and motivate myself.”

Virginia coach Dave Leitao is glad that Joseph, like all of his players, stuck around campus.

“He knew that being up here would not only be [good] for him getting better, but for trying to get team chemistry better - hanging out with different guys and helping young guys acclimate,” Leitao said. “He’s been a big part of that process.”

After playing last season with only eight scholarship players, Leitao certainly doesn’t view the logjam at small forward as a problem.

“I don’t think it’s one [player] versus another,” he said. “What we’re trying to create is different dimensions to our team and our lineup. I think the more dimensions that [Joseph] can create in his game, the more versatile he becomes and more useful he is.”

Joseph seems to respond well to challenges. Last season, after a string of inconsistent performances, he was benched for the second half of the ACC opener at Georgia Tech. Some players might have sulked. Joseph took his game to another level.

“To be in that position, I never had something like that happen to me,” said Joseph, referring to his time on the pine. “From then on, I said, ‘I can’t let this happen. I’ve got to prove a point that I’m not that type of player.’”

For the season, Joseph wound up averaging 9.4 points and 4.5 rebounds. At times, he provided the additional scoring threat behind Sean Singletary and J.R. Reynolds that the Cavaliers craved.

The cornrowed one’s biggest moment came when he drained the go-ahead 3-pointer in the final minute of Virginia’s lone ACC road win at Virginia Tech.

Although he was ineffective in some games down the stretch - he didn’t score in the ACC Tournament loss to North Carolina - Joseph was a much better player in March than in October.

The thing to remember is that the former cricket player got a late start in the sport, then didn’t play very much as a freshman. Last season was his first time seeing extensive minutes at the college level, starting 19 of 30 games.

“[It] was a learning season for me,” Joseph said. “This season I want to fine-tune everything I learned and put it all together.”

To that end, Joseph has been focusing on his ball-handling and strength this summer.

“I want to be a player that can play multiple positions and help bring the ball up,” said Joseph, who claims to weigh in at 205 pounds, an increase of 10 from last season.

While in Charlottesville the last couple of months, Joseph, who is rooming with Tunji Soroye, also took classes in Spanish and anthropology (his major), and started yoga with Singletary, his best friend on the team.

Leitao likes what he has seen out of No. 30.

“He’s always going to be a guy who can make shots,” Leitao said. “Now we want him to be able to do some of the other things he can’t do as well, and I think he realizes that.”

 

Bannister headed to Liberty
Point guard cites opportunity to lead his own team
By Whitelaw Reid / Daily Progress staff writer
August 16, 2006

T.J. Bannister isn’t going too far. As it turns out, about 70 miles down U.S. 29.

On Tuesday, Bannister told The Daily Progress that he is transferring to Liberty University.

“It’s an opportunity to be able to go in and run a team and play my game and feel comfortable,” Bannister said. “[Head coach Randy Dunton] said he’s going to put the ball in my hands and help give me my confidence back, which is something I lost at [UVa].”

Per NCAA transfer rules, Bannister - who would have been a senior at UVa - has to sit out the upcoming season. He won’t be eligible to play until the 2007-08 campaign.

Liberty, a member of the Big South Conference, is coming off a 7-23 season. The Flames lost to Virginia, 79-44, in their season opener at University Hall on Nov. 18.

Bannister will see at least one familiar face when he gets to Lynchburg: Liberty assistant coach Alexis Sherard. Sherard was an assistant under former Virginia coach Pete Gillen. He helped recruit Bannister out of Arlington Country Day in Jacksonville, Fla.

Bannister is coming off an injury-plagued season. The 5-foot-11 point guard played in just 16 of the team’s 30 games, averaging 13 minutes per contest, a career-low.

Bannister’s departure leaves Virginia thin in the backcourt. The Cavaliers have just one natural point guard on their roster - All-ACC First Team member Sean Singletary.

 

Snelling stays healthy at tailback
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Aug 16, 2006

CHARLOTTESVILLE At the University of Virginia's open practices this month, it was a familiar sight: Jason Snelling taking a handoff from quarterback Christian Olsen, slicing through the defensive line and bursting into the secondary.

Snelling's name belongs on the list of U.Va. players who've impressed during training camp. The former L.C. Bird High star is probably the front-runner for the starting tailback's job. His health has been good, and he's in peak condition.

"Right now, he's doing about everything that he can do to get his game ready," Cavaliers coach Al Groh said. "It's been positive for him so far. Real positive."

During a college career in which Snelling spent most of three seasons at fullback, he's weighed as much at 247 pounds. He's down to 228 this summer. Less weight has translated to more quickness.

"Oh, yeah, definitely," Snelling said. "I feel different."

Heading into his final season at U.Va., Snelling has career totals of 552 yards and three touchdowns rushing, 493 yards and four TDs receiving. Those numbers would undoubtedly be higher had Snelling not faced recurring medical problems.

He's battled a condition whose symp- toms include migraine headaches. That's caused him to miss considerable practice time and, in some cases, games. Snelling, who'll compete as a graduate student this season, is optimistic that such problems are behind him.

"My health has been great," he said.

Lining up at tailback is nothing new for Snelling, who played there in high school and rushed for 4,153 yards as a Skyhawk. He didn't start working full time at tailback for the Wahoos, however, until late last season.

He grew increasingly comfortable at the position during spring practice this year, and the progress has continued this summer.

"I haven't actually been an every-down running back for a couple of years now," Snelling said after a recent practice, "so my feel and my vision and making the right cuts, it's just coming back to me now as I'm getting the feel of running every day."

Groh has yet to name a starter at tailback, and he's praised the four candidates for the job: Snelling, sophomore Cedric Peerman, senior Michael Johnson and redshirt freshman Mikell Simpson.

Expect to see at least two of them play regularly this season.

"If you have the right kind of backs, it can serve you well to use them both," Groh said. "I'm not saying we're in this category yet, but it worked out pretty well for Auburn a couple of years ago with those two guys" -- Ronnie Brown and Carnell Williams.

"I'm sure that there's not going to be a solitary ballcarrier on this team," Groh said.

Snelling said: "We don't really talk about depth charts. I work a lot and get most of [the snaps with the first team in practice], but we rotate. We got a lot of good backs, and come game time, Coach will let you know who's going to get the starting job. I just came out here focused to get better."
 

U.Va. loses Bannister, gains Tat
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Aug 16, 2006

With the new school year looming, the University of Virginia men's basketball team has lost a valuable ballhandler.

Reserve point guard T.J. Bannister, a three-year letterman who has one season of eligibility left, said yesterday that he plans to transfer. Liberty University is a strong possibility, the 5-10 Bannister told The Times-Dispatch.

Bannister, who's from Jacksonville, Fla., said he wants to play in a program where he'll have a more prominent role.

"When it's time to move on, you got to move on," he said. "I feel it was time to do that and get a fresh start and show everybody what I can do."

Bannister, who started 10 games as a freshman and 11 as a sophomore, had surgery to repair a sports hernia last September. He played in only 16 games last season -- all off the bench -- and says he never fully recovered from his injury, in part because he returned too soon after the operation. Bannister welcomes the prospect of sitting out the coming season as a transfer.

"I want to give it a chance to heal up and work on my game at the same time," he said, "so I think a year off will probably be the best thing for me."

Bannister played in 76 games for the Cavaliers, averaging 3.6 points, 3.1 assists and 1.5 rebounds. He made 77.1 percent of his foul shots.

With Bannister gone, senior J.R. Reynolds likely will back up junior Sean Singletary at point guard. That might have been the case even if Bannister had stayed. Reynolds starts at shooting guard but last season showed he's also capable of running the offense.

"It's a concern," U.Va. coach Dave Leitao said of his team's lack of depth at point guard, "but we've made it through thus far, and I think we'll be OK."

Leitao said his biggest concern will be making sure his all-ACC guards, Singletary and Reynolds, get enough rest in games. Singletary is coming off hip surgery.

Bannister's departure leaves Virginia with 12 scholarship players for 2006-07. Leitao was happy to report yesterday that one of them will be Solomon Tat, a freshman swingman who attended high school in Georgia.

Tat, who's from Nigeria, had issues with his visa that were resolved early this summer after he married a woman from the United States. Not until recently, however, did he gain approval from the NCAA Clearinghouse to play at U.Va. in 2006-07.

At 6-5, 220 pounds, Tat will add a much-needed physical presence to the Cavaliers, who got pushed around at times last season, their first under Leitao. He has other qualities that Leitao likes.

"As much as anything what we set out to do, based on need, was energize our basketball team and our gym and games," Leitao said, "and Solomon's personality is going to help us as much as anything."