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SabreMail - April 15th, 2005 |
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OK, raise your hand if you had heard of Dave Leitao four weeks ago.
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.
John Galinsky |
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Recruiting News |
This Week In Recruiting By Chris Horne 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.
For more recruiting information and updates, please see Sabre Edge.
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News, Notes and Fan Discussion |
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
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.
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
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.
We'll have more reports over the next week, plus in-depth coverage of the spring game, so please click here to sign up for Sabre Edge. Around the Wahoo sports world...
For more information on UVa athletics, please see their official website below.
For the Sabre's weekly update on UVa baseball, please see the link below.
What's New on TheSabre.com? |
Sabre Edge articles and columns from the past week
Nick Sauer, a former walk-on linebacker for the Cavaliers, has been watching spring practices closely and has plenty of observations to share. He discusses who looks bigger and better (including Kevin McCabe), the play of the DBs, LBs and WRs, the offensive play-calling, the issue of vocal leadership, and much more in a notebook chock full of analysis and insight.
Of all the positions in all the games we play, the catcher may be the most underappreciated man in sports. Nobody on the baseball field has more responsibility than a catcher. He calls the pitches, monitors the pitcher's attitude and psyche, works the plate umpire, adjusts the defense, defends against the running game, defends the bunt, takes signals from four different people and, if that's not enough, he has to catch the darn ball while guys are swinging pieces of metal inches away from his head. Fun stuff. But on the Virginia baseball team, there is no lack of appreciation for catcher Scott Headd.
Remember when I said that Dave Odom had the most ties to the UVa basketball program of all the candidates? Well, clearly I was forgetting the subject of the next Coach Card. Marc Iavaroni is the only candidate who played basketball at Virginia. In fact, Iavaroni was a four-year starter in the '70s. On top of that, he was a graduate assistant in the early '80s and the color analyst for the Virginia radio network in the mid-'90s. Clearly, Iavaroni bleeds orange and blue. That's all fine and good, but what qualifies this 'Hoo to be the next head coach?
Ian-Yates Cunningham and Jordy Lipsey first met on September 7th, 2002, at the Virginia-South Carolina game. The two became fast friends and both eventually signed with UVa. They also happen to be roommates. Who knew they'd end up being rivals? This report from Sunday's practice discusses the competition at center between Cunningham and Lipsey. There are also items on the kick-blocking drills, the good news-bad news day for the wideouts and a few interesting folks who stopped by practice.
The target of a rumor storm last week, Dave Odom is now the subject of the fourth Coach Card. Monday morning, Wahoo nation woke to news reports that Odom was poised to become our new coach. After a board meltdown, the key figures have backed far away from those rumors. Still, Odom has a long history of success in the ACC, significant ties to Virginia's glory days, and gobs of high-level experience. Why would the fan base not be ecstatic about the prospect of Coach Odom returning to the Hook? Let's investigate. . .
We move on to the third Coach Card and a real Wahoo favorite, Mike Brey. While he's clearly a B-list candidate, many press accounts and posters have him as a likely choice (along with Dave Leitao) if the top-tier targets decline. The most important question about Brey (aside from whether he'd be willing to ditch the blazer and t-shirt look): If he becomes the first coach at JPJ, would he be the guy who led his Notre Dame squad to a 20-win season and a surge to the Sweet 16, or the guy who has been relegated to an early-round NIT loser the past two seasons? Sabre Edge recruiting updates from the past week Our resident recruiting expert, Chris Horne, provides updates for Edge subscribers about UVa's commitments and recruiting targets in football and men's basketball. To sign up for an Edge subscription, please see the sign-up promotion below. If you're already on board as an Edge subscriber, click the links below to catch up on recruiting. Football
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