Basketball

UVa has yet to sign any more commitments in the spring signing period. Paulding County (Dallas, GA) power forward Andy Ogide will not sign with UVa at all according to Paulding County head coach Joel Boone. Boone, who refused further comment on the situation, believes his standout will end up somewhere in the SEC.

6-5, 225-pound Community Christian (Stockbridge, GA) shooting guard Solomon Tat has not yet signed but remains firmly committed to the Hoos. Tat is in good shape academically, but Virginia is hoping he secures his Visa before he signs a letter of intent.

Tat put forth a strong senior season, averaging 26 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists per game. He recently earned MVP honors in the Atlanta East-West all-star game, lighting up the scoreboard with 36 points in the contest. Tat is very excited about heading to Virginia and has been talking recently with fall signee Will Harris.

UVa commitment Jamil Tucker, a 6-9 forward from Gary, Ind., recorded 11 points, five rebounds, and a block for the U.S. All-Stars in the 33rd annual Capital Classic on Thursday.

Football

Stone Bridge offensive lineman Andrew Nuss was at last week's open practice.

Top targets including 6-4 ½, 290-pound East Meadow (N.J.) OL John Elliott, 6-1, 245-pound Teaneck (N.J.) inside linebacker Randy Martinez, 6-6, 285-pound Stone Bridge OL Andrew Nuss and 6-2, 220-pound State College (PA) inside linebacker prospect Nathan Stupar were in attendance for UVa's spring practice last Saturday. These targets had very positive experiences on the day despite the inclement weather.

Targets in attendance who recently received offers over the past month or so include 6-6, 282-pound Pottsville (PA) OL Brad Hallick (offered on Saturday), 6-5, 315-pound Union (N.J.) OG prospect Desmond Stapleton, and Good Counsel products including 6-5, 235-pound TE Danny Parker and 6-0, 190-pound ATH Joe Lefeged.

Gloucester (VA) OLB prospect Aaron Taliaferro made a visit to UVa last Friday and really enjoyed it as well. He hit it off with current UVa commitment Jared Detrick, another linebacker who is also out of the Tidewater area. Detrick and fellow UVa commitment, CB Dom Joseph out of Roman Catholic (Philadelphia, PA), were both in Charlottesville over the weekend.

Check the Sabre EDGE for specific updates on the above prospects with much more to come in the coming weeks.

UVa's next big recruiting day will be next Saturday for the spring game. Among those prospects planning to attend are LB Terence Fells-Danzer, QB Peter Lalich, QB Tyrod Taylor, WR Jay Smith and LB/ATH J'Courtney Williams, among others.

Spring weather seems to be here, so shake off the winter cobwebs! The perfect solution: Play some rounds of golf and take a weekend trip to the Outer Banks in North Carolina. Check out Village Realty. They have a great selection of vacation rentals in a prime location. If you like it enough, there are even properties you can buy.

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The Sabre has all of the essential Spring Game information in one convenient location for you. So anytime you need information on the weather, parking, the festivities, parking, or just about anything else, just click here!

Post of the Week

Subject: FB Parent Rant ... (long one)
Posted by: KCJME1 on Wed Apr 12 2006 10:23:35 AM
Message: As most of you who have read my posts before will attest - I believe that Coach Groh and the staff are doing their very best to both guide the boys to success but also provide an environment that success is achievable. I will also say that our boys should always be held responsible for their actions and should understand the "natural consequences" of those actions.

But I will also say that a large group of uninformed board posters out there have a very poor understanding of just how hard most of these boys (and other student athletes - scholarship or not) have to work to get here and how hard it is to stay successful. I say with no intent to "take away" from any other group of hard working students as they toil through their college years.

First - I can say that my son is academically qualified to be at UVa - both GPA and scholastic test exceeded the levels required to gain entry. Second - here is a snapshot of what a typical day looks like for my son:

Day:
5:30 - McQue Center for Weight Training and Conditioning
7:15 - Grab a quick bite enroot to dorm/class (note - try and maintain a 4500 calorie a day diet on your schedule)
8:00 - Classes until 1:00 (grab food somewhere along the way)
1:00 - Study/homework until 3:00
3:00 - Team meetings
4:00 - Practice until 6:30
6:30 - Mandatory study hall for 2 hours (mandatory 10 hours per week) plus need to eat .
8:30 - Back to the dorm and study - decompress - sleep

This is the schedule for the entire school year. Then add travel requirements to school work when the season starts. Then add the NCAA requirement for minimum of 6 SH per summer (mine is taking 12 to be able to finish undergrad by 3.5 years and be able to work grad - unless NFL takes him).

Some additional points: Holidays, nope - they are playing football. Birthdays and other events - nope playing football - practicing, training, etc. Spring break - not always available.

Yes - he is receiving an outstanding education for the school of his choice because he worked hard and got good grades. Yes he is paying it all back by working hard and playing football.

He comes from a very middle class rural family - he is not "privileged" - he busted his butt to get where he is. No one gave it to him. He is grateful to the good Lord, the parents who raised him, the family and friends that support him, the school that allows him to do what he loves, the fans that show up to cheer him on, and the coaching staff and teammates that challenge him to do better.

He tells us every day how much he hates it when his teammates and fellow student athletes pull stupid stunts - but he understands that he can only manage his environment and his own behavior. He is not perfect. He knows if he get caught doing anything out of the "box" that he will be held responsible.

So - next time you decide to bash or trash a football player or other student athlete and mark them as the privileged and pampered bunch . Don't STEREOTYPE - the lions share of them are just good kids, doing what they love, to get a degree, make a better world, to entertain you and to hold up the Lord and Praise him for the gifts he give them.

The media is looking for a story - they will always find a story. Society (you) demand the dirt on those who are in the limelight; it is what fuels the media - sells papers, gains ratings, etc.

My $0.02 worth - soap box is now closed.

Want to read the entire thread? Football Message Board

License Plate Gallery for Wahoowa Section

Don't forget, the Sabre is looking for your UVa-related license plates! We're collecting photos of any Sabre users' plates that have Cavalier-related themes on their tags. (Take H8Tech for instance, who obviously is not a VT supporter!) We'll start the photo gallery in the Wahoowa section of the site once we get enough plates to start us off.

All you need to do is snap a picture of your license plate and email it to [email protected] with the header: License Plate Photo. If you have a really cool ride (I don't know, maybe Xzibit pimped it for you) and want to include a photo of you with your car and plates, that's cool too.

We'll let you know about the gallery once it gets started!

Around the World of Wahoo Sports ...

• Virginia Women's Tennis Sweeps Boston College 7-0: The No. 25 ranked Virginia women's tennis team captured its fourth consecutive victory, downing No. 75 Boston College 7-0 Thursday afternoon. The win improved the Cavaliers' record to 12-7 on the season, 6-4 in the ACC as they clinched their first winning season in the ACC since 1994.
• UVa Women's Golfers Head to ACC Championship: The 17th-ranked Virginia women's golf team plays in the 18th annual Atlantic Coast Conference Championship this weekend in Pinehurst, N.C. The 54-hole tournament will feature 18 holes of competition per day at the par-72, 6,293-yard Pinehurst No. 8 course.
• Cavaliers Host Lou Onesty/Milton Abramson Invitational: The University of Virginia Track and Field teams are set to host the Lou Onesty/Milton Abramson Invitational this weekend at Lannigan Track. Events start Friday afternoon at 1:30 p.m.
• Thompson Named ACC Men's Lacrosse Player of the Week: Virginia men's lacrosse player Drew Thompson has been named Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Week after guiding the Cavaliers to a 21-13 league victory over North Carolina last Saturday. Thompson scored two goals and added an assist..

Fore more information on Virignia athletics, check out Virginiasports.com.

Sabre articles from the past week

No Need To Debate: Olsen Still No. 1
After Saturday's open practice session, there have been questions about the quarterback position on Virginia's football team. In that practice, Christian Olsen struggled a bit and threw a pair of interceptions during drills. As Al Groh would caution, one practice does not provide enough information from which to make final decisions. So, yes, Olsen is still the No. 1 quarterback right now. Besides, Olsen is still getting better according to Groh.

Devvarman Delivers At No. 1
It seems like Somdev Devvarman should be used to being No. 1 by now. The 21-year-old was the top-ranked junior in both singles and doubles in India before coming to play at Virginia in the fall of 2004. Still, the Virginia sophomore was a little bit anxious when he took over the No. 1 singles position for the Cavaliers this spring.

Copper's Value Could Go Up
Gold and silver. Silver and gold. These two metals steal the headlines, woo the Valentines, and adorn billboard signs. But what about copper? It holds physical properties of strength and adaptability. It shows resistance to corrosion, wear, and tear; it is described as versatile and highly useful. The Virginia football team certainly hopes its own Jon Copper proves to be such a valued commodity.

White's Career Simply Spectacular
Sometimes when college athletes enter the final year of their career, they put pressure on themselves to have one last great season, to equal or better the best years of their career. That was the case with UVa swimmer Brielle White, who wanted "to go out with a bang." Of course, in White's case that meant doing something only 4 other swimmers in ACC history had done - being named the ACC Swimmer of the Year for a second time. The Cavalier senior did that and more.

Secondary May Play Primary Role
This time of year, reporters get a lot of Grohisms. What's a Grohism? It's something Al Groh says year after year. Something we've all heard before and something that, more often than not, is true. One Grohism? "There are two areas every year you start all over again and make sure you get it the way you want and that's the offensive line and the secondary." Well with Marcus Hamilton and a ton of talent available, the building process in the secondary was probably a little easier this spring.

Rain Soaks Spring Practice
April showers bring . a miserable spring football practice session, that's what. The Cavaliers braved the consistent rainfall Saturday in what was their third open practice session of the spring period; UVa has six practices remaining. Coach Al Groh laughed afterward when he said the bowl preparation period had nicer weather than this. Indeed.

Monroe Out For The Spring
Virginia will go through the remainder of its practices without left tackle Eugene Monroe, who was injured during a drill last weekend. Monroe dislocated his knee cap and needed some 'clean-up' surgery. UVa coach Al Groh said that Monroe was scheduled to have the surgery on Friday. Monroe is done for the spring, meaning that Zak Stair and Will Barker are working at left tackle in his absence.

Sabre Edge recruiting updates from the past week ...

UVa Recruiting Notes
Virginia's spring practice last weekend was a success, drawing some top targets from Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia. The 'Hoos didn't land any verbal commitments, but, despite the bad weather, impressed a number of recruits. Also, check out some news from Saturday's Shrine Bowl combine just outside of Charlotte and be sure to check out UVa basketball signee Jamil Tucker in tonight's Capital Classic at 8:00 p.m.

Hughes Drawing 1A Attention
5-11, 175-pound Kempsville (Virginia Beach, VA) defensive back recruit Trenton Hughes performed pretty well at the Scout.com combine in Durham on March 26th, running the 40 in 4.53 seconds and showing off a 33-inch vertical leap. Those numbers were solid, but Hughes feels he can improve upon them in future combines.

UVa Jumps Into Contention with Top OL Elliott
East Meadow (N.Y.) offensive line recruit John Elliott made unofficial visits to Maryland, Michigan, Notre Dame and Rutgers before this past weekend's trip to the University of Virginia. The UVa staff needed to impress the 6-4 ½, 290-pound prospect who has 18 scholarship offers and climbing.

Martinez Enjoys First UVa Experience
State College (PA) LB Nathan Stupar wasn't the only top UVa inside linebacker target in attendance at spring practice on Saturday. 6-1, 245-pound Teaneck (N.J.) star Randy Martinez, whose stock seems to be rising as the spring goes on, was there as well and enjoyed his first-ever experience in Charlottesville.

Stupar Visits Virginia
Nathan Stupar made the journey from State College, Pennsylvania, to Charlottesville over the weekend, first to see his friend Kyle Long - younger brother of UVa defensive end Chris Long - play baseball on Friday and then for UVa's spring practice festivities on Saturday. The weather wiped out Long's game, but Stupar was still able to enjoy UVa's practice.

UVa Offers Hallick on Saturday
In a phone conversation with UVa assistant coach Bob Price last Thursday, 6-6, 282-pound Pottsville (PA) offensive line recruit Brad Hallick felt coach Price "gave some indications that if I came [for a visit on Saturday] I could get an offer." He was right, and he left Charlottesville on Saturday with a scholarship offer from the University of Virginia.

UVa to Sign Only One in Spring?
The University of Virginia was expected to sign two players - G/F Solomon Tat and PF Andy Ogide - in the spring signing period that begins today and lasts thru May 16th. Now it appears the 'Hoos will at most sign one of these two promising prospects, with the one not expected to sign today.

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