Return to Traditions

As some of you know the University of Virginia is a very unique place, packed with weird traditions, secret societies, obscure names, and people clamoring to live in rooms with no A/C or bathroom. This extends, or at least used to extend, into athletics. When Coach Groh and Athletic Director Craig Littlepage came to UVA they seemed to start a war on tradition. Previously football games included traditions like “Guys in ties, Girls in Pearls” which meant that student would dress up to go see football games. This tradition dates back to when UVA was an all male school and student would bring dates to football games. Virginia also used to have the pep-band play at home football games. The pep-band was not your generic college football band by any stretch of the imagination, playing modern style music as well as UVA drinking songs such as rugby road. Upon entering the scene Littlepage and Groh quickly put at halt to this. In his attempts to make football into a national power Coach Groh initiated the “Sea of Orange” which was meant to eventually overtake the previous tradition of dressing up for games. Littlepage has also pretty much banned the pep-band from all sporting events in favor of the new, generic, marching band. Now UVA looks pretty much like every other school in the country on a Saturday afternoon.
But this movement toward the generic may be stopping. In the recent elections a referendum was offered that would take the money that is used to fund the free power of orange t-shirts in favor of providing the student with better access to water during the sweltering August and September games. While this seems like an innocent enough vote if you read between the lines it is a call from the students to return UVA sports to their traditional state. While I don’t think the pep band is ever coming back you can see from this vote that the students would like to see the traditions return, and I’m fairly certain the alumni would too. Imagine if you came back to your alma mater and everything was different from when you had been there. If the old traditions are going to die out let them die out naturally, don’t force new ones on fans like raising that stupid power of orange flag.
The reason I’m writing this today is that I think the new coaching hire is also indicative of something along these lines. Look UVA is a strange place with strange customs; it only makes sense to have a strange offensive strategy. The hiring of Coach Bennett, at least I feel, helps to emphasize the uniqueness of this school which has disappeared from the football program. This school prides itself on being out of the ordinary, especially academically, and I feel at least that the sports should reflect that. Bring back the old traditions and you’ll see people in the seats. Football games aren’t just about wins and losses, it’s the entire experience, and part of that is weird traditions that build the community as a whole. Yeah people might think we’re weird for doing all of this stuff, but at least it unifies everyone in our own obscurity.

A Changed View

Tony Bennett had his first press conference in Charlottesville today where he was introduced as the new head men’s basketball coach. I know initially I was critical of the athletic department but as I listened to Bennett field questions and speak with such enthusiasm about this opportunity I can see why Craig Littlepage and John Oliver chose him for the job and am now completely behind this hire. Though Bennett’s offensive style may not be flashy and up tempo it might just be the change up that could throw off the other teams in the ACC. There is a prime example of this in football in which Georgia Tech had tremendous success last year running a triple option offense. I also think that the fact that Bennett did not manage to bring in top flight recruiting classes at Washington State may also be viewed as a positive. As much as it drives me crazy this school will always have much higher academic standards than everyone else in the conference which will most likely handcuff the coaching staff a little bit when it comes to recruiting, which would prevent them from bringing in a top class. The fact that Bennett can still build a successful program without blue-chip recruits is a very positive sign for Virginia fans.

                My biggest concern which is stated on Tuesday was Bennett using this job in order to build up his name to jump to Wisconsin or another Big Ten school if the opportunity presented itself, but in listening to Bennett at the press conference today I am firmly convinced that he is not. Bennett spoke today of building this team into a national power and how he was going to adapt his style to better fit the ACC. If the coach was truly going to jump ship he probably would be much less open to adjusting his style.

                But my absolute favorite part of this coach has nothing at all to do with his coaching abilities. Coach Bennett appeared extremely open and approachable to the media and his sideline demeanor at Washington State was one of positive and motivational coaching. Bennett is truly a representative that this university can be proud of. Bennett could not be more opposite of Coach Leitao in this respect. While I would have been embarrassed to have someone see Coach Leitao as a representative of the university with his profanity laced tirades to have that same person see Coach Bennett be positive on the sideline and a visible presence in the university community makes me proud to have him represent this school.

                As surprising as this seems after my initial reaction to the hire I think the athletic department hit a home run with this hire. They secured a young, energetic, and dedicated coach that can lead this team and represent this university proudly for years to come. Craig Littlepage and John Oliver deserve a great deal of credit for finding Bennett and I’m looking forward to next season.

The Bennett Era Begins

                The Virginia Basketball coaching search ended yesterday as the Hoos announced that Tony Bennett would head up the Cavaliers next season. Besides being an excellent singer Bennett brings quite a coaching pedigree to Charlottesville. Bennett is the son of former Wisconsin and Washington State head coach Dick Bennett and served under him while at both schools. Bennett was also an All-American point guard at Wisconsin-Green Bay and went on to play 3 seasons in the NBA before a broken foot ended his career. Bennett took over the Washington State Cougars in 2006 and led them to their first NCAA tournament bid since 1994. In 3 seasons as head coach Bennett has led Washington State to a record of 69-33 and made the NCAA tournament 2 of the last 3 seasons. Bennett was named AP coach of the in 2007, in which he led the Cougars to the Sweet 16.

                Bennett’s personality will be a welcome change from Coach Leitao. While at Washington State Bennett was known for being a player’s coach, and fantastic with the players and media. I wouldn’t look for any profanity laced tirades this season out of him, and I would look for him to attempt to reestablish the presence the basketball team has in the community.

                The one major drawback to Bennett seems to be recruiting. In his 3 classes he has only managed to recruit one five-star rated player to Washington State. Hopefully this is just because it is difficult to recruit players to Pullman, Washington, which admittedly I could not find on a map. The first few months will be interesting to see what he can do recruiting wise with the fantastic new facilities we have here in Charlottesville. His first big test is Tristan Spurlock, the swing man from Springfield, VA who is the prize of this year’s class. A report from my dynamics class this morning said that Spurlock’s AIM away message just said, “wow…” in response to the announcement.

                The hiring does bring about one glaring question, and that is is this really Bennett’s dream job. There are many signs that point to no and that he would actually much rather coach in the Big Ten. First obviously are his roots in Wisconsin. Other than his brief tenure as a member of the Charlotte Hornets Bennett does not seem to have any ties or history in this area. Second is his playing style. If anyone watched Washington State play you see that they play a very slow, half-court, defensive style of basketball. This style is the signature of the Big Ten and traditionally does not fare very well against the faster, more athletic teams of the ACC, just look at the ACC-Big Ten challenge. Thirdly is Bennett’s track record. He was rumored to be the front runner for almost every job the last two seasons. This may be another consequence of being at Washington State but I wouldn’t be surprised to hear his name mentioned if there’s an opening in the Big Ten soon.

                This leads me to the manner in which the athletic department handled this search and the decision they made. While I have no problem with Tony Bennett as a coach I will admit something about it just doesn’t feel right. I can’t get over the fact that he seems to want and be perfect for a job in the big ten. He also is another coach that came completely out of the blue, just as Leitao did 4 years ago. When I heard the news on the bus I remember thinking that I would never have guessed that in a million years. Hearing names like Tubby Smith, Jeff Capel, and Rick Barnes for the last few days led me to believe that UVA was going to make a huge splash with this hire, which it doesn’t appear to have done. But that’s really not what irks me about this. What gets me is the fact that this appears to be a stop for Bennett. That was the first thing I thought when I started doing research for this article. If I could figure that out in 15 minutes of research then the athletic department had to have seen this, and if they knew that this was probably only a stop for Bennett on the road to where he really wanted to be then they have slapped all of us in the face and told us that the basketball team’s success is not important, that as fans we should expect mediocrity and to be a stepping stone program, which kills me as a Virginia fan. If the slogan of the athletic department, “Uncompromised Excellence” was reflected in this coaching hire, then they would be announcing Jeff Capel or Tubby Smith today as the head coach. Someone who we knew had ties to the region and was committed to building this team into a powerhouse because it was their lifelong goal to do so. Nothing about Tony Bennett says ACC, or UVA, or even east of the Mississippi river and his hiring is an indictment of the athletic department and will, barring tremendous success and me being completely wrong, probably spell the demise of Craig Littlepage and the rest of the athletic department.

                As a Virginia fan I really REALLY hope I am wrong about this and that Bennett will be able to take his slow, deliberate style of play and make it work in the ACC, but at this point I can’t see how this happens. I did hear directly from a few basketball players at lunch today and they all say they are staying so we’ll see what happens. This team definitely has the talent and this coach does know what he is doing. Go get a rep tie Coach and let the experiment begin.

A New Domino Emerges

Rumor has it that Kentucky head coach Billy Gillispie is on the hot seat, and that seat is incredibly hot. Kentucky is in the NIT this season and only managed to make the first round of the NCAA tournament last season. But Gillispie’s team’s performance is not the only reason the coach is in hot water. Gillispie’s ability to handle the media and the pressures of being the head coach at one of the most prestigious programs in the country is being called into question by many reporters that cover Kentucky basketball. Gillispie has done some strange things to warrant these criticisms such as get a commitment from an 8^th grader. Gillispie has managed to bring in top talent to Kentucky but it’s how he handles this talent that is getting him into trouble.

                So how does this affect Virginia? Well when Gillispie took the job in 2007 he was really Kentucky’s second choice. Ideally Kentucky would have landed Billy Donovan, head coach at Florida, who was coming off back to back national championships. Donovan however declined the offer and decided instead to build up the Florida program. If Gillispie is fired then you can bet that Kentucky will get Donovan on the horn within the minute, and this time Donovan may listen. Florida has also been struggling of late and its becoming clear that no matter how Donovan tries it will always be a football first school. If Donovan wants to coach at one of the premier basketball schools in the country and have a premier program than the jump to Kentucky makes sense. If that happens that sets up Anthony Grant for his return trip to Florida. It is becoming more and more obvious that for some reason Grant feels the SEC is a better basketball conference to coach in than the ACC. Grant will most likely jump all over the Florida job if it becomes available.

                So that leaves Virginia, Alabama, and Georgia as the big programs in need of coaches, and Sean Miller of Xavier, Jeff Capel of Oklahoma, and Tubby Smith of Minnesota, as the big names left. Smith will not be making a return to Georgia and probably won’t leave for Alabama either. If he goes anywhere it will be UVA but it appears he’s staying put. That leaves Sean Miller of Xavier and Jeff Capel of Oklahoma as candidates for the 3 jobs. While I think UVA is far and away the best job out there I also think Alabama will be able to shell out a lot of money to get who they want. This could turn into a disaster for UVA and make them pay much more than they expected to land one of those two coaches. And every time their teams advance that price goes up and up. In the end I have to believe that Capel will end up at UVA for the reasons stated in yesterday’s entry, but I don’t think it will be cheap to get him. If Grant ends up in Florida Capel shoots to the top of the Alabama and Georgia list of candidates, which means his market value shoots up too. Let’s hope for UVA’s sake that Gillispie keeps his job as he is now the domino at the head of the line.

 

Other Cantidate for the Georgia job since I think they’re going to lose out on Miller and Capel are Frank Haith of Miami, Baylor Coach Scott Drew, Dayton Coach Brian Gregory, and Siena Coach Fran McCaffery

A New Candidate

We’re going to get back to the coaching search today. In an interview with the Associated Press Tubby Smith said yesterday that he is extremely happy in Minnesota and that he had no intention of leaving the school. Now knowing coach speak that could just be a cover and the right thing to say while his agent secretly negotiates behind closed doors, but for the sake of this article we’ll assume that Smith will be a long shot. That leaves UVa with 3 top-flight coaching candidates left; Anthony Grant of VCU, Sean Miller of Xavier, and Jeff Capel of Oklahoma. Grant is listed as the favorite to get every available opening and because of his coaching experience at Florida under Billy Donovan, look for Grant to return to the SEC this season, especially if Billy Gillespe of Kentucky is fired and Donovan takes the Kentucky job.  That leaves it down to Sean Miller of Xavier and Jeff Capel of Oklahoma. There is another coaching rumor that Jamie Dixon of Pitt will be leaving to take the Arizona job if it is offered to him which would mean that Miller, a western Pennsylvania native, will be taking the Pittsburgh job. That leaves Jeff Capel as the top candidate for the UVA coaching job, and as I read into him I think he might be the best fit.

                Capel played at, brace yourselves fans, Duke, from 1993-1997. The 34 year old spent 4 years as head coach at VCU before taking the job at Oklahoma and was an assistant at VCU and ODU in the three years prior to that. Capel’s Father was the head coach at ODU during his time there. Capel is obviously an ACC boy through and through and UVA would most likely symbolize the pinnacle of his career, especially since Johnnie Dawkins appears to have the inside track for the Duke Job if Krzyzewski ever retires. If UVA could land Capel it would symbolize the best of both worlds between Smith and Grant. Capel would bring Grants youth and enthusiasm, as well as knowledge of the region and recruiting base, but also Smith’s proven track record.  Capel has Oklahoma as one of the top teams in the country in only his third season at the school. As a UVA fan I would take that deal in a second. While it would take a bit of cash to wrestle away from Oklahoma I think he would be well worth the investment.

                Now this is assuming the athletic department actually wants Capel and not Smith. If the athletic department wants Smith they did a horrendous job of pursuing him. Smith is now in a tough spot if he wants the job because he needs to pander to Minnesota in case the deal cannot be worked out. However if the athletic department does in fact want Capel and is using Smith to take the attention off Capel during the tournament so they can negotiate better than this is a brilliant move, but lets be honest those are rare here. The Wahoowatch approves of the 3 candidates mentioned in this article, but expect other candidates to emerge.

Coaching Cantidates: Tubby Smith

It appears right now that Smith is the leader in the clubhouse. His Minnesota Golden Gophers lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament yesterday but at least they were there. I’d expect Craig Littlepage to put in a call to his agent, or Tubby himself, sometime today. Smith definitely has the best history of any of the coaches on this list. His overall record is 429-170 and Smith won the 1998 National Championship, as well as 7 Conference Championships, when he coached the Kentucky Wildcats from 1997-2007. Smith was also the first African-American coach at the University of Georgia where he gave the Bulldogs their first back to back 20+ win seasons in school history in his only two years there. At his current stop in Minnesota, Smith has led the Golden Gophers to two 20 win seasons and signed a top 25 recruiting class for this season.

               The only drawback to Smith is the money it would take to hire such a high profile coach. Smith is currently the highest paid employee in the state of Minnesota at 1.15 million dollars in base salary. While that is not that much for a basketball coach the bonuses for winning a conference championship, making the NCAA tournament, winning the National Championship, etc. are much much higher than coach Leitao’s were. According to an article in The Hook yesterday they are almost ten times as much. One of the driving factors in Leitao’s removal was that the program would lose more money in empty seats and loss of donations than they would have to pay Leitao in a buyout. The decision the athletic department has to make is if they bring in Smith at this high salary, will he be able to fill JPJ and bring in enough revenue to cover it.

                If Tubby Smith is in fact brought in it symbolizes that Craig Littlepage and the rest of the Athletic department thinks that talent-wise this team is very close to having success. Smith is just the final piece of the puzzle, sort of like Phil Jackson was to the Bulls and Lakers. By bringing him in and paying his exorbitant salary the athletic department is putting tremendous pressure on a very young team to grow up and be successful now. While I think that most of them can rise to the occasion and that Smith is the right coach to lead that sort of team I am still not convinced that that is the proper direction to go with the program. While Smith is a very good coach he is also 57 years old and no one knows how much longer he will be coaching. At this point this looks like the right hire but down the road this may come back to bite Virginia. I’d appreciate at least a cup of coffee with Anthony Grant of VCU and Sean Miller of Xavier, and even Jay Wright of Villanova, who took over that program in almost an identical situation and made them into a powerhouse and the darlings of Philadelphia, before they sign on the dotted line with Smith. Virginia’s mistake with the hiring of coach leitao was that the process was too drawn out and they had to scramble to hire someone. The athletic departments desire to not repeat that scenario again may lead to too hasty a decision and end up getting UVA stuck again in a few years.

                Now that’s not to say I don’t want Tubby to come coach here, in fact I would LOVE to see him patrolling the bench, and I assume that when he retires there will be another great coach in waiting to succeed him, I just don’t want UVA to rush into this and end up missing out on an up and coming young coach who could be a great coach for the next 20 years. Just keep your options open Craig and you’ll do fine.

VCU and Minnesota were eliminated last night so expect interviews to start soon for Grant and Smith.

Coach Leitao Resigns

As most of you know Virginia head basketball coach Dave Leitao resigned yesterday bringing to end his 4 years at the helm of the Cavaliers. Leitao had the shortest tenure of any UVA coach since 1930. He resigned following the worst season for UVA basketball in the last 40 years with the Hoos finishing an abysmal 10-18. The athletic department made a tough but necessary decision to move on and will pay Leitao 2.1 million dollars to buy out the remainder of his contract.

                This makes Virginia the first school to fire their head coach this offseason and gives them quite the leg up on the competition in the search for a new head coach. Craig Littlepage will most likely move quickly in order to prevent

 the confusion that surrounded the hiring of Leitao 4 years ago. This process will most likely take a few weeks as some of the potential candidate’s teams are currently playing in the tournament but I would expect to hear news on the matter shortly after the tournament wraps up April 6^th. I have a few names that I think would be good people to at least bring in and interview for the job. I’ll profile some of them further but here is the list I’ve made with a brief description so far.

 

Anthony Grant, Head Coach- Virginia Commonwealth University

                Anthony Grant has been the up and coming coach for 3 years now after his VCU Rams upset Duke in the first round of the NCAA tournament in 2007. Grant’s star point guard Eric Maynor is graduating this season so this seems to be the logical time to move on. With recruiting connections in Virginia already Grant seems to be the most logical choice to become Virginia’s next basketball coach, the problem is that he is also rumored to be the top candidate for the Georgia and Alabama jobs as well.

Marc Iavaroni, Former Head Coach-Memphis Grizzlies

                Iavaroni played basketball here at UVA and was a graduate assistant on the Final Four teams of the early 80s. If Craig Littlepage feels that he wants to restore the tradition of the basketball program Iavaroni feels like an obvious choice. The question is whether or not Iavaroni, who has never coached in college, feels compelled to return to his alma mater.

Sean Miller, Head Coach-Xavier University

                Miller is another young coach that has led his musketeers to the dance once again. The musketeers have won the A-10 the last 2 years in a row and made the elite 8 last season. Miller would definitely be a good coach if Grant is unavailable.

Jim Larranaga, Head Coach-George Mason University

                This is a bit of a stretch but Jim Larranaga was an assistant at UVA from 1979 to 1986. Larranaga would also be the opposite of Coach Leitao when it came to PR as he is extremely open to the students at George Mason and is a true representation of the school. The one drawback is that Larranaga is 59 years old and UVA might want to look to a younger coach. Plus Larranaga seems to like GMU.

Other names include Oklahoma head coach Jeff Capel, Minnesota coach Tubby Smith, Miami Coach Frank Haith, and GW Coach Karl Hobbs.

If I had to put money on it I’d say the race is between Miller and Grant with Iavaroni as a dark horse. The other coaches are already at good schools or like where they are. I’ll be profiling candidates later this week and into next week.

A Model Program

                Congratulations to the Duke Blue Devils on winning the ACC Championship over the Florida State Seminoles this weekend. Duke looked much more stout defensively than I expected and played extremely well in the tournament and I think might be a threat in the big dance this year.

                Today I’d like to write about Florida State though. Who’d’ve thought that we’d be talking about Florida State in the ACC BASKETBALL championship. For a school so famous for football the FSU men’s basketball team is probably the best team they have on campus right now. It’s nice to see former Washington Wizards coach Leonard Hamilton have success, especially with superior talent to the bag a garbage the wizards gave him to work with. Hamilton has built that program from relative obscurity to the top of the ACC in only 7 seasons. For people who do not follow the ACC this may come as a surprise to see the ‘noles doing so well but if you’ve been paying attention the last few seasons you’ve noticed that the team has improved every season. FSU is built around defense and solid guard play, focusing mainly on team leader Toney Douglas, who I think should have been player of the year. Even though I hate Florida State football it’s nice to see that all the hard work coach Hamilton and the rest of the FSU team has put in is finally paying off.

                Now let’s compare this to UVA, seeing as how this is the WahooWatch. While Florida State was climbing to the top of the ACC UVA has been plummeting to the bottom. Following the regular season championship in 2007 the team’s record has dropped to 17-16 in 2007-2008 and 10-18 in 2008-2009. All comments about Coach Leitao aside this is a bad sign. Granted it’s not necessarily bad that UVA is no longer on top of the ACC but to go 10-18 only 2 years removed from being regular season champs is. The other factor is the departure of the last of former coach Pete Gillen’s players, which coincides with the drop off in victories. Most coaches struggle initially as they recruit players that fit their style of play. With coach Leitao it seems to have gone oppositely. In fact one could argue that players like Sean Singletary and J.R. Reynolds helped the team win despite Coach Leitao. As Leitao’s players moved up through the system you could see UVA’s production begin to decline. Without a dynamic personality like Sean Singletary this season the Wahoos were completely under the control of the head coach as their emotional leader. With the team playing as poorly as it did this season it speaks directly to the coaching staff’s inability to properly motivate and instruct the players in order to put them in the position to succeed. Coach Leitao cannot claim, which he has, that UVA is hard to recruit to. Yes the academics are hard here but you have a brand spanking new stadium, winning tradition, and diehard fans who are dying to have a winning team here again. I think you need to look to Leonard Hamilton and FSU to see what the model should be. Hamilton has completely turned that basketball program around and he has nowhere close to the facilities, fan base, or tradition that Virginia has. Coach Leitao has squandered what this University has to offer during his tenure here. This team should absolutely not be as bad as it is. You can say all you want about his coach style and his mannerisms, which do not help him in this case at all, but you cannot avoid the fact that once his players who he coached came through the system the team went downhill. It’s just like Miami and Larry Coker a few years ago, once Butch Davis’s players left the team struggled. UVA needs to bring in a new coach before the team sinks too far into obscurity for any coach to dig it out of.

 

For the rest of this week look forward to a potential coach profiles if Leitao is out, otherwise I’m going to look ahead to UVA players in the NFL Draft and the new football coaches, as well as my last profile for the future basketball team.

Virginia Basketball 2009- ULS: Unidentified Losing Season

First off I’d like to own up to my predictions. I went an astonishing 0 for 4 yesterday including being incredibly wrong about Georgia Tech. Clemson should be thoroughly embarrassed and should not get higher than a 6 seed following that performance, which has been a theme down the stretch this season. Maryland played much better than I expected, especially Eric Hayes, let’s see how long they can keep it going. Miami continues to disappoint me greatly. Jack McClinton only took 11 shots yesterday and they had absolutely no chance with that happening.

                That brings me to the topic of today’s article which is the end of UVA’s season. I think it’s appropriate that the season ended on a game that was full of boneheaded coaching decision and an inconsistent lineup. Mamadi Diane ended his career at UVA with a career-high 24 points. The game was lost however in the first half when the Hoos had one of their signature 5 minute scoreless streaks when Coach Leitao inexplicably had Diane, his leading scorer at that point, sitting on the bench. The Hoos fell behind by 10 during this span and could never recover, despite the efforts of Diane and Jamil Tucker, who finished with 13. Other highlights from the game included Mike Scott’s 12 hard fought rebounds. He and Sylven Landesberg unfortunately struggled to score only mustering 14 points between them.

                No one expected UVA to win this game that didn’t have a substantial rooting interest towards them, so no one should really be upset with the outcome. However there is one glaring thing that I’ve noticed that should raise a few eyebrows, and that was the play of Mamadi Diane. Diane had 20+ points for his second straight game last night but could also be seen offering words of encouragement to Landesberg and Scott who were both struggling to score. This is the role that Diane should have been in all season. Whether it was a crisis of confidence due to Coach Leitao’s constant yelling or lingering effects of off season ankle surgery Diane could never quite seem to ascend to the level of play that we’ve seen out of him the last few games. I personally believe that Coach Leitao made a mistake in burying Diane on the bench, despite what previous articles have been perceived as. When I wrote after the NC State loss that Diane should not have been playing it was not because I think Diane is a bad player, but that it seemed to me that Coach Leitao was moving more towards the youth of the team and that if that was the case then Diane should not have gotten those minutes. I think the recent reinsertion of Diane into the lineup further shows the Coach Leitao still didn’t know what he wanted the team’s identity to be even to the bitter end. If he wanted to go with the youth movement Diane should never have played. But if he wanted to have Diane on the floor to help develop younger players like Sylven Landesberg then he should have been doing that all season long. Last night to me demonstrated the importance of having a player like Mamadi on a young team can be. I think the only reason Virginia even kept it within 13 points is because of the leadership and maturity that Diane showed. Without that leadership I don’t think this young team would have been able to keep it close for as long as they did and that 5 minute scoreless streak would have been the end of the road. Last night’s performance showed that Mamadi should have had a much larger role on this year’s team and his recent playing time shows that the coaching staff was still undecided on the identity of the team, which I think is the theme of the year.

THE SUPER FANTASTIC ACC TOURNAMENT PREVIEW!

Ok so I figured I’d give everyone a break from Virginia Basketball and move on to the ACC tournament that starts today. This season has been extremely close in the ACC and there are a few teams that I feel have already punched their cards to the dance. Wake, UNC, Duke, Clemson, and FSU are sitting pretty coming into the tournament. I think the ACC will get anywhere from 5 to 7 teams in this year and with those 5 in that leave up to 2 spots up for grabs which makes this tournament quite the spectacle. These are the teams that are “on the bubble” and what I think they need to do to get into the dance:

 

Virginia Tech:

                Okay look you know I hate everything that has to do with this school but they are still technically in our conference so I’ll get them out of the way first. Tech has had a rather unimpressive year this year. They have 2 big wins this season against then number 1 Wake and number 12 Clemson but they also have some pretty big losses including the recent loss to UVA. Tech is 7 and 9 in the ACC and I think needs a win over Miami and probably an upset of UNC to get in, otherwise prepare to see Seth Greenberg’s head explode on selection Sunday.

 

Boston College:

                If you had asked me a week ago I’d’ve told you that BC was in no problem. But a recent loss to NC State and a one point win over bottom feeder Georgia Tech has called their tournament credentials into question. Luckily BC has drawn UVA in the first round of the tournament and that win is all they probably need to get in with a 10 and 8 conference record and a win over then number 1 North Carolina. BC has been plenty confusing this season so who knows what could happen in the tournament.

 

Maryland:

                Poor Gary Williams must need a new shirt every 5 minutes these days. Maryland has been one of the streakiest teams I can remember this season. They seem to live and die by the 3 and more importantly Grevis Vasquez. Maryland is 7 and 9 in conference and is coming off a bad loss to UVA in which they really played quite badly. Luckily UVA is good at keeping opposing teams in games. Anyway Maryland probably needs to beat NC State in the first round and upset Wake and probably keep it close with Duke or whoever comes out in the next game in order to have a shot at the dance. Can they do it? Sure! Ask Josh Gilchrist who lead Maryland to the ACC Tournament Championship and then declared for the draft only to go undrafted! Good Work!

 

Miami:

                This brings me to my beloved Hurricanes. Miami needs a lot of help and is one of the most frustrating teams to watch play basketball. Probably the most underachieving team in the ACC this year the Canes sit at 7 and 9 and need a win over Tech and at least a good showing against UNC in order to capture a tournament berth.

 

To the Bracket!

http://www.theacc.com/auto_pdf/p_hotos/s_chools/acc/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/09accbracket

^That’s the link if you want to follow along^

 

Game 1: Miami and VA Tech

                This is a do or die game for both teams. As I said above both need to win this and probably the next game in order to make the tournament. These two teams are complete polar opposites of one another. Tech is a big, slow, lumbering team that has minimal athleticism. Conversely Miami is probably one of the most up-tempo and athletic teams in the ACC. In this matchup I like Miami to run Tech out of the gym and if all else fails Jack McClinton will bring the Canes out on top

 

Game 2:  Clemson and Georgia Tech

                GT is horrible. Clemson wins by at least 15.

 

Game 3: Maryland and NC State:

                I think NC State presents a big time matchup problem for Maryland. For as good as the Terps guard play can be they really don’t have an answer for NC State’s bigs. This game is a close call but I’ll always side with size over shooting and Maryland has been known to go cold. NC State wins.

 

Game 4: BC and Virginia

                Hold onto your hats folks but I like UVA in this game. The team has responded well recently and Coach Leitao is probably coaching for his job at this point. UVA has played BC well this year and I wouldn’t be surprised to see them do it again. Virginia in a squeaker.

 

Game 5: UNC and Miami

                Ty Lawson is hurt for UNC and will not play. Without him I think they Hurricanes are actually a very tough matchup for the Heels. No other team can match the athleticism of UNC with Ty Lawson but I think without him Miami can keep it close. The loss of Marcus Ginyard hurts here too as they don’t have a shut down defender to take care of Jack McCLinton. With UNC pretty much locking up a top seed I expect them not to have too much to play for and Miami to capitalize. Miami pulls the upset.

 

Game 6: FSU and Clemson

                I really REALLY like FSU in a tournament. They are tenacious defensively and Toney Douglas is about as clutch as you can get. I think Clemson puts up a good fight but FSU stifles their offense and Douglas goes off. FSU wins.

 

Game 7: Wake and NC State

                What helped NC State get to this point will end up killing them. Wake is a very athletic young team and will be able to play at a faster tempo than NC State can keep up with. Wake rolls.

 

Game 8: Duke and Virginia

                UVA just does not have enough firepower to keep up with the blue devils and let’s face it no one likes the coaching matchup in this one either. Duke wins handily.

 

Game 9: Maimi and Florida State

                Sadly the Canes run ends here. FSU’s defense can shut down Jack McClinton and there just isn’t enough on that team to make up for his loss. FSU wins fairly easily.

 

Game 10: Duke and Wake:

                This will be the game of the tournament. Both of these teams are athletic and up tempo. If you’re looking for defense you should check if the Big Ten is playing because you will not find it in this game. I look for the point total in this one to get over 170 but duke to come out on top. Wake is still young and you should never bet against Mike Kryzewski in the tournament.

 

Championship: Duke and FSU

                I think FSU will win the ACC this year. If I told you that at the beginning of the season you’d’ve thought I was crazy but I really like their style of play. They have a strong defense and a dynamic leading scorer which I think are the two most important factors come tournament time. FSU cuts down the nets.

 

So what does that mean Bubblewise?

 

BC- BURST- If they lose to UVA they might not even get a number 1 in the NIT

 

MARYLAND-BURST- Sorry Gary, maybe Juan Dixon and Lonny Baxter can come console you. They seem to be the only reason you’re keeping your job anyway.

 

VTech- BURST- With the loss to Miami Tech would have no chance on making the tournament, despite what Seth Greenberg says.

 

MIAMI- IN- With an impressive showing Miami joins the other 5 acc schools in the big dance this season as probably a 6 or 7 seed.

 

So that puts UNC, Duke, Wake, Clemson, FSU, and Miami in march madness. I think UNC is a 1, Duke is a 2, Wake and FSU are 3s Clemson a 5 and Miami a 7. I hope everyone enjoys the tournament and gets a good laugh out of how wrong my predictions are.

Player Profile: Assane Sene

7’ 0” 234lbs

Center

Saint-Louis, Senegal

 

Strengths: Shot Blocking, Rebounding, Defensive Presence

Needs to Improve: Strength, Scoring Abilities, Free Throw Shooting

 

                Assane Sene is another prime example of the future talent on the UVA Men’s Basketball team. An extremely raw player, Sene averaged 2.7 points and 4.7 rebounds in 17.7 minutes per game. Slowed at the beginning of the season by injuries and other off the court issues Sene got off to a bad start, but as the season progressed he began to show flashes of brilliance. Sene is a force defensively in the paint. He lead the cavaliers with 34 blocks in only 26 games and his mere presence in the lane affected the offensive attack from opposing teams.  Sene’s raw athleticism allowed him to aggressively pursue, and occasionally over pursue, defenders in the paint. As he matures however I could see him developing into a Dikembe Mutombo type of defender that alters the game plan of every team he comes across.

                Sene does need to improve his play on the offensive end of the floor though. For as menacing as he is on the defensive side he is as unimpressive on the offensive end. His 2.7 points per game come mostly from put backs and whether or not this is a product of the offensive system or not he almost never gets any looks in the post. This can most likely be attributed to his size. Though 7 feet is 7 feet only having 234 pounds on your 7 foot frame makes you a giant toothpick, and this is evident in Sene’s play on the offensive end. Sene is defended rather easily by centers who are much shorter but heavier than he is and is pushed around. A summer in the weight room would go a long way to helping to establish him as a dominant force in the lane. Sene is still an extremely explosive and athletic players and he fits in quite well with the new athletic, up-tempo style this team has. He can run the floor and sky above the rim quite impressively for a man of his size. Just pack a little meat on them bones and watch the whole team benefit.

                My personal favorite part of Assane Sene is the kind of kid he is. I don’t know how many of you have been to JPJ and seen the open but he and the rest of the players are representing what college basketball should be like. Sene lives with Sylven Landesberg and the two of them together look like two regular kids. Even though everyone knows who they are they still don’t look down upon anyone. They truly embrace their roles as one of the faces of the university and I commend them, and all the players really, on that. It’s nice to see that such good kids can represent the student body and this university. Even if I’m wrong about the talent level of all these players, which I really don’t think I am, this team will at least be a good representation of UVA and something that we can be proud of.

 

On a different topic congratulations to Sylven Landesberg for being named ACC rookie of the year. He is the 4^th Cavalier to win this award and has an extremely bright future ahead of him.

Regular Season in Review

                The Virginia Men ended their 2008-2009 regular season with a 68-63 victory on Saturday over the University of Maryland at the John Paul Jones Arena. On senior day Mamadi Diane lead all scorers with 23 points in 34 minutes. It was an appropriate ending and perfectly demonstrated the confusion that has surrounded the entire season. Other bright spots from the game included Mike Scott’s 11 rebounds and 11 points in his 37 minutes, his first extended playing time in quite a while.

                The Cavaliers season has been one of confusion and disappointment. This Sunday was in all likelihood the final game of the season for the Hoos and most questions from the beginning of the year still linger. However amidst all the confusion and lineup changes there is hope for the future. This team has many talented and young players and talent was by no means the reason that the Hoos finished 10-17 this year. In my opinion the reason this team underachieved this season was the coaching. The high school offense, profane bench tirades, and nonsensical substitution patterns were the obvious downfall of the team this season, which is a shame.

                In watching the Cavaliers offensively I genuinely attempted to learn the offense and what the basic strategy and concepts were, and I think I discovered the plan, there was no plan. After about the 3^rd game this season it was apparent that the offense was give Sylven Landesberg the ball and let him use his ball skills to create a play for himself and have the rest of the team clean up after him. I hate to break it to everyone but that stopped working after everyone caught up to the freak 6 foot 5^th grader in rec league and is by no means even close to an effective offensive strategy  for an ACC team. When Virginia went on its season killing 8 game losing streak after the New Year it was because every single team that walked into the gym knew that if they could pack the lane so Sylven could not drive there was no other way Virginia could score.

                 The success at the end of the season was directly correlated to the consistency of the lineup. Coach Leitao finally settled on 7 players that he would give the majority of the minutes. Those seven players developed a repertoire with one another that allowed the offense to have added dimension as the players learned each other’s tendencies. Looking at this team at the beginning of the season I don’t think any of us expected an ACC championship caliber team but I think we all would have been fine seeing the team grow together as they did at the end of the season. I can remember at least 15 different starting lineups this season alone. What the Coach did not seem to grasp was that he needed to pick one and stick with it. You can’t have your starters in for 4 minutes and make a determination on whether or not that lineup will be effective for you for the entire season. Basketball is not a science it’s an art. You can’t just find 5 players that will work every time, but what you can find is 5 players that know when one is having an off night or who has the hot hand and can change their style it account for them. The constant frantic lineup changes that Coach Leitao had this season robbed UVA of any chance of developing that kind of team and having any sort of success this year. We all saw what happened when a lineup was finally settled upon, it’s a shame we could not see it sooner.

                The biggest problem I have with this season is Coach Leitao’s behavior on the sideline. As someone who curses quite frequently I have no grounds to speak on this matter but I have never heard so many profanities thrown in an attack of someone who you are supposed to be mentoring. This is another thing the Coach doesn’t get. He isn’t just the basketball coach. Being the coach of the basketball team makes you not only the face of the team but the face of the entire university. How many of my 4 readers know the name of UVA’s president? I’d be willing to bet the majority of people can’t name our president, but quite a few would recognize our basketball coach. To see a representative of your university drop the f-bomb on Jamil Tucker 9 times in a rant that questions his desire and overall manhood while 5 feet away from fans that bring their 5 year old daughters in their UVA cheerleading outfits is completely out of line and not something that should be allowed to represent this school. The other issue I have is that parent have entrusted their sons to you, and I don’t think they would appreciate seeing their children verbally abused. These guys are not at home, the coach is their authority figure and he should not be allowed to act in such a way that shows that he has no concern for the maturity and development of his players as men, not just as basketball players.  This negative attitude and constant pressure of removal can be plainly seen in the play of Mamadi Diane who exploded for 23 points on Saturday when alleviated of all pressures. Who knows what could have been had he been free his whole career. Diane is a prime example of the detriment of Coach Leitao’s coaching style on his players.

                However after all that negativity the team has a bright future ahead of it. The talent is here and Tristan Spurlock is an excellent swing man coming in from Springfield, VA. I feel that this team can be great in the coming years but a coaching change has to be made. It has to be for no other reason than Coach Leitao is not a good representative of this university, but also because coaching seems to be the main problem with this team. The team has the talent, the fanbase, and the facilities to be great; the only thing missing is a great coach.

 

                I’ll be profiling a few guys a think would be a good fit for coaches if Coach Leitao is indeed fired but it would be in poor taste to speak of replacements before a decision is reached. For the rest of the week you can look forward to more profiles of the future of the basketball team and maybe some football by the end of the week. I will address the controversial Washington Post Article in tomorrow’s entry.

 

Wahoowa

Player Profile: Jeff Jones

Jeff Jones            6’4” 200lbs

Shooting Guard

Chester, Pennsylvania

 Strengths: Outside Shot, Defense

Needs to Improve:  Size, Aggressiveness

                 Jeff Jones has begun to emerge towards the end of this season as a viable option as the two guard for the UVA basketball team. A heralded shooter, Jones has also begun to show his ability to take his man off the dribble and not rely solely on others to get a shot for him. Jones, a sophomore, started the season battling with Mustapha Farrakhan and Sylven Landesberg for the two guard spot, but with Landesberg moving to small forward Jones beat Farrakhan out and is now the starting shooting guard, and is thriving in that role. Since given the starting spot 4 games ago Jones is averaging 9.25 points per game and playing much more aggressively. In fact I would argue that no one has benefitted more from Coach Leitao’s new, more patient, style than Jones, who is now more relaxed on the court and beginning to take more risks and let his abilities shine. Knowing that he isn’t going to be pulled if he misses a 3 point attempt has allowed Jones to be much more comfortable while shooting and allowed him to rediscover his stroke. Coming into this season it was known that Jones was the best deep threat that the Cavaliers had and now Jones is starting to show it. Jones also displays tremendous hustle and desire on the defensive end of the floor, which all the young cavaliers do. Though it is not reflected in the stats, 10 steals and 2 blocks, Jones’ defensive style takes pressure off of the front court to clean up messes created by a lack of perimeter defense.

                Jones has already begun to improve on his aggressiveness with the ball. His play is much more aggressive taking his man off the dribble to the basket. This has a direct correlation with the new confidence the coach is showing in him and is directly improving Jones’ play on the court. Adding that extra dimension to his game makes the UVA offense that much tougher to defend and improves the team as a whole. Jones does however need to pack a little more meat onto his frame. 200 pounds is generous and if Jones is going to drive into the lane he needs to develop the strength to take the ball to the rim. Also becoming stronger would help him handle the larger guards that are coming into the ACC and make him a bigger matchup problem for opposing defenses.

                Jones is an essential part of the team moving forward. His ability to hit an open jumper makes the opposing defenses respect his shot and not be able to pack it in in order to stop the penetration of Sylven Landesberg and the post scoring of Mike Scott and Assane Sene. However those players also give Jones the ability to get those open looks with the focus on them. Jones could be the beneficiary of the kick out play that is so effective in the college game when everyone crashes down on the post man leaving the shooter wide open. That role will be crucial for the Cavaliers in the development of their offense in the future, which should be one that plays to their strengths, which are penetration and a strong post presence.  If Jones can consistently hit the 3 while still being able to take his man off the dribble he will thrive in this system and help the Hoos develop into a strong ACC team.

Player Profile: Mike Scott

Mike Scott      6’8” 233lbs

Power Forward

Chesapeake, Virginia

Strengths:  Determination, Rebounding, Intensity, Leadership

Needs to Improve: Post Moves

                Mike Scott is an extremely athletic strong young player that is beginning to play with the maturity of an emerging team leader. The sophomore from Chesapeake, Virginia is averaging 10.6 points and 7.3 boards per game even in a new 6^th man role that he has been given of late. Scott has shown great maturity in accepting his new role on the team and has begun to excel in it. Scott plays with a fire inside him that is impressive to witness. When he wants a rebound there are few in the league that are strong enough to take it away from him. That intensity extends itself to the defensive end of the floor as well. Scott is 4^th on the team in both blocks and steals and his hustle on defense is undeniable. When paired with either Jamil Tucker of Assane Sene the Cavaliers have one of the youngest and most talented defensive frontcourts in the ACC.

                While Scott excels on the offensive end of the court his post skills have room to grow. At this point in his career Scott relies heavily on his athletic abilities to score. The majority of Scott’s points come from put backs of missed shots by other Cavaliers which Scott has the ability to out hustle other players for. This may be a byproduct of Scott not getting looks in the post because opposing defenses are packed in in order to stop the slashing attack of the UVA guards. As those players develop a more consistent outside game the defense will be forced to loosen up allowing Scott to excel. Scott has all the tools to become a good ACC post player, but the current offensive make up is not conducive to his success in becoming one, which makes the majority of his points “hustle points.” Meaning he out worked the other players to get them, which is extremely impressive to me.  My favorite part of watching Scott play is seeing him run the floor. Scott’s athletic abilities allow him to get out on the fast break quickly and run with the other players which will allow the Hoos to become a more up-tempo and exciting team in the future.

                Scott has also emerged as a real leader of this team. Over the last few games you can see that his intensity has increased and he’s even dunking on people and glaring at the camera. This mentality has extended to the entire team in the Hoos last 4 games in which they won their only 2 ACC games this calendar season. If Scott continues to inspire and lead this team to become an aggressive, fast paced team that will put it all on the line every night I think there are great days to come at JPJ.

UVA Drops Close but Confusing Game in Raleigh

The UVA men’s basketball team (9-14, 3-9) fell to North Carolina State 72-67 at the RBC Center in Raleigh, North Carolina. Sylven Landesberg once again led the Wahoos with 16 points, playing in 39 of 40 minutes. The Cavaliers showed great determination by fighting back from an 18 point deficit in the 1^st half but in the end it just was not enough. Jeff Jones continued to thrive in his new, more permanent role on the team contributing 9 points in 24 minutes and Calvin Baker chipped in 13 in his 27 minutes. In his first action in a long time Mamadi Diane had 11 points in 15 minutes, going 5 of 6 from the field and 1 for one from long range. But the Cavaliers just couldn’t muster enough and fell to the Wolfpack in the end.

                While I’m sure it was nice to see Diane in the game for a change, the fact that he was was baffling to me. Diane’s last meaningful minutes in a game came on February 1^st during the Cavaliers 79-54 lost to Duke and Cameron Indoor. Though I appreciate what Diane has done for the team what this shows me is that Coach Leitao, though it appeared he had changed his ways, has not settled on a rotation for the future. Sammy Zeglinski who everyone believes is the point guard of the future for this team only had 13 minutes in this game. Coach Leitao appears to be going down with the ship, or dancing with who brought him, or whatever metaphor you’d like to use here but to me playing Calvin Baker and Mamadi Diane who have shown that they are not exactly the class of the ACC while denying the opportunity for Sammy Zeglinski to get valuable experience in a road acc game to me is ludicrous, which for your point guard, the leader of your offense, is an extremely important thing to have. Coach Leitao not playing Zeglinski to me shows that he does not expect to be here next season. Zeglinski has shown potential that he can be an effective point guard in the ACC and not allowing him to grow with the rest of his future teammates because you’ve decided that Mamadi Diane is somehow going to become a dominant force in the ACC and lead you to the ACC tournament championship is not only unfair to Zeglinski, but to the rest of us as well. The Hoos are 9-14 and not even sniffing the CBI this year. This time should be used to get the younger core of the team experience for next season. In playing Diane significant minutes for the first time in a month Dave Leitao has told the team, and the school, I don’t care what happens to this team next year, and that is unfair to everyone that supports the Hoos.

                Just to clarify Mamadi Diane is a wonderful person. I have nothing against him at all, and this is no way intended to be an attack on him. I believe he has been an essential part of this basketball program and thank him for it. I just feel that his usage in this game was not appropriate for the current state of the team. I agree that Coach Leitao should let the seniors have their last hurrah but that day is senior day and not during a game in which the future of the team can grow and learn together.

Player Profile: Sylven Landesberg

So over the next few days I’m going to profile who I view as the key young players for the Cavalier Basketball team looking forward. As we all know this season has pretty much been a wash record-wise but if you can take anything away from it it is the fact that these players have immerged as the core of what should be a vastly improved team next season and for seasons to come.

Sylven Landesberg 6’ 6” 205lbs

Small Forward

Queens, New York

Strengths: Scoring off the dribble, Penetration Abilities, Leadership, Performance in Clutch

Needs to Improve: Outside Shot

Sylven Landesberg is having one of the finest freshmen seasons of anyone in the country. His dynamic scoring ability has lead to his ascension to the number one option for the UVA offensive attack. Landesberg has won ACC rookie of the week 6 times this year, which will probably increase to 7 as Landesberg lead UVA to its second consecutive win, scoring 19 points to lead the Hoos over Virginia Tech last Wednesday. Landesberg averages 18 points to lead the team and has been the top scorer in 15 of the Hoos 22 games played this season. But the freshman is not just a prolific scorer. Landesberg ranks third on the team in steals with 22, second in rebounds with 6 per game, and second in assists with 61. Averaging an astonishing 35.8 minutes per 40 minute game Landesberg ranks 4^th among ACC players in minutes played, including 45 of 45 minutes during the overtime win over Clemson last Sunday. Landesberg is also among the top 10 in free throw attempts with 146.

Landesberg’s dynamic scoring ability will be key to the Cavs success moving forward. His almost constant attacking style puts an immense amount of pressure on opposing defenses and inevitably gets those teams into foul trouble with his ability to drive and get to the line. With all the focus on Landesberg the offense opens up for players like Jeff Jones and Mike Scott, who I will profile later in the week, to shine. As his outside shot improves as time goes on Landesberg will add another weapon to his arsenal of offensive attacks which will only help him and the team as a whole improve.

The most impressive thing to me however is the leadership and performance in the clutch that Landesberg has exhibited almost all season. It was evident in the Clemson game especially but seeing Landesberg take the game over at the end of regulation and in overtime shows me that even at such a young age Landesberg is ready to assume the pressure of being the best player on this team and the focus of every opponents game plan and not only be able to handle it, but to thrive under it. If you’ve never seen Landesberg play I suggest you start paying attention because he, as well as the rest of this team, has a chance to become one of the best in the ACC.

Wahoos Roll at JPJ

Virginia 75    Virginia Tech 61

                 The UVA men’s basketball team had an extremely impressive performance against the hokies last night at the John Paul Jones arena. Led by Sylven Landesberg’s 19 points and 9 rebounds the Cavaliers showed that last Sunday’s win over Clemson was no fluke and hinted that good things may be to come. In addition to Landesberg, Jamil Tucker added 13 points off the bench and Calvin Baker had 10.

What was the most impressive thing however was Coach Leitao’s willingness to stick with the lineup on the floor that he has exhibited over the last 3 games. I don’t know where the man who would yank Solomon Tat after 45 seconds for dribbling the ball off of his foot but I like this new coach. Without the pressure of being taken out players like Jeff Jones have really started to blossom and thrive in the offense and the team is playing better as a whole. At one point Jones, who scored 8 points in 26 minutes and was 40% from 3-point range, made an incredible reverse lay-up. This was the kind of play and aggressiveness that was just not there earlier in the season. The team is now more relaxed when they play and is more willing to take risks and allow plays like that to happen because they no longer fear getting the hook if they screw up.

This mentality also extends to the defensive end of the court. You can say all you want about Jeff Allen being suspended but Assane Sene was a beast in the paint last night. The stat line doesn’t show anything too impressive, 4 points, 4 boards, and 2 blocks, but Sene’s mere presence helped stifle the attack of Virginia Tech. Sene’s presence in the lane as a shot blocker allows the cavalier’s perimeter defenders to be more aggressive in attacking the ball because there are no easy shots with the 7 foot shot blocker in the middle of the lane. This more aggressive defense allowed the Cavaliers to push the tempo of the game all night long to the point where the less athletic Hokies just could not keep up anymore.

I thought the Hoos looked best with Zeglinski at point, Jones at the 2, Landesberg at the 3, Scott at the 4, and Sene in the middle. This lineup is extremely talented but more importantly, extremely young. Seeing this team excel to the level it did last night gives me incredible optimism for the future of UVA basketball. This has been driving me nuts all year but Leitao seems to have finally settled, or resigned to, this younger developing lineup. This collection of 2 freshman and 3 sophmores could easilybe the starting 5 for the next 2 seasons and probably should have been all of this season. This group plays fast, exciting, and aggressive basketball lead by the dynamic scoring ability of Sylven Landesberg, who has emerged as the teams go to player even as a freshman. With big bodies like Scott and Sene to clean up the boards, Zeglinski to distribute and Jones to alleviate some of the defensive pressure on the inside with his ability to hit the three this team has all the pieces in place to be not just a good, but I believe a great ACC team in the future. Even their bench is strong. Jamil Tucker consistently provides a spark off the bench and Mustapha Farrakahn has shown flashes of brilliance. The core players of the UVA basketball team are young and talented and last night’s game showed that and also made me extremely excited for the future, and I hope everyone else is too. 

Introduction to Mike

I figured I’d give you a little insight into who I am just to put some of my points into perspective. I'm actually a transfer student to UVA this year from the University of Miami in Florida. The biggest thing I’ve noticed in coming here is how differently the athletics are handled at this school than they were at Miami, and I’d like to highlight a few of them for everyone. 
          First off in listening to local sports talk radio I learned that the academic support system for the athletes here is a little lack-luster. This was shocking to me as being a tutor of the football players was the highest paying student job on campus at Miami, and let’s faces it that's not exactly Harvard down there. The second glaring difference I’ve noticed is the connection the football team has with the students. I lived in the Pearson Dorms at Miami which hosted the infamous "7th Floor Crew" as well as the rest of the football team. Every day I would eat lunch with one of my best friends down there Chaz Washington, a 6-3 315 pound defensive tackle. That's something that could never ever happen at this school because all the football players live off grounds and eat at JPJ (which says something to the quality of the O-Hill food). The lack of interaction with the team was something I needed to adjust to. I really think that Randy Shannon requiring the football players to live in the dorms the first 2 years of school was one of the greatest ideas he's had down there. You can say all you want about the recruiting classes he can bring in but I noticed it's very hard to boo someone that you eat lunch with every day.
          That connection with the student and even the community that the entire athletic department at Miami had was really a testament to how much the school and its sports team are intertwined. Sure everyone see's the U as a team full of thugs and bad dudes but it really was the unifying spirit of the school. I don't think that Craig Littlepage understands that, or if he does knows how to go about achieving it. Your football and basketball teams in my opinion at an ACC school represent your entire university. Whether Craig likes it or not they need to be given a bit of favoritism. I'd be lying if I told you football wasn't a factor in me choosing to go to Miami. When the teams are nothing special they can't get the national publicity and generate interest in the school from people who otherwise wouldn't think about coming here. Having strong athletics don't just benefit current student and fans, but it also helps generate interest in the university as a whole. I left Miami in the midst of a rapid change in school policy, attempting to move from "Suntan U" to a prestigious university based completely on football money, or money from alumni who became interested in the school because of the success of the football team in the 80's and 90's. I think for Craig to effectively run the athletic department for the benefit of the university he needs to take a peek 1000 miles south of here to a place where I really think they know how to play the game (pardon the pun).