A Busy Week Scheduled at Virginia

The John Paul Jones Arena hosts two events this week.

There will be quite the buzz around the University of Virginia this week as the school year draws near. Tonight, the John Paul Jones Arena hosts the second event in its history when WWE Raw invades Charlottesville. On Thursday, "Meet the Team Day" is set at Scott Stadium, while James Taylor fills the JPJ later in the evening. Finally, Saturday is move-in day for first-year students at Mr. Jefferson's University. Needless to say, U.S. 29 will be hopping all week long!

On the football front, Thursday's popular "Meet the Team Day" begins at 3 p.m. when the gates to the stadium are opened. Cavalier fans will have the chance to interact with the players on Virginia's 2006 squad and head coach Al Groh. Players will be available for photos and autographs from 3:45 p.m. to 5 p.m. The UVa Cheerleaders, the Cavalier, and his horse, Sabre, will be in attendance as well. Parking is free for the event and fans are encouraged to use the west side gate, which will serve as the entrance for the event.

There will also be copies of the 2006 Cavalier Football schedule poster, schedule magnet, and schedule cards available for fans. The latest UVa gear and merchandise will be available for purchase as well. Plus, concession stands will operate to accommodate fans in attendance. Door prizes will also be given away.

Kris Wright
TheSabre.com
Editor

Kris Burd

Matoaca (VA) WR Kris Burd told TheSabre.com last Friday that he is leaning toward making a verbal commitment to the University of Virginia. Burd, a 6-1, 185-pound prospect who boasts official offers from Maryland and UVa, could commit anytime between today (his team's first practice is today) and before the beginning of school.

As a junior last season, Burd, a standout wide receiver and safety for Matoaca, made 44 receptions for 840 yards and five touchdowns before his season ended due to a broken collarbone. He earned Richmond Times-Dispatch First-Team All-Metro honors at the wide receiver position.

Salesianum (Wilmington, DE) tight end Andrew Szczerba remains uncommitted but still has Penn State and UVa at the top of his list. The 6-6, 255-pound prospect is another player who could decide at any time. The UVa staff has recruited the talented athlete very hard, so he is considered to be very high on the Cavs' prospect board.

Currently, UVa has 13 verbal commitments for the 2007 recruiting class.

Also, TheSabre.com is busy contacting new offers that have been extended by the staff. Last week, Williamsport Area (PA) defensive tackle Zane Parr was the subject of an EDGE feature. Parr is a 6-5, 285-pound prospect who attended UVa's summer camp this year. He also has offers from Connecticut and Temple and is drawing a serious look from Michigan. UVa and Michigan make up his top two at this point.

Media Day and Meet the Team take place on Thursday. Stay tuned for comments from UVa's incoming freshman class on being at UVa, how training camp is going and what their expectations are for the 2006 season.

Basketball .

Monsignor Bonner (Drexel Hill, PA) 4-star guard Jeff Jones could narrow his list of schools to four this week. Should Jones go ahead with the cut, UVa is expected to be one of the schools to make it and should get an official visit from the 6-4, 180-pound star. Stay tuned this week, as we will catch up with Jeff for the latest in his decision-making process.

Chris Horne, our resident recruiting expert, provides updates throughout the week for Edge subscribers about UVa's commitments and recruiting targets in football and men's basketball. To sign up for an Edge subscription, please check out the Sabre Edge Sign Up and Information Page. If you're already on board as an Edge subscriber, click the links below to catch up on recruiting.

Sabre Edge recruiting updates from the past week ...

Burd Leaning Towards Commitment
Previously, Matoaca (VA) 3-star wide receiver recruit Kris Burd was leaning towards making a few visits in late summer or fall before making a verbal commitment. The 6-1, 185-pound standout, who has written offers from Maryland and Virginia, may now be changing his tune.

New Offer: PA DT Zane Parr
Several defensive tackle prospect have been included in the latest wave of scholarship offers being sent out by the University of Virginia staff. Zane Parr, a 6-5, 285-pound defensive tackle prospect out of Williamsport Area High School (PA), learned of his UVa offer last week and was very pleased.

An Offer Coming for Tucker?
6-4, 210-pound Romale Tucker had a "verbal" offer from the University of Virginia prior to his unofficial visit this past Sunday. Tucker, who made the visit alongside Ballou (Washington, D.C.) teammates Marvin Austin and Dwan Thornton, spoke with head coach Al Groh and defensive coordinator Mike London on the trip and discussed what the status of an official offer is with the Hoos.

Also from the past week ...

• 4-Star WR Smith Visits Tech
• Nation's Top Player Visits UVa
• UVa Offers Star Seneca Valley DT
• Huge OL Drawing UVa Interest

Planning a great July cookout at your house? Headed to someone else's barbeque? Either way, Kroger® is the place to go for all of your summer grilling and cooking needs. Pick up your favorite hamburgers, hotdogs, buns, ketchup, mustard, relish, or whatever else you need for a perfect and tasty meal.

Also, don't forget that Kroger® is still the place to go for all of your tailgaiting and dinner needs! Count on your Kroger delicatessen to create inviting tailgating trays that taste as good as they look. Or you can simpy grab an already cooked rotisserie chicken. Or how about potato salad, wings, or other great quick dining options? Kroger gives you fast options so you can get to the game fast to support your Hoos!

Thanks, as always, for giving the Sabre's sponsors the first chance to win your business. Remember, our sponsors help bring you a better Web site.

Post of the Week

Subject: I just wanted to say THANK YOU!
Posted by: VintonVAHOO on Mon Aug 7 2006 4:13:06 PM
Message: As many of you read on Tuesday, I was working on my jet ski at SML, and there was a spark from the battery which caught gas vapors on fire and blew me off the jet ski and burnt my face, eyes, chest, lungs, and right arm. I was rushed to Bedford hospital then air lifted to UVA Tues. night. I woke up the next day not really knowing what was going on with a breathing tube in and so much morphene.

I had visitors but like I said I was pretty much out of it until Olsen, Deyon, Hamilton, and Fontel all came in to see me. I tryed my hardest to jump out of bed but it didnt work and I couldn't talk. They said a prayer with me and then Hamilton said "I heard you were going to the PITT game" and I nodded yes, he then said "we're going take care of them for you, I promise"

Like Kris said everyone is quick to criticize athletes but things like this that they do goes completely overlooked. These guys dropped what they were doing and rushed to the hospital.

Thanks a whole lot ti everyone for the thoughts and prayers and especially to Kris and HOOSWILD for arranging for the players to come visit me, you guys have no idea how much that lifted my spirits. I've still got alot of healing an rehab ahead of me but I'm here and that's all that matters!

The Sabre's Opponent Sites' Directory

Pittsburgh (Official) Panther Lair Panther Digest

With football season approaching fast, many Virginia fans might be interested in what the Cavaliers' opponents are up to this summer. Well, the Sabre has saved you some research time. Much like the Pittsburgh example seen here (the Panthers are the Hoos' opening opponent), all of the Web sites for the football and basketball teams' opponents have been linked in our Other Sites section. That makes it easy to check up on UVa's opponents before the opening kickoff!

Random Trivia Giveaways

Staying active on the message boards can be rewarding. From time to time, the Sabre posts a Random Trivia Giveaway question on one of the message boards. The first non-EDGE subscriber to answer the question correctly receives 1 free week. So basically, all you have to do is visit the message boards and answer a trivia question first - then you're in!

Around the World of Wahoo Sports ...

• George Welsh to Return to Sidelines:Former UVa and Navy head coach George Welsh has been selected by USA Football to lead the United States national team that will compete in the third World Championship of American Football next year in Kawasaki, Japan.
• Arseneault Falls in Quarterfinals at US Amateur: Virginia sophomore golfer Jennie Arseneault missed a three-foot par putt on the 19th hole of play to fall to Lindy Duncan in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Amateur Championship.
• Virginia Men's Soccer Picked to Finish Second in the ACC: The Virginia men's soccer team has been picked to finish second in the Atlantic Coast Conference as determined by a vote of the league's nine head coaches in the 2006 ACC Preseason Poll. North Carolina was picked first.
• Virginia Has 221 Student-Athletes On ACC Academic Honor Roll: The University of Virginia has 221 student-athletes on the 2005-06 Atlantic Coast Conference Academic Honor Roll. The 50th annual ACC Academic Honor Roll is comprised of those student-athletes who participated in a varsity-level sport and registered a grade point average of 3.0 or better for the full academic year.
• Cavaliers Third in Preseason ACC Women's Soccer Poll: The Atlantic Coast Conference announced its 2006 preseason women's soccer poll Wednesday, as voted upon by the league's coaches. Virginia was third in the voting, behind North Carolina and Florida State.
• Virginia Picked To Finish Second In ACC Preseason Volleyball Poll: The University of Virginia volleyball team has been selected to finish second in the Atlantic Coast Conference according to the 2006 Preseason ACC Volleyball Poll, which is determined by a vote of the league's 12 head coaches. Duke was picked first.

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

Issue No. 175 - February 4, 2005

You can rate and rank recruiting classes all you want - there's a whole industry that does so, and we're a part of it - but it's probably unwise for fans to place too much stock in anyone's evaluations.

Recruits Rashawn Jackson (left) and Mike Brown (right) signed their LOIs with Virginia on Wednesday.

It's almost become a cliche to say that recruiting is an inexact science. (Heck, to me, chemistry and biology were inexact sciences. That's why I majored in English and Philosophy.) But it's true. You can measure a high school player's size, strength and speed. You can look at his stats and skills. But you can't accurately project how much he will progress in college, how he'll fit in with the program, how he'll adapt academically and socially, or how much things will change in his life from when he's 17 or 18 until he's 21 or 22.

Virginia's 2001 recruiting class is a good example. That group of 17 players, most of whom were recruited by George Welsh and signed by Al Groh, was not rated highly by any of the various recruiting services and gurus. But it turned out to be a terrific class that produced some of the best players in UVa history. Elton Brown and Heath Miller weren't even ranked among the top 10 recruits in the state of Virginia. Both were first-team All-Americans in 2004.

You don't have to get great national recruits to succeed in college football. Just look at teams like Utah and Boise State and Louisville and, um, Fresno State. Of course, programs that routinely lure the best athletes, like Miami and Florida State and Oklahoma and Southern Cal, demonstrate the importance of talent acquisition. Sure, recruiting is important.

So go ahead and get excited about the 2005 recruiting class that UVa reeled in on Wednesday, the top-20 national class that includes future stars (we hope) Eugene Monroe, Mike Brown, Mikell Simpson, Vic Hall and many more.

Just keep in mind that Signing Day isn't the end. It's just the beginning.

Former Sabre editor John Galinsky had those thoughts back in February of 2005.

Coming Soon

With August ready to heat up the calendar, The Sabre is in full stride with lots of content planned. Here's a sneak peak at some of the articles to expect on the site in the coming days:

Sean Singletary

• Sean Singletary Ready For Season
  Virginia point guard Sean Singletary joined Jed Williams on The Best Seat in the House radio show and talked about life, rehab, the upcoming season, and more. The two-part EDGE audio will be available this week.
• Where the Bills Roam
  A pair of former Cavaliers - Brad Butler and Angelo Crowell - are finding NFL success in Buffalo.
• ACC Football Preview
  What should Hoo fans expect from the ACC this season? The Sabre's season preview answers some questions.
• Fall Practice Rolls Along
  The UVa football team continues with fall training camp and The Sabre will keep you informed on all the news.
• Jeff Jones Recruiting Update
  The Sabre's recruiting expert Chris Horne checks in with basketball recruit Jeff Jones.

In Case You Missed It ...

Sabre articles from the past week

Fall Practice 2006: Snelling Looks Sharp
During Sunday's football practice at Virginia, the following phrases were shouted after different running plays: "J!", "Yeah, J-Bird!", "Nice job Jason!", "Way to go Snell!", and so on. In other words, by any nickname you choose, Jason Snelling has looked very strong at running back during the Cavaliers' open sessions this fall. The Hoos hope the trend continues Labor Day weekend and beyond.

Photo Gallery: Fall Practice Rolls On
The Virginia football team continued to work out this weekend with four more open practices, including a two-a-day Saturday. Quarterbacks Christian Olsen, Kevin McCabe, and Jameel Sewell took most of the reps Sunday - check out some photos of the action in this EDGE photo gallery.

Fall Practice 2006: Cavs' Defense Making Strides
Open practices kept rolling along for the Virginia football team with two more sessions on Saturday. The second weekend of drills brings the defense to the fans' side of the field more often and defensive coordinator Mike London's crew is making noticeable progress. After a somewhat ragged day on Friday, the defense looked strong on Saturday night in both individual and team drills.

Fall Practice 2006: Dias Looks For Positive Year
For the second straight season, Jermaine Dias is wearing an Orange jersey from the start of fall football practice at Virginia. Needless to say, he's happy to be performing at a high enough level to earn the recognition - now he just wants to stay healthy and make plays for the Cavalier defense.

Best Seat in the House: Jameel Sewell, Fall Practice
Jed Williams caught up with reserve quarterback Jameel Sewell early in the fall practice period prior to the QB's recent injury. Check out The Best Seat in the House audio to see what Sewell had to say about the speed of defenses, throwing technique, reading progressions, the competition for playing time, and more.

The ACC's Impact Freshmen
In The Sabre.com's ongoing preview of the ACC football season, we take a look in this four-part series on the top impact players in the conference. Today we look at the freshmen (true and redshirt) that could make the biggest impact for their teams. Of course, forecasting freshmen performances is a bit like predicting the weather - surely we'll be right with some, but with others . partly cloudy is a safe bet, right?

The ACC's Top 5 Impact Sophomores
Every team in the ACC has talented players, valuable players, and big-play performers. But which players will make the biggest impact in the conference for their respective team this season? In The Sabre.com's ongoing preview of the ACC football season, we take a look in this four-part series on the top impact players in the conference. Today we look at the sophomores that will make the biggest impact for their teams in the ACC this season.

The ACC's Top 5 Impact Juniors
In TheSabre.com's ongoing preview of the ACC football season, we take a look in this four-part series on the top play impact makers in the conference. Today we look at the juniors who will make the biggest impact for their teams in the ACC this season. Virginia's Chris Long made the list, but who else will make plays on the field this fall?

The ACC's Top 5 Impact Seniors
Every team in the ACC has talented players, valuable players, and big play performers. But which players will make the biggest impact in the conference this season? In The Sabre.com's ongoing preview of the ACC football season, we take a look in this four-part series at the top impact playmakers in the conference. Today, we look at the top 5 seniors (plus 2 Hoo seniors) that will make the biggest impact for their teams in the ACC this season.

Best Seat: Clint Sintim's Summer Football Diary, Part 3
Virginia linebacker Clint Sintim continues his preseason discussions with Jed Williams on The Best Seat in the House in Part 3 of his Summer Football Diary. In this edition, Sintim talks about training camp, dealing with the heat, academics, classes, and life away from the football field.

Fall Practice 2006: Jackson's Work at LB Really Begins
New Jersey product Rashawn Jackson has been a widely talked about player since the Cavaliers first started recruiting him out of St. Peter's Prep. After all, he was a high school linebacker with 4.53 speed that played in a successful 3-4 defense. After a redshirt year in 2005 and shoulder surgery in January that limited him in spring practice, the anticipation surrounding Jackson remains high - for Al Groh and fans alike.

FanWatch: Big Hoo Since 1962
Ed Wooldridge (Big Hoo) joined the Virginia fan club nearly 45 years ago. In the years since, his life has been closely tied to dear old UVa - he graduated in 1968 and has been an active member of the Virginia Athletics Foundation since 1970. Wooldridge "rarely, if ever" misses a home football game and he travels to several games a year as well. Plus, he's been to almost every bowl game since that first bid to the Peach Bowl in 1984. Simply put: "Big Hoo Since 1962."

Fall Practice 2006: High Tempo Expected at UVa
The Virginia football team suited up in full pads for the first time Tuesday and wrapped up practice with a short scrimmage. Coach Al Groh said it looked like the players enjoyed the chance to do some hitting before taking off Wednesday to prepare for exams. The Cavaliers head back to practice on Thursday afternoon.

Best Seat in the House: Fall Practice 2-pack
When training camp opened Friday at the Unviersity of Virginia, fans were obviously pumped up for the start of football season. Of course, the sight of a pair of Cavaliers - Eugene Monroe and Keith Payne - probably got the Hoos even more amped. Monroe was back in action after a knee injury in the spring and Payne, a true freshman, was in practice for the firs time. Jed Williams interviewed both players for the Best Seat in the House.

Williams Injured; Surgery Scheduled for Friday
Virginia football coach Al Groh told reporters in a Tuesday afternoon teleconference that senior receiver and captain Deyon Williams has a stress fracture in his foot that will require surgery. Williams will have the surgery on his right foot Friday; a timetable for his return is undetermined.

How To Fix Al Groh's 3-4 Defense
"Should we being using the 3-4?" Of course, that may be the favorite question to debate on the message boards. So instead of just criticizing coach Al Groh's 3-4, I decided that I would step up to the plate and offer my suggestions for how to fix it. And by "fix", I do not mean that Groh needs to take his system through a 12-step program. In fact, I think I can get him there with only a third of the work.

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.

If you're a true Wahoo, then the Sabre Edge is right for you. Check it out!

• Sabre Edge Info and Sign Up