Cavs fend off Furman
Forbes scores 21 to pace Virginia
By Andrew Joyner / Daily Progress staff writer
December 9, 2004

Virginia coach Pete Gillen says he considers sixth-man Gary Forbes a starter. The sophomore showed why Wednesday night and his team sorely needed him to.

Forbes scored 21 points and made several key baskets to lift the visibly exhausted and sluggish No. 19 Cavaliers (7-1) to a 79-67 victory over Furman.

“Gary is a terrific player. We consider him a starter. He just plays in the flow. He does a lot of good things and he did them tonight,” said Gillen, whose team was playing its fifth game in 11 days.

J.R. Reynolds rebounded from a poor outing in Monday’s 81-79 loss at Iowa State with 18 points as he connected on 4 of his 8 3-point attempts. Elton Brown had 16 points and 12 rebounds while Devin Smith, whose energy seemed sapped from a 40-point effort Monday, finished with 10.

“We knew we had to come out and play. We knew it would be a war. A lot of guys were definitely tired tonight and we are happy we could come away with a win. I think everyone is looking forward to the break now,” said Forbes, referencing the Cavs’ extended layoff until their next game on Dec. 23 against Loyola Marymount.

The Cavaliers led by a slim margin of 59-54 with 7:44 left in the game before they used whatever energy remained to muster a final push.

Smith ignited the spurt with a jumper with 6:31 remaining. Smith’s score was followed by a jumper from J.R. Reynolds and then a 3-pointer from Forbes for a 66-56 lead with 5:23 remaining. The lead grew to 70-58 when Reynolds scored on an alley-oop pass from Sean Singletary with 4:23 left in the contest.

Singletary, who finished with zero points and six assists after mildly separating his left shoulder early in the contest, was confident that the 6-foot-2 Reynolds could elevate for the pass.

“We’ve done it in practice. I knew he could go up there and get it,” Singletary said.

Of course, Reynolds acknowledge after the game that it was his first collegiate dunk and the first time that he had been on the other end of an alley-oop since his senior season at Oak Hill Academy.

The Paladins briefly cut the lead back to eight but Reynolds hit a jumper, a 3-pointer and then fed Forbes for a layup on consecutive trips down the court to build the lead to 77-64 with 2:09 remaining. Moments later, Forbes raced in for another layup to make it 79-54 and the march of the Paladins was halted for the evening.

“It was a tough, hard-fought game and we knew it would be. Our players showed some courage and determination and found a way to win,” Gillen said. “There wasn’t much left in the tank. We had no energy, no legs and were emotionally drained.”

Quan Prowell, saddled with foul trouble early, scored 14 second-half points to pace Furman (3-4).

While Gillen had a suspicion his team might struggle Wednesday, so did Furman coach Larry Davis.

“It wasn’t easy to have that heartbreaking game at Iowa State and then come back and play. They’re human. I’m sure they looked out there and saw Furman and figured they would have an easy game tonight,” Davis said. “To Pete’s credit, he got them to play and they had that little spurt there at the end to win.”

Virginia held a 38-37 lead at halftime after sprinting out to a 14-5 lead to start the game. The Cavaliers still had a 28-21 advantage with just over six minutes remaining before intermission. The Paladins, however, went on a 13-5 run over the next four minutes courtesy of three-straight 3-pointers. Furman briefly took a 37-35 lead before a pair of free throws by Brown with four seconds left secured a one-point halftime cushion.

Reynolds rebounds to aid Cavaliers
By Jerry Ratcliffe / Daily Progress sports editor
December 9, 2004

It’s a long plane ride home to Charlottesville from Des Moines, Iowa, particularly in the middle of the night. It’s even longer when you’ve lost a heartbreaking game, your first loss of the season.
Even longer when you know you stunk up the joint, so much that you took the blame for the loss and apologized to your teammates for blowing the game.
J.R. Reynolds couldn’t have been much more miserable on that long ride back after Monday night’s upset loss to Iowa State in Ames, about a half-hour’s ride from the Des Moines airport.

Poor performance
Reynolds felt like his 28 minutes in that game were a waste of time. He hit only one of five shots, missed all four of his 3-point attempts. He scored two more points than a dead man and turned it over three times, including the crucial one with nine seconds to play.
He felt so bad afterward that he told his teammates the loss was his fault. The sophomore from Roanoke carried that burden all those miles back to Virginia and all around campus on Tuesday before he had a chance to redeem himself against Furman on Wednesday night.
Thank God for the next game, right?
Reynolds started a little slow against Furman, but then again so did most of the Cavaliers, who definitely showed signs of playing five games in 11 days, including two long road trips to Chicago and Iowa. But he found energy when his team needed it most as the Paladins from the Southern Conference tried for the upset.
The sharpshooter rediscovered his shooting touch as he popped in 7 of 15 field-goal attempts, half of his eight shots from beyond the arch, and scored on a spectacular alley-oop dunk, amazingly the first dunk of his collegiate career.
As a result, Reynolds scored 18 points in leading Virginia to a 79-67 win as the 19th-ranked Cavs improved to 7-1 on the season.
“It hurt me a lot, especially to lose by two points,” Reynolds explained his feelings after the Iowa State game. “I felt I let my team down tremendously. On the plane ride home that night, I told myself that I couldn’t ever have a game like that again.”

Bouncing back
Instead of sitting around feeling sorry for himself on Tuesday, Reynolds kept his chin up. He asked assistant coach Alexis Sherard to spend extra time with him after practice, where the two worked on Reynolds’ shot.
“I had never played like that on both offense and defense,” Reynolds said of the disaster in Iowa. “It was terrible.”
Coach Pete Gillen wouldn’t let his young shooter shoulder the blame for the upset and tried to console Reynolds.
“It wasn’t his fault,” Gillen said. “Losing is a team thing. He’s a gutty kid. I knew he would come back.”
Furman coach Larry Davis was hoping Reynolds wouldn’t.
“J.R.’s been quiet [in the last few games], but he’s a capable shooter,” Davis said. “To his credit, he stepped up tonight.”
At Gillen’s urging, Reynolds came into University Hall in an aggressive frame of mind.
“I just wanted to keep shooting,” Reynolds said. “I knew they would start falling at some point.”
After connecting on only two of his first seven shots against the Paladins, it would have been understandable had Reynolds continued his tailspin. But as Gillen aptly pointed out, the Roanoker has played under pressure his entire life, first as a gifted youngster trying to live up to expectations at Roanoke Catholic, where he started varsity as an eighth grader, then as a sharpshooter on Steve Smith’s storied Oak Hill Academy squad.
Reynolds popped in five of his next eight shots in the second half and gave the Cavaliers the energy they needed to spurn any thoughts of an upset.
With UVa leading 61-56 with six minutes to play, Reynolds went on a tear. He reeled off nine points in a three-minute, 12-second span that put the game out of reach.
Among his highlight reel was a 3-pointer from the top of the key, a jumper from the right win, a short baseliner and the alley-oop.
Ah, yes, the oop!
Point guard Sean Singletary flashed down the floor on the fast break and spotted Reynolds coming in from the left baseline. Singletary let the pass fly and Reynolds sailed upward, snared the ball and jammed it with authority to give the Cavs a 12-point lead.
Virginia fans and even Gillen was a little surprised. They had never seen Reynolds dunk the ball during his time at UVa.
“I didn’t know J.R. could jump that high,” Gillen said.
Reynolds said that leg spring had always been there, he just hadn’t used them in a game.
“Gary [Forbes] and some of my teammates had been messing with me up until then, telling me I couldn’t dunk anymore,” Reynolds said, cracking a smile.
Guess that’s a dead issue now.
So is that bad memory of Iowa. That could have lingered over the upcoming exam period and holidays before Virginia plays again, had Reynolds not nipped his nightmare in the bud in this opportunity for redemption.

Forbes good as his word
By Doug Doughty
981-3129
The Roanoke Times

CHARLOTTESVILLE - The media was quizzing Gary Forbes about a strong defensive performance against Auburn on Friday when the subject of his offense was raised.

"The offense will be there," said Forbes, who had gone scoreless two nights earlier at Northwestern. "Trust me." Forbes made good on his vow Wednesday night, when he came off the bench and scored 21 points as 19th-ranked Virginia dispatched Furman 79-67.

It was the fifth game in 11 days for the Cavaliers (7-1) and it showed. UVa was a step late in moving out on the Paladins' 3-point shooters and trailed 45-44 early in the second half.

The Cavaliers, favored by 20 points, were clinging to a five-point lead (61-56) before going on an 18-8 run sparked by Forbes and fellow sophomore J.R. Reynolds.

Reynolds, who had missed all four of his 3-point attempts Monday in an 81-79 loss at Iowa State, went 4-for-8 from behind the arc Wednesday but experienced his greatest thrill on a shot that required much less touch.

Reynolds, who finished with a season-high 18 points, took an alley-oop pass from freshman Sean Singletary with just under 4 1/2 minutes remaining and stuffed it for the first dunk of his college career.

"I was stunned," UVa coach Pete Gillen said. "I didn't know J.R. could jump that high, but he's a better athlete than people realize. He is a good athlete."

Reynolds, who is 6-foot-2, routinely catches flak from teammates about his reluctance to dunk in practice, but nobody was kidding him about the Iowa State game, which was unacceptable by his standards.

"After the game, he told his teammates, 'It was my fault,'" Gillen said. "It wasn't his fault. We got beat. [Curtis] Stinson made a great shot. He's a great player."

On Wednesday, Virginia was playing its fourth game in eight days -- at four different arenas, in three states and two time zones. Furman (3-4) hadn't played in a week.

"I'll freely admit, they're [the Cavaliers] a little tired," said Furman coach Larry Davis. "I'm sure they didn't play their best. Hey, that's when you've got to get 'em.

"Forbes probably played what, 20 [actually 17] minutes against Iowa State. When you look at it, he should have been the guy who had the freshest legs. He brought them some energy and he did some things."

Forbes just missed his career high of 22 points, established last year against Minnesota. He had scored in double figures twice in the first seven games, with a high of 13 in UVa's 78-60 upset of then-No. 10 Arizona.

"When he's in the flow and just plays and doesn't think, he's terrific," Gillen said.

Remarkably, the Cavaliers, as a team, seemed freshest at the end of the game. They shot 57.6 percent in the second half and outrebounded the Paladins 22-13 over the final minutes.

Devin Smith, who had 40 points in 38 minutes at Iowa State, missed all five of his 3-point attempts Monday and was 4-for-14 overall but had back-to-back field goals, one of his own miss, to stretch a 55-51 lead to 59-51.

"It's not just the games," said Smith, as the Cavaliers entered a 15-day exam break. "You've got to go to class and then you've got to make up the classes you miss when you're on the road. That's a lot at this time of year."

Groh Named AFCA Regional Coach of the Year
Dec. 8, 2004

WACO, Texas - University of Virginia head football coach Al Groh has been tabbed the American Football Coaches Association's 2004 Region 1 Coach of the Year, the AFCA announced on Wednesday.

Joining Groh as regional winners in Division I-A are Auburn's Tommy Tuberville (Region 2), Wisconsin's Barry Alvarez (Region 3), Texas-El Paso's Mike Price (Region 4), and Utah's Urban Meyer (Region 5).

"What makes this award so special is that this is the only coach of the year award voted on exclusively by the coaches themselves," AFCA Executive Director Grant Teaff said. "The winners are selected by the coaches they compete with and against on a daily basis."

In his fourth season at Virginia, Groh led the squad to an 8-3 overall record and 5-3 mark in the ACC this fall. He's also produced All-Americans Elton Brown and Heath Miller as well as eight All-ACC honorees. The Cavaliers, which led the ACC in total offense, will participate in their third consecutive bowl game on Dec. 27 against Fresno State.

The AFCA recognizes five regional Coach of the Year winners in each of the Association's four divisions: I-A, I-AA, Division II (NCAA Division II and NAIA schools) and Division III. The winners are selected by active members of the Association who vote for coaches in their respective regions and divisions.

The 2004 Regional Coach of the Year winners will be recognized at the AFCA Coach of the Year Dinner at the 2005 AFCA Convention in Louisville, Ky. The dinner is scheduled for January 11.

The AFCA will announce its four National Coach of the Year winners at the 2005 AFCA Convention in Louisville. All head coaches who were eligible for regional honors are eligible for national honors as well.

Virginia travels to Boise, Idaho, to face Fresno State in the MPC Computers Bowl. Kickoff is set for Noon MST (2 p.m. EST) on Dec. 27 on ESPN.
 

Cavs pull out victory
Forbes and Reynolds help Virginia overcome Furman in the final 5:45
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
Dec 9, 2004

CHARLOTTESVILLE - For much of the game, Virginia looked a step slow and devoid of energy, which might be expected of a basketball team playing for the fifth time in 11 days.

"Emotionally, physically, mentally, we were drained," Cavaliers coach Pete Gillen said.

In the final 5:45, though, superior talent prevailed, and 19th-ranked U.Va. pulled away from Southern Conference member Furman. Gillen's club heads into a lengthy break with a 7-1 record after beating the Paladins 79-67 last night at University Hall.

Final exams are next for the Cavaliers, who don't play again until Dec. 23.

The Paladins hadn't played in a week, and U.Va. struggled to chase them around the perimeter. Furman made 11 of 25 3-point attempts. It led by one with 17 minutes remaining and trailed by only five at the 5:50 mark.

"Our best chance was to hang around, hang around," Furman coach Larry Davis said, "and then at the end, if it's close, we get a couple stops, we make a couple shots, we got a chance to win the basketball game."

Virginia spoiled the Paladins' strategy. Sophomores Gary Forbes and J.R. Reynolds took over late in the game, allowing the Cavaliers to prevail on a night when senior forward Devin Smith's shot wasn't falling. Two nights after scoring a career-best 40 points in an 81-79 loss at Iowa State, Smith shot 4 of 14 from the floor and missed all five of his 3-point attempts.

"We made some secondary guys beat us, and they stepped up and beat us," Davis said.

Smith scored six of his 10 points in the final 8:45, so his contribution shouldn't be discounted. But the most energetic Cavalier was Forbes. The 6-6 swingman from Brooklyn, N.Y., came off the bench to score a season-high 21 points and grab six rebounds.

Reynolds, a 6-2 shooting guard from Roanoke, had a dismal outing against Iowa State, totaling more turnovers (three) than points (two). He bounced back last night to score a season-high 18 points.

"I don't think I'd ever played like that," Reynolds said of his performance in Iowa. "It was a terrible game, both offensively and defensively. It just wasn't there. But everybody did a good job of telling me to keep my confidence."

Against Furman, his teammates were a combined 1 for 10 on 3-pointers. Reynolds went 4 for 8 from beyond the arc. But everybody knew he could shoot. Reynolds' most memorable play came on a sequence that began with a steal by teammate Sean Singletary. The freshman point guard raced downcourt on a fast break and tossed a lob to Reynolds, streaking in from the left.

The game wasn't televised, so only the crowd of 6,972 saw what happened next. Reynolds soared to catch Singletary's pass and threw down the first dunk of his college career, bringing the Cavaliers' reserves to their feet in delight.

"I was stunned," Gillen said. "Sean alley-ooped him, and I didn't know J.R. could jump that high. But he's a better athlete than people realize."

Senior center Elton Brown, with 16 points and 12 rebounds, posted his sixth double-double of the season for U.Va. Senior forward Jason Clark matched his career high with 12 points and also had six boards and two steals. Singletary failed to score for the first time as a Cavalier but had six assists, two steals and only one turnover.

Singletary re-injured his sore left shoulder with 15:10 left in the first half and headed to the locker room for treatment. But he checked back into the game about six minutes later, wearing a shoulder harness, and played with his customary abandon the rest of the way.

"I'm fine," he said.

 

Second-half scoring surge saves Cavaliers
Furman stays close with Virginia for most of game until Cavs finally pull away late, Forbes scores 21 off bench
Joey Mancini, Cavalier Daily Associate Editor

Coming off a heartbreaking 81-79 loss to Iowa State Monday, an exhausted Virginia team took on Furman University last night in Charlottesville. Despite a lackluster performance until deep in the second half, No. 19 Virginia pulled out another win, 79-67, to improve to 7-1 on the year. The Cavaliers, playing their fourth game in just one week, gave an often gutsy, yet ragged performance.

At the break, the Cavaliers entered the locker room with a narrow 38-37 lead. Another 12 minutes of play would elapse before Virginia would finally come alive.

With just under eight minutes remaining in the game the Cavaliers held a slight 59-54 advantage. Through the next four minutes, ending with an alley-oop from freshman point guard Sean Singletary to sophomore shooting guard J.R. Reynolds, Virginia would extend their lead to 70-58.

"I was stunned," Virginia coach Pete Gillen said. "Sean alley-ooped [J.R.] and I didn't know J.R. could jump that high. He's a better athlete than people realize."

Through the first half, the Paladins shot 7 of 14 from beyond the arc to score 21 of their 37 points. Defensively, the Cavaliers allowed Furman to take unchallenged three-point attempts until the five minutes remained in the second half. Sparked by Gillen's unremitting screams of "Shooter!" and a two-minute entry from sophomore center Donte Minter that included one steal, the rest of the Virginia defense began to step up to the perimeter to halt several hot Paladin hands.

In 27 minutes of play off the bench, sophomore sixth-man Gary Forbes once again proved himself to be a Virginia spark plug. Forbes scored a season-high 21 points and added six rebounds.

"Every game I have something that I need to do when I come out on the court," Forbes said. "Today it was my day to score."

Reynolds, following a disappointing performance Monday, took blame for the loss and readied himself for a standout game last night. The sophomore tallied 18 points, including four of eight three-point attempts.

Forbes and Reynolds were two of five Cavaliers scoring in double digits against Furman, combining to make up for a worn out Devin Smith, who scored 40 points Monday. The Paladins keyed on Smith, aware of his fatigue yet respecting his talent by forcing the senior to take contested shots from the perimeter and working to avoid fouling him.

"Devin didn't have a great game, but [Reynolds] and Forbes stepped up and made shots," Furman coach Larry Davis said.

Though Virginia was able to pull out a win in their final game before winter break, it is certainly debatable whether the Cavaliers really deserved the victory. Depleted from a grinding early schedule, however, Virginia did show some character in fighting to ensure victory in the second half.

Coming out of that break, the Cavaliers will have to take advantage of the time off before the season heats up. Guts must overshadow fatigue for any team to compete in the ACC.

Cavs look groggy after wake-up call
Becky Piedel, Cavalier Daily Senior Associate Editor

For some teams, a loss is a splash of ice water to the face. For others, it's the rock that lets the boulders loose in a landslide. For the Virginia men's basketball team last night, it was, well, a splash of lukewarm water to the face.

After watching the Cavaliers drop a close one at Iowa State Monday, I expected to see a team eager to slam the Furman Paladins below .500. I expected to see a group of guys starving for redemption. Last night, the Cavaliers proved that things don't always go as planned.

Passes were telegraphed and opposing hot hands were left open. The final box score won't show it (five Cavaliers scored in double figures and as a team, Virginia out-rebounded the Paladins 41-29), but it was all glaringly apparent in the first 30 minutes.

What I, and anyone else watching, saw was an uninspired group attacking an important game half-heartedly. We saw a team that took the entire first half and the better part of the second half to play to its potential and handle the Paladins, 79-67, in a contest that Virginia coach Pete Gillen could only describe as "painful" and "certainly [not] pretty."

Virginia went into the break with a one-point lead, but if you weren't paying close attention to the scoreboard, then you probably would've guessed the home boys were behind by at least a couple. Virginia's shooting wasn't horrible in the first half -- they managed 44 percent -- but early on, it didn't have the hustle and the scrappiness to match the Paladins. Furman was still in position late in the game, down only a handful of points with a few minutes remaining.

It's probably easy to feel indifferent about a club like Furman after you've beaten Arizona and Richmond, (not to mention the backs of Paladins' jerseys say FU, no kidding), but after giving up a loss -- especially the first of the season -- it's imperative that a team comes out with 100 percent, especially when that team is Virginia.

When the Cavaliers lose, they have a habit of doing it in season-crippling chunks.

Last year, Virginia started the season 8-0 before a Dec. 28 loss at N.C. State in the ACC opener. After that 86-69 fiasco, the Cavaliers went on to lose three of their next five contests and eight of 12, all but dashing their postseason hopes until a late-season gush of buzzer-beaters landed them in the NIT.

In 2002, a February loss at North Carolina was the first of seven straight (and eight of the final nine) that led the Cavaliers from a sure shot at the NCAA tournament to a .500 season and another trip to the junior varsity tournament.

That's not to say the same fate will befall this squad. With the exception of Sean Singletary and the other freshmen, everyone on this team has felt the pain of an early, middle, and a late season collapse. But the road ahead has way more potholes than the Cavaliers have dug into so far. After a 15-day break, they'll get a tune-up with Loyola Marymount before grinding with former-No. 1 Wake Forest at the start of the new year.

The Cavaliers should take a look at those past blunders. If nothing else, they could be the inspiration that leads this club to break the mould of past mediocrity.

NFL star hasn't forgotten his U.Va. roots
Veteran New York Giants running back Barber continues to be involved with fundraising efforts for University
James Wagner, Cavalier Daily Senior Writer

It is the moment that students and alumni eagerly wait for before each home football game -– the moment when "The Adventures of CavMan" appears on the jumbo screen at Scott Stadium. The crowd cheers and laughs furiously waiting to see how the beloved CavMan will vanquish the opposing team's evil mascot. With a new twist to the "Adventures" this year, well-known U.Va. alumni were used to help CavMan decide the fate of the captured mascot by indicating Roman-style up or down for life or death, respectively.

During the Syracuse-Virginia football game Sept. 25 the former Virginia alumnus who decided the fate of the Syracuse mascot drew tremendous cheers from the crowd. The thumb that pointed down, which turned the Orangeman into orange juice, belonged to former Virginia star running back and current New York Giant Tiki Barber.

"Every year they ask me to do it, and I'll do it every year," Barber said.

This is just a small example of Barber's involvement as an alumnus with the University since his departure. On Sundays he carries the ball for the NFL's New York Giants, but in his time off, Barber has become Virginia's most visible and vocal sports alumnus. Ever since his first-year at Virginia, he has been involved in organizations, especially ones concerning alumni affairs.

"I had a great RA my first year, Chip Roy," Barber said. "He got me involved in a lot of organizations. He got me to be on the Alumni Council, made me a trustee. I guess ever since then I've been in a position to keep up with the issues affecting the University."

When he graduated in 1997, Barber joined the Alumni Council and served for six years. According to director of alumni activities Wayne Cozart, Barber helped establish www.mydcav.org, the largest source for donations at the University. His outstanding contributions to the University concerning alumni parallel his achievements as a collegiate and professional athlete.

During his Virginia football career from 1994-1996, Barber established a leading place in the Virginia record books. After becoming the first Cavalier to post back-to-back 1,000 rushing yard seasons from 1995-96, Barber ended his career first on Virginia's all-time rushing list. His record 3,389 yards and several other rushing records were later surpassed by Virginia running back Thomas Jones in 1999. Now, Barber is second in all-purpose yardage and fourth in career scoring.

Even with all of the records he set, Barber has no trouble picking out his favorite football moment during his time at Virginia.

"This is easy -- FSU," Barber said.

That year in 1995, Barber participated in one of the most dramatic upsets in Virginia history. Then-ranked No. 2 Florida State suffered a 32-28 loss to the Cavaliers, who would later go on to clinch a share of the ACC title. Barber gained 311 all-purpose yards in the win that gave Florida State their first ACC loss ever.

As an experienced running back, Barber's senior year proved to be his most recognized. He was named a team co-captain along with former Virginia defensive tackle Todd White. Barber's 1,360 rushing yards and 14 touchdown season earned him Player of the Year and Offensive Player of the Year honors in the ACC.

After proving that he was a top player in the nation and a Heisman candidate, Barber moved on to a higher level -- the NFL. In a Virginia NFL draft class that included talented players such as his brother, Ronde Barber, linebackers Jamie Sharper and James Farrior, Barber was drafted in the second round (36th overall) by the New York Giants. As a Giant, he demonstrated he was able to compete with the more skilled and talented players in the NFL. In New York, where Barber is now playing his ninth season, he has been through a very pleasant experience.

"It is uncommon," Barber said. "I've been lucky. I've got into a situation where I've got into a great relationship with managers, owners, players."

This relationship has allowed Barber the room to help guide his team offensively into important games. Selected as his team's MVP in 2000, Barber helped lead the Giants to an NFC title and a Super Bowl appearance. Though the Super Bowl experience proved to be painful for him, suffering a 34-7 loss to the Baltimore Ravens, Barber said he still yearns for the chance to win a title, as his brother did with Tampa Bay in 2003.

"Anytime Ronde and I go out together, the first thing Ronde says to me is 'at least I have a ring,'" Barber said.

Even with the struggles and successes of being a football star, Barber still carries himself as a professional.

"For someone who has had his face on six magazine covers, he's the most modest person you could find," Cozart said. "He doesn't think of himself as a star -- he just wants to help out as any alumni would."

As an important part of the alumni community, Barber is more than willing to come back and help the University. He'll certainly be willing to help CavMan vanquish another opposing team's mascot for years come.