Leitao's Ejection A Hot Topic

Coach Dave Leitao was ejected after receiving two technical fouls at the four minute mark of the first half.

The Virginia men's basketball team improved to 6-1 on the season by defeating Hampton on Saturday afternoon at the John Paul Jones Arena, where the Hoos are still undefeated. Of course, one thing seems to have dominated the conversation about the game: Dave Leitao's ejection.

In some ways, all the discussion makes sense. After all, Leitao became the first UVa coach to be ejected from a game since Terry Holland, who was dismissed on Jan. 14, 1976 against Virginia Tech in a 91-69 loss. But it was also the first ejection of Leitao's career and he wasn't too thrilled about it afterward.

"Before I talk about the game, I just want to apologize to the University for getting kicked out of the game and my actions that led to it," Leitao said after the game. "Even though I'm demonstrative and I try to challenge everybody, it's not to leave my players without some level of leadership. That's not why I came here and that's not what I'm about. So, to President Casteen, Craig Littlepage, my boss, and everybody included, I apologize."

Those words may ring hollow with some people, but they seemed genuine to me. Normally, Leitao is in command of the room as soon as he walks in for this postgame press conferences. He opens with some points and is direct with his assessments. This time, he started the conference with the above apology and he seemed somewhat shaken about the whole ordeal. He took several sips from a water bottle and was a little bit fidgety while talking about it. When he started to talk about the game, he was back to his usual composed self.

To me, that's a sign that Leitao truly didn't mean to get ejected or draw so much attention.

Still, the debate on the message board has continued. Did he mean to do it? Why would he do something like that? Why did Duke Edsall cause so much trouble and why does he officiate? Should Virginia fans still be upset? All the conversation is valid because people are curious and want to talk about it. That's what makes a topic hot after all.

Here are some message board threads on the ejection:

• Late night thoughts on Leitao's ejection
• Just scanning the board, why the negativity for DL?
• My take on Leito ejection (at game)
• I know coach getting ejected will be broke down ...
• Hey Dave! - Apology REJECTED!
• Back from JPJ. This Duke Edsall ref has to be the most unprofessional college ...

Didn't get a chance to see the events live at the JPJ? Don't worry, Sabre partner WCAV has video of the ejection and an interview with Virginia play-by-play voice Mac McDonald on what transpired at the game to lead to Leitao's ejection. Check out the Sabre's video landing page to watch the video.

Kris Wright
Editor, TheSabre.com

Basketball recruiting .

Jeff Jones

Checking in with . Monsignor Bonner 6'4", 175-pound guard Jeff Jones, who signed with UVa last month.

Through seven games, Jones has led Bonner (Drexel Hill, PA) to a 5-2 record. The season got off to a dramatic start, as Bonner defeated Malvern Prep at Malvern Prep by a score of 55-52. Jones scored 25 points, including the game-winning 3-pointer with 3.1 seconds remaining.

On the year, Jones, who is UVa's most highly rated recruit (4-stars by Scout.com; #17 SG by Scout.com), is averaging 22.4 points per game. His season high is 35 points.

Football recruiting .

Last Thursday, UVa was the choice for 6'2.5", 185-pound wide receiver recruit Dontrelle Inman. Inman, who announced his decision to attend UVa during a press conference at his high school, chose the Hoos over Georgia Tech and other offers including Auburn, Kentucky, and South Carolina.

The Batesburg-Leesville (S.C.) star is the 19th high school senior to commit to UVa for the 2007 recruiting class. Virginia now has 22 commitments in total, including three players - OL Billy Cuffee, DB Ras-I Dowling and LB Almondo Sewell - who signed with the Cavs last February. All three players are currently at Hargrave Military Academy.

Inman is the third commitment projected to play wide receiver for the Hoos. As a junior in 2005, he hauled in 31 receptions. As a senior in 2006, he tallied 18 receptions in five games, missing the remainder of the season due to a knee injury. Inman is a long player with good overall athleticism. He doesn't have blazing speed, but can make the big play.

Stay tuned this week, as we follow up with Dontrelle for more on his decision and a look back at how he ended up choosing UVa.

Thursday night was a key night for more than just Inman's commitment. UVa Head Coach Al Groh made an in-home visit with prized offensive tackle recruit John Elliott. Elliott, a 6'5", 295-pound standout out of East Meadow High School (N.Y.), has narrowed his list to four schools - Boston College, Michigan, Rutgers, and Virginia.

Elliott has been a top target for the Hoos since the beginning and may now be the top remaining target left on the board. The staff has put a tremendous amount of effort into recruiting the talented big man, who had an excellent unofficial visit to Charlottesville this past spring.

Rutgers received the first official visit from Elliott, who has scheduled official visits with UVa (January 19-21) and Michigan (January 26-28). He may visit Boston College, which was probably the favorite before Tom O'Brien left for N.C. State, but is waiting to see which head coach is brought in . and also to see what happens with the assistant coaches.

UVa is right in the thick of this race and official visits will be key. As TheSabre.com reported on Friday, Groh's in-home visit went very well. Check out the EDGE article below.

Stay tuned this week, as we will follow up with other offensive line targets including 6'6", 255-pound Anthony Castonzo and 6'5", 305-pound Mitchell Schwartz.

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 ...

Groh has Key Visit with 4-Star OL
UVa Head Coach Al Groh made an in-home visit with four-star offensive lineman recruit John Elliott last night. It was a very important visit for Groh, as the 6-5, 295-pound prospect is one of the top remaining targets on the board at a key position of need in this year's class. How did the visit go?

Inman Picks Hoos
Dontrelle Inman had a strong, positive feeling about the University of Virginia ever since he made an unofficial visit there this past August. The feeling has proved to be lasting, as the 6-2 ½, 185-pound Batesburg-Leesville (S.C.) wide receiver recruit pledged to the 'Hoos this evening during a press conference at his high school.

Fork Union Notes: UVa Targets Castonzo, Miller
6-6 ½, 255-pound offensive line recruit Anthony Castonzo visited UVa unofficially last week. It was not the first time he had been in Charlottesville, but it was the first time he had a real chance to tour the grounds. TheSabre.com also checked in on 6-3, 250-pound LB/DE Jarrell Miller, a player who is seeing increased interest as the week goes on.

Updates since last week's SabreMail ...

• Is Hill Still Considering UVa?
• Getting To Know ... Andrew Devlin
• A Decision Coming Soon for Conrath?
• Hargrave Report: Dowling and Sewell Remain Solid
• Spurlock Rates UVa Visit a 10

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According to the official Web site of Louisiana Tech athletics, school President Dr. Dan Reneau announced Sunday that Miami Dolphins assistant football coach Derek Dooley is expected to be named the Bulldogs next head football coach.

Dooley played football at Virginia and earned a law degree at Georgia, where his father, Vince Dooley, worked as the football coach and athletics director. Derek Dooley has worked with Nick Saban for the past seven years, including the past two years in the NFL with the Miami Dolphins.

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License Plate section is up in Wahoowa!

A few weeks ago, SabreMail made a request for anyone who had license plates that reflected your status as a Hoo fan. The responses have started to trickle in and the Plates Photos are up and running the Wahoowa! section of the site. The Wahoowa! section of the Sabre is dedicated to all things associated with UVa Fan-dom. There are various fan-related areas including desktop wallpaper, Fan of the Week photos, V-Sabres Worldwide, and more. If you have suggestions for new and interesting things in the Wahoowa! section, please email us at [email protected] with the header: Wahoowa! suggestion.

We'd like to keep adding photos to the section so if your license plate shows that you're a Hoo fan, let us know so we can include you in our gallery. All you need to do is snap a picture of your license plate and email a jpeg version of the photo to [email protected] with the email header: License Plate Photo.

Around the World of Wahoo Sports ...

• Virginia Hosts No. 6 Connecticut: Virginia continues its four-game home stand with No. 6 Connecticut on Monday, Dec. 18. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. at John Paul Jones Arena. UVa claimed its fifth straight win with a 100-60 victory over Cleveland State on Saturday.
• Virginia Names Morgan, Wasilewski Captains for 2007 Campaign: Virginia head women's lacrosse coach Julie Myers has announced that seniors Jessy Morgan and Jess Wasilewski will serve as the captains for the Cavaliers for the 2007 campaign.
• Cavalier Baseball Announces Signing Class: Virginia head baseball coach Brian O'Connor has announced the signing of 12 players in the early signing period for the 2008 season.
• Colaluca Earns Soccer America and College Soccer News Honors: Virginia junior midfielder Nico Colaluca has been named one of 11 Most Valuable Players for men's soccer by Soccer America and a first team All-American by College Soccer News. Colaluca was recently named second team All-American by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) and a first team selection to the NSCAA All-South Atlantic Region teams.
• Two Cavs Earn All-America Honors: Virginia volleyball players Emily Kirkwood and Katie Oakes have garnered American Volleyball Coaches Association honorable mention All-America accolades as announced Wednesday.
• Sauerbrunn Named SoccerBuzz All-American: Cavalier junior defender Becky Sauerbrunn was named a third-team All-American by SoccerBuzz Magazine, the publication announced Wednesday. It is the second All-America honor for Sauerbrunn this season, as she was named a second team All-American by the NSCAA.

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

The Cavalier Bobble Head
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Issue No. 187 - April 29, 2005

Long, Peerman among spring game standouts

Chris Long had 3.5 sacks in a dominant performance.

As a sneak preview of the 2005 season, last Saturday's spring game at Scott Stadium may have been misleading. After all, Ahmad Brooks, Kai Parham, Brennan Schmidt, Keenan Carter, Michael Johnson, Tom Santi, Connor Hughes and several other Cavaliers who figure to play key roles next season weren't participating for various reasons.

But it was still a good chance for fans to catch what amounted to a 90-minute scrimmage - Offense vs. Defense - and identify some potential stars of the future. Defensive end Chris Long and tailback Cedric Peerman were the standouts on defense and offense, respectively, while Theirrien Davis and the other wideouts also performed well before a crowd of 6,000-plus.

The Cavs won't convene training camp again for more than three months, but the spring practices gave us plenty to discuss over the summer as we anticipate next season. Will the passing game be better? Are the injuries going to linger? Is there enough depth at linebacker? What's the story in the secondary? We'll tackle these questions and more in the coming months.

Coming Soon

December has arrived and UVa athletics are back in action. The Sabre will help you close out 2006 with plenty of content to keep you excited about the Hoos! Here's a sneak peak at some of the articles to expect on the site in the coming days:

• Greg's Season Grades
  The Sabre's Greg Waters hands out some end of the season grades for the Cavalier football team.
• JHoo's Things I Learned Series
  JHoo continues to look back at football season with "Things I Learned About ...". This week focuses on the running backs.
• Soccer Season Review
  The Cavalier men's soccer team made it to the Final Four this season. The Sabre takes a look back at what was an outstanding 2006 campaign and even peeks ahead to the future.
• Virginia basketball action
  The Cavalier men's team plays in San Juan this week and we'll follow the action. Also, the women's team hosts No. 6 UConn - how does Debbie Ryan's team stack up?

In Case You Missed It ...

Sabre articles from the past week

Virginia Drops Hampton To Reach 6-1
Following a near two-week break for exams, things didn't go quite as planned for some Virginia individuals on Saturday afternoon against Hampton. Sean Singletary's near school record free throw streak ended with a second-half miss. J.R. Reynolds missed double figures in scoring, and coach Dave Leitao was ejected from the game in the first half. As a team, however, things went how the Cavaliers wanted following such a long layoff. They were tested for a half before imposing their collective will offensively and defensively on the way to a 91-69 victory against the Pirates.

Best Seat in the House: January Enrollment
As football recruiting continues to be the lifeblood of programs nationwide, many schools have started to allow mid-year enrollments for student-athletes. These players arrive on campus as freshmen in January and begin their lives as students as well as athletes on the football team. Currently, the University of Virginia handles mid-year enrollment decisions on a case-by-case basis, though January admissions are seldomly allowed. Fork Union postgraduate football coach John Shuman and UVa Athletics Director Craig Littlepage joined Jed Williams on The Best Seat in the House this week to talk about the trend and how Virginia deals with the approach.

Cavs Return To Action Against Hampton
The eternally long - or at least it seemed like it - break for finals at Virginia is nearly over and it is time for Dave Leitao's crew to hit the hardwood again this Saturday. The 5-1 Hoos host Hampton, the first in-state opponent of the season, on Saturday at 2 p.m. The Cavaliers have yet to lose in the new John Paul Jones Arena.

Inexact Science: Picking The Right Slot
A couple of days ago, a question came up about how a coaching staff goes about slotting players who come into a football program. For starters, the very short answer to how you slot a player: To me, slotting players is more art than science. If there was a "Moneyball" camp to slotting players - and to some extent, there is - I would be in the other camp, whatever you want to call it. When it comes to deciding whether a kid is a fit for the linebacker position, for example, I hearken back to the words of Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart: "I know it when I see it." (And how's that for working a little culture into my article, eh?)

Jed's Best Seat Buzz: Making A List
I'm the biggest "anti-list" guy you'll ever find. Grocery lists, Christmas lists, "to-do" lists - fuhgetabout 'em all . every last one of them. So, as you might imagine, the scribe in me finds a special distaste for the "list column." Without a creative muse to drive me and a new game to inspire, however, I'm about to lean on the list ... guilty as charged. Let's re-visit some key preseason questions and ask ourselves this most vexing one: "Do we know anything more about these Hoos than we did when Lute Olsen and the Cats came rumbling in on November 12?"

2006 Virginia Football Superlatives
Virginia's football season proved to be an up-and-down ride as Vandy-Hoo described in his recent column. Wins over Miami, N.C. State, and North Carolina late were countered with shutout losses at Virginia Tech and Florida State. Along the way, many players - Chris Long, Jon Copper, Jeffrey Fitzgerald, Jameel Sewell to name a few - came up with big plays and became big stories. Greg Waters takes a look back at the season with his 2006 Superlatives.

Things I Learned About ... The Quarterbacks
Football season is over, you say? Time to move on to basketball, you say? Rubbish. Football season never ends, particularly in the college ranks, where recruiting - both talent evaluation and acquisition, to spout an Al Groh-ism - is a year-round task. In that spirit, I am going to take a position-by-position look back at the 2006 season, discussing what I learned at that position from the season. Let's get started with Jameel Sewell and the quarterback position.

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.

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