Touted recruit Smith says yes to U.Va. for '09
Tuesday, Oct 28, 2008 - 12:07 AM

MIAMI (FLA.) AT VIRGINIA AT VIRGINIA
Saturday: Noon
On the air:TV -- WRLH-35; radio -- WRVA (1140), 11 a.m.

By JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Fresh off a triumphant weekend, the University of Virginia football program got more good news yesterday.

Tim Smith, a 6-0, 185-pound senior at Oscar Smith High in Chesapeake, became the 21st player to commit to the Cavaliers for 2009. Thirteen of those players are Virginians.

Smith stars for a team that's 9-0 and favored to win the state Group AAA, Division 6 championship.

"He's the best receiver in the state of Virginia," Oscar Smith coach Richard Morgan said.

Smith, who had scholarship offers from more than 15 schools, visited U.Va., Louisville and West Virginia. One of Smith's teammates at Oscar Smith, senior Perry Jones, committed to Virginia in May. "I think it helps with [Smith's] comfort level," Morgan said.

The Cavaliers' resurgence helped them, too, in their pursuit of Smith. Virginia stretched its winning streak to four games by upsetting then-No. 21 Georgia Tech 24-17 in Atlanta on Saturday.

"Tim's used to winning, so he wants to go some place he's going to play and he's going to help a team win," Morgan said.

"They're winning, and they're throwing [the ball a lot], so he feels he can fit in there and help take them to another level in their passing game."

As a junior, Smith caught 25 passes for 587 yards and five touchdowns, Morgan said, and had four returns for TDs. This season he has 41 receptions for 986 yards and 15 touchdowns. He's run back two punts and one kickoff for TDs.

Most Oscar Smith games are blowouts, and the second half usually finds Smith on the sideline.

"Imagine what his stats would be if he played four quarters," Morgan said.

U.Va. (3-1, 5-3) hosts Coastal Division rival Miami (3-2, 5-2) at noon Saturday at Scott Stadium. The starting time of Virginia's Nov. 8 game at Wake Forest remains undecided.

The ACC said yesterday that the U.Va.-Wake game will start at noon or 3:30 p.m. An announcement will come by noon Sunday.

If the game starts at noon, Raycom will televise it. A 3:30 p.m. kickoff would mean another appearance on ESPNU for the Cavaliers. They're regulars on that network, which isn't widely available in this state.

Also yesterday, U.Va. right tackle Will Barker was honored as the ACC's offensive lineman of the week.

A 6-7, 315-pound junior from Bryn Mawr, Pa., who struggled early in the season, Barker did not allow a sack against Georgia Tech, and his protection helped sophomore quarterback Marc Verica complete 29 of 39 passes for a career-high 270 yards and two touchdowns.

Barker and the Wahoos' other linemen also cleared the way for senior tailback Cedric Peerman, who became the first player to rush for more than 100 yards against the Yellow Jackets this season.

The ACC's selection of Barker, a three-year starter, may not go over well in Atlanta. The Jackets were incensed that Barker wasn't called for holding against star defensive end Michael Johnson on a third-quarter play that ended with a 34-yard touchdown pass from Verica to wideout Maurice Covington.

"I feel that's one you have to call," Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson told reporters. "The rules say that should definitely be a penalty. They go on to throw a touchdown pass, and I'm looking for the flag. But there was none to be found."

 

Oscar Smith WR commits to Cavs
By Doug Doughty
981-3129

Virginia has taken an oral commitment from Tim Smith, described by his coach at Oscar Smith High School in Chesapeake as "the best wide receiver in the state."

Smith has 41 receptions for 988 yards and 15 touchdowns for Oscar Smith (9-0). He also has scored three touchdowns on returns for a team that was ranked No. 14 in the country last week by USA Today.

Smith, the 21st player to commit to the Cavaliers, is rated the No. 19 prospect in Virginia on roanoke.com. That was a preseason rating based on his junior year, when he had 16 receptions for a team that had three Division I-A signees in its senior class.

"He's every bit as good as they were," said coach Rich Morgan, who had Todd Harrelson sign with North Carolina and Kerry Boykins with Maryland. "He's faster, has a better vertical and is more explosive."

Smith, listed at 6 feet and 185 pounds, has been timed in 4.4 seconds for 40 yards and has a vertical leap measured at 40 inches.

Smith's teammate, running back-linebacker Perry Jones, committed to the Cavaliers during the summer.

"I've been the coach here for seven years and never had a player go to Virginia," Jones said. "To be quite honest, Virginia can't go out and offer just anybody, and these kids did a good job of getting their grades in the 3.0 range that UVa is looking for."

Smith took official visits to UVa, Louisville and West Virginia, and he canceled a trip to Boston College. Morgan said he Smith had more than a dozen Division I-A offers.

Smith is one of five UVa-bound players from the 757 area code that is being recruited by Bob Pruitt.
 

Oscar Smith receiver Tim Smith fourth local to commit to Virginia
Posted to: High Schools Sports
By Larry Rubama
The Virginian-Pilot
© October 27, 2008
CHESAPEAKE

It was a wet, cold practice Monday at Oscar Smith High, but senior wide receiver Tim Smith had reason to be upbeat and smiling.

Earlier in the day he made his college choice, committing to play football at Virginia.

“They have a good coach and the team is winning,” Smith said after practice. “And I had a one-on-one talk with coach (Al) Groh and we talked about me playing right away. I’m not the type of player who wants to wait a year to play … I want to get out there.”

Smith becomes the fourth Class of 2009 South Hampton Roads player to commit to the Cavaliers, along with teammate Perry Jones, Maury’s LaRoy Reynolds and Western Branch’s Javanti Sparrow.

“So I’ll have a teammate who will be up there with me and we’ll be roommates,” he said.

Smith chose Virginia over numerous offers from ACC, Big Ten and Big East schools. He had visited Virginia, West Virginia and Louisville and was scheduled to go to Boston College but decided to cancel.

Oscar Smith coach Rich Morgan said the Cavaliers are getting a good one.

“Virginia won out and they’re getting the best receiver in the state,” he said.

Smith is having a record-breaking season. He has 41 receptions for 986 yards and 15 touchdowns. He averages nearly 25 yards a catch. And he has returned three kickoffs for touchdowns this season.

He also has a chance to become the first receiver from the Southeastern District in recent memory to go over 1,000 yards.

“He’s as good as anyone I’ve ever had,” said Morgan, who last season sent three receivers to Division I programs.

“He’s the fastest kid we’ve had and he’s got great explosion. He’s shattering all the records of all the guys we had before him.”

Morgan praised Smith for his patience.

“He waited his time because we had to spread the ball around to a lot of different guys the last few years,” Morgan said. “But he’s been the main focus of our offense this year and he’s been producing.”

The only thing left for Smith to do is to keep leading the Tigers to victory.

“Now I can focus on helping my team win a state championship,” he said.

 

Praise for Al Groh
If Virginia football coach Al Groh ever needs a reference, or even an agent, he should call Virginia Tech basketball coach Seth Greenberg.

At the ACC's basketball media gathering Sunday in Atlanta, Greenberg called Groh's work guiding the Cavaliers from a 1-3 start to first place in the Coastal Division the best coaching job he's seen in his five years in the conference.

Greenberg's remarks were unprompted and knowledgeable. You could tell he's followed the football season, from Virginia's struggles against Southern California, Richmond, Connecticut and Duke, to its four subsequent victories over Maryland, East Carolina, North Carolina and Georgia Tech.

"As a coach," Greenberg said, "the hardest thing to do is get your team back. To get that team back on point, and to get them believing and trusting in one another is a testament to coaching. As a coach, you want to sit down and study them and say, 'What did you do to keep the guys together?' "

Some other leftovers from Sunday's basketball interviews:

Virginia coach Dave Leitao suggested his Cavaliers will take advantage of their new-found depth and gamble more defensively.

"For three years we played defense by the book, conservatively, like a baseball manager," said Leitao, entering his fourth season at U.Va. "We went by the percentages."

Clemson coach Oliver Purnell said of sophomore guard Terrence Oglesby, "It would not surprise me at all if at the end of the day he's the career scoring leader at Clemson."

Oglesby averaged 10.2 points last season and displayed outrageous shooting range, making 40.3 percent of his 3-point attempts.

Purnell admitted he had no idea who Clemson's top career scorer is, or how many points he totaled. When we looked it up in the Tigers' media guide, we found it was Elden Campbell with 1,880.

Oglesby scored 356 last season. Given a conservative estimate of 30 games a year, he would need to average 17 points a game for the next three seasons to surpass Campbell.

Posted by David Teel
 

Toast of the Coastal
Eric Strow
Published: Tuesday, October 28 2008

After a big win this weekend against Georgia Tech, the Virginia football team found itself atop the Coastal Division of the ACC with a 3-1 conference record. The Coastal Division is tight right now, with Georgia Tech sitting at 3-2 in the ACC, and with North Carolina, Miami and Virginia Tech having 2-2 ACC records. Duke sits at the bottom of the division with a 1-2 conference record. All things considered, I’m about to tell you why it’s not crazy to think that the Cavaliers can play for the ACC Championship (Dec. 6 in Tampa Bay), even though if I had said this before the season started, I may have slapped myself.

Virginia is 5-3 overall, and in retrospect, the only grossly disappointing loss this season was the 31-3 blowout suffered at Duke; however, the Blue Devils will not provide competition for the Coastal Division crown. Duke still needs to play Wake Forest, N.C. State, Clemson, Virginia Tech and North Carolina. Of those five games, I predict Duke will only win one (against N.C. State, which has an 0-4 conference record and may not win an ACC game this year). This leaves Duke with a 2-6 conference record at the end of the year, far from contention.

The Cavaliers already defeated North Carolina and Georgia Tech, two teams that play a crucial game against each other Nov. 8. Besides that game­ — which I think the Yellow Jackets will win — the No. 21 Tar Heels will have to play the No. 25 Terps as well as N.C. State and Duke. I’m hoping Maryland will do Virginia a nice favor and crush North Carolina, which will likely beat N.C. State and Duke at the end of the season. These results will leave the Tar Heels with a 4-4 conference record.

Georgia Tech plays No. 16 Florida State this weekend, then ends the season hosting Miami and taking on Georgia on the road. I think the Yellow Jackets will lose to the Seminoles this weekend but will rebound to beat the Tar Heels and Hurricanes because as Virginia fans saw this weekend, Georgia Tech has the potential to be a potent offensive force if it doesn’t turn the ball over. The Yellow Jackets will end the season with a 5-3 conference record.

This weekend is huge for the Cavalier faithful, as Virginia hosts Miami one year after the Cavaliers crushed the ‘Canes 48-0 in the last game at the Orange Bowl. After this week’s game in Charlottesville, Miami will round out the season playing against Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech and N.C. State. I think the Cavaliers will come out victorious again this weekend, and after losing to Virginia, Miami will narrowly defeat Virginia Tech (see why later), lose to Georgia Tech, and defeat the hapless N.C. State squad. The Hurricanes will end the season with a 4-4 conference record.

As usual, Virginia Tech will prove to be a tough challenge for Virginia, and everything may boil down to the last game of the season between the two in-state rivals. Before the Hokies host the Cavaliers, they will be hosting Maryland, traveling to Miami and taking on Duke at home. The Maryland game is a Thursday night contest on ESPN in which the fans will create the “Maroon Effect” by all wearing the same color. Under different circumstances, I think Maryland might have a shot, but the home crowd will propel Virginia Tech to a victory under the lights in Blacksburg. After that win, Virginia Tech will take its momentum into Miami but fall by the same sword it used to down Maryland. The Miami game is also a Thursday night showdown on ESPN, and the Hurricanes will steal a close win to salvage their season, then crush the Blue Devils, who will have nothing left in the tank. So, before the Hokies and Cavaliers meet at the end of the season, Virginia Tech will be waiting with a 4-3 conference record.

Virginia’s remaining schedule includes this weekend’s game against Miami, which I already predicted to be a win for the Cavaliers. Afterwards, Virginia plays at Wake Forest, at home against Clemson, and at Virginia Tech. So, here come the bold predictions: I’m picking the Cavaliers to beat the Demon Deacons and Tigers, because both teams have struggled this year and have not lived up to their hype. Wake Forest was preseason No. 23 and Clemson was preseason No. 9, but they have combined to go 7-7 this season overall, and 3-5 in the ACC. Neither team has done much to show they are better than Virginia, which is why the Cavaliers will take a 6-1 record into the showdown against the Hokies.

Now, I know you are waiting for me to predict the winner of the Commonwealth Cup, but I don’t even have to. If you are scoring at home, you would see that Virginia’s win against Clemson would solidify the Coastal Division crown for Virginia, assuming everything else happens as I hope it does. Regardless of the Virginia-Virginia Tech outcome, the Cavaliers would be the only Coastal Division team with at least six conference wins, and they will proceed to march down to Tampa Bay to play for the conference title.

As you can tell, I’m not really picking any big upsets to happen. And even if I did, some upsets are just bound to happen, right? I have looked at the numbers, which would have bored you to death if you read all of them, so I am picking games based on gut instincts as well as the statistical performances of the teams so far this season. That said, I hope you agree that Virginia has a legitimate shot to win the Coastal Division and advance to the ACC Championship, and I hope you will continue to support the Comeback Cavs (as I like to call them) as they make us forget about their 1-3 start and have us dreaming of going bowling in December. Or, dare I say it, January...

 

Collins rises to occasion
By Bart Isley
Published: October 27, 2008

Having lost his starting spot to a younger, less experienced player, Nate Collins had every reason to hang his head.
Virginia’s massive nose tackle took a road often less traveled, however, and used the positive energy and an ever-growing friendship with his understudy Nick Jenkins to overcome the adversity.
The Cavaliers reaped the reward for Collins’ mentality on Saturday as the junior was thrust back into the starting lineup in Jenkins’ absence.
Throughout the 24-17 win over then-ranked No. 21 Georgia Tech, Jenkins and his sprained ankle served as Collins’ personal assistant coach from the sidelines.
It was a role reversal of sorts from what had been the case of late.
“It’s a great friendship. Nick and I, it’s funny and a lot of people wouldn’t even realize it, but Nick and I are like best friends,” Collins said. “We hang out all the time and we are just really good friends. We just help each other out. A lot of people are like, ‘He took your spot.’
“Well, he was practicing better than me and he was playing better than me so he got his shot. I am still helping him out when I can, and he coached me up the whole game. Whenever I came to the sidelines he was like, ‘Back up off the ball. You can see the cut block coming. Open your eyes.’”
Collins performed well despite extra duty against the Yellow Jackets and their tricky triple option offense, working in Jenkins’ spot on the field. He finished with six tackles and recovered a fumble.
“I knew I was going to play a lot of snaps because Nick was hurt, but I just wanted to focus on fundamentals and pretty much knew there wasn’t a replacement, so I had to step up and play the best game that I could have,” Collins said. “And I think that was one of the best games that I have had since I have been here.
“I think this was a good overall game. I had some bad plays, but everyone does. For the majority of the game I played well and did my job. The defense, as a whole, did their job and collectively we got the win. We had big plays when we needed them and that’s what it is about.”
Thanks to strong performances from defensive ends Matt Conrath and Alex Field and Collins, Georgia Tech’s potent rushing attack managed just 156 yards on the ground, well below its average.
Virginia coach Al Groh certainly noticed their importance in the trenches.
“I would say that since the team that we were playing rushed for 100 yards less than what they had been averaging and they had been the ninth team in the country that everybody held up their end of the bargain pretty decently,” he said on Sunday.
Collins knows that he may be merely keeping Jenkins’ spot warm until his ankle heals. That is fine with the native New Yorker.
“We work with each other because he and I are the only true nose tackles on the team,” Collins said. “Nick helps me and the past couple of weeks I feel like my game is getting a little better from the pressure of him on top of me, me losing my starting spot and this that, and instead of just pouting about it he has helped me work harder.
“In the long run it has helped me out a lot.”
While it does not always happen as planned, Groh remains hopeful that every player would respond in the same fashion when playing time is stolen by a younger player originally buried on the depth chart.
“Most understand that if you are on a good team there is going to be competition at your position,” Groh said. “If there is only one player at any position that has a chance to play in the game it is probably a pretty thin team.
“It’s one of things that, when players come to college, have to be accustomed to because if they weren’t one of the better players on their high school [team] they shouldn’t be here in the first place.”
Smith commits to Cavs
Building off its climb into first place in the ACC’s Coastal Division, Virginia landed the top-ranked wide receiver in the state on Monday.
Tim Smith, from Chesapeake’s Oscar Smith High, ended a heated recruiting battle that included offers from Louisville, West Virginia and countless ACC schools.
To date, the speedster has 41 receptions for 986 yards and 15 touchdowns. Smith has also returned three kickoffs for scores.
Smith, who is 6-foot and 182 pounds, becomes the 21st player to verbally commit for the Cavaliers’ Class of 2009.

 

Hurricanes show signs of progress
By Craig Handel • chandel@news-press.com • October 27, 2008
 

With Saturday's 16-10 win over Wake Forest, the University of Miami is 5-3.

That's the same record the Hurricanes had after eight games last year, and that team was coming off a huge emotional win over Florida State.

But while the 2007 team proceeded to lose its last four games and not play in a bowl game, it's hard to see this team going the same route.

Why?

• While Shannon said he tries to forget last season, he said he's changed a lot of things from 2007 and is more patient. He's also working with a young team, which is responding to the coaching staff, unlike last season's club in the closing stretch.

"We had a lot of old guys on that team, a big senior class," he said. "That was kind of hard. Guys were doing things for so long, it was hard to get them out of it."

• Miami's two quarterbacks are more productive this year. Game 9 last season was Kirby Freeman's one-completion game against North Carolina State. Senior QB Kyle Wright was going through injury problems and he had few weapons, what with tailback Javarris James and the receivers banged up.

"Last season it was like Darnell Jenkins left, Darnell Jenkins right," Shannon said.

This season, freshmen Robert Marve and Jacory Harris are playing well and while they're pushing each other, they're also the other's biggest supporter.

"Jacory will say, 'Robert's going to get the first down, go for it,' " Shannon said, "And Jacory will make a nice pass and Robert will say, 'That was sweet.' They're the ones directing this football team to where we want to get."

• This year's team is healthy. "Totally, much healthier," Shannon said. The biggest area is at defensive line. Last season, the Hurricanes rotated six players on the defensive line, some of whom were 250- and 275-pound players at defensive tackle.

Saturday, Josh Holmes became the fifth defensive tackle in the rotation, while the Hurricanes rotate six defensive ends if you include senior Spencer Adkins of Naples as a third-down pass rusher.

"It helps us out a lot because now those guys are playing 35 plays a game instead of 60 plays of pounding, pounding, pounding," Shannon said.

• The schedule is less daunting. While Miami plays three of its last four away from home, the Hurricanes have played better on the road.

Last season's schedule featured games against ranked teams in Virginia, Virginia Tech and Boston College.

This season's schedule will be against hot Virginia (5-3), scuffling Virginia Tech (5-3), improved Georgia Tech (6-2) and struggling North Carolina State (2-6). Tough, but not nearly as tough as 2007.

DEFENSIVE PLAYMAKER

Redshirt freshman defensive end Adewale Ojomo had 21/2 tackles for loss, including a fourth-down sack of Wake Forest quarterback Riley Skinner. Ojomo forced a fumble that was recovered by teammate Antonio Dixon.

"I didn't get off the tackle like I wanted but I got the chance to reach out and I stripped it," he said.

ETC.

Miami has outscored foes 81-38 in the third quarter, scoring 10 against the Demon Deacons to erase a 10-6 halftime deficit. ... Shannon said if any of his players committed a personal foul out of bounds - like Wake Forest's Joe Birdsong did on Sam Shields - Shannon said he's told his players, "You'll never play again."
 

Miami Hurricanes looking for payback against Virginia
The Hurricanes are in the thick of the Atlantic Coast Conference race. Now they prepare for Virginia, the team that embarrassed them in the Orange Bowl finale.
BY SUSAN MILLER DEGNAN
sdegnan@MiamiHerald.com

The University of Miami's three-game win streak has opened the door another crack for the Hurricanes to grasp onto more than just a glimmer of hope within the topsy-turvy Atlantic Coast Conference.

But after battling back to defeat Wake Forest on Saturday at Dolphin Stadium, the Canes (5-3, 2-2 ACC) have quite a challenge ahead of them as they prepare to travel to Charlottesville, Va.

The Cavaliers -- Hurricanes fans will not forget them anytime soon -- were the ones who humiliated Miami 48-0 in the final game in the Orange Bowl.

Now those Cavs (5-3, 3-1) have impressed ACC followers by defeating No. 21 Georgia Tech last weekend in Atlanta and taking over first place in the ACC's Coastal Division, of which UM is a member.

NO EFFECT

Sunday morning, UM coach Randy Shannon tried to downplay last year's embarrassment.

He said that game will have no effect on the youngsters who are bringing the Hurricanes back on a winning track.

''Different team,'' Shannon said of his players. ``Most of these guys playing right now probably weren't on this team.''

But they watched from the stands, he was told of the former recruits from Miami Northwestern High -- including current quarterback Jacory Harris.

Is revenge overrated? Shannon was asked.

''All we're worried about is Virginia, that's it,'' he answered.

The Cavaliers were down 14-3 on Saturday and scored the winning touchdown with 3 ½ minutes left on a touchdown by Cedric Peerman, who finished the game with 118 yards.

Virginia, which lost three of its first four games by an average of 36 points, is the only Coastal Division team with one ACC loss.

Each of the other five Coastal Division teams has two league losses -- Georgia Tech, North Carolina, Miami, Virginia Tech and Duke.

Besides Virginia, the Canes have yet to play Virginia Tech (Nov. 13), Georgia Tech (Nov. 20) and the Atlantic Division's North Carolina State in the season finale (Nov. 29).

The winner of the Coastal and Atlantic divisions meet in the league championship game Dec. 6 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.

HOPING FOR HELP

The Hurricanes must now hope that North Carolina, the only two-loss ACC team that beat them, loses another league game.

Shannon only wants to think of his next opponent, as long as it's not in terms of last season's debacle.

''I try not to think about last year,'' he said. ``This is a huge challenge for us, a road game, conference game, intra-conference game.

``Virginia is playing very well now. Early in the season they kind of stumbled around a little, but late in the season they really start pouring it on.''

UM has also displayed steady improvement, though if anything, Shannon is concerned the young players might be thinking a little too much of themselves.

MUST STAY FOCUSED

''It happens when you don't have a veteran team,'' Shannon said. ``When you have a veteran team, guys tend to stay focused because they know what the big picture is.

``When you [don't], guys tend to slack off because there's still that little bit of people telling them how good they are. They kind of let it sink in too much.''

Shannon will find plenty of areas in which the Canes need to improve this week in practice, bringing them back down a bit.

Still, he said he's glad his players are positive.

''They feel good about themselves right now,'' he said. ``They feel they can win games and we can play within this conference. They have a lot of spirit.''

INJURY REPORT

Shannon said linebacker Darryl Sharpton (knee) is ''nicked up.'' He also said safety Randy Phillips, recuperating from knee surgery, hasn't started running yet.


 

Win streak aside, Miami has more work remaining
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Posted: October 26, 2008

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) -- Only 14 major college teams in the country are currently on longer winning streaks than the Miami Hurricanes, whose run of three consecutive victories has resuscitated what seemed to be a season on the brink of disaster.

Forgive Miami coach Randy Shannon if he's not overly impressed.

Sure, he's happy with the wins. But in Shannon's eyes, merely being 5-3 and 2-2 in the Atlantic Coast Conference isn't cause for celebration. So this week, while getting his team ready for a trip to Virginia -- which thumped Miami 48-0 last season in the Hurricanes' Orange Bowl finale -- Shannon's goal is making sure his young club realizes the rebuilding isn't finished quite yet.

"We've got to go back to the drawing boards and get these guys back focused on football and not everybody patting them on the back, saying how great they are," Shannon said. "They're not great yet. They're just guys right now. We won the game, but I think we've got a lot we can improve on and get better at."

Miami's 16-10 win over Wake Forest on Saturday gave the Hurricanes back-to-back wins in the ACC for the first time in two years. Quarterback Robert Marve ran for a touchdown, Matt Bosher kicked three field goals and Miami played turnover-free football while rallying from a halftime deficit for the second straight week.

"They've got spirit now," Shannon said.

And again, the freshmen played like upperclassmen.

Travis Benjamin had four catches for a game-high 72 yards, fellow true freshman Thearon Collier sealed the win with a 25-yard pass from Marve with 3 minutes left, and redshirt freshman Adewale Ojomo forced a key fumble on the final play of the third quarter.

"Early in the season, we didn't open the playbook too much," Miami running back Javarris James said. "But as the guys grow up, we can do a lot more, and that's what we're doing now. It's a lot different from Game 1 to Game 8. Game 1, they're right out of high school. They're settling in now and they can make plays."

They'll need to keep that trend going next Saturday in order to stay in the ACC race.

Not only has Virginia beaten Miami the past two seasons, the Cavaliers are 27-3 at home against unranked ACC teams since 1997. A month ago, the Cavaliers were 1-3 and rumors were swirling over coach Al Groh's job security. Now Virginia has won four straight and has the inside track on representing the Coastal Division in the championship game.

"It's a huge challenge for us," Shannon said. "It's a road game, it's a conference game, Virginia's on a roll now and playing very well -- they're not turning the football over and defensively they're playing sound football. This is going to be a different front than we've ever seen, a three-man line. We don't face three down linemen, ever, until we face Virginia."

Knowing that, it's no wonder Shannon doesn't want Miami reading too much into its win streak. At this time a year ago, the Hurricanes were exactly where they are right now -- 5-3, 2-2 in the ACC.

And the 2007 team didn't win another game, eventually posting Miami's worst record in 30 years, a dismal stretch perhaps epitomized by that 48-point beating on what quickly became a gloomy night at the Orange Bowl, which has since been dismantled.

Shannon says he won't bring up the 48-0 outcome much this week.

He doesn't want to relive it.

"I don't worry about it," Shannon said. "It's two different teams now."

 

Draft change sought
ACC proposes less time to decide
Robbi Pickeral, Staff Writer
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ATLANTA - After losing in last season's Final Four, North Carolina coach Roy Williams waited more than 10 weeks to know for sure whether four of his top six scorers would return.
If the Atlantic Coast Conference has its way, he would have to wait only 10 days.

The ACC plans to propose NCAA legislation that would force men's basketball underclassmen to decide whether they are in the NBA Draft within 10 days after the NCAA title game.

ACC officials are considering submitting the proposal in time for an NCAA Board of Directors meeting on Thursday. If they wait, officials said Sunday, they will propose the idea next July.

Under the proposal, "there would be no grace period -- either you're in or you're out,'' said Karl Hicks, the ACC's associate commissioner for basketball operations. "We feel that's what would work best for the student- athletes and that's what would work best for the coaches."

ACC commissioner John Swofford said the idea has been circulated among officials in other major conferences. "I think there's a pretty good show of support there with the other conferences, at least conceptually," he said.

The change would significantly shorten the time coaches and players have to wait on pins and needles to know their respective futures. Last season, for instance, the national championship game was played on April 7. Under NBA rules, underclassmen had until April 27 to submit their names for the draft. If they didn't hire agents, they had until June 16 to withdraw.

Players couldn't actually work out with prospective teams until the predraft camp in late May. Meanwhile, the spring period to sign basketball recruits began April 16 -- without college coaches knowing whether they had any scholarships to offer.

"Basically you'd like to move on," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "Also what happens, for a two-month period, guys who may not be in your program become your priority. And the guys who are still in the program, don't get any attention. ... They get devalued."

Williams, who had National Player of the Year Tyler Hansbrough choose not to declare for the draft and three others return to school after "testing the NBA waters," supports the legislation, pointing to the fact that college football players have only 72 hours to decide whether to turn pro early.

"If you give somebody forever to make a decision, they're going to take forever," Williams said. "And it leaves your programs in limbo, it leaves your current players in limbo, and one thing that we keep forgetting is that they are supposed to be college students. When we gave them two months to make a decision, it means spring semester is affected and the first session of summer school is affected."

Clemson senior K.C. Rivers, who briefly pondered submitting his name last April, said he disagreed with the legislation because he doesn't think it will give players enough time to gather information from NBA teams and make an informed decision. "If this rule had been in effect [last spring] ... I would probably have not been back at Clemson,'' he said.

Hicks said the ACC's eight-member men's basketball subcommittee, which included Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton and Virginia's Dave Leitao, discussed whether the time period may be too short for players to make proper choices.

However, he said, "there's a sentiment that the longer the time goes on, the longer the lure of the NBA becomes more real in their mind, and they tend to make decisions based not on information that they're necessarily getting from NBA teams or from coaches, but from other people. The notion is that if you do this and it does get passed, there could be some kids that make bad decisions, rushing into it. But there's another thought that if that happens, after a year or two, then those that are coming after that would be all the wiser."

N.C. State coach Sidney Lowe, a former NBA head coach, said the proposed rule change would force pro teams to rely more on their scouts and general managers to evaluate talent than head coaches -- who are usually too busy directing their own teams to watch college prospects until the summer predraft camp or individual workouts.

But then again, Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg said he doesn't understand why the NBA teams need individual workouts in the first place: "I get a kick out of the NBA bringing all those guys in to work out. They watch us play 800 times, and then they change their opinion on a guy, watching him in the Orlando predraft camp or the individual workout."

If the ACC does submit the legislation on Thursday and it passes, the earliest it could go into effect would be September 2009, Hicks said, meaning it would not affect this season's underclassmen.

UNC's Williams, who said he contacted at least 24 NBA teams to gather information for his players last spring and said he made 17 calls in one day at one point, said he doesn't know if any of the Tar Heels' decisions would have changed had their window to decide been smaller. But he thinks the new legislation would mark a healthy alternative for everyone.

"I don't know the magic number of days, but I know two months is way, way, way too long,'' he said.