UVa Hires Schmidt As Softball Coach

Official Release
Virginia Athletic Media Relations

Virginia athletics director Craig Littlepage has announced the hiring of Eileen Schmidt as the Cavaliers new softball coach. A former standout player for UVa in the early 90s, Schmidt replaces Karen Johns who announced her resignation May 23.

"I am tremendously enthused that Eileen Schmidt will rejoin the UVa softball program as our head softball coach," Littlepage said. "She understands the experiences of our student-athletes and will be a leader, mentor, and role model for our players. In addition, her years as a head coach and assistant coach uniquely prepare her to move our softball program forward."

Schmidt, a native of Barto, Pa., competed for Virginia from 1991 to 1994. She was the first Cavalier softball player to earn All-ACC honors three times (1992, 1993 and 1994) and became Virginia's first All-American. Schmidt, a catcher, captured third-team All-America accolades in 1994. She was named the ACC Player of the Year in 1993 and was chosen to the ACC All-Tournament Team in 1993 and 1994.

"The University of Virginia has always been a special place and I am honored to return as the head softball coach," Schmidt said. "It was an extremely difficult decision to leave the University of Kentucky and the program we've worked very hard to build. I want to thank Mitch Barnhart and John Cropp for giving me the opportunity and trust to lead the Kentucky softball program over the past three years. I am thankful I had the opportunity to work with a phenomenal group of student-athletes, colleagues, administration, and softball community. Virginia has always been my dream job, the place where I wanted to finish my career and I want to thank Craig Littlepage for bringing that dream to fruition. I am excited about re-joining the Virginia family and looking forward to recruiting the best student-athletes to wear Blue and Orange."

To read the full release, check out Virginiasports.com.

This Week In Recruiting
By Chris Horne

Football recruiting ...

On Saturday, Virginia held its 7-on-7 passing tournament along with its big-man camp. The first day of the traditional summer camp was Sunday and the camp will last until Wednesday. There is certainly a lot of action on UVa's grounds, but the staff received a nice jolt of energy heading into the weekend's events by received a new commitment on Friday.

5-11, 180-pound Javaris Brown, a wide receiver recruit out of Northeast Macon (Macon, Ga.), pledged to the Hoos after his Friday unofficial visit. Brown, who chose UVa over offers from Kentucky and Vanderbilt and serious interest from Georgia and Georgia Tech, racked up 44 catches for 863 yards and 10 touchdowns last season as a junior.

A speedy prospect, Brown is labeled as a "home-run" type of player by Northeast offensive coordinator Millard Vining. He possesses 4.4 40 speed according to Vining.

Brown is Virginia's ninth verbal commitment for the 2008 recruiting class.

Top high school programs made their way to Charlottesville on Saturday for the 7-on-7 tournament. Friendly (Fort Washington, MD), Hillside (Durham, N.C.), Potomac (MD), and St. John's (Washington, D.C.) were some of the top out-of-state programs, while Highland Springs, Ocean Lakes, and Richlands were among the in-state programs to make the trip.

For EDGE subscribers, be sure to check the EDGE board for news and notes from Saturday's tournament. There will be more to come from Saturday's events, including updates later today on potential sleeper wide receiver Carlos Davis of Friendly and top defensive line prospect Reggie Ellis of Dunbar. Ellis visited on Saturday but did not participate in the big man camp.

Stay tuned for more from UVa's traditional camp. Key in-state talents Dyrell Roberts and Klinton "Buddy" Ruff are expected to attend. Roberts is a 6-2, 190-pound wide receiver recruit out of Smithfield, while Ruff is a 6-4, 290-pound defensive lineman out of Norview (Norfolk, VA). Both players are likely to choose between UVa and Virginia Tech, possibly as early as this summer.

Corey Lewis ...

UVa could add yet another verbal to the class this week if 6-7, 290-pound OL/DL Corey Lewis returns to Virginia. The East Stroudsburg (PA) standout visited UVa last week with his father and had another outstanding visit. He is hoping to return to Charlottesville again this week with his mother. If he does, the Cavs could reach double-digit verbal commitments for the 2008 recruiting class.

Stay tuned for more with Lewis in the coming days.

Basketball recruiting ...

Virginia hosted the NBPA Top 100 camp for the first time this past week and the event was a success, drawing the nation's top rising seniors, rising juniors, and some rising sophomores to Charlottesville. EDGE subscribers can check out the NBPA Camp Reports for more on Virginia 2008 targets. There will be more later today or tomorrow on several prospects including 6-11 C John Brandenburg and 6-7 PF/C Christian Morris, who were considering sticking around Charlottesville on Sunday to tour the grounds.

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 ...

NBPA Top 100 Camp Report #1
The NBPA Top 100 camp is developing a reputation as the most prestigious of the summer camps. With the amount of talented prospects that are currently in Charlottesville, it is easy to see why. It is also a nice bonus for the University of Virginia, which is the in its first year as the host site.

NBPA Top 100 Camp Report #2
Though UVa received some bad news when 6-9 forward Miles Plumlee committed to Stanford, there remain some outstanding prospects with which the Cavs remain in serious contention. This NBPA report addresses UVa's standing with G Sylven Landesberg and C John Brandenburg, among others.

Cavs Reel in Speedy Georgia WR
Northeast Macon (Macon, GA) offensive coordinator Millard Vining figured something special had happened. Sitting in the office of UVa running backs coach Anthony Poindexter, Coach Vining heard what he called a "commotion" in the office of Al Groh. Northeast Macon star wide receiver Javaris Brown had verbally committed to the Cavs head coach.

TheSabre.com's Pre-Summer Top 30
The 2008 class appears deep, as every one of the top 30 prospects in the state has received at least one Division 1A scholarship offer. This year's crop will be very interesting to watch in the 2007 season, as a number of prospects could rise or fall in the ranks depending on how they perform. This especially goes for the top five, which consists of a dominating offensive tackle, a dynamic running back, an athletic dual-threat quarterback, a tall and elusive wide receiver and an accurate pocket passer.

More updates since the last SabreMail ...

• Deep Creek Star Ready for Camps
• Virginia Closes Gap for Rose
• Cavs Heavily in the Race for Pantale
• Coaches Factored Heavily into Walcott's Decision
• Phillips Reflects on Exciting Elite Junior Day
• Big-time Safety Visits UVa

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The Best Seat in the House

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Around the World of Wahoo Sports ...

• Link, Kirkaldy Named to US National Developmental Team: irginia's Christina Kirkaldy and Mia Link were both named to the US National Developmental team Sunday by US National Team Head Coach Lee Bodimeade at the conclusion of the US Field Hockey National Championships in Virginia Beach.
• Garcia Wins US Junior National Championship: Virginia's Stephanie Garcia won the US Junior Championship in the steeplechase, running a 10:26.41. She becomes Virginia's first national champion since Kiamesha Otey won the long jump in 2001. With the win, she will represent the USA at the Junior Pan Am Games in Brazil July 6-8. Also, ACC runner-up Meghan Briggs, a classmate of Garcia, finished fourth in the javelin, tossing 146' 5".
• Ferguson Sets School Record at USA Track and Field Championships: Virginia's Tomika Ferguson secured a school record in her final series as a collegiate athlete at the USA Track and Field Championships in Indianapolis, leaping 43'0.5" (13.12m) in the triple jump.
• Howell Named Head Golf Coach at Texas State: After four seasons as an assistant coach at Virginia, Texas native Shane Howell has been named the head men's golf coach at Texas State University.
• Cavalier Swimming Recruits Fare Well at NCSA All-American Meet: Several members of the Virginia swimming class of 2011 had impressive performances at the inaugural National Club Swimming Association's All-American meet, held earlier this month. Hannah Davis was high point runner-up in the women's meet, winning one event and finishing second in two others. Matt McLean won a pair of events in the men's meet, and Tim Hayes recorded a top-three finish.

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

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Issue No. 170 - December 24, 2004

Men's basketball overcomes adversity, Loyola Marymount

Elton Brown scored 25 points before fouling out last night.

How weird is the Virginia men's basketball schedule? The Cavaliers played five games in 11 days, then had only one game scheduled between Dec. 8 and Jan. 2.

Because of that, the lone game during the holidays - vs. Loyola Marymount last night - figured to be a dangerous one, catching the Cavs out of sync. And it was.

Not only were the Wahoos rusty, they were playing without senior forward Jason Clark (strained Achilles tendon). Leading scorer Devin Smith went down with a sprained ankle in the second half and leading rebounder Elton Brown fouled out in overtime.

Despite all that, Virginia managed to beat the Lions, 79-77, on a driving finger roll by J.R. Reynolds with 1.5 seconds left in OT. That allowed UVa to enter the New Year with an 8-1 record and some optimism going into the tough ACC schedule.

Coming Soon

The Sabre has you covered when it comes to Hoo news. Here are a few of the articles to expect on the site in the coming days:

• Versatility Reigns With Singletary's Return Sean Singletary decided to return to UVa for his senior season last week. That choice gives Virginia a ton of options heading into next season. The Sabre looks at the Cavs' versatility.
  
• JHoo's Summer Reading JHoo's summer reading series continued with a look at the running backs and wide receivers. Next up: tight ends and the offensive line.
  
• Ranking UVa's Programs For 2006-07 Vandy-Hoo ranks the various Cavalier programs for the 2006-07 season. With Final Four apperances by men's tennis, men's soccer, and women's lacrosse, the list won't be an easy one to make. Who lands at No. 1?
  

In Case You Missed It ...

Sabre articles since the last SabreMail

Best Seat in the House: Joseph & Devlin
With football season fast approaching, you can bet Virginia's incoming freshmen are excited about the start of their collegiate careers. Jay James caught up with a pair of players from the incoming class when Andrew Devlin and Dom Joseph joined The Best Seat in the House. Check out what the Pennsylvania pair (Devlin is a tight end/defensive end prospect from the Pittsburgh area and Joseph is a wide receiver/cornerback prospect from the Philadelphia area) had to say on the show.

JHoo's Summer Reading: Wide Receivers
I feel like I am on a bit of a roller coaster right now. One article about a position with a lot of questions marks. One article with very few question marks. And now? The wide receivers. You want to guess into which category this article is going to fall? The injury suffered by Kevin Ogletree sent this position into the upside down portion of the coaster and there are no certain answers to turn it right side up immediately. Hang on.

Best Seat in the House: Sean Singletary
After working his way through the early entry process for the NBA Draft, Virginia point guard Sean Singletary decided to return to Charlottesville for his senior season. Obviously, UVa fans were excited but Singletary is happy to be back. He joined Jay James on The Best Seat in the House to talk about his decision, what he needs to do to improve, and what he expects for the Cavaliers this season.

Singletary's Return Should Spark UVa
When Sean Singletary and Dave Leitao met with the media on Tuesday to discuss Singletary's decision to return for his senior season at Virginia, a reporter asked a simple, but important question: "What's the difference between a team with Sean and a team without him?" Leitao couldn't help but chuckle. Let's just say that Leitao feels lucky to have a team with Singletary leading the way.

Shouted Out With Glee: He's Back!
Sean Singletary is staying. O.K., Wahoo fans welcome back to your computer. I know the jumping up and down and running around the house screaming took a few moments. So did hugging your wife, your kids, your roommate, and the dog. I know you would have hugged the cat too if he didn't disappear for days and you couldn't find him to share the love.

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