Cavs’ Phillips looks back on college career, awaits pros
By Jeff White
Published: November 21, 2008

CHARLOTTESVILLE At college football stadiums all around the country tomorrow, seniors will be recognized before their final home games, usually with their parents at their side.

During the Senior Day ceremony at Scott Stadium, however, John Phillips' mother will be elsewhere. She means no slight to the University of Virginia's star tight end. But neither she nor her husband can be in two places at once. And so Susan Phillips will be in Williamsburg with their older son, Jake, and Gene "Bugs" Phillips will be in Charlottesville with their younger son, John.

On Oct. 4, the schedule broke perfectly for the Phillips family. William and Mary hosted Villanova in a 1 p.m. game at Zable Stadium, and U.Va. entertained Maryland that night at Scott Stadium. Susan and Bugs caught both games in person, and they were hoping for a repeat this weekend.

Alas, W&M's showdown with Richmond starts at noon tomorrow, as does U.Va.'s clash with Clemson.

"I know they're pretty upset about the whole idea they're going to have to split up for our Senior Days," said Jake Phillips, a redshirt senior who starts at quarterback for the Tribe.

"It's kind of unfortunate it's happening at the same time," John Phillips said.

Separate trips are nothing new for the brothers' parents. On fall Saturdays for the past four years, their mother usually has followed one son, while their father has gone to see the other play.

"I generally take the farthest trip," Bugs said.

For John Phillips, a journey that began in rural Bath County is likely to take him next to the NFL.

In his first three seasons at U.Va., where he played as a true freshman in 2005, Phillips was known primarily for his blocking, posting modest statistics in an offense that included two other gifted tight ends, Tom Santi and Jonathan Stupar. Santi and Stupar were seniors in 2007, however, and the 6-6, 250-pound Phillips has emerged as a playmaker this season.

With two regular-season games left, Phillips has 46 receptions for 379 yards and two touchdowns. No other ACC tight end has more than 25 catches.

"I always feel a team is about role players," Phillips said. "That's the most important part of it, and I think my first three years I was a role player. But the coaches gave me an opportunity this year to be a big part of the passing game."

Even in a program known for producing elite tight ends, Phillips' numbers stand out. Heath Miller, who won the John Mackey Award as the nation's top tight end in 2004, is the only player in U.Va. history at that position to have caught more passes in a season than Phillips.

Miller, too, was from a small town in Virginia (Swords Creek) and attended a Group A high school (Honaker). So he can empathize with the culture shock Phillips experienced upon moving from Warm Springs to Charlottesville.

"When I get first got here . . . this was a city for me, coming from where I was from," Phillips recalled this week. "I didn't like the stoplights and all the noise. When I went to sleep, I didn't want to hear anything. I didn't want to hear people partying or anything outside."

Phillips quickly became acclimated to life away from Warm Springs, thanks in part to phone calls to his big brother in Williamsburg, and he's thrived at U.Va. He'll graduate next month -- a semester early -- with a degree in sociology.

"It's been great to watch John mature as a person, an athlete and a student," his father said.

In Williamsburg, Jake Phillips has a huge game tomorrow. But his kid brother will be in his thoughts, too.

"I'm just very, very happy for him that he's had the spotlight on him this year and he's been able to shine," Jake Phillips said.

 

Cavs look to declaw Tigers on senior day
U.Va. hopes to snap losing streak, send seniors out on good note in last home game
Cayce Troxel, Cavalier Daily Senior Writer
Published: Friday, November 21 2008

Clint Sintim has had a great senior year, leading the team with 11 sacks. He has also compiled 56 tackles, 13 of which have been for a loss this season. Virginia and the rest of its seniors will be looking to end the home portion of the schedule on a high note against Clemson. The Cavaliers lost on senior day last year to Virginia Tech, 33-21. The night before the final home football game of the season marks an emotional time for the Virginia football team. Gathered at a hotel for a last supper to commemorate the senior class, the Cavaliers will forget about tomorrow’s on-the-field test for just a moment as, one by one, each senior addresses his fellow teammates.

“They get up there,” senior tight end John Phillips said, “and you see what’s on their heart and what’s on their mind. It’s real passionate; it’s real inspirational.”

As if Virginia (5-5, 3-3 ACC) needed anything else riding on Saturday’s home finale against Clemson (5-5, 3-4 ACC), winning one last game at home for the seniors will certainly be on the players’ minds.

“I’d love nothing more than to send those guys out on a win,” sophomore quarterback Marc Verica said. “They’ve had great careers here, and they really put everything they had into it. I’m really proud of their accomplishments and I couldn’t be happier to have played with them.”

While Verica and the rest of the team would like to send the seniors out in style in their last hurrah at Scott Stadium, they are also looking to put an end to their recent two-game skid, and heading into their final two games of the season, the squad is just one win away from being bowl-eligible for the second straight year. With their last test of the season against Virginia Tech in Blacksburg next weekend, however, the Cavaliers cannot afford to bide their time if they want to avoid being plagued by what senior linebacker Clint Sintim described as a brutally long offseason.

“There’s nothing like [the] college atmosphere,” Sintim said. “There’s nothing like college competition. To be fortunate enough to play a bowl game with your teammates and have fun with them is something that you’ll cherish forever.”

Virginia will not be the only team on the field Saturday in need of a win to ensure postseason life. After a whirlwind of a season, which included the firing of 10-year coach Tommy Bowden following a disappointing 3-3 start to the season, the Tigers are trying to find their paws under interim coach Dabo Swinney. Although Clemson currently sits at a lowly second-to-last in the ACC Atlantic Division, the Cavaliers are far from discounting their opponent.

“I’m not sure what all’s going down with their program,” Phillips said, “but they were ranked No. 9 in the country [preseason] for a reason. It’s a dangerous game when sometimes they play up to their potential and sometimes they don’t, so you never really know what team you’re going to get.”

In addition to the talent and firepower that the rivals from the south possess, Groh said, the Tigers will be an especially tricky opponent for another reason. Since the expansion of the ACC, teams face each other less often, and only five current Virginia players were on the Cavaliers’ roster when Virginia last faced Clemson in 2004. None of those five saw action in that game.

The Cavaliers have had extra time to prepare for this weekend’s game, coming off a bye week after their loss at Wake Forest two weeks ago. The breather has not only provided the squad with time to analyze game film but has also afforded the athletes some much needed rest from a physical standpoint.

“It really gave us an opportunity to kind of get our body back, our legs recuperated a little bit, and just recap on the season [and] what we’ve done well and what we haven’t done well,” Sintim said.

With fresh legs, the Cavaliers hope to make a statement early in the game against the Tigers, something the squad has failed to do so far this season. In four of the last five games, Virginia’s opponents have drawn first blood, and while the Cavaliers were able to come away with three victories in that span, their early game flat-footedness proved costly in the loss to the Demon Deacons. Wake Forest scored all of its 28 points in the first half, and although the Cavaliers put up 14 in the last quarter, they still fell 28-17.

The Cavaliers can only hope that the senior day atmosphere will provide them with enough momentum out of the blocks to put an end to their early-game struggles.

“It’s a long time coming,” Sintim said. “I’ve been around for a while, and you’ve heard a lot of seniors talk about their last game and how special it is and how you’ll miss it, and you kind of sit back, listening and thinking, ‘Well, I have so-and-so many years to think about that,’ but really, the clock’s just winding down. It’s going to be a special day.”

 

Sewell awaits his chance
By Jay Jenkins
Published: November 21, 2008

Jameel Sewell is counting down the days.

In a matter of weeks, pending the completion of some paperwork yet to be filed, the quarterback who started 22 games for Virginia in 2006 and 2007 will return to the school as a full-time student-athlete.

The school-imposed academic penalty that was placed upon him after stumbles in the classroom will have been served.

A changed man returns, Sewell said.

“I learned that nothing is guaranteed. It was never a guarantee for me,” said Sewell, who lifted Virginia to a 9-4 record in 2007 with 12 passing touchdowns and four more on the ground. “It was almost taken from me when I broke my wrist, but it really hit me in the face once I sat out.

“I took it for granted. I took everything for granted. I thought I was supposed to be there. I was not supposed to be there. You have to earn everything.”

After learning that he was being placed on academic suspension by the deans at Virginia, Sewell voluntarily elected to enroll at Piedmont Virginia Community College last January.

It turned into a short stint.

“I was trying to stay on top of things,” Sewell said, “but I stopped working in the summer for about a month and by the time things started back up I didn’t have enough money to take classes during the fall.”

Thanks to the guidance of Buford Middle School principal Eric Johnson, whom Sewell considers a mentor and hero, the southpaw quarterback went to work.

Considered a teacher’s assistant, Sewell works one-on-one on a daily basis with a young boy that receives special education services at the school.

“Basically, I teach him every subject,” Sewell said. “I have never done anything like that, and he has been through a lot so I am just trying to be there for him.”

His pupil does not have an understanding, Sewell said, of what the quarterback’s status was the past two seasons or what it will be when he returns to the ACC.

Others that Sewell has worked with do have an idea.

After Johnson set up a meeting between Sewell and Charlottesville athletic director Rick Lilly, the Richmond native joined the Black Knights’ coaching staff as a personal tutor for the team’s quarterbacks.

While biding his time was tough, Sewell used the opportunity to inform the players on the team of the value of academics and accountability for your actions.

Lessons in responsibility

“When I had the opportunity to talk to the kids that I have been working with, I told them that nothing is guaranteed,” he recounted. “I made sure I told them that and that was really the reason that I chose to work in the school system.”

Sewell worked directly with CHS quarterback Kevin Leatherwood, one of the most talented athletes in Central Virginia, before injuries took their toll on the player.

“I saw the frustration with him because he has so much fight and competiveness and he wasn’t able to let it go through the injuries,” Sewell said. “He played through a lot of stuff that people don’t know about, but he is a fighter.

“He reminded me of myself a little bit, being able to play through some injuries and some setbacks.”

With his return to the Cavaliers’ program inching closer, Sewell is well aware that another quarterback controversy could be brewing.

It was the case for the program early in 2006 with Christian Olsen, Kevin McCabe and Sewell, and again this season with Peter Lalich and Marc Verica before Lalich was kicked off the team due to off-the-field issues.

Sewell just wants a chance to fight for the job with Verica, who ranks second in the ACC in passing, but has 12 interceptions and eight touchdowns.

“I am not coming out there not to win it. I am coming out there to take it back — without a doubt,” Sewell said. “I am a competitor and that’s why I play the position that I play. That’s why I play the sport that I play.

“Whoever wins it will win it.”

Virginia reserve quarterback Scott Deke, a fifth-year senior, said that he expects Sewell to battle with intensity for the job.

“I think when you look at Jameel, one word sticks out whether it is on the field or the classroom or the circumstances that have arisen with his departure and now his coming back and that word is resilience,” Deke said. “He will never give up. He is going to do what he can that is best for him and whatever is best for the team.

“You would much rather have two guys than no guys. It is not a bad situation to be in next year. It will be real exciting. Competition breeds success. It is only going to make UVa better.”

A satisfying turnaround

Sewell said his return takes a backseat — for now — to Virginia’s bigger problem: becoming bowl-eligible. With a win Saturday against Clemson, the Cavaliers will also remain in the picture to win the ACC’s Coastal Division.

That looked impossible after Virginia opened the season 1-3 without Sewell under center. What transpired brings a quick smile to Sewell’s face.

“It means the world to me that they turned it around because so many people have so many dumb things to say out of their mouth about them,” Sewell said. “Those are my brothers and it just feels good for them to stare those people down in their face and show that they are still fighters regardless of what happens.

“All the talk that they were just going to win two games or whatever it was, we take talk like that and run with it. It is fuel for our fire. The more talk that there is just means the more fuel that you are putting on the fire to encourage us to burn them. That is my school and my brothers, and that’s just how I feel.”

 

Verica could hold the key to end of UVa’s swoon
By Jerry Ratcliffe
Published: November 21, 2008

At last glance, Virginia quarterback Marc Verica was sitting outside the locker room down in Winston-Salem, N.C., still absorbing a stinging loss to Wake Forest.

While the Cavaliers have adopted a slogan of winning and losing as a team, Verica, a stand-up guy, couldn’t help but shoulder a good portion of the blame. Two costly interceptions in the first half essentially provided the Demon Deacons with 14 of their 28 first-half points in a 28-17 Wake win.

Even though Verica leads the ACC in passing accuracy heading into this weekend’s crucial home game against Clemson, the pressure will be on the Cavalier quarterback to play turnover-free football.

Coach Al Groh lamented his young quarterback’s mistakes after the Wake loss and stated that for all the good things that Verica had done, the interceptions had to stop. With the Cavaliers still in the mix for the Coastal Division title, the interceptions, the turnovers have to stop now.

No paper Tigers

Clemson — ranked No. 9 nationally in the preseason polls before things went awry — has plenty of talent on its roster. The Tigers boast the No. 6 ranked pass defense in the country.

There will be immense pressure on three Cavaliers in particular in this game: the accuracy of Verica’s arm, the accuracy of freshman kicker Robert Randolph’s leg, and whether or not UVa defensive back Byron Glaspy can remain upright in his pass coverage.

Virginia was burned in two of those areas last time out with Verica’s interceptions — and Glaspy falling down for the second straight game, allowing an opposing receiver to take it to the house on key plays. Randolph will have to be perfect against Clemson, while Verica and Glaspy will have to be close behind.

Walking the tightrope

In the wild and wooly ACC, where most games seem to be coming down to a handful of plays, there’s little margin for error. Against Wake, the Glaspy fall resulted in a 58-yard TD for the Deacs. Verica’s first interception came while UVa was in a five-wide receiver set with no protection against a well-timed Wake blitz, which eventually led to the TD pass against Glaspy and a 14-0 lead.

Verica’s second came with only 3:16 remaining in the first half, a pass to wideout Kevin Ogletree with the ball popping in the air , to be returned 47 yards for a TD and a 28-3 lead.

That one was particularly upsetting to the Virginia coaches.

“That one had a dramatic result on the scoreboard,” Groh said this week of the third-and-16 play. “If we just punt the ball, then [Wake] is not going to score before the half is over. They’ve got 21 points instead of 28. Sometimes you’ve got to think ‘I’ve got to protect the next play.’”

As the old coaches will tell you, sometimes it’s not so bad to punt the ball away. This would have been one of those times.

So, how does a head coach broach the subject with a redshirt sophomore quarterback in his first year as a starter, still attempting to feel his way through the process, still waiting for the game to slow down before his very eyes?

“In most healthy relationships, communication is the key,” Groh said. “I think it’s important that whenever necessary, all the players in the program understand what the head coach feels.

“As you can imagine, [turnovers, interceptions] aren’t things that make me feel warm and fuzzy, so I try to relate that particular circumstance,” Groh said. “It affects all of us. Anybody who has the ball in his hands is carrying the hopes and aspirations of all of us. Whether you’re running it, catching it, throwing it, it’s not your ball. It’s all of us… all our work.”

As Groh noted, when one dies, they all die. When one scores, they all score. When one gets a penalty, they all get penalized. It’s all about being in this thing together.

Don’t get Verica wrong. And, no, we’re not picking on him. Like we mentioned early, he’s a stand-up kid, who always shows up for post-game media interviews — win or lose, a great throwing night or a not-so-good one.

As we also mentioned several weeks ago, he’s not going to be perfect every week, although he tries to be.

He rarely throws a pick in practice. In fact, he tries to complete every pass in practice.

But there’s a difference that even the Pennsylvania native will admit.

“When the bullets are flying out there, it’s a much different tempo than in practice,” Verica said. “It’s for real. Their guys aren’t going to just tap you on the shoulder like they do in practice. They’re going to hit you.”

The good thing about the young QB is that he learns from his mistakes. He confessed that on that second interception at Wake, there was a small window, and he tried to squeeze the ball to Ogletree through that difficult frame in a Brett Favre-esque manner.

“I think there was contact as soon as Kevin had touched the ball,” Verica said. “It was a difficult catch to make in traffic. Guys were hitting him as soon as he was touching the ball and it kind of popped into the air. The challenge is knowing when to take a shot and when to accept the punt.”

He’s no dummy. He is quickly learning the hard way that ball security is primo.

“It’s something over time that I’ll get better at,” Verica said.

Time is running out on this season. The turnovers have to stop now, or there may not be a tomorrow for this football team.

 

Cavs player attends hearing on Xbox theft
By Tasha Kates
Published: November 21, 2008

A starting fullback for the University of Virginia football team was in court Thursday for the first half of a preliminary hearing on theft charges.

Two UVa students testified Thursday in Albemarle County General District Court about a theft from their dorm room last year. Rashawn Lamont Jackson, 21, was charged with grand larceny and breaking and entering in the incident.

The theft occurred Nov. 22, 2007, during the university’s Thanksgiving break. Brian Chen, who lived in the Cauthen dorm, testified in court Thursday that he left his room unlocked while he and a friend went to do laundry.

“When I came back, stuff was missing,” Chen testified. “There were wires all over the place.”

An Xbox 360 video game console, a few games and the system’s accessories were missing from the room. The Xbox belonged to Chen’s roommate, Charles Enzinger, who was at home for Thanksgiving. Chen said in court that he owned one of the games that was taken.

Chen said he called police after discovering the theft. Neither Enzinger nor Chen said in court that they knew Jackson personally, but Chen said he later heard of him after reading an article about him in the student newspaper.

Prior to Thursday’s preliminary hearing, defense attorney Lloyd Snook said he was waiting to get cell phone records, a task that would take at least 30 days. Judge William G. Barkley allowed the two students to testify Thursday so that they would not have to return when the hearing resumes Jan. 15.

At the time of Jackson’s arrest, UVa’s athletics director, Craig Littlepage, said Jackson remained with the team and no final decisions would be made about his status until the case is out of court.

Jackson remains free on a $3,000 bond.

ACC is a BCS mess
With only two weeks left in the season, nine ACC teams have a shot at the league title and the resulting BCS bid
By PAUL STRELOW - pstrelow@thestate.com

tool goes here CLEMSON — The conference championship game is in Clemson’s rearview mirror, yet junior tight end Michael Palmer looks at the ACC standings on a weekly basis anyhow.

With two weekends remaining in the regular season, nine of 12 league teams still have a crack at a division title.

The irony, of course, is that the preseason favorite to win it all, Clemson, is one of three teams eliminated from contention.

Road to the ACC title game
Atlantic Division

Maryland (4-2) | Clinches by beating FSU and Boston College, or advances if Boston College loses to Wake Forest as well.

FSU (4-3) | Must beat Maryland, plus Boston College beats Wake Forest and Maryland tops Boston College next weekend.

Wake Forest (4-3) | Must beat Boston College, and Maryland loses twice.

Boston College (3-3) | Clinches by beating Wake Forest this weekend and Maryland next weekend.

---------

Coastal Division

Miami (4-2) | The Canes must beat N.C. State to finish the year, hope Virginia wins out and have North Carolina lose one of its remaining league games.

Georgia Tech (4-3) | Tech is done and must hope Virginia, Virginia Tech and North Carolina all lose one more ACC game.

UNC (3-3) | Must beat Duke and Virginia and have Virginia Tech lose once more.

Virginia Tech (3-3) | Must win out against Duke and Virginia.

Virginia (3-3) | Must defeat Clemson and Virginia Tech and have Miami lose against N.C. State.

“It’s really kind of frustrating,” Palmer said. “If we could have pulled out just one of those games, we’d be in a completely different spot right now.”

Instead, the Tigers (5-5, 3-4 ACC) are just another number, one of 12 teams in the only conference in which everyone still can earn bowl eligibility.

For Clemson, a bowl bid hinges on winning its final two games, starting with Saturday’s conference finale at Virginia (5-5, 3-3).

While the Cavaliers are fifth in the Coastal Division, they can earn a berth in the conference title game if they beat Clemson and Virginia Tech, and if Miami loses its season finale.

Welcome to the wacky ACC, where the only predictable outcome on a yearly basis has been increased parity.

For the first time since 1965, the ACC champion will have a minimum of two conference losses. This comes on the heels of consecutive seasons in which one of the ACC’s division champs reached the title game with two conference losses.

“It’s good for the conference and good for the fans to have so much parity,” Wake Forest coach Jim Grobe said. “But it’s probably driving the coaches crazy, because every week, it’s just brutal.”

On the other hand, this year’s jumbled standings likely have done little to enhance the national perception that ACC football is a cesspool of mediocrity.

The league’s highest-ranked team is No. 22 Maryland, followed by No. 23 Miami and No. 25 North Carolina.

Yet in the past four weeks, ranked ACC teams (none higher than No. 17) have a 5-7 record, with six different teams sliding in and out of the poll.

League supporters point out the ACC owns the second-highest Sagarin Index rating behind the Big 12. It is the only conference with 10 teams at .500 or better. And the ACC is on pace for its lowest average margin of victory in conference games (10.05 points), as 21 of 38 games have been decided by a touchdown or less.

All of that likely has little credibility unless the ACC improves its performance on the big stage, where its 1-9 mark in BCS bowl games the past decade has damaged the league’s image.

Furthermore, ACC teams haven’t done themselves any favors in terms of style points.

A lack of offensive firepower, starting with shaky quarterback play, has plagued the conference for several years.

This season has been no different; only one ACC offense is ranked in the top 64 nationally in yards per game (Florida State, 43rd).

The competition for first-team All-ACC quarterback is wide open, and Clemson — with preseason player of the year Cullen Harper — is the only ACC team among the nation’s top 53 passing offenses.

“There are just a lot of teams that are close, and for the most part in this league, defenses are very good and offenses are in the improving stage,” Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer said.

Which is why several Tigers have found the what-if game so maddening — they seemingly had the requisite skill players in place.

Clemson blew fourth-quarter leads in consecutive losses to Maryland, Wake Forest and Georgia Tech.

“It’s been a circus this year in the ACC,” Palmer said. “Teams will win one week, then they’ll go somewhere they’re supposed to win and they’ll lose.”



 

UVa Insider, the Column: the good, the bad
Virginia men’s basketball fans stressing over close calls in season-opening games with VMI and South Florida need to consider something.

You’re 2-0. You could be 0-2.

Virginia beat VMI 107-97 and South Florida 77-75 and could have lost either game, especially the second one, when UVa trailed before freshmen Sylven Landesberg hit a go-ahead layup with 13.9 seconds left.

Following are some observations after the first two games:

GOOD: Who thought that the Cavaliers could score 107 points in a game or even 77 against a South Florida team that had held its first opponent, SMU, to 46?

NOT SO GOOD: When last heard from, Virginia coach Dave Leitao was promising that UVa would be improved defensively in 2008-2009. VMI shot 51.3 percent in the second half against the Cavaliers and South Florida shot 53.3.GOOD: Don’t expect Landesberg to average 24.5 points over the duration of his career but it is clear that he can score in a variety of ways and will attack the rim relentlessly. He wants the ball in the clutch.

NOT SO GOOD: Sophomore wing player Jeff Jones was 1-for-8 from the field against South Florida. That’s not to say that he won’t get better. He’s only two games into his sophomore year and he did hit back-to-back 3-pointers during a crucial stretch against VMI, but his defense isn’t good enough to keep him on the floor if his shot isn’t falling.

GOOD: Redshirt freshman point guard Sammy Zeglinski was praised by VMI coach Duggar Baucom after Sunday’s opener and Zeglinski wasn’t bad Wednesday, when he had nine points, five rebounds four assists and one turnover in 22 minutes. He also went 4-for-4 from the free-throw line.

NOT SO GOOD: Redshirt junior point guard Calvin Baker had five turnovers in the opener against VMI and his ball-handling continued to look a little shaky against South Florida, although he had only one turnover. Remember, Baker missed 2-3 weeks of preseason practice with a foot injury and there’s no telling how much it’s affecting him now. If he can stabilize his ball-handling and make free throws, he’ll be fine but he’s still more of a combo guard than a pure point.

GOOD: Jamil Tucker has had 14 and 15 points in the first two games without starting either one. He made two 3-pointers against South Florida, but he can put the ball on the floor, score inside and rebound. He also gets to the free-throw line, where he is 7-for-12 but has too good a stroke to be shooting 61.8 percent for his career.

NOT SO GOOD: Sophomore guard Mustapha Farrakhan has started the first two games and failed to score in a five-minute appearance Wednesday after going 1-for-5 in 11 minutes against VMI. He just looks tight all the time and plays mechanically. Center Jerome Meyinsse, a first-time starter Wednesday night, did not have a point or a rebound in six minutes.

GOOD: Fifth-year senior Tunji Soroye played 15 minutes Wednesday night, exceeding his total for the 2007-2008 season. Soroye made his only shot, hit one of two free throws, grabbed six rebounds and blocked two shots. More than anything, at 6-foot-11 and 250 pounds, he gave the Cavaliers a presence in the post that they lacked last season. You noticed him out there.

NOT SO GOOD: Freshman post player John Brandenburg did not get on the floor for the first two games and his fellow recruit, Assane Sene, was not in uniform for the second game as UVa continued to work at resolving an undisclosed eligibility issue. It would help if the Cavaliers could get a workable lead that would allow them to give Brandenburg some decent minutes.

GOOD: Sophomore post player Mike Scott did not duplicate his 26-point, 18-rebound performance against VMI and nobody thought he would. He was solid against South Florida with 10 points, six rebounds and two steals in a team-high 32 minutes and you have to like that he continues to hit free throws (6-of-7) and stay out of foul trouble.

NOT SO GOOD: What’s with the crowds? The 8,810 who turned out for a Big East opponent Wednesday represented the smallest regular-season crowd in three seasons at JPJ. The smallest previous crowd? Sunday night against VMI (9.955). Say what you want about the economy but I think Leitao bears some responsibility for returning the excitement to UVa hoops.

--DOUG DOUGHTY

 

U.Va. hopes to topple Highlanders
Following two tough wins against VMI, South Florida, Cavs battle Big South opponent Radford tonight at JPJ
Paul Montana, Cavalier Daily Senior Associate Editor
Published: Friday, November 21 2008

Forward Mike Scott averaged a double-double through two games this year with 18 points and 12 rebounds per game. He’s played just two regular-season games, but freshman guard Sylven Landesberg — “Learning Center,” as some have dubbed him — is already way ahead of the curve.

As Virginia prepares to take on Radford tonight at John Paul Jones Arena, it has a common denominator in each of its close wins to open the season: Landesberg was the leading Virginia scorer. The freshman put up 28 points to open the season in a 107-97 win against VMI and 21 points Wednesday in a 77-75 victory against South Florida.

There has been plenty of hype for the freshman from New York City since the preseason, but even Virginia coach Dave Leitao did not expect Landesberg to perform so well this soon.

“Obviously, to be able to deliver in the first two games is a bit surprising,” Leitao said. “Hopefully it’s establishing himself as a good player on this team.”

His teammates, however, seemed to think Landesberg’s production was more predictable.

“We saw him in high school, and just in pickup games you could see that he can bring a lot to the table,” junior forward Jamil Tucker said. “We’re not surprised at all — we’re happy that he’s bringing it in the game.”

Perhaps most impressively, Landesberg’s points have not come easily. He has knocked down the open three and has used his strength to get cheap baskets, for sure, but it is his uncanny ability to get to the hole in traffic that separates him from most freshmen in their first games.

“I just attack the rim,” Landesberg said. “Good things always happen from that.”

Landesberg also credits his ability to get to the basket and finish with contact to pickup games in the parks of New York City. The Big Apple is clearly not lacking in tough-minded players, and Landesberg appears to be of that mold.

“He’s got a very good mind for the game and a very good competitive spirit,” Leitao said. “Most good players that grow up in New York City have that by reputation, and his reputation happens to be true.”

It also helps that while Landesberg is not outwardly cocky, he does not doubt himself.

“I’m a confident person; I always have confidence in myself,” Landesberg said. “There were some pregame jitters, but that came out after the Shepherd game — the exhibition — and after that they were all gone.”

It appears that if Landesberg kept playing this well, he would get the chance to enter the everyday starting lineup; whether that will happen tonight against Radford, however, is still a question. Landesberg started against VMI only because of the small lineup that the Keydets offered; with a more standard lineup against South Florida Wednesday, however, Landesberg came off the bench.

Landesberg still was second on the team in minutes against South Florida with 31, and that’s all that matters to him.

“As long as I’m on the court, I’m happy,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if I’m coming off the bench or I’m starting as long as I’m getting playing time.”

Regardless of Landesberg’s spot in the rotation, he will have another chance to shine tonight against yet another mid-major that could give Virginia a run for its money, similar to what VMI did Sunday. Though the Highlanders are coming off a 2007-08 season in which they went 10-20 (5-9 Big South) — including 2-15 on the road — Radford was picked to finish second in the Big South in the preseason, five spots ahead of fellow Big South team VMI that gave Virginia all it could handle. The Highlanders — coached by Brad Greenberg, brother of Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg — feature a 6-foot-8 stat sheet stuffer in preseason All-Big South pick junior forward Joey Lynch-Flohr and have a high-scoring, experienced group of guards in senior Kenny Thomas, senior Martell McDuffy and junior Amir Johnson, who return as the three leading scorers from last season.

With one of the biggest road trips of the season looming Thanksgiving weekend to Syracuse Nov. 28 followed by the Cavaliers’ longest trek of the year to visit coach Tubby Smith and Minnesota, Virginia cannot afford to lose at home to mid-majors like Radford.

“We wanted to get off to a fast start, and we’re 2-0,” Leitao said. “We’ve got some very difficult games ahead that we’ve got to be ready for, so you don’t want to give away home games at this point in the season.”

In other words, Virginia is undefeated, but it has a long season ahead.

The same goes for the stunningly rapid development thus far of Landesberg.

“I’m not that successful, it’s only my second game,” Landesberg said. “Ask me that a little later on in the season.”

 

Beating Lady Vols lifts Cavs
David Teel
November 21, 2008

When you've guided college basketball teams for three-plus decades and to three Final Fours and 22 NCAA tournaments, early-season victories aren't supposed to resonate.

So forgive Virginia women's coach Debbie Ryan her initial indifference.

"It's one win in the month of November," she said of the Cavaliers' 83-82 conquest of fifth-ranked Tennessee on Monday.

Uh, forgive our impertinence, Coach, but the Lady Vols are the two-time defending national champs. And you were on the road.

Oh, and you were absent two starters: an all-conference senior forward who unimaginably drove herself into an academic ditch, and an undervalued guard who blew out a knee!

Ryan reconsidered the proposition.

"That definitely adds to the satisfaction," she said. "That makes it really sweet, actually."

Now that's more like it.

As Ryan prepares her short-handed, 16th-ranked Cavaliers (2-0) for tonight's game at No. 25 Old Dominion (2-1), there's an undeniable vibe about the program. A vibe that approaches the early '90s, when Virginia played in three consecutive Final Fours.

The Cavaliers vanished from ACC, let alone national, prominence in 2006 and '07 when they endured their first consecutive losing conference records since 1982 and '83. But Ryan, who built the program from scratch and whipped pancreatic cancer along the way, is nothing if not stubborn, and she wasn't about to go out like this.

Sure enough, recruiting perked up, and last season Virginia went 10-4 in the thorny ACC and advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament.

There the Cavaliers encountered the Lady Monarchs, at ODU's Constant Center, losing an overtime epic 88-85 on Jazz Walters' 3-pointer with 4.8 seconds remaining.

Ryan, a 2008 Women's Basketball Hall of Fame inductee, expected to return four starters from that squad and scheduled accordingly. Hence the back-to-back games at Tennessee and ODU.

But Paulisha Kellum sustained a season-ending knee injury, and Lyndra Littles turned up academically ineligible for the first semester — at least. Littles was Virginia's No. 2 scorer and rebounder last season and was never better than against the Lady Monarchs, whom she lit up for 29 points and 14 rebounds.

Without Littles and Kellum on Monday, the Cavaliers rode Monica Wright's 35 points to their first road victory against a top-10 opponent since a 2000 upset of North Carolina State. But Ryan — this is her 32nd season, and she's 23 victories shy of 700 — has come to expect as much from her first-team, All-ACC forward.

What impressed her more were freshmen such as guard Whitny Edwards and forward Chelsea Shine. Edwards scored 13 points, 11 in the second half, while Shine contributed four points and six rebounds in 24 minutes, many after incurring a black eye from incidental contact.

"We saw a lot of kids grow up before our very eyes that night," Ryan said.

"They didn't always do the right thing. They didn't always play great. But they did what they had to do to win, which is pretty amazing in that environment."

And if you think those rookies are good, wait until next season. Last week Ryan signed a five-player recruiting class that is rated among the nation's top 10 by several scouting services.

The prospects are: guard China Crosby from New York, center Simone Eqwu of Odenton, Md., guard Lexie Gerson of Fort Washington, Pa., forward Tella McCall of Marietta, Ga., and center Erinn Thompson of Winston-Salem, N.C.

The lone downer came early this week when acclaimed guard Tierra Ruffin-Pratt of Alexandria chose North Carolina over Virginia. A staple of Boo Williams' Hampton Roads' based summer program, Ruffin-Pratt last season led T.C. Williams to an undefeated record and Group AAA state championship.

Virginia opened the season with a routine thumping of High Point, but there was nothing routine about Monday. Ryan was 1-11 against Tennessee, including an overtime defeat in the 1991 national championship game.

Tonight presents another challenge. ODU is fresh off a 34-point loss at No. 14 Texas on Monday, but the Lady Monarchs have won 26 consecutive games at home. Ryan, who also scheduled Gonzaga, Louisiana Tech and Georgia this season, believes her team is prepared.

"We've brought ourselves back where we want to be," she said. "Back to the upper echelon, in position to win the ACC."

 

Cavs get another road test
By Jay Jenkins
Published: November 21, 2008

For Debbie Ryan, it was the equivalent of using Park Place and Boardwalk in steamrolling to a board game victory over a rival.

As special as the win over fifth-ranked Tennessee on the road was on Monday, the joy is short-lived in the eyes of Virginia’s Hall of Fame women’s basketball coach. It is, in fact, still the opening month of the season.

“I am having a tough time getting the kids focused on what is next,” Ryan said. “They just heard too many ‘You’re great, you’re great, you’re great.’ And I said, ‘Nobody really cares that you won.’

“It is time to move on. It is done. It is like a game of Monopoly. All the parts go back in the box. Nobody cares the next day who won.”

Virginia (2-0) marches on this evening, completing one of the toughest weeks of the season — the 16th-ranked Cavaliers play at No. 25 Old Dominion (2-1) at 7 p.m.

At least in theory, the in-state showdown serves as an opportunity for revenge. UVa was ousted from the NCAA Tournament last year at ODU in overtime, 88-85, during a thrilling second-round contest.

Due to various circumstances, however, Virginia’s rotation tonight will look different against the Monarchs.

“You have to remember that only six of our players are familiar, are aware with what happened last year,” Ryan said. “That’s not much, but it should be an interesting game.”

In a perfect world, Ryan would have rushed her players, including four talented rookies, back onto the court for an intense practice just hours after upsetting the Lady Vols.

“I had to give them a day off, but I wish that I didn’t have to do that because I would have liked to have brought them in and made them practice and forget it,” she said. “All they have heard is how wonderful they are and I told them that they weren’t that good.”

Virginia had 23 turnovers against Tennessee and missed seven free throws, leaving the Cavaliers with a 61.7 percentage from the charity stripe, which betters only Florida State in the ACC.

But when it mattered most, UVa thrived under pressure against the program that won the past two national championships and is viewed as a measuring stick for the sport.

Credit, obviously, should be given to the team’s best player. Monica Wright burned Tennessee for 35 points, eight rebounds and five steals.

“Monica hit some incredible shots,” Ryan said. “She was just in another zone.”

Wright led by example for a team that played without point guard Paulisha Kellum and forwards Lyndra Littles and Enonge Stovall.

While Kellum has been lost for the season with the third torn ACL of her career, Littles and Stovall are expected back.

For Stovall, that will be sooner rather than later. She will play tonight.

“She had academic responsibilities [on Monday] and could not travel with us on that day,” Ryan said. “She will be there [tonight] and she will be there next weekend.

“She knew that this was what I was going to have to do.”

Short of the needed credits to play this semester, a timetable for Littles’ return likely depends on the speed in which her first semester grades are officially recorded by her respective professors.

For now, Littles is biding her time, operating in practice in a new role.

“Lyndra is actually playing the point for my scout team,” Ryan said. “It has been a real challenge and she is having a blast doing it. She has no time off in practice. She has to run the team and set it up and she makes sure that everybody is in the right place.

“I had to do that because I have to play [Wright, Britnee Millner and Ariana Moorer] together in practice if I am going to start a game with them that way.”

Layups …

Virginia rookie Chelsea Shine walked away from Tennessee with, well, a shiner. The forward scored four points and grabbed six rebounds, but took an elbow to the eye, leaving a noticeable mark. … After beating St. Mary’s and Dayton in the first two games of the World Vision Classic, ODU was throttled by hosting Texas, 78-44, in the title game. … Tiffany Green leads the Monarchs in scoring, averaging 17 points per game.