Time To Panic Yet?

The Virginia men's basketball team has lost five of its last six games, blowing second-half leads in three straight ACC losses. The Cavaliers' record now stands at 11-7 overall and 1-4 in the ACC. Obviously, things don't look good right now for the Hoos, particularly when you throw in the fact that Sean Singletary said he is nursing a bruised hip/hip pointer.

Last week, I was asked in radio interviews whether it was time to panic with this year's team. My answer was "not yet, but it is getting closer." The analogy I point to is a contestant on Deal or No Deal. The little plastic box is open, the red button is flashing, and a decision will be made soon.

So how do I feel after the Georgia Tech game? I'm still not sure it's time to panic, but that deal is looking more and more appealing. After all, there are two ways to look at this. The team is in last place in the ACC and ailing with injuries while the schedule features five road tests in the next seven games - the forecast doesn't look bright. Or, the team is only two wins behind the third place team in the league and the last three conference games have been close (two went to overtime) - the forecast is cloudy, but there's a chance of clearing.

GT coach Paul Hewitt thinks it is too early to start deciding who will end up where in the ACC.

"I think it's so early to talk about that, honestly. We're not even at the halfway point yet so there's a lot of time left; there's a lot of basketball left to play," Hewitt said. "We're just going to keep playing, and I'm sure Dave's going to have them keep playing. There's a long way to go."

So does UVa coach Dave Leitao see an added sense of urgency at 1-4?

"I operate that way game one ,day one. There's always urgency," Leitao said. "You only get 30-some odd [games] a year and 365 days so every one is critically important in my book. It's not the end all, be all to it - the season didn't end today - but obviously at 1-4, it doesn't look as good as if you were 4-1. What that means is you wake up tomorrow and I don't think panic sets in or any of that stuff happens, but you certainly have to change your fortunes if you have any level of expectations."

What do you think? Share on the basketball message board.

Kris Wright
TheSabre.com

This Week In Recruiting
By Chris Horne

Basketball recruiting ...

I apologize for the delay, but I will post the update on 6-11, 235-pound center John Brandenburg this week. Brandenburg is coming off of a successful week last week, as he led DeSmet (St. Louis, MO) to three consecutive victories to move to 12-8 on the season. Brandenburg scored 10, 16, and 8 points in the three wins.

Football recruiting ...

The University of Virginia played host to four official visitors this past weekend, including Phoebus (Hampton, VA) wide receiver Reid Evans, Gonzaga (Washington, DC) safety/outside linebacker Cameron Johnson, Norview (Norfolk, VA) defensive lineman Klinton "Buddy" Ruff, and Chamblee (GA) defensive lineman/offensive lineman Omoregie Uzzi. Johnson and Ruff have already committed to the Cavs, while Evans and Uzzi are remaining targets.

Evans, a first-team all-state selection at defensive back and second-team selection at wide receiver, did not receive a scholarship offer from head coach Al Groh over the weekend. He is still in the running for an offer, though, and should hear something definitive by the end of this week. If Virginia offers, expect a commitment to immediately follow.

Uzzi, a 6-3, 300-pound prospect, is expected to decide soon from Alabama, Georgia Tech, and Virginia. This past weekend was the first time he had ever visited UVa and the staff needed to make a big impression to have a hope of landing the U.S. Army Bowl participant. Stay tuned for an update on the 4-star prospect's experience in Charlottesville.

Also stay tuned for more from Ruff on his experience, which went well, and for more from Johnson. A two-sport standout, Johnson is planning to play football and basketball at UVa. He is expected to sign with the Hoos on Feb. 6, which of course is Signing Day for the 2008 class.

The official visitor list could get interesting next weekend, so stay tuned throughout the weekend for more on potential visitors. One confirmed visitor is 6-6, 215-pound defensive end/outside linebacker Tory Allen. Allen, whose senior season was the only year he played high school football, hails from Lovejoy High School in Atlanta, Georgia. He estimates that he tallied around 60 tackles including 11 sacks.

Allen has not been offered by Virginia, but he says the UVa staff was one of the first to start communicating with him. He made an official visit to UNC this past weekend and did not receive an offer.

Virginia could receive a mid-week visit from Ocean Lakes wide receiver Randall Dunn. Dunn, who has offers from Connecticut, North Carolina, Penn State, Virginia, Virginia Tech, and West Virginia, has made official visits to UConn, Virginia Tech, and UNC. He hopes to visit UVa on Thursday and Friday and plans to visit West Virginia on Saturday and Sunday.

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 ...

Hamilton Provides the Latest on his Recruitment
Centreville (Clifton, VA) defensive back Darryl Hamilton had an enjoyable visit to the University of Richmond this past weekend. While the 5-9, now 187-pound prospect could see himself at U of R, he is awaiting word from several other programs first before deciding which one he will sign with in two weeks.

Phillips Reflects on Weekend in Charlottesville
Georgetown Prep (North Bethesda, MD) star Colter Phillips was one of a handful of Virginia commitments in Charlottesville last weekend, and the 6-6, 235-pound tight end/defensive end raved about his experience. The first-team all-MIA performer discussed the official visit to UVa, the other recruits in Virginia's 2008 class, the departure of defensive coordinator and primary recruiter Mike London and more.

Is an Offer Coming for Evans?
Phoebus (Hampton, VA) wide receiver Reid Evans made his official visit to the University of Virginia this weekend and was hoping to leave with an official scholarship offer in the fold. The 5-11, 170-pound senior did not get what he wanted from this weekend, but he expects to know later this week whether or not he will get an offer from the Cavs.

More recent recruiting updates on The Sabre ...

• Dunn Expects to Decide on Signing Day
• No Wavering from Wallace
• Uzodinma De-Commits, Pledges to Illinois
• 4-Star Georgia OL /DT Set to Visit UVa
• Burnette Enjoys Visit, Waits on Offer Decision
• Phoebus WR/CB Sets Visit to Virginia
• Schautz has "Great Time" in Charlottesville

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Blog Banter: More fall wrap-ups

Sorry for the delay in posting the next installment of this series, but we've had a lot of news this month to distract us. But in the waning days of the worst January ever, reading about some successful UVa sports teams might cheer you all up. Or maybe not.

In any event, the cross country teams had very good seasons. The men's team won the ACC Championship, the women's team enjoyed a stellar year by Emily Harrison - who finished in the top six of every race she ran in 2007, and both teams cracked the top 10 in the national rankings during the season, with the men finishing in the top 25.

Read the full blog entry here.

Robert Mahini (Vandy-Hoo)
TheSabre.com

More Banter: Women's Basketball Playing Well

With all the other January-from-hell news, the nice season by UVa's women's basketball team is being obscured. They deserve more than zero blog posts, dontcha think? Kris noticed by featuring the ladies in this article after their victory over Tech a few weeks back, and they've been keeping it going since by adding two more wins (while dropping one game to Maryland, the #4 team in the country).

Right now, the team is 4-1 in the ACC (15-5 overall), which gives them a third place tie with Duke. After an impressive overtime road win against the Seminoles, the women don't play again until they host NCSU at home this Friday night. A well-deserved rest, for sure.

Read the full blog entry here.

Newslink - Your One Stop Shop for UVa News

TheSabre.com provides an excellent service for the Virginia fan base that you may not know about: Newslink. Sabre NewsLink provides you with links to the daily news on your Hoos. Our staff checks the Internet each morning to locate and link to articles from various online media sources from around the state and beyond. We even throw some interesting ACC news to let you know what the Hoos' opponents are up to. Sabre NewsLink is updated every morning, 365 days a year!

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Issue No. 244 - June 2, 2006

Post of the Week

Subject: First-timers guide to message board recruiting process
Posted by: KemHOOsabe on Thu Jun 1 2006 6:54:13 PM
Message: As a 4 year veteran of the Sabre message board recruiting process, I feel it is important that rookie subscribers be warned of what is about to occur on this board. What is about to occur? The Rivals ranking of players. By the end of June, Rivals should have their stars awarded and their first rankings by state. Why is this important? Because it marks the official end to the recruiting honeymoon season on the message board. For all you rookies, here's how the process works:

Before June: Everybody is excited about every recruit. Hell, everyone is going to be a future star and Al Groh is a genius. The message board is abuzz with talk of 5 and 4 star recruits and a top 10 recruiting class. There is speculation about how many stars each recruit will get. Despite Chris Horne's cautionary wisdom, message boarders will still guess that the player with offers from Temple, Akron, and UVA will be labeled a four star player.

Month of June: Rivals slowly releases its five and four-star recruits. Indignant message-boarders wonder where half of our recruits are.

Later in Month: Three-star recruits are named on Rivals and yet even more of our recruits are missing, sending the message-board into a frenzy as to why Rivals can be so ignorant.

Rest of recruiting season: Message board bemoaning the fact that 5 and 4 star recruits don't pick us over Notre Dame, PSU, USC and Fla Schools. Groh's fitness as a coach is questioned and his ability to land a big-time recruit is severely doubted. Several defections occur and venom is directed to the defectors. As the recruiting season winds down in January, renewed excitement over 2 and three star recruits is generated as we need to fill spots.

Signing Day 2007: Everybody says great things about each player and excited to have all aboard once again. Everyone trusts in Al's judge of talent.

This, of course, is just a good-natured overview of the process. Yes, it is highly exaggerated as well. It is just fun for some of us to sit back and observe the excitement over recruits most of us know nothing about.

Cautionary wisdom to the rookies on the Board: if you can't be with the one you love, love the one your with. These kids want to play for us and just maybe some of those two-star chumps like Heath or Elton may surprise us. Chances are that our recruiting class will land somewhere between Fla State's and Duke's.

Good luck to Al and the gang and Go HOOS!

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:

• Position Reviews JHoo breaks down the situation at the various positions on the Virginia football team.
• Recruiting Days Football recruiting is in the home stretch for the 2008 class and The Sabre keeps you up to date on all the news.
• Maryland, Virginia Tech The Sabre provides coverage of the Hoos' next two basketball games.

In Case You Missed It ...

Sabre articles since the last SabreMail

Yellow Jackets Sting Cavs
Virginia's hot first half shooting proved to be an illusion and not a solution as its recent struggles - the Cavaliers have lost five of their last six games - continued against Georgia Tech on Sunday. The Yellow Jackets rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit to defeat the Hoos in overtime, 92-82, the third loss in the John Paul Jones Arena this season. The loss drops UVa to 11-7 overall and 1-4 in the ACC.

Virginia Falters Late At FSU
The Sunshine State woes continued Wednesday night for the Virginia men's basketball team as it lost to Florida State in Tallahassee, 69-67. It is Virginia's sixth straight loss in the Donald L. Tucker Center and its eighth consecutive loss in the state of Florida. This pill was tough to swallow for Dave Leitao's group as it gave up a double-digit lead in the second half to let the game slip away.

Understanding "Floor Game"
Virginia doesn't run an offense. Why doesn't Coach Dave Leitao figure out an offense? All UVa does is pass it around and throw up 3-pointers. I've heard those cries - or similar ones - this season. So what gives? Does Virginia really just pass it around and hope for the best? Fortunately for the Hoos, the answer is no. But the Cavaliers' staple offense - "floor game" - does need certain elements to work properly. Understanding "floor game" may help explain the method to the madness.

Photo Gallery: Boston College At Virginia
The Virginia men's basketball team got its ACC season on track by defeating Boston College on Saturday night. Mamadi Diane played a key role in the 84-66 victory by pouring in 20 points, while Ryan Pettinella, Adrian Joseph, Calvin Baker, and others had strong outings as well. Check out the action in this photo gallery from the game.

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