Football Class Keeps Growing

The University of Virginia football program continues to get good news for the Class of 2009 - commitment No. 18 has joined the fold before July 1!

Robert "Cody" Wallace, a 6-5, 260-pound offensive lineman out of Moorestown High School in New Jersey, has committed to UVa according to a report on Philly.com. He is the third offensive line recruit of the class. Offensive line is a big need in this 2009 class, so look for the staff to try and land at least two more prospects in the class.

Stay tuned later today for more on Wallace, Virginia's 18th commitment of 2009.

This Week In Recruiting
By Chris Horne

In case you missed it, UVa added commitment No. 17 last week. The staff continued its tremendous 2009 class recruiting success with the addition of 6-5, 260-pound defensive end Justin Renfrow. Renfrow, who hails from Penn Charter High School in Philadelphia (PA), earned an official offer after his performance at Virginia's camp last week. He left Charlottesville on Tuesday and committed to the Hoos two days later.

Heading into this 2009 class coverage, it was evident that defensive line - in particular defensive end - was a position that would need to be addressed. So far, Virginia has really done a great job. Renfrow joins top in-state recruit Jake Snyder, a 6-4, 235-pound prospect out of Deep Run, and 6-7, 260-pound Brent Urban, a top prospect out of Canada. And Virginia remains in the running for several other top targets including Hun School (Princeton, N.J.) star Anthony LaLota and Lafayette (Williamsburg, VA) standout William Hill.

This past weekend, Virginia was expected to host 6-4, 265-pound St. Xavier (Cincinnati, OH) defensive end Pat Muldoon. Muldoon may be tough to get away from in-state power Ohio State, but we'll check in to see how the visit to Charlottesville went. He also was scheduled to visit Virginia Tech over the weekend.

Virginia hosted a 7-on-7 tournament as well as a one-day lineman camp on Saturday, June 21, and held its summer camp from Sunday through Wednesday. We'll continue to check in with those prospects who attended the camp. Today, be sure to check out a follow up piece with Sherando quarterback Ross Metheny, who participated in the camp last Monday. Metheny discusses his recovery from the broken fibula he suffered in last season's state championship game, the Virginia camp experience, and his senior season.

Metheny arrived in Charlottesville last Sunday night and spent some time with new Virginia target Ross Cockrell, a 6-0, 165-pound wide receiver/cornerback out of Latin School in Charlotte, North Carolina. Cockrell has an offer from Virginia and, according to Metheny, the two got along well. We'll try to have more with the talented Tar Heel state rising senior, who captured 11 interceptions (returning five for touchdowns) last season as a junior.

This week, we'll also revisit Virginia's 2009 class needs. This week, we'll look at the offensive side of the ball. With 17 commitments in the fold, there aren't many spots remaining, so we'll take a look at which offensive needs have yet to be met.

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 ...

Profile: UVa WR Recruit Kevin Royal
As he grew more and more serious about football, Kevin Royal made the decision the transfer from Archbishop Stepanic (White Plains, N.Y.), a school known more for its basketball, to Brunswick School in Greenwich, Connecticut. Royal, who transferred to Brunswick for the 2006/2007 school year, made an immediate impact for Brunswick head coach Sean Brennan.

Camp Yields Impressive DE Commit
The University of Virginia's tremendous spring and summer recruiting run continued today, when the Cavaliers received a verbal commitment from 6-5, 260-pound defensive end prospect Justin Renfrow. Renfrow, a standout from William Penn Charter High School in Philadelphia, is the 17th rising high school senior to commit to Virginia. All but two of UVa's commitments have come in the spring and summer

New York Guard Lists Virginia
Rice (New York, N.Y.) two-guard Durand Scott lists the University of Virginia as one of his handful of Division 1 scholarship offers. The 6-4, 180-pound rising senior, who also claims offers from Memphis, Miami, Pitt, St. John's, Wake Forest and Xavier, was in Charlottesville last week for the NBPA Top 100 Camp and was impressed by the experience.

More recent recruiting updates on The Sabre ...

• St. Xavier Star to Visit Virginia, Virginia Tech
• Brookville OL Attends UVa's Camp
• Forcier Looks Ahead to Next Step
• Gough Camps at UVa

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Singletary Selected By Sacramento In NBA Draft

Former Virginia standout Sean Singletary was selected by the Sacramento Kings in the second round of the 2008 NBA Draft on Thursday. Singletary was the 12th pick in the second round of the draft and was the 42nd player selected overall. Singletary is the first Virginia player selected in the NBA Draft since Roger Mason Jr., was selected in 2002. Mason was a second round selection (31st overall pick) by the Chicago Bulls.

Singletary, a 6-0 guard from Philadelphia, Pa., averaged 19.8 points, 6.1 assists and 3.8 rebounds a game during the 2007-08 season. He was twice named ACC Player of the Week during the 2007-08 season. Singletary earned first-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference honors for the third consecutive season in 2008.

Stay tuned to The Sabre for an article about Singletary's big day.

Devvarman Starts Pro Career With A Win

Two-time NCAA Singles Champion Somdev Devvarman started his professional career the same way his collegiate career ended - winning. Devvarman mowed down the competition in the $10,000 Buffalo Bills Futures Tournament, taking home $1,300 for the singles title. He defeated 16-year old Alexander Domijan 6-2, 6-2 in the final in Rochester.

Later in the afternoon on Sunday, Devvarman and former Virginia doubles partner Treat Huey added another trophy to the mantel. The duo defeated Ohio State teammates Bryan Koniecko and Justin Kronauge, 6-2, 4-6, 12-10. Devvarman and Huey will split $630 for that triumph.

Read all about Devvarman's victory in The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle . And don't forget that you can keep up with all the articles on your Hoos every day in Sabre NewsLink!

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Issue No. 277 - January 29, 2007

Hoos Embrace Road Roles - And Win

Adrian Joseph has carved out a niche as an offensive threat off the bench.

The Virginia men's basketball team picked up two - count 'em, two! - ACC road wins last week by defeating N.C. State and rallying past Clemson. It was the first time UVa won back-to-back ACC road games since January of 2002. (5 YEARS! Let's move on quickly ...) So what got into the Hoos?

Believe it or not, the answer is rather simple. The Cavaliers finally figured out their roles when it comes to road games. J.R. Reynolds, who had been inconsistent away from Charlottesville during some games in his career, stepped up as the go-to scoring option that a shooting guard should be. Sean Singletary became the "do what's necessary to lead your team" point guard, scoring a lot in the first half of N.C. State and grabbing a critical O-Board at Clemson. But Hoo fans have grown to expect those two players to produce almost every time they suit up. It was everyone else that proved surprising, particularly at CU.

Against the Tigers, the Cavaliers produced four players in double figures for scoring. Reynolds and Singletary were joined by Adrian Joseph and Mamadi Diane in that regard. Joseph and Diane have done that plenty of times at home, but they seem to struggle on the road a lot more - they arrived when needed at Clemson. Diane's 10 points allowed him to fill that "third scorer" role that he needs to consistently be, while Joseph heated up when the Hoos trailed big late. Joseph ripped off 8 points as the Cavaliers outscored the Tigers 15-0 down the stretch. Microwave anyone?

Scoring is not the only category to watch, though. Jason Cain has come to life as of late and last week was no exception. At NCSU, he had 5 points to go with 12 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 assist, and 1 block ; at Clemson, he had 4 points (including the game-winning tip-in) to go with 6 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 steal. Plus, the freshmen started to log significant minutes on the road. At CU, Solomon Tat (16 minutes) and Will Harris (14 minutes) each played key stretches.

The list could be longer. Tunji Soroye had 22 minutes against the Tigers and grabbed 6 rebounds for example. But here's the bottom line: Roles have been embraced and it is paying off in the win column. That could mean more road celebrations before the year is out. Stay tuned.

Kris Wright
Editor, 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 soon:

• JHoo's Summer Reading: JHoo helps take an in-depth look at the football team with the fifth article in this series.
• Women's Basketball Recruiting Bailey Stephens caught up with Lexie Gerson, a women's basketball committment to talk about playing at UVa.
• Jed Williams: Jed is busy working out his next column, which will appear in the coming days.

In Case You Missed It ...

Sabre articles since the last SabreMail

Quick Take: Brandon Guyer
Former Virginia baseball standout Brandon Guyer finished his Cavalier career with 221 hits, 146 runs, 137 RBIs, 19 home runs, and 45 steals. He hit .370 in his final season when UVa compiled a 45-16 record in 2007. Now with the Peoria Chiefs, the Class A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs managed by Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg, Guyer is trying to climb the ladder of professional baseball. He joined The Sabre for a "Quick Take" on how things are going since he left Virginia.

Long Adjusts To NFL Life
Chris Long is just letting it all soak in. The two months since Long was selected by the St. Louis Rams with the No. 2 overall pick in the NFL Draft have been a whirlwind for the former Virginia All-American defensive end. Amongst all the changes, it has taken a while for the reality to hit him said Long, who is expected to be a rookie NFL starter for the Rams this fall.

Best Seat In The House: Dave Koehn
Virginia athletics found a new voice on Tuesday when Dave Koehn was announced as the new "Voice of the Cavaliers", a position he will officially begin on July 7. Koehn takes the play-by-play reins of the football and men's basketball teams, making his first assignment a big one - the Southern California showdown in Scott Stadium on Aug. 30. Koehn joined The Best Seat in the House on Tuesday to talk about the news, his new identity as the "Voice of the Cavaliers", and more.

JHoo's Summer Reading '08: Tight Ends
Each year, it seems like the preview article about the tight end corps almost writes itself. After all, each year, it seems like it is the same old story when it comes to the tight ends: a lot of talent, a lot of depth, and not all that many questions. This year? More of the same. So let's continue our summer reading with a position of comfort for the Hoos, starting with an obvious name at the top of the depth chart in John Phillips.

Sabre Roundtable: Summer Football Questions
With June's final days clicking off the calendar, the Cavalier football team is inching closer to fall practice and, of course, the big opener against Southern California. The Sabre has assembled a roundtable to tackle some summer gridiron questions, including which running back will be the "starter" for USC. See what Richmond Times-Dispatch writer Jeff White, Sabre columnist Jed Williams, Sabre intern Bailey Stephens, and Sabre EDGE member gate-hoo think about a half dozen Hoo questions.

Baseball Posts Up & Down Year
The Virginia baseball team had one of those head-scratcher seasons in a lot of ways. The Cavaliers won 39 games, advanced to the ACC Tournament final, and accumulated various individual honors. On the flipside, the Hoos struggled to win key ACC series, lost several mid-week games, and bowed out in the regional round of the NCAA Tournament yet again. Up and down, up and down, up and down. The Sabre recaps the season with a look at the good, the bad, and the ugly from the 2008 baseball season.

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