Test Campaigns Begin With Lowe's Home Improvement

Sabre-ites:

Recently, we told you about some upcoming "pilot" sponsor campaigns that will help us sign long-term sponsorship deals that will shape the future of our web site, its success, and our ability to improve the site for you. (Read the announcement here) You'll recall that we need your help to make these pilot campaigns succeed. Get your game face on, because it's time. The Adventures of CavMan video is rolling. Countdown to kickoff is ticking. Time to play Hoos!

First up is Lowe's Home Improvement. Lowe's is running a very cool NCAA Final Four "Cut Down The Nets" promotion that provides every Lowe's customer, from March 1 - April 10, 2007, the opportunity to win a trip for you and three guests for five days and four nights to the 2008 NCAA Men's Final Four.

Our job is to promote awareness of this exciting opportunity by driving people to the web page Lowe's has set up that provides all the details on how you can participate. When it comes to showing support for Lowe's introductory sponsorship of The Sabre, this one is a lay-up. All you have to do is click any of the Lowe's banners, skyscrapers, message board promos (the posts at the top of our boards), and/or links on the sponsor's page for details.

Or, to make it really easy, you can just click the logo:

There's another way we can get feedback to Lowe's and convince them of the power of our community - you can tell them yourself in your own words how much you value the investment they are making in TheSabre! If you've got a Lowe's story, even something as simple as saying "thanks", or just want to offer feedback or commentary about Lowe's Home Improvement, email it to us here, and we'll put the emails together and pass them on to Lowe's. Remember, we want the collective voice of our community to be heard loud and clear.

Thanks for your help on this one, and there's more coming later, so be alert for what's next.

Kris Wright and Mike Ingalls
TheSabre.com

Football recruiting .

UVa's February 24th junior day was a success, as the Cavs have come away with two verbal commitments from the weekend in 6-7, 290-pound Turpin (Cincinnati, OH) OL Aaron VanKuiken and 6-6, 230-pound Menasha (WI) tight end/outside linebacker/defensive end Tyler Westphal.

VanKuiken actually committed on the junior day, while Westphal committed last Wednesday. Virginia now has three commitments for the 2008 recruiting class. 6-7, 265-pound Gilmour (Middlefield, OH) OL Matt Mihalik committed to UVa last September.

Stay tuned for more on VanKuiken and Westphal this week.

The UVa staff hopes the number 24 continues to bring good luck, as they have scheduled another junior day for Saturday, March 24th. A few prospects who may make the trip include 6-8, 305-pound Manasquan (N.J.) OL Art Forst and 5-11, 195-pound Churchville-Chili (Churchville, N.Y.) running back Averin Collier.

Forst and Collier have both visited Virginia before - Forst attended the home football game versus N.C. State last fall, while Collier was in Charlottesville last summer for an AAU basketball tournament. Coincidentally, Collier's AAU basketball coach is former UVa basketball player Cade Lemcke.

Check out the EDGE for articles on both Forst and Collier. Both have been offered by the staff.

Basketball recruiting .

Hargrave Military Academy's postgraduate basketball squad saw its season come to an end over the weekend. The squad went out on a winning note, capturing the First Piedmont Invitational Championship with a 112-72 win over Massanutten Prep. Hargrave finishes the season with a 25-4 record.

In the season finale, University of Virginia recruit Mike Scott scored 20 points and hauled in eight boards. It was an impressive performance in what was an impressive season for the 6-8, 215-pound Scott, who was a consistent scorer and rebounder throughout the season for head coach Kevin Keatts.

Versatile, he has the ability to score inside and outside and, according to a credible source who witnessed a few Hargrave games this season, Scott has an excellent "second leap," meaning he is quick to grab his own misses for put-backs. This source believes Scott is a national top 75 player.

Stay tuned today for an update on the talented forward.

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 ...

A Decision Coming Soon for Boyce?
Landstown (Virginia Beach, VA) star QB/DB Xavier Boyce, a good-sized prospect at 6-4, 200 pounds, has had a scholarship offer from Virginia Tech for quite some time. Last weekend, he visited the University of Virginia in hopes of landing a second offer to his list.

Jr. Day Visitor: Dyrell Roberts Adds Offer #2
6-2, 190-pound Smithfield star running back Dyrell Roberts has the potential to burst onto the recruiting scene. He already holds scholarship offers from the University of Virginia and Virginia Tech and has received very serious interest from a number of others, including Florida. Roberts, who is excited about his offers and the interest from other programs, took some time to talk recruiting.

Recap: Junior Day a Success
Without question, last Saturday's junior day was a success for the University of Virginia football staff. Not only did the 'Hoos land two verbal commitments from the even in 6-7, 290-pound OL Aaron VanKuiken and 6-6, 230-pound TE/DE/OLB Tyler Westphal, they also impressed a number of other top recruits that were on hand.

More updates since the last SabreMail ...

• Kizer Key Recruit For Women's Basketball
• RB Averin Collier a Top Target
• Jr. Day Visitor: An In-State Battle for Ruff?
• Goochland's Coles an Explosive Athlete
• Cavs Head Back to Buckeye State for 2nd Verbal
• Jr. Day Visitors: UVa Impresses Saddler and Hale
• Forst a Top Target for UVa
• UVa Lands Third Commitment of 2008 Class!
• Kabongo Headlines Gar-Field's 2008 Class
• Hylton Boasts Three Potential D1 Prospects

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Blog Post of the Week

This blog post from Vandy-Hoo addresses a growing message board topic: Virginia's so-called weak ACC schedule.

More myth busting on Virginia's schedule

Of course, not too many minutes passed after Virginia earned its share of the regular season championship and the #2 seed in the ACC tourney before Lunardi and his ilk started looking for excuses. Their favorite mantra: Virginia allegedly had an easy conference schedule.

Well, we've busted this myth before, and it's time to do it again.

My method was even simpler than the last time. We now know who the top six teams are in the conference. So, let's count up the number of times that the schools in the top half played their top-six brothers. Looking at this breakdown, Virginia had to play the top half of the conference as many times as Carolina (with the same road/home makeup), and more than Maryland, BC, and Georgia Tech. So, if anyone had an easy go, it was BC and Georgia Tech. Virginia's conference schedule was similar in difficulty to the Heels and barely easier than one other team.

Read the entire entry here.

Post of the Week

This Post of the Week comes from the Women's Basketball board. Many have tackled this topic in recent weeks, but HooKnew executed a message board post exactly like anyone should: The thoughts are coherent, well thought out, and the post has evidence to back up the reasoning. Whether you agree or disagree with a post - and surely you will disagree from time to time - this post shows how it's done.

Subject: State of the program (long)
Posted by: HooKnew on Sun Mar 4 2007 5:39:36 PM
Message: Now that the season is over and the team awaits the WNIT, I am posting my thoughts as I reflect back over this season. I don't post much except for an occasional recruiting update and went into this year with an open mind about where the program was headed. I have followed the program since early on when I lived in Virginia and went to games through the glory years and now watch on TV when I can. I admire the type of person DR is and what she has accomplished in the past. She has been a wonderful ambassador for the University and the women's game in general. But I won't belabor the obvious. Everyone can see that the program is a shadow of it's former self and has been a non-player on the national scene for some time now (I can remember when we used to sweep Duke). It is a middle of the pack ACC program, is not competitive with the top teams and struggles to get by the poorest teams in the league. It loses to teams such as U of R, Liberty and South Dakota State and has dwindling attendance at home. I have been pulling for Debbie to turn it around the last few years but had a lot of questions heading into this season that have in my mind been answered. Will recruiting turn around or was Monica Wright an aberration? Will the chemistry be better on the team? Will the revolving door of players rear its ugly head again? How much of a gap is there between the top 3 teams and our program? Can we take care of business against the teams we should beat?

Based on what I saw this year, the talent gap between us and the Big Three (MD, UNC, and Duke) is widening. We have a few ACC caliber players in Wright, Littles, and Zoll. Kellum has potential. That's about it. The biggest key to a turnaround in the program is simply getting better talent and more of it. Can we do a better job of recruiting? So far I would say the evidence is not good. Last fall's signing period was an almost disaster, striking out on every player of consequence. MD in particular took us to the woodshed by grabbing Rodgers, Mingo, and Strickland. Duke took Thomas and Campbell felt UCLA was a better place to pursue her basketball and medical aspirations. Campbell is the poster child for the current state of our recruiting. Here's an in-state kid from our back yard who's an excellent student and plays a position of need and decides to go to the left coast. So we were 0-7 on our key targets with only Kelly Hartig to show for our efforts. Now heading into spring we are looking at a few HS kids, JUCOs and perhaps some international players. Not a good place to be. In addition, the key 2008 class is off to a rough start with both Shegog and White (both in-state kids and Top 25 talents) heading to UNC. The women's program stands in stark contrast to the aggressive, leave-no-stone-unturned approach of the men's program under DL. I am not at all confident that the current women's staff can recruit the type of talent necessary to turn this program around. I found it enlightening when just a few years ago a player who picked MD over UVA and other programs called MD's recruiting "relentless." Regardless of what you think of the MD staff, I doubt if you will ever hear any recruit call our staff relentless, high- energy, or any of the other terms used with other coaching staffs. To be blunt, the top kids do not see us competing on the national stage. They have no memory of our glory days of Dawn and the Burge twins, etc.

So where do we go from here? At some point, Craig will sit down with Debbie as he does with all his coaches and will do an assessment of the program. I'm sure some concern will be expressed but I'm also sure Debbie will point out the injury to Mohammed, player losses, and bad luck as reasons for the season and will paint a brighter picture of the future. I'm also just as sure that a year from now those of us still caring about women's basketball will be having this same discussion as we sit yet again on the NCAA bubble with blow out losses to UMD, Duke, and UNC and unexplainable loses to mid-major teams. I do not see DR stepping down yet and I do not see her making any changes to her staff. And let's face it, why would any top assistant consider a move to UVA with DR's status so uncertain over the next few years? So I do not foresee any changes to the current coaching staff.

If there are no changes made after this season is finally over, then I think it signals that Littlepage and the administration are willing to tolerate the current state of the program until Debbie finally retires. I think that represents a sad state of affairs if true. What we saw this year was not an anomaly but the continuation of a trend that has extended over the better part of ten years. I'm convinced that if this were anyone other than Debbie leading the program, they would have been let go by now. No coach, however, should be bigger than the program. If the highest paid coach in the ACC with abundant resources and now one of the top facilities in the country isn't getting it done then something needs to be done. You cannot have two sets of standards. One that sets out a high standard of excellence of competing for national titles and another that applies to the women's basketball program. What kind of mixed message does that send to the University community and the other sports programs? This program has potentially a lot going for it. We have state-of-the-art facilities and a great university with top academics and social environment to sell to top prospects. There is no reason we should not be a top 25 program and in the NCAAs every year. The University certainly deserves a better return on its investment in the program given the resources it puts there. I'm convinced with the right person leading the program we can be competing again at the top of the ACC. Just take a look at how quickly programs that were down such as MD and Duke turned around under their current coaches. So the question is how much additional time do we give Debbie to turn the program around? In the life of any athletics program there comes a time to make a change and move forward. In my opinion, that time has come. This program needs new leadership and renewed energy not more of the status quo. The fans, students, and most of all the players deserve it.

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Around the World of Wahoo Sports ...

• Marsh's Game-Winning Hit Delivers Virginia's 12th Consecutive Win: Brandon Marsh's walk-off RBI single scored Mike Mitchell in the bottom of the ninth to give Virginia a 3-2 win over Delaware on Sunday afternoon at Davenport Field. The win completed a perfect 12-0 opening homestand for the Cavaliers, who improve to 14-1 overall.
• Virginia Golfers Tied for 11th at Seminole Intercollegiate: The Virginia men's golf team is tied with 14th-ranked East Tennessee State for 11th place after the opening round of Florida State's Seminole Intercollegiate. The Cavaliers shot 14-over 302 led by Conrad Von Borsig's 2-over 74. Von Borsig, who led UVa in scoring during the team's last two outings, is in 26th place entering Monday's second round.
• Virginia Softball Splits Pair Of Games With Jacksonville: The Virginia softball team split its final two games of the Crispers/JU Invitational against host Jacksonville University on Sunday at the Ashley Sports Complex. UVa fell in the first game 10-2 in five innings, but rebounded with an 8-4 victory in the final game of the tournament. The Cavaliers finished a tough weekend with a 1-5 mark and now stand at 8-14 on the season.
• Caponi Wins ACC Wrestling Title, Albright Gets NCAA At-Large Bid: Virginia sophomore wrestler Rocco Caponi won his first ACC title to advance to 2007 NCAA Championships. Caponi will be making his second trip to the NCAAs. He becomes the first UVa wrestler to claim an ACC title since the 2005 season. Eric Albright and Kellon Balum also made the final round of their weight class. Albright received an at-large bid to the NCAA Championships. This will be his first NCAA appearance. Virginia was fourth overall in the team standings with a total of 45.5 points.
• UVa Men's Lacrosse Downs Syracuse Before NCAA Record Crowd: Playing before a record NCAA regular-season crowd of 20,180, the 10th-ranked Virginia men's lacrosse team rallied to defeat No. 11 Syracuse 11-8 to improve to 2-1 this season. After a high-scoring first quarter the Virginia defense allowed just two goals in the final 45 minutes and the offense scored the final four goals of the game to allow the Cavaliers to pick up their fourth straight win against the Orange. The series between the two lacrosse powerhouses is now even at 11 wins each.
• Virginia Rallies to Defeat Syracuse 10-8: The Virginia women's lacrosse team rallied from a 2-0 deficit to start the game to take a 5-4 lead at the break, and then rallied again down one with 21:33 to play to score five of the final seven goals of the game for the 10-8 victory over Syracuse on the road. Jess Wasilewski had a goal and two assists in the 5-2 run in the first half, and then Blair Weymouth scored Virginia's final two goals of the game for the Cavaliers.

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

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Issue No. 231 - March 3, 2006

Groh Announces Coaching Assignments

Mike Groh will take over as offensive coordinator this season for the Cavaliers.

With four new assistants on the football coaching staff, Virginia head coach Al Groh formally introduced the staff at a news conference Friday where he also announced the coaching assisgnments for the upcoming season.

The four additions to the UVa staff are Mike London, Steve Bernstein, Bob Diaco and Dave Borbely. The 2006 Virginia Coaching Assignments follow:

• Mike London ­- Defensive coordinator, defensive line coach
• Steve Bernstein ­- Assistant head coach, defensive backs coach
• Bob Diaco ­- Special teams coordinator, linebackers coach
• Levern Belin -­ Defensive assistant coach, assistant defensive line coach
• Mike Groh ­- Offensive coordinator, recruiting coordinator, quarterbacks coach
• John Garrett -­ Assistant head coach for the offense, wide receivers coach
• Dave Borbely -­ Running game coordinator, offensive line coach
• Bob Price ­- Assistant recruiting coordinator, tight ends coach
• Anthony Poindexter -­ Assistant special teams coordinator, running backs coach

Coming Soon

The regular season has ended for the Virginia basketball teams and postseason play is ready to roll. The baseball team just wrapped up a 12-0 homestand and both lacrosse teams defeated Syracuse. In other words, there is buzz all around Charlottesville about the various Cavalier teams. The Sabre has 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:

• ACC Tournament
  The Cavaliers earned the No. 2 seed in the ACC Tournament, meaning the have a bye during Thursday's first round. The Sabre will prep you for the tournament and provide coverage from Florida.
• Scouting Virginia
  One of fhe Sabre's most popular basketball features this winter has been the exclusive scouting reports for ACC games with former UVa and Clemson assistant Ben D'Alessandro. Due to popular demand, Ben provides a look at our own Hoos.
• Baseball Class
  The Cavaliers have another top notch recruiting class in the pipeline.
• Lacrosse Report
  The Virginia men host VMI and Princeton this week. How does Dom Starsia's team look so far this season? The Cavalier women, meanwhile, are off to a 3-0 start. Can Julie Myers' team keep it going this week?
• Photo Gallery
  Virginia defeated rival Virginia Tech on Thursday night to complete a 16-1 season in the John Paul Jones Arena. Mike Ingalls takes a look back at the final night with a photo gallery.

In Case You Missed It ...

Sabre articles since the last SabreMail

Deacons Drop Hoos
In the end, the ACC road woes that have plagued Virginia for more than a decade cost the Cavaliers the outright regular season ACC Championship. The Hoos were looking for their first .500 or better ACC road record since 1994-95, but Wake Forest squashed those plans on Saturday with the 78-72 victory. On Saturday, the Demon Deacons placed four players in double figures to leave UVa with an 11-5 league record. The Hoos will still own at least a share of the title, but the loss at Wake Forest essentially ended the dreams of being No. 1 alone.

Forward Progress Keys UVa Win Over VT
Revenge. Payback. Vengeance. Retribution. Whatever you want to call it, with a 69-56 victory Thursday night Virginia earned a split with Virginia Tech in the regular season match-ups between the Commonwealth rivals. However you tag the Cavaliers' win, however, the 40-point turn-around from Blacksburg to Charlottesville required some "forward thinking" on the part of Adrian Joseph and the Hoos.

Hoos Top Hokies, Take Over First Place
The eyes of the ACC world focused on the John Paul Jones Arena on Thursday night, watching to see which Commonwealth heavyweight could move ahead in the league's title race. The two teams exchanged body blows throughout the first half, but in the end Virginia answered the bell and knocked out Virginia Tech, 69-56. The Senior Night victory pushed the Cavaliers to the top of the ACC standings when North Carolina lost to Georgia Tech later in the night. The 20-8, 11-4 Hoos travel to Wake Forest on Saturday with a chance to win the regular season title outright.

Scouting Report: Virginia Tech, Game 2
Virginia hosts its final game of the year tonight in the John Paul Jones Arena when rival Virginia Tech comes to town for a showdown. The Cavaliers have yet to lose an ACC game in the JPJ, posting a 7-0 mark thus far. The Hokies, meanwhile, are tied for the league's best road record at 4-3. With that said, games often come down to match-ups - how do the two teams' strengths and weaknesses compare. Former ACC assistant coach Ben D'Alessandro looks back at the first meeting and tackles the match-ups question in this scouting report.

Seniors Ready As VT Comes To Town
With first place in the ACC on the line, there has likely never been more at stake in a Virginia Tech vs. Virginia basketball game than there will be tonight when the two squads meet at 7 p.m. in front of what should be an electric crowd at the John Paul Jones Arena on Senior Night for Jason Cain and J.R. Reynolds. What more could an avid hoops fan ask for?

Vandy-Hoo: Looking Forward To It
Tonight's game is almost here. The University of Virginia hosts Virginia Tech in an important game. Important to the Atlantic Coast Conference standings. The standings for basketball. Yes, you heard me right. Virginia Tech is coming to the JPJ for an important conference game in a sport that doesn't involve football. In fact, the winner will have a legitimate shot at finishing the regular season with the best record and top seed in the conference tourney.

Photo Gallery: Virginia 75, Georgia Tech 69
Virginia picked up its seventh ACC home win against Georgia Tech, but it wasn't easy. The Cavaliers needed to rally with a 13-0 run in the final four minutes to overcome the Yellow Jackets, 75-69, in the John Paul Jones Arena. Point guard Sean Singletary helped the team grab the win with 24 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists. Check out this photo gallery from the game to relive the action.

5 Things I Learned From Maryland To GT
The Virginia men's basketball team seems securely in the NCAA Tournament field with two regular season ACC games to play. To get there, the Hoos had to endure a rollercoaster ride the past two weeks or so that featured a road win at Maryland, two tough road losses at Virginia Tech and Miami, and two home battles with Florida State and Georgia Tech. But that's what this month is all about. February is supposed to weed out the weak, to identify the "not so bubblicious" teams in the crowd. Late season conference play tests mettle and shows you what your team is made of. Basically, there's plenty to learn from league play. So what was there to learn about the Cavaliers? Let's take a look at the stretch of games from Maryland to Georgia Tech.

Wright Named ACC Rookie of the Year
When Monica Wright first arrived in Charlottesville, the expectations were already sky high. After all, she had been named a Street & Smith's, USA Today, EA Sports, USA Today, and McDonald's All-American. So it shouldn't have been surprising when she was named the ACC's Preseason Rookie of the Year. But it was. At least to Wright. She didn't even know such an award existed. When she won the postseason version of the honor Tuesday, however, there was no shock. After all, she had been named the ACC Rookie of the Week eight times during the season.

Enough Or Too Much? Dynamic Duo Delivers Again
When I hear the phrase "Dynamic Duo," three words come to mind. Batman and Robin. They became so close that they could nearly read each other's minds and they rarely failed when defending Gotham. Because of this they are now deemed "super heroes" and after the Saturday showdown at John Paul Jones Arena, the Justice League most definitely has two new members in Sean Singletary and J.R. Reynolds. But how far can Virginia go if just those two are producing?

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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