First Road Test Looms For Leitao's Team

Coach Dave Leitao

The Virginia men's basketball team has started the season in impressive fashion, posting a 4-0 record that includes a thrilling win over Arizona. The Hoos just scored 100 points for the first time since 2001 while dominating Maryland Eastern Shore on Sunday. There's just one catch. All of those games have been at home in the John Paul Jones Arena.

The first road test of the 2006-07 season for Dave Leitao's team comes this week when the Cavaliers travel to Purdue for the ACC/Big Ten Challenge on Wednesday. Last season, the road was not a friendly place to the Hoos - they compiled a 2-10 record away from Charlottesville. Yikes. The next step up the ladder is directly related to that fact, something that's not lost on Leitao or his players.

"Purdue is a very good team so it's going to be a test for us," Reynolds said. "We couldn't win on the road last year so hopefully we'll get over the hump this year."

"We still have a long way to go. This opportunity that we have in front of us - a challenge on Wednesday - to do something that we didn't do real well last year, which is to win on the road," Leitao said. "That opportunity will be there and we'll face adversity, the crowd, and the other team. Purdue has a solid team with an inside-outside attack. We will use this opportunity to get ourselves better and to test ourselves in a hostile environment and see how we do."

Reynolds said that the and players have to stick together when they're on the road in order to ride out the momentum storms and to overcome the certain adversity.

"We're going to have to have the whole team. We're going to need a combined effort from everybody," Reynolds said. "That's the main thing, for the team to play together and to stick together through the ups and downs."

Wednesday's tip is set for 7:30 p.m.

Kris Wright
TheSabre.com
Editor

Football Recruiting

UVa will host at least one official visitor this upcoming weekend, when St. Rita's High (Chicago, IL) OL/DE Matt Conrath plans to be in Charlottesville. This will be Conrath's first ever trip to UVa. He plans to visit Stanford next weekend.

Next weekend will be an important one as well, as the staff plans to host two more targets on official visits. One of those targets will be Dontrelle Inman. TheSabre.com reported last week that Inman, a 6-2, 185-pound WR out of Batesburg-Leesville (S.C.), will announce his decision on December 14th. He is considering Auburn, Georgia Tech, Maryland, South Carolina, and Virginia, but his official visit to UVa is the only one he has scheduled.

We will release the next installment of 'Countdown to Signing Day' on Tuesday or Wednesday. Also, stay tuned for the latest on UVa commitments as well as targets including Fork Union LB/DE Jarrell Miller, Friendly (Fort Washington, MD) WR Vincent Hill, Riverdale (GA) WR Rashad Tukes, and East Meadow (N.Y.) OL John Elliott.

Basketball recruiting

Stay tuned this week for analysis on UVa's fall haul in the 2007 men's basketball recruiting class.

Game Ball

This is the final installment of Sabremail's Game Ball for the 2006 season. It goes to Kris Burd and Chase Minnifield.

Both Burd, a 6-1, 185-pound wide receiver/safety out of Matoaca (Chester, VA), and Minnifield, a do-everything athlete for Henry Clay (Lexington, KY), turned in outstanding efforts in heart-breaking playoff losses last Friday.

Matoaca's Warriors dominated the first half in the Division 5, Central Region championship game. They took a 35-7 lead into halftime only to see Deep Run rally to tie the game at 38, forcing overtime. Deep Run won with a 23-yard field goal in the extra period.

Burd, who is being recruited to play wide receiver by UVa, had a 27-yard touchdown reception and returned an interception 59 yards for another score.

Minnifield racked up 312 total yards and three touchdowns in the 56-35 loss to Trinity in the Class 4A state semifinals. He had a 65-yard touchdown pass, an 81-yard punt return for a touchdown, and 20-yard touchdown reception. Henry Clay finished the season at 12-2.

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 ...

Andrew Devlin's Official Visit to UVa
Andrew Devlin had just one question in his mind heading into this past weekend's official visit to the University of Virginia. The 6-6, 252-pound Mount Lebanon (PA) standout simply wanted to know "when can I get there next year?" Devlin committed to UVa in early August this summer and hasn't looked back. He has enjoyed every single visit to Charlottesville, with this past weekend's trip being no different.

Also from the past week ...

• UVa's Win a Positive Experience for Recruits
• Schwartz Enjoys UVa Experience
• Inman Sets Decision Date
• 2008 Class: Christchurch ATH Enjoys UVa Win

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Post of the Week

Subject: Student analysis on the game
Posted by: dajoka004 on Sun Nov 26 2006 5:33:00 PM

Could Sunday's performance be the beginning of a Jason Cain surge?

Message: Great game today. Great atmosphere. I was pleasantly surprised at the number of students that showed up today. The typical student doesn't get back until late Sunday night after a break. Hopefully the trend continues.

Jason Cain played remarkable today. By far the best game of his career. He was grabbing boards and being aggressive on offense. First time I've ever seen that from him. He hit two long jumpers, and even had a drive to the hoop from the top of the key. I don't think he missed a FT either.

SS seemed like he was just toying with the other team today. His shot wasn't what it normally is, but he was feeding everybody on the team.

JR had the stroke today. It felt like every time he shot the ball it was going in.

Mo played well today too. Finished with 17 points and two very nice steals. He was also driving to the hoop which is what I like to see.

Now for everybody else. RP has got to learn how to shoot FTs. He's not even close. Tucker played well at the end of the game. Hopefully he can find his stroke sooner next time. Harris will be the most built player on the court almost every game. He needs to take shorter shots though (I have confidence he can hit them, but I'd rather see a high percentage shot). JM also played well at the end of the game.

And finally, the fan favorites: Burns and the walk-ons. The students love all four of them, and it's great to see them get some time. I just wish that one kid hadn't taken that final shot. Just run the clock out next time.

So go Hoos and beat Purdue!

Post your own thoughts on the Share on the Basketball Message Board.

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Fan of the Week

Every week, theSabre.com features a Fan of the Week photo on the front page of the Web site. (Archives are available in the Wahoowa! section.) So you want to be the fan of the week? It's easy - be the loudest Hoo at a live UVa event, wear some crazy Cavalier gear, or do something else to catch our attention. If Mike or Kris spot you and take your picture, you'll be in the running for Fan of the Week honors!

Newslink - Your One Stop Shop for UVa News

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Check out Sabre NewsLink today,

Around the World of Wahoo Sports ...

• Top Recruits Highlight Virginia Wrestling Signing Class: Five recruits ranked in the Intermatwrestle.com Top 100 including the No. 12 overall recruit in the country highlight Virginia head wrestling coach Steve Garland's first signing class released today. Nine wrestlers have signed letters of intent to wrestle at Virginia in 2007-08.
• Cavaliers set school record with 16th ACC victory: The Virginia volleyball team locked up second place in the Atlantic Coast Conference with a 3-0 (31-29, 30-26, 30-27) victory over Georgia Tech Saturday evening (Nov. 25) at O'Keefe Gymnasium. The Cavaliers close out the regular season with a 23-8 overall record and set a new school record with their 16th ACC victory against just six defeats.
• Virginia Takes Third at Junkanoo Jam: The Virginia Cavaliers captured third place at the Junkanoo Jam with a 76-47 win over Central Florida on Saturday at St. George's High School. The No. 15 Baylor Lady Bears won the tourney with a 71-53 victory over South Dakota State. Virginia sophomore Lyndra Littles was named to the five-member All-Tournament Team.
• No. 4 seed Cavaliers Knock Off Notre Dame, 3-2, in NCAA Quarterfinals: Senior forward Adam Cristman scored a pair of goals off two assists from Nico Colaluca and Yannick Reyering scored his 12th goal of the season as No. 4 seed Virginia defeated No. 12 seed Notre Dame, 3-2, Friday night to advance to the NCAA College Cup in St. Louis next weekend. Virginia set the NCAA single-season record for total attendance as 5,850 fans watched the Cavaliers knock off the Fighting Irish giving UVa a single-season record of 43,183.

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

Nike Holiday Sale

Issue No. 41 - June 13, 2002

More New Jersey recruiting

With the lack of top football talent in Virginia this year, the Cavalier coaching staff seems to be putting a lot of effort into grabbing New Jersey's top talent. Already committed to the Hoos is Marvin Richardson, a 6-4, 210-pound linebacker out of East Orange. Look for a feature on Richardson in the June 19th issue of the Sabre Newsletter.

Of Lemming's junior Top 100 list, a couple of New Jersey's top prospects are listing Virginia, which includes Jermaine Dias. The other Jersey recruit is superstar tight end Greg Olsen of Wayne Hills. Olsen, at 6-6, 235-pounds, already has the size to compete at the college level.

Olsen can play both tight end and defensive end. Last season, he caught 21 passes for 490 yards and 10 touchdowns. On defense, Olsen amassed 89 tackles, including 12 sacks and 33 tackles for loss.

College coaches are listing Olsen as one of the nation's best targets. Greg's brother, Chris, was one of the top recruiting targets last year, and eventually signed on with Notre Dame to play quarterback. In addition to Virginia, Greg is currently listing Boston College, Maryland, Miami, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Rutgers and Syracuse. According to Rivals.com, Olsen has scholarship offers from all of them.

Coming Soon

With Thanksgiving rolling off the calendar, the football has finished its season. Basketball, meanwhile, is just heating up after a 4-0 start to the season. The Sabre is the place to be for all of your Cavalier content as we keep you up to date on all that's going on. Here's a sneak peak at some of the articles to expect on the site in the coming days:

Peter Lalich

• More on Peter Lalich
  Everyone knows that Peter Lalich can throw the football. But what does he do before every game? We'll start a recruiting series that takes a different look at the UVa commitments.
• Greg's Game Grades
  Greg Waters evaluates the Cavaliers' final regular season against the Hokies.
• JHoo's 10 Things
  JHoo checks in with "10 Things I Learned Against Virginia Tech" after the Hoos' loss in Blacksburg.
• Countdown to Signing Day
  The Sabre's own Chris Horne provides another look at the current crop of football commitments.

In Case You Missed It ...

Sabre articles from the past week

Virginia Crushes UMES
The Virginia men's basketball team continued its early season warm-up tour Sunday with its most impressive showing since the Arizona win. The Cavaliers dominated the boards at the start and cranked up the offense to roll past Maryland Eastern Shore, 104-63. The victory provided the first four-game winning streak of the Dave Leitao era as the Hoos improved to 4-0 on the season.

Hokies Hammer Hoos
BLACKSBURG - Virginia's "rebuilding" season ended on a sour note Saturday afternoon as the Cavaliers were shut out 17-0 by Virginia Tech in a defensive battle at Lane Stadium. Virginia finished the 2006 campaign with a 5-7 overall record, one win short of bowl eligibility.

Photo Gallery: Virginia 17, Miami 7
The Virginia football team shut out another ACC team in the first half and turned that defensive effort into a 17-7 victory last weekend. Chris Long and the Cavalier D did not give up a score against the Hurricanes until late in the fourth quarter. The win improved the Hoos to 5-6 on the year and kept their bowl hopes alive heading into the final game against Virginia Tech.

Keys to the Game - Virginia Tech
The stakes are rather obvious during this weekend's football showdown. For Virginia, bowl eligibility, rivalry respect, and road improvement are all on the checklist. For Virginia Tech, a 10-win season, bowl positioning, and continued bragging rights are on the line. Which team gets to extend its holiday feast on Saturday night remains to be seen, but the Hoos will have to focus on these "Keys to the Game" in order to pull off an upset in Blacksburg.

Photo Gallery: UVa's Football Seniors
The Virginia football team honored its seniors last weekend at the final home game of the year. Players like receiver Deyon Williams, corner Marcus Hamilton, and running back Jason Snelling were introduced before the Cavaliers took the field. Of course, all Hoos got to celebrate their final home game in style as the Cavs knocked off Miami 17-7 at Scott Stadium.

Game Preview: Virginia Tech, Part 3
In some ways, it is the most basic adage of defensive football. Stop the run. Coaches say it all the time, analysts harp on it throughout broadcasts, and players repeat it ad nauseam. If you want to win, you have to stop the run. Against Virginia Tech, that old proverb is taken to new heights, though. Coach Frank Beamer's squads are 136-27-2 when they outrush their opponents. The Hokies are 18-54 when they do not. So needless to say, stopping the run is Virginia's first concern.

Game Preview: Virginia Tech, Part 2
For the second time in as many weeks the Cavaliers will face one of the nation's top three defenses. Last week, it was Miami's third best defensive team and this week Virginia will face the country's second best overall unit in Bud Foster's Hokies. Tech is 20th against the run (97.2), first in passing (133.8) defense, and leads the NCAA in scoring defense (10.2). In other words, it may be another grind it out kind of day for the Hoos' offense.

The Hawk's Nest - Beating Virginia Tech
After a 17-7 victory over the Miami Hurricanes, the Virginia Cavaliers look to become bowl eligible this week with a victory over rival Virginia Tech. Unlike last week, the Cavaliers will have to win on the road at a very tough Lane Stadium, where they have not won since 1998. While I was at Virginia, the week of preparation was very different when it came to playing Virginia Tech. Coach Welsh would always tell us that records did not count when it came down to this game. The coaches would have almost every play in the playbook on call for this game.

From Baby Steps To Long Strides
As Coach Groh likes to say, you measure a quarterback by his pelts. Well, Jameel Sewell earned another one on Saturday. And if that's the only measuring stick, adding the pelt of Sebastian the Ibis is a significant trophy. Sure, the Canes are down this year - but the Hoos are the midst of their own "rebuilding season." And for a freshman quarterback, being responsible for the school's first win against a recent national championship program is an achievement by itself.

Hoos Tailgating With Mom - Turkey
The final regular season game has arrived as Virginia travels to Virginia Tech on Saturday. That means one last chance to tailgate in enemy territory. But what to cook? What could possibly taste good during Thanksgiving week? What sort of brunch should you have in Blacksburg? Of course! Turkey!

Cavaliers Bounce Bulldogs
The Virginia men's basketball team enjoyed a little Wednesday night dessert before Thursday's Thanksgiving meal by munching on one of the "cupcakes" on the schedule. Virginia held North Carolina Asheville scoreless for nearly six full minutes after the opening tip and pulled out an 81-64 victory. As cupcakes go, however, UNCA proved to be a worthwhile opponent. Even in a 17-point loss? Absolutely.

TSL: Keys to the Game and Matchups to Watch
With the state of Virginia's big rivalry game on tap for Saturday when UVa visits Virginia Tech, The Sabre and Tech Sideline are sharing some content to get EDGE subscribers ready for the big game. Here is TSL's "Keys to the Game and Matchups to Watch" article. Find out why Chris Long and Jeffrey Fitzgerald both made the match-ups list and more of the main themes expected from this weekend's showdown.

Jed's Best Seat Buzz: Can UVa Catch VT?
Right off the top, let's set the record straight (not that this record needs much setting!): the Cavs are playing catch-up. Or as John Malkovich hauntingly reminded Clint Eastwood in In The Line of Fire, "it's late in the game and you're way behind." So, rather than bemoan it (as many including myself do with fatiguing frequency): What are you/we/UVa going to do about it? Can Virginia chase, catch, and surpass Virginia Tech?

Game Preview: Virginia Tech, Part 1
In Virginia's last road game at Florida State, the Hoos had a punt blocked that helped start a 33-0 blowout by the Seminoles. If the Cavaliers have a similar disaster on special teams this week, you can probably expect a blowout in Blacksburg. The scariest part about that fact? Virginia Tech is better on special teams than FSU - in fact, the Hokies are among the best in the business.

A Fan's Notes from the Upper Deck - Miami
The last home game of the year - always a bittersweet time for any fan. Another season of memories. Saying farewell to your section mates and listening to one last postgame press conference while driving by the Bamboo House. And, it's time to say goodbye to this fan's notes from the upper deck. Well, right after this last installment. So, here's one last set of notes from the upper deck - chock full of nostalgia and nachos.

Best Seat in the House: Frank Beamer
Virginia's football team faces a tough task this week when it travels to Virginia Tech's Lane Stadium. The Cavaliers have not fared well on the road in recent years and the Hokies are hard to beat in Blacksburg. VT coach Frank Beamer joined Jed Williams on The Best Seat in the House to talk about the rivalry game, his team, and more.

Greg's Game Grades: UVa 17, Miami 7
Virginia coach Al Groh summed it up well when describing his team's effort Saturday in a 17-7 win over the Miami Hurricanes. "I'm proud of the way our guys fought and executed. It was really awesome to stand out there and watch the total team effort. It was going to take a real strong effort - offense, defense, special teams collectively - to beat a team like Miami. We fought as hard as a team can fight, and we executed like a big-time team." The grades reflect that total team effort.

The Turning Point - Miami
Virginia's defense has proved to be a challenging group this season when given a lead so when led 7-0 after just one drive on Saturday, the Cavaliers' chances of winning had already improved. Plus, the running game was helping control the time of possession. So when the Hoos forced a second quarter turnover, it proved to be "The Turning Point" in a 17-7 victory against Miami.

10 Things I Learned Against Miami
Never apologize for a win. Ever. Miami may be down right now ... but the Hoos have been, too. So was FSU a couple of weeks ago and that did not work out so well for Virginia. The Cavaliers needed to execute. They did. The Cavaliers needed a win. They got one, and on Senior Day. So no apologies accepted, here are "10 Things I Learned Against Miami".

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