UVa ready for UR
By Whitelaw Reid / Daily Progress staff writer
November 22, 2005

Is it better to have good little people or good big people?
It's an age old basketball question that could be answered tonight when the University of Virginia - fresh off a feel-good win against Liberty in coach Dave Leitao's debut on Friday - plays at the University of Richmond.

When UVa takes the court, they'll be facing a team that returns its starting frontcourt from last season - 6-foot-11 Kevin Steenberge and 6-foot-7 Jermaine Bucknor - but has a brand new backcourt.

The Cavaliers - built around guards Sean Singletary and J.R Reynolds - are the exact opposite.

"It will make for an interesting challenge for our guys," Leitao said.

Steenberge led Richmond in scoring (12.6) and rebounding (6.0) last season. Brucknor was third in scoring (10.7) and second in rebounding (5.6).

The Spiders finished with the same 14-15 record as the Cavaliers last season.

Like UVa, they also have a new coach - Chris Mooney - who led Air Force to a 18-12 record last season. Mooney has just one player on his roster who he recruited.

Richmond squeaked past Hampton, 44-40, in Mooney's debut on Friday. Bucknor led the Spiders with 14 points and 11 rebounds.

In that game, Richmond's guards had trouble dealing with pressure - an area where the Cavs might look to take advantage.

The Spiders run the motion offense that was made famous by Princeton coach Pete Carril.

Mooney, 33, played for Carril at Princeton and used the offense - which is predicated on back-door cuts - while at Air Force.

"We played Northwestern the last couple of years, which ran that same style," said Leitao, referring to his days at Depaul. "You just have to have the guys understand that the floor is going to be spread and there will back-door cuts.

"They try and suck you in and play inside out. You really have to prepare differently than for most of the games you play. It can be difficult because it's really anti to what you've been teaching in the gym. It will really test us in that way."


DUNKS. Junior forward Donte Minter (arthroscopic knee surgery) will not play. "We're still trying to get him a little healthier," Leitao said. ... The Cavaliers have won the last two meetings between the schools, including an 85-58 win last season at University Hall. Virginia lost at Richmond in their season opener in 1997. The Cavaliers hold a 50-36 edge in the series that dates back 91 years.
 

Bowl options remain open for Cavs
By Jay Jenkins / Daily Progress staff writer
November 22, 2005

In late July, John Swofford walked up to a podium in Hot Springs and announced that the Atlantic Coast Conference would add two bowls to the league's lineup for the 2006, bringing the total number of tie-ins to eight.
Little did the commissioner know at that time, that he might just get to use those two bowls next month, a full year before the agreement begins.

On Monday, officials from the Emerald Bowl in San Francisco and the Music City Bowl in Nashville, Tenn., said that conversations with the ACC office could land teams in their respective games.

Finding alternative options was of the utmost importance for Swofford and his staff, with seven teams already eligible to play in the postseason - Boston College (8-3), Clemson (7-4), Florida State (7-3), Georgia Tech (7-3), Miami (8-2), Virginia (6-4), Virginia Tech (9-1) - and three teams still mathematically alive. The winner of the N.C. State-Maryland game on Saturday will improve to 6-5 and become bowl-eligible and North Carolina (5-5) could do the same with an upset win over Virginia Tech.

With only six wins on their r?sum? and a 3-4 record in league play, Virginia will likely be one of the teams the ACC is negotiating for outside of its current bowl tie-ins.

After sending the winner of the ACC Championship game to the Bowl Championship Series, the league has tie-ins in place with the following bowls: Gator, Peach, Meineke Car Care, Champs Sports and the MPC Computers.

Virginia played in the MPC Computers Bowl in Boise, Idaho last year, but a return trip is out of the question.

Gray Beck, the executive director of the MPC Computers Bowl, said on Tuesday that his bowl game is not interested in bringing the Cavaliers back, but only because they wanted a new team in town.

"They were awesome," Beck said in defense of the Cavaliers.

With so many ACC teams already eligible to play in the postseason, Beck said that his bowl would be able to release Virginia early, something that might help the Cavaliers in their pursuit of playing in the Music City Bowl or the Emerald Bowl as an at-large team.

Scott Ramsey, the executive director of the Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl, said there was a strong possibility that Virginia could land in Nashville to play a team from the Big Ten, which could be Northwestern, on Dec. 30.

"What we like are teams that not only have great fan bases but fan bases that can drive here," Ramsey said. "We had great success with Virginia Tech in our first game several years ago. I think one of the things that attracted us to the ACC, in general, was the excitement about all the football programs and the geographical relationship to Nashville, and this year is no different.

"Virginia is one of the elite programs there from that standpoint - a mix between quality football and a great fan base."

Ramsey and the Music City Bowl started looking for an at-large team after Tennessee lost to Vanderbilt on Saturday, leaving the Vols' unable to reach the necessary six-win total and leaving the SEC shy of fulfilling its bowl tie-ins.

Ramsey said he has been working with Swofford and ACC Assistant Commissioner Mike Finn, but no decision is likely to come in the next week.

"We have obviously got to wait until the season plays out this weekend and then just kind of see where we are going into the Championship weekend," Ramsey said. "I think for the most part, I would be surprised if you saw much movement before then because you are going to have to wade through the process traditionally."

That doesn't mean Ramsey will be sitting on his hands.

"Obviously, it would benefit all of us the earlier that we could announce, but we just kind of play that day by day after this weekend," Ramsey added.

Gary Cavalli, the executive director of the Emerald Bowl in San Francisco, is in a similar situation.

"I think in my talks with John [Swofford] and Mike Finn, they both said that if there was a surplus of teams in the ACC then the first place that they would look would be their future bowl partners," Cavalli said. "As it turns out, it looks like Scott Ramsey [at the Music City Bowl] and I are going to need teams.

"I think Scott's is pretty definite at this point and mine could be definite as of this Saturday."

That is because Cavalli can do little until after the Stanford-Notre Dame game on Saturday, since the Emerald Bowl has an existing tie-in with the PAC-10.

Stanford (5-5) would have ready become bowl eligible if they had beaten NCAA Division II foe UC-Davis earlier this season. That would have given Cavalli's bowl the "prospect of a sellout, which would be pretty nice, but [Stanford] has to beat Notre Dame this weekend and that is a pretty tall order," he said, "but we are kind of playing contingency in case it doesn't.

"It looks like we are going to do our best to work with the ACC to look at maybe one of their extra teams. The only question there is, you don't know who that could be."

Cavalli, a graduate of Stanford, said talks with the ACC have intensified the past few days and Virginia is among the teams that the league office has promoted as a potential suitor.

"We are certainly talking to Mike [Finn] and John [Swofford] and narrowing it down a little bit," Cavalli said. "Hopefully by the end of the week we will be able to focus on one or two teams and be prepared to move, if the need arises on Saturday or Sunday.

"When we talked [Monday], they actually mentioned five schools and Virginia was one of them, yeah, but all I can tell you at this point is that we are talking and there are a lot of potentials in the mix and we really haven't looked at which one is more likely than the other."

San Francisco's only bowl game is played on Dec. 29 at 4:30 p.m. and without Stanford, would pit the second- or third-place team from the Mountain West Conference against an at-large team. Many bowl projections have said that foe would be Utah.

While landing an ACC team in San Francisco is not nearly as attractive as Stanford, Cavalli said all of the potential postseason eligible teams from the ACC are attractive, even with a 6-5 record.

"Every Saturday in the ACC, you could have a major upset," Cavalli said. "I think arguably, it is the best conference in the country.

"There's not a name in the league that is not a national program that is attractive to fans and TV audiences."

Virginia lost one potential bowl game on Tuesday when the Poinsettia Bowl in San Diego reached an agreement for Navy to fill its at-large spot.

"To get off to a good start in this inaugural bowl game we needed a marquee at-large team to play the Mountain West Conference, and what better match up than to have the Naval Academy come to a Navy community such as San Diego?" Bruce Binkowski, the executive director of the bowl, told reporters. "It can't get any better than this."

Another possible suitor, the Liberty Bowl, appears to prefer Fresno State to Virginia or Georgia Tech, a suitor that could give the bowl an intriguing contest against Central Florida, where former Yellow Jacket coach George O'Leary currently is employed.

Liberty Bowl executive director Steve Ehrhart told the Fresno Bee on Saturday that Fresno State would be invited to play in his New Year's Eve bowl game in Memphis.

OLSEN IN OR OUT?: Virginia quarterback Christian Olsen has another year of eligibility remaining for the 2006 season, but coach Al Groh said on Sunday that a decision as to whether or not the signal caller would be asked to return has not been made.

"We haven't addressed that or made a determination," Groh said.

Olsen, who transferred from Notre Dame to UVa in the summer of 2003, is listed as the No. 2 quarterback on the Cavaliers' depth chart, but he has appeared in just two games this year.

On Saturday, Olsen will be on the field with his brother, Greg, a standout tight end for the Hurricanes, in what could be the final contest between the two.

PAINTING THE TOWN: During his weekly call-in show on Monday night, a caller asked Groh if the red 'T' that was painted on the field next to the 'V' on Friday night or Saturday morning was an "inside job."

"I am a pretty straightforward person," Groh chuckled, "so it's time for me to come forward and say I did it."

Groh said he told many of the players on Saturday morning about the vandalism at breakfast, but the 'T' had disappeared by the time the team arrived at the field.

 

Leitao tries to make 1st steps count
The first-year Cavs' basketball coach has a promising 2006 recruiting class and is getting the word out on UVa.
By Doug Doughty
981-3129
The Roanoke Times

At various points in the last quarter-century, Virginia has been a football school and a basketball school but seldom at the same time.

In the months leading up to his first season, new men's basketball coach Dave Leitao has been content to let football have the center stage.

He's been watching very intently, too.

"I had never experienced a football Saturday and I just watched," said Leitao, most recently the head coach at DePaul and, before that, an assistant at Connecticut before the Huskies moved to Division I-A.

"I had a friend in sports information at Notre Dame when I was in Chicago and he said, 'You've just got to experience this thing in South Bend [Ind.] that goes on.' I've had invitations to go to Michigan or Tennessee, but I'd never been to a major-college football game until I came here."

Leitao was an instant fan.

"I was like a kid in a candy store -- the pageantry, the smell of football in the air, the tailgating, the energy, Cavman," said Leitao, referring to the animated mascot with whom he appeared in a video that was aired at one of the games.

"The whole experience for me was terrific, and I think it carries over. We've tried to bring up [potential recruits], especially young kids, to try and be a part of that on all the Saturdays that we can. I've heard that other schools do it, obviously. I think it's a great help."

It might have been reflected in the group of players who signed with the Cavaliers this fall. Throw in a fourth player, Solomon Tat, who has committed but not signed, and Leitao and his staff have landed a class that recruiting analyst Bob Gibbons ranks among the top four in the ACC.

Gibbons has Cavaliers recruits Tat, Johnnie Lett and Jamil Tucker rated among the top 75 players in their class. Willie Harris is ranked among the top 10 fifth-year players, the equivalent of a top-50 recruit, Gibbons said.

"I like where we're at," said Leitao, who upon taking the job was fearful that many of the top juniors already had narrowed their choices. "I still feel that we're behind and have got to continue to play catch-up.

"Every day when I get on the Internet, there's another '07 or '08 [prospect] that's committed or close to committed. Fortunately or unfortunately, we've concentrated on '06. Now that we've filled our scholarship needs, we can put more time into the next class."

The Virginia name has never caused many doors to shut, but it's not as magical as Duke or Connecticut, where Leitao once served as head recruiter.

Although the Cavaliers have made the NCAA tournament only once since 1998, there wasn't a negative perception of Virginia basketball. The problem was, there wasn't a perception at all.

"You asked them what they knew about Virginia basketball and it was more like a 'no comment,' " Leitao said. "Virginia basketball had not lived in the consciousness of kids who we were running across.

"It's not like we had to get rid of a lot of negativity, which was good, but we had to create something that wasn't there."

It was important that Virginia make a splash during the early period because the Cavaliers might not turn any heads on the floor. UVa, with two starters returning from a team that finished 13-15 last year, was picked 12th in a 12-team ACC during the preseason.

"I tell the guys, you only play 28 or 30 games on average out of 365, which isn't much, given all that they prepare," Leitao said. "You've got to make sure every game is special.

"Yet, still, especially without any scholarship seniors, you've got to continue to prepare the team for where we hope to go as a program. That's on my mind constantly."

 

Vols' fall may be UVa's gain
SEC won't be able to fill the Music City Bowl slot, possibly opening a door for the ACC.
By Doug Doughty
981-3129
The Roanoke Times

An agreement between the ACC and the Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl could begin one year earlier than planned.

When Tennessee was knocked out of the bowl picture by a home loss Saturday to Vanderbilt, the Southeastern Conference was left without enough bowl-eligible teams to fill its seven slots.

If released by the ACC, Virginia (6-4, 3-4 ACC) could be a candidate to face a Big Ten representative in the Music City Bowl on Dec. 30 at noon at The Coliseum.

A projection on the CNNSI.com Web site Monday had the Cavaliers playing Northwestern.

"OK, I'll take it right now and go," Music City Bowl executive director Scott Ramsey said.

Ramsey quickly added that he was joking, "but it would save us two weeks of headaches," he said. "Let's just move on and start selling. The sooner, the better for me."

Other ACC teams that could be available are Georgia Tech and the Maryland-N.C. State winner.

"It makes sense [to take an ACC] team for several reasons," Ramsey said. "One, they're going to have at least a couple extra teams, which gives us a little bit of a choice and some flexibility. And, secondly, it's a great way to start the relationship.

"Obviously, Virginia is one of the teams we feel might have an opportunity to look at and possibly select. I've talked to guys in Charlotte and Atlanta, and their reputation is that they travel. Geographically, it really fits. We want to stay as regional as possible."

ACC assistant commissioner Mike Finn said Monday that he is confident there will be a spot available for Virginia, but the Music City Bowl can't start negotiating until five other bowl games with ACC tie-ins bowl games make their selections.

The Liberty Bowl scouted Virginia on Saturday, but Fresno State has emerged as a frontrunner for the Liberty Bowl spot opposite the Conference-USA Champion.

 

Bowls may be hard to come by
Virginia's bowl-game possibilities seem to be thinning as the Cavaliers prepare to face Miami.
BY DARRYL SLATER
247-4641
November 22 2005

With one game left in its season, Virginia is in a vulnerable position. School officials are putting on their brightest faces for bowl-game representatives, trying to find a postseason home for the Cavaliers.

"It's not our prerogative to pick a bowl," U.Va. athletic director Craig Littlepage said. "The bowls pick a team."

Thus the vulnerability. If the Cavaliers lose at Miami at 3:30 p.m. Saturday as most expect they will, it's doubtful they'll play in an ACC-affiliated bowl.

The league will have at least eight bowl-eligible teams - nine, if North Carolina upsets Virginia Tech - but just six prearranged bowl spots. Lose at Miami, and U.Va. is 6-5. Maryland or N.C. State will also be 6-5 - depending on which team wins Saturday's Terrapins-Wolfpack matchup.

Theoretically, U.Va. could jump a seven-win team and play in an ACC-affiliated bowl. But all of the league's possible seven-win teams - Florida State, Clemson and Georgia Tech - are probably more attractive to ACC bowls.

The Liberty Bowl (Memphis, Tenn.) seemed a possibility for U.Va., but that bowl will likely invite Fresno State if the Bulldogs win their final two games. That leaves four bowls where U.Va. could end up: Music City Bowl (Nashville, Tenn.), Houston Bowl, Fort Worth Bowl and Emerald Bowl (San Francisco).

Music City is affiliated with the SEC, but that league will fill just six of its eight bowls. The bowl begins a tie-in next season with the ACC, so taking an ACC team this year would be a logical segue.

Houston is also tied to the SEC and could get an at-large bid.

Fort Worth is tied to the Big 12, which might fill just seven of its eight spots. The Big 12's Kansas and Texas A&M have five wins. The Jayhawks play Iowa State (7-3) this weekend, while the Aggies play No. 2 Texas.

Like Music City, Emerald gets an ACC tie-in next season. It matches the Pacific 10 and the Mountain West Conference this year. The Pac-10 has six bowl tie-ins, though probably just five teams will qualify for bowls.

WHAT'S THE BENEFIT OF PLAYING IN A BOWL GAME IF IT'S RELATIVELY MEANINGLESS?

An extra month of practice to prepare for next season. This helps teams like U.Va., which has played 11 of 23 scholarship true freshmen this fall. Then, there are the significant bowl payouts, which can range from several hundred thousand dollars to several million for participating schools.

HOW HEALTHY ARE THE CAVS HEADING INTO THIS WEEKEND?

Healthier than they've been. Nose tackle Keenan Carter dressed for Saturday's game against Virginia Tech, but did not play with a sprained ankle. Tight end Tom Santi (hip) played briefly.

WHEN WILL DEFENSIVE END VINCE REDD RETURN?

According to U.Va. coach Al Groh, Redd will likely be back Saturday. Redd was one of four players suspended for the Georgia Tech game for breaking an unspecified team rule. Redd dressed against Virginia Tech but didn't play.

WHY DO MOST PEOPLE EXPECT THE CAVS TO LOSE SATURDAY?

Besides the fact that Miami hammered the same Virginia Tech team that hammered U.Va?

Well, the Cavaliers have never won a football game in the state of Florida - for what that's worth. U.Va. is 0-13 in the Sunshine State, including five bowl-game losses.

WHAT'S ONE BRIGHT SPOT FROM U.VA.'S 52-14 LOSS TO VIRGINIA TECH?

With his second touchdown of the game, running back Wali Lundy reached 50 for his career. He's the third player in ACC history to score 50 TDs. Ted Brown (N.C. State) had 51, and Leon Johnson (North Carolina) had 50.

Return of No. 2 QB for Cavs uncertain
Determination about Olsen's status hasn't been made, Groh says
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Nov 22, 2005

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- For 12 of the 18 players honored Saturday at Scott Stadium, including quarterback Marques Hagans, college football is nearly behind them. Their eligibility runs out this season.

The other six are fourth-year students at the University of Virginia who have redshirted and are considered juniors athletically. They'd be eligible to play for the Cavaliers in 2006. At least some of them probably won't be invited back, however, and so they were introduced during the Senior Day ceremony before Virginia's game with Virginia Tech.

That this group included quarterback Christian Olsen surprised some observers. Olsen has been listed as the Cavaliers' No. 2 quarterback all season, behind Hagans, and figured to contend in spring practice for the starting job.

Asked Sunday night if Olsen would return next season, Virginia coach Al Groh was noncommittal. "We haven't addressed that or made a determination," Groh said.

The 6-3, 216-pound Olsen, who transferred from Notre Dame to U.Va. in the summer of 2003, has appeared in two games this season. He's completed 6 of 10 passes for 64 yards, with one interception, and rushed once for 1 yard.

Olsen's brother Greg stars at tight end for the Miami Hurricanes, Virginia's opponent this weekend at the Orange Bowl.

U.Va. has six quarterbacks on scholarship this season, including true freshman Vic Hall, who's been working at cornerback and may remain there. The coaching staff is especially excited about the potential of left-hander Jameel Sewell, a 6-2, 213-pound true freshman from Hermitage High.

Fourth-year juniors who'll almost certainly be back next season -- and thus weren't recognized during the Senior Day ceremony -- include running back Jason Snelling, safety Tony Franklin, cornerback Marcus Hamilton, linebacker Kai Parham and tailback Michael Johnson.


 

Changes put UR in transition game
Senior Bucknor calls three coaches in five seasons an adventure
BY JOHN O'CONNOR
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Nov 22, 2005
U.VA. AT UR
TODAY: 8 p.m. ON THE AIR: TV -- CN8; radio WRVA (1140), WRNL (910), 7:30

Mental-file folders fill Jermaine Bucknor's noggin.

The dusty one in the back contains the offenses and defenses he learned as a University of Richmond freshman while John Beilein coached the Spiders. Bucknor, a 6-7 forward, sat out that season (2001-02).

In the middle is the fat folder, filled with defenses and offenses the Spiders used the past three seasons, when Jerry Wainwright coached.

Up front is the newest folder, Princeton offense basics and the match-up zone of Chris Mooney, UR's first-year coach. That one grows daily.

Five seasons. Three coaches. "It's been an adventure," Bucknor said. No wonder he looked a bit confused during the first half of the Spiders' 44-40 win over Hampton last Friday.

"You learn so much in a year in an offense and you get in habits, whether they be good or bad, ingrained into you," he said. "When you get a new coach, it's really difficult to break those habits."

Bucknor averaged 11 points last season and is expected to be a scoring anchor as a senior. He managed a point through the first 20 minutes of UR's opener. Good looks were available. Bucknor usually passed.

"What we're trying to work on right now is just getting through the offense and not taking the first shot every time, getting through to maybe the second shot or a back-cut," he said after the game.

The Pirates led 25-23 with 14 minutes left. Bucknor seemed to sense that UR needed a veteran's initiative. He didn't force shots, but he no longer passed them up. Bucknor hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give UR a four-point lead then dropped another 20-footer three minutes later. UR gained an 11-point advantage and weathered turnover and free throw issues to tip off the Mooney Era 1-0.

"With this offense, you get so many open looks," said Bucknor [14 points vs. HU]. "It's hard to turn some down, especially with the offense we played last year. You took the shot that you had."

Richmond tonight entertains Virginia (1-0), and Bucknor is UR's only established perimeter shooter. Getting him to take more than six shots -- his 39-minute total vs. HU -- figures to be a priority, regardless of whose offense Richmond is running.

NOTE: Robins Center parking is at a premium because of construction, and ticket-holders are asked to come earlier than usual. Parking details are available at richmondspiders.com.