Happy Father's Day!

The month of June rolls on without University of Virginia sports so there are probably plenty of UVa dads out there going through withdrawal. That's OK. It is only 78 days until kickoff!

So dads, while you eagerly await the start of a new Hoo year, we all want to take a minute to thank you for being you. With Father's Day on Sunday, we are reminded of just how important dear ol' dad is in our lives. Personally, my father has been a rock solid part of my life - helping with advice, moving, cars, and just about anything else you can think of. So, thanks dad! Happy Father's Day and I love you!

As for the rest of you fathers, have a good weekend and enjoy a Happy Father's Day on Sunday.

Kris Wright
TheSabre.com
Editor

The first edition of TheSabre.com's Top 30 was released this week. In this Pre-Summer edition, UVa has six commitments from the state's top 30 prospects including five from the top 20.

Headlining the list is West Springfield quarterback Peter Lalich. The 6-5, 230-pound signal caller completed 189 of 331 passes (57%) for 2,671 yards with 22 touchdowns and 12 interceptions last season as a junior. He was named first-team all-Patriot district and earned honorable mention Washington Post All-Metro honors for his performance.

A true pocket passer with prototypical pocket passer size and a strong arm, Lalich chose UVa over offers from Miami, Michigan, N.C. State and UCLA, among others.

J'Courtney Williams

Coming in at No. 4 overall is Christchurch star J'Courtney Williams. Williams is a 6-3, 218-pound safety/linebacker recruit. He possesses outstanding speed and athleticism for his size, and this combination drew scholarship offers from eight Division 1A programs.

Another UVa linebacker target - Culpeper's Terence Fells-Danzer - comes in at No. 5. The fifth spot was honestly the toughest to rank with so many quality prospects in the mix. There were prospects with significantly more offers than Terence, but his performance on tape was what set him apart in my mind. At 6-1, 230 pounds, he combines a good build with outstanding athleticism and speed. He's tough as well, as he played through last season with an ankle injury.

Fells-Danzer and Williams (should he end up at LB) will both bring an upgrade in speed and athleticism to UVa's linebacker position.

Yorktown RB Max Milien, a player whose talent had Al Groh visiting Yorktown several times, and Gloucester OLB Aaron Taliaferro round out the UVa commits in the top 20. The 6-1, 200-pound Milien comes in at No. 12, while the 6-2, 220-pound Taliaferro comes in at No. 20.

The final UVa commitment on the list is Jared Detrick. The 6-2, 230-pound Woodside standout is at No. 27 on the list. He's very raw, but he displays a good combination of size and speed.

UVa will likely not stop there, as the staff is in serious contention for a number of other Top 30 recruits including Hylton OL William Alvarez (No. 6), Stone Bridge OL Andrew Nuss (No. 8), Highland Springs CBs Cris Hill (No. 9) and C.J. Fleming (No. 15), among others.

Certainly, both UVa and Virginia Tech are rebounding nicely from last year's out-of-state invasion of in-state recruits.

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Post of the Week

Dom Starsia spoke at a local lacrosse event this week.

Subject: Starsia at Seminole League Event
Posted by: heater on Wed Jun 14 2006 10:47:05 AM
Message: My 9-year old son is trying out lacrosse for the first time this year at Charlottesville's Seminole League. They're running a skills camp each evening this week. So far, I'm really impressed with the instruction and the way the volunteer coaches handle the kids.

Last night, I was delighted to see that our guest speaker was none other than Dom Starsia. He said all the right things to the kids (aged 4-13). At the end, he put in a big plug for academics, saying that most of the top lacrosse schools were also very good academic schools, so you had to do your best in school to increase your options for college.

On the way home, I asked my son what he could remember from Dom's talk, and he said, "Yeah, you can't be a great lacrosse player 2 hours a day and a knucklehead the other 22 hours".

Heartfelt thanks to Dom Starsia for giving back to the community.

Check out the Sabre's Lacrosse Message Board to read the responses!

Gooooaaaaaaaaaaaalllllllllllllllllll!

The World Cup takes center stage this month as soccer teams from around the globe compete in Germany. Want to discuss the action with fellow futbol fanactics? We've got you covered! The Sabre's Soccer Message Board is the perfect place to rant and rave about the World Cup.

New to the U? Visit the Sabre's Wahoowa! Section

A post from TulaneU (who has since switched to TulaneUVa - nice work!) raised this interesting question this week on the football board ...

Subject: Transfer Student from Tulane University
Posted by: TulaneU on Thu Jun 15 2006 12:51:27 PM
Message: Hello UVA nation!

I am a rising third year transfer student from Tulane. I am majoring in Mechanical Engineering, and as you may or may not know, Tulane cut almost the entire engineering department citing hurricane damage and financial losses as the reason.

I chose UVA first and foremost for it's national repuatation, and as much as I hate to admit it, it's usnews ranking. Second, UVA actually has a reputable athletic's program, and I am a HUGE, HUGE college football fan. Lastly, you guys could not have a more beautiful campus. As soon as I set foot on grounds, I felt like I was in a whole different world.

The point of this thread is that I want to be ease my transition into UVA, so I am asking you to please tell me any FOOTBALL traditions, anything I should/need to know, history of UVA athletics, your most hated rival. Remember, I am from Louisiana where LSU and the SEC in general is everything. I have always been a fan of the SEC and ACC personally, so please, show me what the ACC has to offer and show me some good football UVA!

The Great Seal of Virginia - Photo by Ralph Thompson

As you might imagine, Sabre-ites had some interesting responses to the request. Read the thread here. Of course as one posters suggested, anyone - new or old - can find plenty of information on the University and the traditions in the Sabre's Wahoowa! section.

There's info on the Good Old Song, Beta and Seal (if you don't know, you should read about it), and info on a Wahoo. You can read up on the Cavalier Mascot and see the evolution of the school's athletics logo. There are also two renditions of the Good Old Song to listen too!

Wahoowa!

Around the World of Wahoo Sports ...

• Wigger Cruises to WEGA Championship: A year ago Virginia golf Leah Wigger took a one-shot lead into the final round of the Womens' Eastern Golf Association Championship only to finish third, one shot off the lead. This year Wigger made sure it was not a close affair. Carrying a nine-shot lead into Thursday's final round, Wigger took medalist honors at 8-under 211.

Sean Doolittle is a finalist for the Brooks Wallace Award.

• Three Men's Lacrosse Players Earn Academic Recognition: Michael Culver, Matt Poskay, and Matt Ward of Virginia's national championship men's lacrosse team were named United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) Scholar All-Americans announced recently at the STX/USILA All-American brunch.
• Doolittle Named Brooks Wallace Finalist: Virginia sophomore left-handed pitcher/first baseman Sean Doolittle has been named one of the three finalists for the Brooks Wallace Award given to the nation's top player by the College Baseball Foundation. He also was named second team All-American by Baseball America and the National Collegiate Baseball Writer's Association on Tuesday.
• Rostedt, Krzysik Named to Roster for U-20 World Championships: Two members of the Virginia women's soccer team were named to the final roster for the United States for the FIFA U-20 Women's World Championship being held August 17-September 3 in Russia. Jess Rostedt and Nikki Krzysik will be making their second appearance in the tournament as both played for the U.S. in the 2004 tournament in Thailand.
• Dawn Staley Named to WNBA's All-Decade Team: Virginia alumna Dawn Staley (1989-92) was named to the WNBA's All-Decade Team, the league announced live nationally during halftime of the Sting-Mystics game late Tuesday.

To read the full stories or gather more information on Virignia athletics, check out Virginiasports.com.

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Sabre articles from the past week

Rooting In '06 With An Eye on 2007
Let's start with the most obvious statement ever uttered by a sports fan: I'll be rooting for my team to win every single game next season. Of course! However, I'll be multitasking. While I root for the Hoos in 2006, I'll be doing so with an eye squarely on 2007. After all, 2007 looks like a potentially big year for the Cavaliers on the field. And that starts with 2006.

Best Seat in the House: Philip Brown Talks Transfer
Defensive back Philip Brown spent the past year at Piedmont Virginia Community College in an effort to regain his academic eligibility at the University of Virginia. Just weeks after things looked promising, however, Brown's time at UVa has ended - he plans to transfer to Grambling. Brown appeared on the Best Seat in the House with Jed Williams on Wednesday night to talk about what changed and what's next for him.

Best Seat in the House: Tyrod Taylor
Hampton's Tyrod Taylor topped The Sabre's Top 30 list after he accounted for 2,500 yards of total offense and 32 touchdowns last season in leading the Crabbers to a state championship. After being announced as No. 1, Taylor joined Jed Williams on the Best Seat in the House to talk about his college prospects, playing quarterback, and more.

Best Seat in the House: Chris Horne
The Sabre and the Best Seat in the House joined forces on the radio airwaves Tuesday to release the class of 2007's top 5 high school football recruits in the state of Virginia. Chris Horne joined Jed Williams to reveal the top 5 and to talk about what makes them the best of the best. The audio features commentary on Terence Fells-Danzer, J'Courtney Williams, Jay Smith, Peter Lalich, and Tyrod Taylor.

Sabre Edge recruiting updates from the past week ...

Fleming, Hill Have Impressive Offers
C.J. Fleming and Cris Hill are similar in height and weight (5-11, 175 pounds), both are cornerback prospects and both have been offered by some of the same schools. How each player handles his decision making process will likely be different, however, as Fleming may be looking to make an early decision while Hill's could go into the winter.

DeChristopher Updates Recruitment
Clover Hill (Midlothian, VA) offensive lineman Blake DeChristopher made an unofficial visit to the University of Virginia last weekend. The 6-5, 295-pound standout took the time last night to discuss the trip, a possible timetable for making a college decision and his most recent scholarship offer.

Pre-Summer Top 30 Full of O-Linemen
While quarterbacks are ranked 1-2 in The Sabre Pre-Summer Virginia Top 30, it is the players who protect them that are the highlight of the 2007 recruiting class. Seven offensive line recruits have received scholarship offers from Division 1A programs, so it is obvious where the strength of the class is position-wise. Five of those seven are ranked in the top 13.

Blue Chip Day Impresses Recruits
Mason Cloy, Blake DeChristopher, Andrew Devlin, C.J. Fleming, Cris Hill, Andrew Nuss and Andrew Szczerba were the uncommitted recruits that showed up for UVa's Blue Chip day on Saturday. TheSabre.com was able to catch up with most of these kids their reactions, with further updates coming this week. Reaction has been positive so far and Virginia seems to have helped or enhanced its position with some of these players.

Cloy Looking to Narrow List
Spring Valley (Columbia, S.C.) OL/TE recruit Mason Cloy has been extremely busy over the past few weeks, making unofficial visits to many of the 13 schools that have extended official scholarship offers. The 6-4, 260-pound standout will now take some time off from making any more visits and hopes to narrow his list of schools in the near future.

Every week, Sabre Edge provides you with exclusive articles, columns, special features, interviews and recruiting news, including daily recruiting updates. There's even a special message board just for subscribers. And to top it off, you get 10 percent off all of your UVa Bookstores purchases during your subscription.

All of the great Sabre Edge content can be yours for the price of $5.99 per month or $59.99 per year. Try it for a month and cancel if you like. But we think you'll get hooked on the Edge and find out for yourself why the most knowledgeable Cavalier fans are Edge subscribers.

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