A Matter Of No Degrees
By Norman Chad
Monday, October 15, 2007; E02

To: The University of Maryland

From: Couch Slouch, Class of '81

Re: Graduation rates

I didn't want to write you all again -- I mean, just last month I politely requested that my alma mater eliminate Division I sports -- but several people e-mailed me some rather startling numbers about our hoops-playing, class-dodging student-athletes.

No Maryland men's basketball player who enrolled between 1997 and 2000 graduated within six years. This is commonly called a "zero percent graduation rate," and it ranked us last among the nation's 321 Division I programs -- in other words, we finished 321st out of 321 schools.

Geez, what happened to the academic legacy once created by Lefty Driesell?

Only one other men's basketball program in the ACC -- Clemson, 31 percent -- had a graduation rate below 40 percent. We can't do better than Clemson? Clemson? That's a Stuckey's with a student union.

The NCAA uses a formula called the "Graduation Success Rate" -- actually, in College Park, we call it the "Graduation Failure Rate" -- and this indicates that, uh, absolutely nobody on the basketball team gets out of Maryland alive with a degree.

Well, at least we're not cheating on exams!

(Column Intermission I: Battling a bad ankle on a muddy field 2,400 miles away from home, Player of Destiny Colt Brennan completed 44 of 75 passes for 545 yards to rally Hawaii from a 35-21 fourth-quarter deficit to a 42-35 overtime victory over San Jose State. Overcome by emotion watching it on ESPN, I wept at game's end.)

I repeat: We're talking a "zero percent graduation rate."

By the way, Maryland plays its games at Comcast Center; coincidentally, between 1997 and 2000, Comcast had a "zero percent response rate" to its customer's cable problems.

I understand that Coach Gary Williams is simply recruiting basketball players to win games. He has shown no intent in recruiting students who also play basketball well. But somewhere along the line, can't he find just one 6-foot-3 fella who will sit at the end of the bench with a strong interest in, say, metallurgical sciences?

He did not recruit a single player between 1997 and 2000 -- and that includes all the starters and top reserves on the 2002 national championship team -- who graduated at College Park within six years. None.

"I've graduated 42 players in 18 years," Williams said.

Wow, 42 in 18 years? Heck, MIT's rowing team graduates 42 people every two weeks.

(Column Intermission II: I'm sure some of you skipped the earlier column intermission once you saw Colt Brennan's name. My friends, he completed 44 of 75 passes for 545 yards in the rain, on the road. I know he's a senior, but if he's majoring in something, anything, I might see if we can skirt NCAA regulations and bring him to College Park in 2008.)

A single woman of 38 is more likely to find a husband at a Daughters of the American Revolution rally than a Maryland basketball player is to graduate within six years.

Williams argues that while none of the top eight players on his '02 title team graduated within six years, all of them went on to professional basketball careers. And it should be noted that forward Lonny Baxter did get jailed on a weapons charge within six years of enrolling at the university.

Now, if you ask most Terp alums if they would trade the 2002 national title for a 33 percent graduation rate or a better English Lit department, they'd likely choose the championship. Then again, that doesn't surprise me -- after all, they went to Maryland, so how smart could they be?

P.S. In defending a budget request to the state legislature in the early 1950s, University of Oklahoma president George L. Cross famously said, "We want to build a university the football team can be proud of." Which reminds me -- anytime I'm on campus, I never can find a parking spot; can't we at least build a parking facility the football team can be proud of?

 

Tech, U.Va. may vie for slot in final
Tuesday, Oct 16, 2007 - 12:06 AM 
By JOHN MARKON
TIMES-DISPATCH COLUMNIST

A truly timeless fraternity gimmick involves everyone in the house throwing in some money for a raffle. The guys then round up dates, put on summer threads in the middle of winter and come to a party. Around 1 or 2 a.m., a winner's name gets drawn and he and his girlfriend jump in a limo for a ride to the nearest major airport and a morning flight to an expenses-paid weekend of roses, wine and romance somewhere under the palms.

The destination named the party. It would be called "Nassau Night" at some houses, "Aruba Night" at others . . . et cetera . . . et cetera throughout the Caribbean.

State football fans probably should begin thinking of Nov. 24, the day of the University of Virginia-Virginia Tech game, as "Jacksonville Night." It's going to be very difficult to keep the winner out of the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game, to be played in scenic, sun-splashed Northeast Florida on the afternoon of Dec. 1.

OK, so maybe Aruba Night sounds like a little more fun.

If you think any kind of title talk's premature in mid-October, look at the six Coastal Division teams, their conference records and their remaining ACC games:

Virginia (3-0): At Maryland, at N.C. State, Wake Forest, at Miami, Virginia Tech.

Virginia Tech (3-0): Boston College, at Georgia Tech, Florida State, Miami, at Virginia.

Georgia Tech (2-3): Virginia Tech, at Duke, North Carolina.

Miami (1-2): At Florida State, N.C. State, Virginia, at Virginia Tech, at Boston College.

North Carolina (1-2): At Wake Forest, Maryland, at N.C. State, at Georgia Tech, Duke.

Duke (0-4): At Florida State, Clemson, Georgia Tech, at North Carolina.

Remember, the winner of the U.Va.-Tech game will have, at worst, a 4-4 ACC record. The league also uses head-to-head results as its primary tie-breaker, which means the trailing teams are even further behind than they appear to be.

North Carolina, for instance, already has lost to U.Va. and Tech. Instead of being two games behind in the loss column, the Tar Heels are effectively three behind since they wouldn't survive a tie with either the Hokies or the Cavaliers.

Georgia Tech's closing schedule may not look too demanding, but the Yellow Jackets already have lost to Virginia. Even if the Jackets sweep their final three games to reach 5-3, a modest 2-3 finish by U.Va. probably would eliminate them.

The point isn't that Tech and Virginia have clinched anything, it's that the Hokies and Cavaliers have ample margin for error while their pursuers have almost none. While it's easy to concoct disaster scenarios involving collapses by the state teams, it's even easier to draw up plotlines that would eliminate all four of the trailers over the next three weekends.

Georgia Tech, for example, needs a win over Virginia Tech on Nov. 1 just to stay in the race. Miami has both state teams left to play, but anything less than a sweep doesn't look as if it would be good enough to help the Hurricanes.

If the Tech-U.Va. game winds up being marginalized, it'll probably be because one team finished well while the other flopped. Should the Cavaliers, for example, build a two-game lead over Tech prior to kickoff, the final game could be played with no stakes on the table, at least in terms of the ACC championship.

As things stand now, I'd place a fairly major wager on the Nov. 24 winner going on to play for a conference title and a spot in a BCS bowl.

If you have a ticket, remember to come to Scott Stadium with your bags packed and your date close by. As soon as the final seconds fly off the clock, we're going to have us a Jacksonville Night.

 

Faith helped Gorham through tough times
Former cornerback finally breaking through at wide receiver spot for Cavaliers
By Jay Jenkins / jjenkins@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
October 16, 2007

After countless football games, interviews can be heard involving players who elect to throw their religious beliefs around as an explanation for inspired play.

For some, it seems out of place. For others, such as Virginia wide receiver Chris Gorham, the words cannot be avoided - they simply come from the heart.

Gorham, a member of the leadership team for Virginia’s chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, has remained steady through good times and bad - and he’s had more of the latter during his college career.

On Saturday during Virginia’s 17-16 win over Connecticut, Gorham added what will likely become an unforgettable chapter.

The senior hauled in three passes for 76 yards, a stat-filled day that included a critical 30-yard reception during yet another game-saving drive for Virginia (6-1).

“It’s nice to see for him, a senior player … he hasn’t had a lot of slap-on-the-back moments,” Virginia coach Al Groh said.

Many players would have walked away from football after going down a path similar to Gorham’s. After starting eight games at cornerback in 2005, Gorham fell off the radar last season, playing in only half of the team’s games.

“If I had to put my confidence in myself I probably would have gave up or fell down, but I put my confidence in God and I trust him,” Gorham said. “I feel like whatever he has in store for me is going to be good and I trust Christ and put my faith in him.”

Virginia linebacker Jon Copper, another devout Christian on the team, said Gorham’s faith is not for show.

“I think when [former linebacker] Kai Parham left, the Lord got a hold of Chris a little bit stronger,” Copper said. “He is an encouragement to me and I do my best to encourage him, as well.

“We don’t spend as much time together as I would like, but I know what he’s about and the Lord is in his life and that is a good thing.”

Gorham leaned on that faith last year. In the spring, he was asked to make the transition from the secondary to wide receiver, a reversal that usually works the other way.

“We were looking to add to the receiver corps, and with Vic Hall and Mike Brown and Chris Cook coming back as veteran players and Mike Parker as an emerging player [at cornerback], it looked like a circumstance where he might get buried over there a little bit,” Groh said. “As a senior player, we didn’t think that was fair to him either.

“One, we wanted to give Chris the best opportunity to compete for playing time and two, it looked like going over there, he would be going to a position that he could greatly aid.”

As one might expect, Gorham’s adjustment took time.

“It was a little bit spotty,” Groh said.

But Gorham continued to slide up Virginia’s depth chart, a process that was aided by injuries - Cary Koch sprained his knee in training camp and Maurice Covington broke a bone in his hand against North Carolina.

“He is just a football player,” Virginia offensive lineman Ian-Yates Cunningham said. “He just knows what to do, and I guess he has a little bit of a benefit because he played corner. He knows what corners are thinking. He can use that to his advantage.

“He just came out [against UConn] like he does in practice sometimes and that’s just what you expect from veteran guys like that.”

Gorham does not know what the remainder of the season will hold. It would appear that he has gained an increased level of confidence in quarterback Jameel Sewell and offensive coordinator Mike Groh.

Regardless, Gorham said he will walk with his head held high and his faith on his sleeve.

“God has been good to me and I can’t complain about anything,” he said. “Everything that has happened to me during my four years here has been wonderful.

“It has been [a wild ride], but I think that’s how life is at times.”

N.C. State kickoff set

Virginia's football game at N.C. State on Oct. 27 has been set to start at 4:30 p.m. The game will be televised by ESPNU.

 

Gorham fills void left by injured Cavs in close win against Huskies
Senior corner turned wide receiver caught 3 passes for 76 yards against Connecticut
Aaron Perryman, Cavalier Daily Associate Editor

The crowd at Scott Stadium may have been scrambling during Saturday's game against Connecticut to look up player No. 39 on the Virginia roster as he was making big plays for the Cavalier offense.

They soon found out that it was senior Chris Gorham and realized that they could add him to the growing list of players who are stepping up to fill the voids left by injured junior wide receivers Kevin Ogletree and Maurice Covington. Gorham was a significant contributor to Virginia's win Saturday over Connecticut, catching three passes for 76 yards, including a 35-yard catch on a pass thrown by sophomore cornerback Vic Hall on a trick play during the second quarter, setting up Virginia's second touchdown of the day.

Gorham's story is a unique one. He was an unheralded cornerback for the first three years of his Cavalier career before switching to wide receiver last spring.

"I was willing to do anything to help out the team," Gorham said. "I was all over the place in high school, so I got a little bit of experience at receiver."

Coming into the game against the Huskies, Gorham had just two catches all year. Catching three balls Saturday showed that he is making strides in filling the void left by Covington and Ogletree.

"He has [improved]," Virginia coach Al Groh said. "He's been a corner here for three years, so it took him awhile to get comfortable playing a different kind of game than he has been on the corner. He's been very diligent about it. He represents the team having a next-man-up attitude. Maurice [Covington] went down and he was the next man up."

Showing that the second quarter catch was not a fluke and that he may have a penchant for big plays, Gorham caught a pass 30-yard pass from sophomore quarterback Jameel Sewell late in the fourth quarter on what would become the Cavaliers' game-winning drive, resulting in the go-ahead field goal by senior place kicker Chris Gould."The o-line did a great job blocking, giving Jameel time to throw, [and] the coaches did a great job calling the plays," Gorham said. "By the time it got to my time to do something, all the hard work was already done." After the game Groh praised Gorham's efforts on his two big catches that lead to important scores for the Virginia offense, noting how Gorham embodies the Cavaliers' ability to step in and make the plays when they are needed, regardless of their positions.

"That was a real good play he made [with Sewell]," Groh said. "He made a good play on the corner route that got us down the field and put us in an advantageous position. It's nice to see a senior player who hasn't had a lot of those slap-on-the-back moments here. But that's the team--different guys stepping up at different times."

Gorham said he was not expecting to have a break-out game against the Huskies and a win for the team was his sole concern. His attitude is one that every Virginia player seems to have this year.

"That's all it boils down to," Gorham said. "It's not about statistics or what I do as an individual. We just want to win, collectively, as a team. That's our goal each week."

Although Gorham is taking advantage of his opportunity to be a wide receiver, he realizes that the injuries to Covington and Ogletree have been a major factor in his getting his chance in the first place.

"Covington and Ogletree are great athletes," Gorham said. "They were coming off good seasons last year. They were definitely a loss for the team. I credit the coaches for preparing us, the receivers that we do have, to come out and do what we need to do to win."

Fans should hope that they have to look up more unfamiliar names such as Gorham's on the roster in the coming weeks. With an offense that struggled to produce yardage without junior running back Cedric Peerman and a tougher schedule heading deeper into the fall, the list of players stepping up may need to continue to grow if the Cavaliers hope to build on their 6-1 record.