Virginia still waits for bid
By Jay Jenkins / jjenkins@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
December 2, 2007

As a personal preference, Chris Long elected to remain in Jacksonville, Fla., this weekend to watch Saturday’s ACC championship game at Municipal Stadium.

Virginia’s star defensive end could find himself inside that same venue in a month - and in uniform.

While holding out hope that an invitation from the Chick-fil-A Bowl is offered today, which would require Clemson landing one of four at-large spots in the BCS, the Cavaliers (9-3, 6-2 ACC) appear headed to the Gator Bowl on Jan. 1 to face a foe from the Big 12 Conference, Texas or Texas Tech, which is the most likely opponent.

Virginia has played in the Gator Bowl before - the Cavaliers were crushed by Oklahoma, 48-14, in 1991.

The only other scenario outside of the Chick-fil-A and the Gator bowls for the Cavaliers, one that is remote, finds UVa playing in Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando against a Big Ten school, but would require the Chick-fil-A Bowl selecting Boston College (10-3) over Clemson (9-3).

The dominos are expected to fall after the BCS selection show tonight at 8 p.m.

 

Littlepage: Diener didn't commit any violation
By Whitelaw Reid / wreid@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
December 1, 2007

After an internal investigation, the University of Virginia athletics department has concluded that men’s assistant basketball coach Drew Diener broke no NCAA rules when he attempted to sell his complimentary tickets to the recent UVa-Virginia Tech football game.

“We became aware of assertions and looked into the situation,” wrote Virginia athletic director Craig Littlepage in an e-mail. “We’ve interviewed staff members and have handled this as an internal matter. There does not appear to [be] rules violations.”

According to a source, Diener never actually sold his tickets, though doing so would not have constituted an NCAA violation the Virginia athletic compliance office said. A call to the NCAA was not returned.

Diener, who is in his first year as an assistant after serving as the team’s director of basketball operations for two seasons, reportedly placed an ad for his tickets on the internet.

“It has been addressed with [Diener] and handled in a manner we feel is appropriate,” said Littlepage, in a separate statement that was released through the Virginia media relations office. “There will be no additional public comment concerning the situation.”

 

U.VA. NOTES
Saturday, Dec 01, 2007 - 12:07 AM Updated: 09:31 AM

Cavaliers have several bowl scenarios
Officially, the Chick-fil-A Bowl in Atlanta remains a possible destination for the Virginia football team. But the Cavaliers (9-3) are much more likely to end up in the Gator (Jan. 1 in Jacksonville, Fla.) or the Champs Sports (Dec. 28 in Orlando, Fla.)

Virginia Tech and Boston College meet for the ACC championship today in Jacksonville. Depending on what happens in that game, bowl invitations for ACC teams might not be extended until tomorrow night, but today's outcome should eliminate most of the suspense for U.Va.

If the Hokies beat BC, Virginia probably will end up at the Gator, against Texas or Texas Tech of the Big 12. If BC wins today, Virginia likely is headed to the Champs Sports to face a Big Ten opponent. Possibilities include Michigan and Michigan State.

U.Va. cornerback Ras-I Dowling was named to The Sporting News ACC all-freshman team.

Long-distance game working just fine
In men's basketball, U.Va. (6-1) is 74 for 169 (43.8 percent) from 3-point range. No ACC team has attempted or made more 3-pointers. Six Virginia players have hit at least five treys, led by junior swingman Mamadi Diane, who's 19 for 33.

Two other Wahoos, freshman guards Sammy Zeglinski and Mustapha Farrakhan, have yet to connect from beyond the arc, but each was an outstanding outside shooter in high school.

As a freshman at William and Mary in 2005-06, guard Calvin Baker made only 43 of 156 shots (27.6 percent) from 3-point range. In his first season at U.Va., he's 12 for 23 (52.2 percent).

"It's a self-fulfilling prophecy where a guy like Calvin Baker, who's a pretty good shooter, becomes a better shooter because he's around shooters every single day," Virginia coach Dave Leitao said Tuesday night after his team hit 16 treys in a rout of Northwestern.

"And they work at it. They spend a lot of time in the gym shooting. And therefore, just like rebounding is important to me, shooting has become that important, where we do it every single day and spend a specific amount of time practicing shooting game shots."

Wrestling program coming out on top
Under wrestling coach Steve Garland, Virginia has won seven of eight dual meets this season. A season ago, the Cavaliers' first under Garland, they went 7-10 in dual meets.

Led by 184-pounder Rocco Caponi, a junior who's 11-0 this season, U.Va. went 2-1 at a recent tournament in Troy, N.Y., beating Lehigh and Clarion and losing to No. 5 Michigan.

"The amazing thing was, 50 percent of our lineup was freshmen," Garland said. "I'm excited to think about the possibilities that lie ahead in the future."

Boston's Francona lined up to speak
At the sixth annual "Step Up to the Plate" event, a benefit for the U.Va. baseball program, the featured speaker will be Terry Francona, manager of the Boston Red Sox. The event will be Jan. 26 from 6 to 9 p.m. at U.Va.'s Memorial Gymnasium. Previous speakers have included Cal Ripken Jr., Brooks Robinson, Tommy Lasorda and Ryne Sandberg.

A limited number of tickets are on sale. The cost is $60 for adults and $35 for former U.Va. baseball players and for youths 12 and under. For $2,500, a party of eight gets a reserved table, eight general-admission season tickets and admission to the pre-benefit reception, which starts at 5 p.m.

For information, call the U.Va. athletic ticket office at (800) 542-8821 or the Virginia Athletics Foundation at (800) 626-8723.

Lacrosse recruits coming from all over
The days when Long Island, N.Y., Baltimore and central New York were the only hotbeds of lacrosse are long gone. Case in point: U.Va. men's coach Dom Starsia announced his 2008-09 recruiting class recently, and eight states are represented - Virginia, Maryland, New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Florida.

Already on Starsia's roster are players from Ohio, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Ontario and British Columbia. - Jeff White

 

Hall should be at QB, but there's a catch
What was the deal with Bruce Smith?
By Doug Doughty

State's top 25 feel right at home
From all I’ve been able to gather, Virginia’s attempts to make nice-nice with Virginia Tech prior to Saturday’s Tech-UVa football game in Charlottesville were not well-received by the rank and file among Cavalier followers.

That is topic No. 1 among the UVa fans with whom I’ve spoken since Saturday.

(Again, why exactly was Bruce Smith recognized before the game)?

Topic No. 2 or 3 might have been Virginia cornerback Vic Hall.

When he was at Gretna High School, Hall set state records for passing yardage and total offense that may never be broken.

Vic Hall is an offensive player.

Is Hall a defensive player? UVa coach Al Groh must think so because he nominated Hall for All-ACC as a cornerback.

The nominations took place prior to the UVa-Virginia Tech game, when I stopped counting after receivers Hall was covering had accounted for six receptions for 118 yards.

That was midway through the third quarter and did not count a fourth-quarter sequence when Tech quarterback Sean Glennon completed a 25-yard pass to Josh Morgan, who was brought down by a group of UVa defenders that included Hall.

On the next play, running back Branden Ore cut to the sideline for a 25-yard gain, the last 10 or 15 yards coming after he had brushed aside a Hall tackle attempt.

ONE OF THE BEST things you can say about Hall as a defensive player, and I offer this as a compliment, is that he’s durable.

Hall was expected to battle Mike Brown for a starting job until Brown suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament. The other starting cornerback, Chris Cook, missed three games with an injury (knee or ankle; I’m not sure I ever knew for sure). Ras-I Dowling, who showed promise as Cook’s replacement, suffered a concussion before he could take a defensive snap against the Hokies.

Hall started all 12 games for the Cavaliers and also played in specialty packages. He had some good moments and some not-so-good moments as a punt returner but could not have been more dependable as a holder for field goals and extra points. He scored a touchdown on a fake field goal and completed an option pass that was critical in a 17-16 victory over Connecticut.

If Hall were to remain at cornerback, he probably would get better. If all Virginia had back was the current cast of characters, I’d leave him at cornerback. But, the Cavaliers’ top five cornerbacks – Cook, Hall, Dowling, Mike Parker and Trey Womack – will be returning.

So will Mike Brown, as well as three freshman defensive backs who were being redshirted this year – Chase Minniefield, Corey Mosley and Dom Joseph. Somebody will have to move to safety, where Byron Glaspy is the only returning starter.

HERE’S WHAT I’D do with Hall. I’d move him to quarterback.

Gasp!

I’m sure there are a lot of people who would like to see Hall move to offense and play slot receiver. And, I’m not going to suggest that Virginia should bench Jameel Sewell and play Hall.

Sewell isn’t Pat White but he can do some of the same stuff as White.

Here’s what I have in mind: Move Hall to quarterback, have him learn the offense to the degree that he could relieve Sewell, and then hold Peter Lalich out of action in 2008 as a redshirt.

While Hall is taking some snaps at quarterback each day, the rest of his time would be spent playing and practicing slot receiver (as well as returning punts, holding, etc.).

Actually, there’s a precedent for that. Consider the 2003 season. That was the year that starting quarterback Matt Schaub was injured in the opening game and was unable to play in Week 2 at South Carolina, where the Cavaliers lost 31-7 with Anthony Martinez at quarterback.

Marques Hagans, a redshirt sophomore, was a reserve wide receiver at the time. The Cavaliers got him enough practice reps to start at quarterback the next week and he led them to a 59-16 victory at Western Michigan (as the annoying Jeff White would remind everyone, I picked Western Michigan).

SCHAUB TOOK ADVANTAGE of an open date and was back in the lineup for Week 4. Hagans went back to slot receiver and caught 28 passes that season, an experience that no doubt contributed to his selection by St. Louis in the fifth round of the 2006 NFL Draft.

Once Schaub used up his eligibility, Hagans started at quarterback over his final two seasons and led the Cavaliers to 15 wins and a pair of bowls, including the Music City Bowl, where he had a career day in a 34-31 victory over Minnesota.

This isn’t about establishing a line of succession behind Sewell. Sewell and Hall are in the same class. It’s about Lalich and not having him wait three years behind Sewell, provided he doesn’t win the job in the spring, which is unlikely. Incumbent quarterbacks don’t lose their jobs after nine- or 10-win seasons.

(Oh, wait, there was a quarterback in Blacksburg who lost his job after a 10-win season, but he’s back in the saddle).

There may be plenty of cornerbacks in Charlottesville but there aren’t plenty of slot receivers. I learned that when I asked about the whereabouts of Cary Koch over the last three games.

“He’s a slot receiver,” I was told.

And?

“Tom Santi was the slot receiver,” was the answer.

Whether he was a slot receiver or second-team All-ACC tight end, Santi will be using up his eligibility in Virginia’s bowl game. The slot wouldn’t be a bad spot for Hall.

When he isn’t practicing at quarterback, that is.