OK, raise your hand if you had heard of Dave Leitao four weeks ago.

Dave Leitao

You in the back with your face glued to ESPN all winter, that's one. You guys in Chicago, gotcha. Littlepage and Casteen, you can put your hands down.

As for the rest of us, the DePaul coach wasn't quite on our radar screen when this coaching search began, was he? I knew his name but couldn't have told you what he looked like or anything about his career and reputation. Now it looks like Laitao is about to become Pete Gillen's successor. Not exactly the Big Name most of us had desired or been led to expect. Heck, we've even had to learn how to pronounce his name. LAY-toe.

But if and when he becomes UVa's next basketball coach, there's no reason to feel discouraged. In fact, as we've learned more about Dave Leitao over the past few weeks, there seems to be much to like. A Jim Calhoun protege considered one of the nation's top young coaches. A strong recruiter who stresses discipline and defense. A man with great personal integrity who cares about his players' academic performance.

Sounds like a guy we wouldn't mind getting to know a little better, hopefully over the next 10 to 20 years.

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Football recruiting...

The all-important NCAA Division 1-A football recruiting evaluation period begins tomorrow and lasts through May 31st, so expect more offers to be extended and for football recruiting news to pick up. The official definition from www.ncaa.org of this period is.

Four weeks (excluding Memorial Day and Sundays) selected at the discretion of the member institution and designated in writing in the office of the director of athletics - (an authorized off-campus recruiter may use one evaluation to assess the prospect's athletic ability and one evaluation to assess the prospect's academic qualifications during this evaluation period.)

Basically, schools can visit each high school twice if they want to. Also, schools are allowed to call each recruit one time during the entire period. This period really solidifies which players will receive scholarship offers (for the ones who haven't been offered already) and which ones will be most heavily recruited. Of course, for those who don't get many offers now, there's still time. Some recruits rise to the front during the summer and others earn more attention during their senior year.

Several recruits have made their way to Charlottesville to see spring practice. Some of the notables include Moore Catholic (Staten Island, NY) wide receiver Vidal Hazelton, Meadowbrook (Richmond, VA) outside linebacker/defensive end prospect John Graves and, coming to UVa this weekend, Blue Ridge cornerback Greg Davis. The Cavaliers have made an excellent impression on Hazelton, who is one of the top receivers in the country. In an update earlier this week, Vidal said he would choose UVa right now if he had to make a choice but says he doesn't plan on committing any time soon. Still, the Cavs, led by Mark D'Onofrio, are off to a great start for this 6-3, 195-pound star.

Graves, a 6-3, 245-pound prospect who has been offered by UVa, Virginia Tech and N.C. State, is a coveted prospect as well. UVa has had an opportunity to get to know John for several years, as he has been to Charlottesville on many occasions. UVa is targeting him as an outside linebacker.

Davis, who has been offered by Virginia, Virginia Tech, Nebraska, Maryland and Kansas, will take in UVa's spring practice this weekend. It will be the first time he has witnessed a spring practice anywhere. The 6-3, 190-pound Davis plays cornerback in high school but is being recruiting by UVa as a safety.

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Post of the Week

111 Balz chimes in on the Dave Leitao discussions on the basketball message board...

Subject: He is a highly regarded young coach with a strong pedigree
Posted by: 111Balz on Fri Apr 15 2005 8:15:10 AM
Message: from working as Jim Calhoun's top assistant. He did a good job at DePaul. His teams play tough defense and he seems to run clean programs.

Hiring a new coach is ALWAYS a gamble. Pete was considered a great choice , yet he failed. Many people questioned the hiring of Coach K (aka ferret) at dook, Paul Hewitt at GT, even Dean Smith at UNC. None of them had any more impressive a background than Dave, if as impressive.

Coach Dave Leitao

What's important now is that we support our new coach. Regardless of who our personal first choices were, only one man will lead our basketball team. If Dave's the guy, we need to enthusiastically help him, by publicly supporting him, by buying tickets, by coming to the games and cheering without hesitation. There will be things he does that people may question. Give him a chance.

We've been basically last the last two years. We won't get back to first division and the NCAA tournament over night, most likely anyway. Give him time to build his program, to implement his style, and frankly, to get his type of players in.

It took the ferret four years to win 20 games, yet dook had played in the NC game just three years before he got there and in the ACC final the year before. It took Dean five years to win 20, yet UNC had won the Nat. Championship just a few years previously. It took Gary Williams six years to win 20. We haven't won a NCAA tourney game in 10 years. We will need to show something we don't typically show.

Patience.

And remember, with Al, much of the buzz was about an alumnus leaving the NFL to come home...and almost nobody had even mentioned his name as a candidate. Of course he was replacing a legend, too.

There was little buzz when we hired Terry - that worked out pretty well. Buzz carries with it hyper expectations. Let's just look forward to seeing our team work hard, play D and grow under a new style of play.

All I am saying, is give Dave a chance.

One week left in spring football

Assistant coach John Garrett already has his game face on.

This has been an important spring for the Virginia football team, perhaps the most important since Al Groh first implemented his schemes and philosophy at UVa four years ago.

Coming off a disappointing end to the 2004 season, and with many players sidelined by injuries, Groh has needed to re-energize his program and try to fix some of the problems that plagued his team in big games last year. Has he been successful? Hard to say right now. But from watching open practices, it's clear that the players are enthusiastic and the coaches (especially the head coach) are as intense and motivated as ever.

Of course, you're welcome to come see for yourself. The last open practice is Sunday at 2:45 p.m. on the fields behind University Hall. The spring game will be held at Scott Stadium on Saturday, April 23, at 2 p.m.

Edge subscribers can also read these practice reports below.

Sabre Edge articles and columns from the past week

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