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   SabreMail - May 12, 2008
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Staley Headed To South Carolina

Virginia legend Dawn Staley has accepted the head coaching position of the women's basketball program at South Carolina. Staley leaves her first job as a head coach at Temple where she is the winningest coach in school history (172-80). Staley guided the Owls' program to four Atlantic Ten Tournament titles and six NCAA Tournament berths - in the decade before she arrived, the Temple program did not have a winning record.

Staley, of course, led UVa to three consecutive Final Four appearances as the star point guard who could score or assist. She was the 1991 and 1992 National Player of the Year, a three-time All-American, and helped the Cavaliers post a 110-21 record during her time in Charlottesville. Staley set the NCAA record for steals with 454 and still stands sixth on that list.

The State newspaper in Columbia, SC has been following the story closely. Take a look at a few links from The State's web site: USC snags star in Dawn Staley | Morris: Fate, Spurrier brings Staley to USC | Staley a name brand for USC | Video: Dawn Staley.

So what do Hoo fans think about the news? Share your thoughts on the women's basketball board and the Sabre EDGE message board.


   Recruiting News

This Week In Recruiting
By Sabre Staff

Basketball recruiting ...

The last day of exams at the University of Virginia frequently has marked the start to a great weekend of basketball for many of the state's and East Coast's most talented AAU programs and this past weekend's Southern Invitational once again took place at UVa. In a tournament that has seen the likes of Sean Singletary, J.R. Reynolds, Vernon Macklin, Wayne Ellington, Gerald Henderson, and O.J. Mayo, the field once again represented the future of college basketball. Here are some of the players that Virginia has expressed some interest in so far on the recruiting trail.

Travis McKie of Boo Williams U16 said that he has already been given an offer by Virginia Tech and has met with coaches at Virginia. Cadarian Raines, a forward for the Petersburg Elite Stars U17, is interested in both Virginia and Virginia Tech, though he also cited Maryland, VCU, George Mason, and Oklahoma as schools he was also looking at. Montel Baines, a forward for NC Raptors Select Grey U16, made his second visit to Virginia this weekend, with his first coming the weekend of Feb. 23-24 when the Cavaliers took on N.C. State. During the visit, he spoke with Virginia assistant Steve Seymour, and also spoke with Virginia players Mike Scott and Sean Singletary.

Dominic Cheek, a U17 guard, is currently open and looking at schools, including Virginia Tech and Virginia, and he took advantage of the weekend to explore UVa. His coach said that he will likely narrow it down to seven or eight schools by the end of June.

The Tournament Champion U15 team, was none other than Boo Williams U15, one of the most talented U15 teams that coach Robbie Williams has worked with. Trey Davis, Justin Anderson, Levon Harper, and James McAdoo help make up a line-up that, three years from now, could make up a starting five at an ACC-caliber school. This group rolled over the competition at the Southern Invitational. UVa has started recruiting all of those players to some extent.

Stay tuned for much more from the Southern Invitational, including discussion on player skill sets and more, on the Sabre EDGE.


Football recruiting ...

Tucker Windle, a 6-3, 220-pound linebacker/tight end out of Charlotte, N.C. joined the Cavaliers' commitment list over the weekend. His father, Al, was a linebacker for the Cavaliers in the '70s, and Tucker grew up a big UVa fan, something that probably didn't hurt the Hoos in the recruiting process. Sabre recruiting guru Chris Horne will catch up with Tucker for a full interview on Monday and will post an update soon.

Windle, the seventh commitment for UVa in the 2009 class, is the first out-of-state player on the list.


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 ...

Smalls Anxious to Start Career at UVa
Image: Riko SmallsThe Virginia coaching staff first began recruiting Plano East (Plano, TX) star quarterback Riko Smalls seriously in January. On Wednesday, February 6th, Smalls was one of 18 players to sign a letter of intent with the Cavaliers. The 6-1, 192-pound senior felt confident then and feels confident now about the decision he made.

Perez-Means' Versatility Draws Recruiters
Image: Duan Perez-MeansDuan Perez-Means got it done for Hermitage (Richmond, VA) on both sides of the ball in 2007, accounting for four defensive touchdowns and one safety from the defensive end spot and totaling 22 receptions including eight touchdowns at wide receiver. The junior's versatility is what has drawn much interest from Division 1A programs, including official scholarship offers from Syracuse, Virginia and Virginia Tech.

Catching up with PF DeShawn Painter
6-9, 210-pound junior power forward DeShawn Painter plans to finish out this school year at Booker T. Washington (Norfolk, VA), but the talented low post prospect is taking his game elsewhere in 2008/2009. Painter plans to play next season for head coach Kevin Keatts at Hargrave Military Academy.

More recent recruiting updates on The Sabre ...


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   News, Notes, and Fan Discussion

Blog Banter: Reseating, so far

So, I've been kinda sorta following the whole reseating thing in its first couple rounds. Groups A and B have picked/are picking their spots in Scott this month, and as a Group C ticket holder (nope, no media pass for a little ol' blogger) I'm not finding a need to follow things seat by seat. Rather, I've been watching on a daily basis, including reaction on the football board. From what I can tell from my oh-so-unscientific vantage point, it appears that people are generally happy so far. Not exactly surprising that the top donors are getting their top picks, of course, but at least there hasn't been some sort of meltdown ... yet.

Also, I called the ticket office this week to inquire about the Group C process. Our tickets get allocated by the ticket office in June, and given their self-imposed time crunch caused by this whole reseating scheme, they won't be calling us to ascertain how we feel about potential seating moves as they did in previous years. So, if you typically used to wait for the ticket office to call you about your potential seats, don't bother. You'll likely just be getting a nice surprise in the mail.

And the real time seat selection website is a nice little touch. I wonder how much that thing set them back? A couple dozen Group B donations?

Check out more on The Good Ol' Blog.

Rob Mahini
TheSabre.com


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Around the World of Wahoo Sports ...

  • Virginia Tops Penn State to Reach NCAA Round of 16: Top-seeded Virginia advanced to the round of 16 of the NCAA Tournament for the fifth consecutive year, defeating Penn State 4-0 Sunday in the second round match of the Charlottesville Regional. Neither the Nittany Lions nor the rain, which caused the match to be finished indoors, could stop the Cavaliers from posting their 30th victory of the season, tying the school record.
  • No. 24 Virginia Stages Late Rally to Top No. 2 UNC, 5-4: Jeremy Farrell's two-out, two-run single in the bottom of the sixth inning provided the No. 24 Virginia baseball team with the go-ahead runs in a 5-4 win over No. 2 North Carolina on Sunday in a rain-shortened game at Davenport Field. UNC won the first two games of the series.
  • Six Cavaliers Win Events at Christopher Newport: The Virginia track and field team won four field events and two track events on Saturday at the New Captains Classic at Christopher Newport. Katie Darraugh, David Lewis, Rashawnda James, and Katie Tershel each won their field events, while Talia Wise and Conlon Bonner won their respective 400m dashes.
  • Hagos and Tschirhart Regionally Qualify in 1500m: Senior Mike Hagos and junior Kevin Tschirhart claimed the top two spots in the 1500m at the Taylor Cattle Farms Carolina Classic, hosted by the University of North Carolina, Friday evening in NCAA Regional Qualifying times. Hagos clocked in at 3:47.68, a personal-best, to take the top spot, while Tschirhart was close behind, finishing in his best time of 3:47.77. Junior Alex Bowman trailed the duo, finishing third in the event with a time of 3:48.97.
  • Softball Season Closes at ACC Championship: The Virginia softball team (15-39) closed its season with a 5-3 loss to Georgia Tech (31-29) Friday in the ACC Championship. The Cavaliers, seeded eighth, rallied for three runs in the sixth inning, but could not catch up with the fourth-seeded Yellow Jackets, who move on to play another day. The Cavaliers finished with a 6-15 record in conference play, increasing its league wins after a 1-20 mark in the ACC a season ago.
  • Myers Tabbed as ACC Coach of the Year: Virginia head coach Julie Myers has been named the 2008 ACC Coach of the Year. The distinction marks just the second time Myers has been voted the top coach in the league, as she earned the honor in 2002 after leading the Cavaliers to the regular-season title.
  • Tar Heels Upset Cavaliers in First Round of NCAA Tournament: The Virginia women's lacrosse team struggled to fight off a pesky North Carolina team Sunday afternoon in Klöckner Stadium, falling 11-7 to the Tar Heels in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. "North Carolina had a great game today," head coach Julie Myers said. "They came in and played tough all over the field. They made their shots count when they needed to and we, in return, had stretches where we were really ready to play. But, Carolina did a great job at answering back when they really needed to dig in and stop our goal scoring and get back on the board for themselves. They definitely came in and played sharp today." Juniors Jenny Hauser, Ashley McCulloch and Blair Weymouth led the Cavaliers with two goals apiece.
  • Kim Tabbed as Golf World's College Player of the Week: Virginia freshman women's golfer Joy Kim has been named the College Player of the Week by Golf World Magazine. Kim finished seventh at the NCAA East Regional Championship last week at the University of Georgia. Her performance helped UVa to a fifth-place team finish and a berth to the NCAA Championships.

For more Hoo news or to read full releases, check out Virginiasports.com.


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   SabreMail History

Issue No. 292 - May 14, 2007

Shocking End, But More To Cheer About

Image: Kip TurnerThe Virginia men's lacrosse team's season ended in stunning fashion on Sunday when Delaware rocked the second-seeded Cavaliers, 14-8, in the NCAA Tournament. That quickly ended any hopes of repeating as the National Champions. Still, UVa coach Dom Starsia said that the disappointing end does not take away from the season as a whole. The Hoos finished 12-4 on the year after losing the opener to Drexel.

"I don't know want to overplay the point, but the fact that we played our way back to be a No. 2 seed going into this tournament is a testament to these kids," Starsia said. "It's the body of work that tells the story and we had a great season. We ran into a team that was as athletic or more athletic than we were and that doesn't happen that often. It breaks your heart to have it end like this, but like I said, I think we're all walking out of here with our heads up. One day does not undo all the good things that this group put together."

While the men's lacrosse season is over, however, there are still Virginia teams looking for postseason glory. The men's tennis team advanced to its fourth straight Sweet 16 by defeating Hampton and Old Dominion over the weekend. Cav coach Brian Boland told reporters after Saturday's 4-0 romp against ODU that he is "juiced up" and ready to go, adding that "I believe in this team." The fourth-seeded Cavs return to action on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the women's lacrosse team rolled past Princeton in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday. That win avenged last season's loss to the Tigers in the same round of play. UVa takes on North Carolina on Saturday at Klockner Stadium at 2 p.m. The winner moves on to the Final Four so a large crowd could help lift the Cavaliers.

Over on the water, the women's crew team crushed the competition at the South/Central Regional Championships this weekend. The No. 5 Hoos swept all five grand final races to earn an automatic berth into the NCAA Championships - the bracket will be announced on Tuesday at 4 p.m. The Cavaliers will enter the final competition on a roll - they became the first team in the regional's history to win every race - preliminary, semifinal, and final.

And finally, the baseball team is wrapping up the regular season this week before turning its attention to the ACC Tournament and beyond. UVa's final regular season home game is at 7 p.m. on Tuesday when Coastal Carolina comes to town.

   What's New on TheSabre.com?

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:

  • Southern Invitational: The Sabre has AAU basketball news for you from the recruiting trail
  • Lacrosse Update: The Sabre follows the men's lacrosse team with a planned feature on Will Barrow.


In Case You Missed It ...

Sabre articles since the last SabreMail

Cavs' Defense Helps Top UMBC
Image: Ken ClausenThe billowing storm clouds that covered the Charlottesville area on Sunday had nothing on Virginia's Ken Clausen and the Cavalier defense. After all, the defense blanketed UMBC in similar fashion all afternoon and the UVa men's lacrosse team rode that performance into the next round of the NCAA Tournament with a tightly contested 10-9 victory at Klockner Stadium.

Best Seat In The House: Brian Boland
Image: Coach Brian BolandThe undefeated Virginia men's tennis team begins its quest for a National Championship this weekend when it hosts Fairleigh Dickinson at 10 a.m. on Saturday. The 28-0 Cavaliers are the top seed in the NCAA Tournament as they look to return to the Final Four for the second straight season. Coach Brian Boland joined The Best Seat in the House to talk about the upcoming tournament, the Hoos, and more.

Q&A - Linebacker Aaron Clark
Image: Aaron ClarkFor much of his Virginia football career, Aaron Clark has been caught in between. In between what? In between redshirting philosophy, in between positions, in between iron man tactics and use of the depth chart. But through the series of breaks that have kept him off the field, Clark has remained positive and prepared.

FanWatch: Biscohoo Ready To Pass On Tradition
Image: Cameron Garrison, biscohooLike many UVa alumni, Cameron Garrison (CLAS, 96) - biscohoo on The Sabre - has been looking forward to returning to Charlottesville for quite some time to introduce his children, Ash (2) and Francie (11 months), to all the sights and sounds of a Saturday afternoon at Scott Stadium. With his kids getting older, he is ready to return to his old stomping grounds this season to relive memories of tailgating on the range.


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