U.VA. NOTES
Published: December 31, 2008

U.Va. football loses its strength coach
Al Groh is once again in the market for a strength-and-conditioning coach.

Mississippi State yesterday announced the hiring of Matt Balis, who'll be reunited with the SEC school's new football coach, Dan Mullen. They worked together at Utah and then at Florida before Balis left in the spring of 2007 to become U.Va.'s strength coach for football.

At Virginia, Balis replaced Evan Marcus, who left after four seasons to run the Atlanta Falcons' strength-and-conditioning program. Marcus now is the Miami Dolphins' strength coach.

Marcus was the second strength coach to work for Groh at U.Va. The first was Tony Decker, who abruptly resigned before the 2002 season. Decker now is the head strength coach for Temple's football team.

Landesberg quickly joins elite company
U.Va. freshman Sylven Landesberg has been named the ACC rookie of the week in men's basketball. So what's new? The 6-6 swingman from Queens, N.Y., has been so honored four times this season, and he hasn't even made it to 2009.

Only four other Cavaliers have won the award four times: Bryant Stith (six times in 1988-89), Ralph Sampson (five times in 1979-80), Sean Singletary (five times in 2004-05) and Chris Williams (four times in 1998-99).

In U.Va.'s past two games - wins over Hampton and Georgia Tech - Landesberg averaged 17.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4 assists. Against the Yellow Jackets, he totaled 26 points, six boards, five assists and only one turnover in 41 minutes. He leads the ACC in scoring (19.1 points per game).

"When you play with a guy every day, you know what he can do and what he can't do," U.Va. forward Jamil Tucker said in Atlanta. "This isn't over Sylven's head. It's expected of him."

Brandon says smart kids can make spread work
Gregg Brandon's trademark is the spread offense, and the Cavs' new offensive coordinator believes it can succeed at an academically rigorous school such as U.Va.

"Northwestern was running this offense in the early part of 2000, 2001, when Randy Walker was the head coach and Kevin Wilson [now at Oklahoma] was the offensive coordinator, . . . and they were running up and down the field with smart players," Brandon said. "So, yeah, you can get the players you need.

"Academics are a plus, I think, at a school like Virginia that really stresses the academics and getting kids that want to get a degree. You have a more driven kid, a more well-rounded kid."

Quickness, timing key to Brandon's schemes
In Brandon's eight seasons at Bowling Green - the final six as coach - the Falcons ran the spread with great success.

"Our whole deal at Bowling Green was building the passing game on the short passing game," he said. "On getting the ball out quick and on time, getting the ball into the playmakers' hands as quick as you can. Obviously, you've got to have some playmakers out there to get that done."

U.Va.'s returning players include tailback Mikell Simpson and wide receivers Kevin Ogletree, Jared Green, Kris Burd and Dontrelle Inman.

"I think they've got some good building blocks there," Brandon said.

Attendance down, but prices won't go up
Attendance for U.Va. football games at Scott Stadium dipped dramatically this fall, and the same has been true for men's basketball games at John Paul Jones Arena this season.

The economy is a factor, and U.Va. won't add to fans' burdens next school year. The university announced last week that ticket prices for home events for all of its teams will be the same in 2009-10 as they are this academic year.

Prices for concessions will stay the same, too, and U.Va. "will also continue to offer creative ticket package options," Athletic Director Craig Littlepage said in a statement.

U.Va. charges admission for home events in nine of its 25 intercollegiate sports: baseball, men's and women's basketball, football, men's and women's lacrosse, men's and women's soccer, and volleyball. - Jeff White

 

Sylven Landesberg Named ACC Rookie of the Week

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Virginia freshman guard Sylven Landesberg (Flushing, N.Y.) is the Atlantic Coast Conference Rookie of the Week for the fourth time this season. Landesberg was honored Tuesday (Dec. 30) for his play in Virginia’s wins over Hampton and Georgia Tech last week.

In UVa’s two games last week, Landesberg averaged 17.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists. He scored nine points in Virginia’s 74-48 win over Hampton. At Georgia Tech, he led the Cavaliers to an 88-84 overtime win in their ACC opener with 26 points, six rebounds and five assists in 41 minutes. He was nine-of-18 from the floor and eight-of-nine from the free throw line against the Yellow Jackets.

With the honor, Landesberg becomes the fifth Cavalier in history win to the award at least four times in a season. Bryant Stith won the award six times in 1988-89, Ralph Sampson won it five times in 1979-80, Sean Singletary won it five times in 2004-05 and Chris Williams won it four times in 1998-99.

For the season, Landesberg leads the ACC in scoring at 19.1 points per game. He has scored in double figures in nine of the Cavaliers’ 10 games this season, including six 20-point games.

Florida State’s Toney Douglas was named the ACC Player of the Week.

Virginia returns to action on Saturday (Jan. 3) when it hosts No. 22 Xavier at John Paul Jones Arena. Game time is 2 p.m. and the game will be televised by Comcast SportsNet.

 

Report flatters Virginia, Virginia Tech/David Teel - Daily Press

Data compiled by the NCAA in recent years have indicated that the state’s flagship athletic departments, Virginia and Virginia Tech, should take pride in their academic standards and performances.

An Atlanta Journal-Constitution study published Sunday adds to the evidence.

Through Freedom of Information Act requests, the newspaper compiled SAT scores and high school grade-point averages for 54 public universities that compete in Bowl Championship Series conferences. The SAT numbers were broken down for the general student body, athletes, football players and men’s basketball players, the GPAs solely for football and basketball.

Before presenting the scores and GPAs, let’s all agree that standardized tests and high school grades are hardly infallible. An A at High School X is not the same as at High School Y, while some students simply quake when handed a No. 2 pencil for the SAT.

Virginia’s data was for the 2002-04 incoming classes, Tech’s 2003-05. As at all the schools surveyed, athletes’ average SAT scores lagged far behind the student body norm.

No shock there. It’s the cost of playing big-boy sports. Anyway, without further adieu, some numbers:

Virginia’s average SAT scores were 1,323 for students, 1,129 for athletes, and 993 for football players. The school did not reveal scores or GPAs for men’s basketball players because a small sample size might violate privacy laws. The average high school GPA for football signees was 3.04.

Virginia Tech’s average SATs were 1,200 for students, 1,072 for athletes, 951 for football signees and 983 for men’s basketball players. The norm GPA for football was 3.08, for men’s basketball 2.74.

Virginia’s football SAT ranked fourth among the 54 schools, behind Georgia Tech (1,028), Oregon State (997) and Michigan (997). Virginia Tech’s basketball SAT ranked eighth behind Iowa State (1,087), Michigan (1,077), Oklahoma State (1,023), Arizona (1,016), Wisconsin (1,013), Washington State (1,013) and Oregon State (1,009).

Virginia Tech’s SAT gap between students and all athletes (128) was the ACC’s lowest. Virginia’s (194) was second-highest to Georgia Tech’s 234.

Virginia Tech’s 249-point gap between football players and students was the ACC’s third-lowest behind Clemson (208) and Florida State (238). Virginia’s (330) was the conference’s highest.

The biggest disparity among football signees and students (346 points) was at Florida, which plays Oklahoma on Jan. 8 in the BCS title game.

Bottom line: Combined with recent Graduation Success Rates and Academic Progress Rates, the Journal-Constitution numbers indicate Virginia and Virginia Tech are better than most.