Blog Banter: Cook and Sewell back at Virginia

By Rob Mahini at The Good Ol' Blog

This is old news to many (including myself), but I didn’t get a chance to blog this during the holidays. It looks like Chris Cook is a Virginia student once again. I’m assuming (hoping?) that this means he’s back on the team. If so, the secondary is looking like it’ll be a strength for 2009, which is not exactly something I’m used to.

And looks like Sewell is back too. How’s that for a mirror for ‘08? We started last year losing Sewell, and we start ‘09 gaining him back. Let the quarterback controversy we all expected begin!

Also, let me just give them both a tip-of-the-hat for working hard to get back in the University. Rather than use their academic misfortunes as a reason to transfer elsewhere for immediate football and easier classrooms, they busted their butts to get back to UVa and (I’m betting) the football team.

Want more banter? The Sabre's Good Ol' Blog is the place to find it! Check out The Good Ol' Blog today!

The Richmond Times-Dispatch's Jeff White also blogged on the return of three Cavaliers - Cook, Sewell, and Darnell Carter. Check out that blog post here.

This Week In Recruiting
By Chris Horne

The major part of the Dead Period is over and Signing Day, which takes place on Feb. 4, is very much on the horizon. The University of Virginia's football program has 22 verbal commitments in the fold for the 2009 recruiting class, with one of those commitments - Lafayette (Williamsburg, VA) defensive end Will Hill - slated for enrollment this month.

With its remaining scholarships, the Virginia staff is focusing mainly on two positions - offensive line and outside linebacker. UVa has offers out to several offensive linemen targets, including Xaverian (Brooklyn, N.Y.) standout Oday Aboushi, The Hun School's (Princeton, N.J.) Nolan MacMillan, Meadowbrook's (Richmond, VA) Morgan Moses, and Kellam's (Virginia Beach, VA) Hunter Steward.

Of those prospects, Aboushi and MacMillan are likely the only two who will count toward the 2009 class if they choose Virginia. Moses, a U.S. Army All-American, faces the very real possibility of having to attend prep school next year. Steward has been offered by the Cavaliers, but his offer is contingent on a year at Fork Union. So, basically, UVa is recruiting Steward for the 2010 class.

UVa's best shot right now is with Aboushi, who is also considering Rutgers. In fact, Virginia is the clear favorite right now, but Aboushi is still considering an official visit to Rutgers before making a decision.

There are four main outside linebacker targets remaining, including Brooke Point (Stafford, VA) star Lanford Collins, St. Xavier (Cincinnati, OH) standout Luke Kuechly, DeMatha Catholic (Hyattsville, MD) star Jeremiah Mathis, and Robinson (Fairfax, VA) standout Jordan Stanton. Of those prospects, UVa has offers out to all except for Stanton.

According to DeMatha head coach Bill McGregor, Mathis was supposed to be in Charlottesville over the weekend on an official visit. That visit may not have taken place, but we hope to find out more on the situation today. Kansas State and Maryland appear to be the primary competitors for Mathis.

Collins, a 6-4, 240-pound prospect, has taken official visits to Boston College, Virginia, and Penn State. He has scheduled an official to Virginia Tech for Jan. 23 and may visit either Maryland or West Virginia as well. Kuechly has taken official visits to Boston College, Duke, and Virginia. He is scheduled to go to Stanford this weekend before a decision comes. Stanton has been offered by JMU and ODU but is receiving serious interest from UVa and Tech.

Stay tuned this week for more on these remaining targets. Also stay tuned for the latest on Orange (VA) QB/ATH Quintin Hunter and UVa basketball recruit Tristan Spurlock.

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 ...

Top Programs Vie for McKie
John Marshall (Richmond, VA) junior forward Travis McKie flirted with the idea of making a college decision prior to the 2008/2009 season. The 6-6, 190-pound prospect is considering seven schools - Clemson, Florida (no offer), North Carolina (no offer), Virginia, VCU, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest - and now seems content to wait before making a pledge to one of them.

McCray Headed to Army Junior Combine
Brookville (Lynchburg, VA) defensive end/tight end Zack McCray turned in an outstanding junior season, totaling 20 sacks en route to earning first-team all-district, first-team all-region and first-team all-state honors for his play on the defensive side of the ball. The 6-5, 235-pound McCray, one of the top 2010 class recruits in the state of Virginia, now prepares to showcase his talents on a national level at the Army All-American Junior Combine.

More recent recruiting updates on The Sabre ...

• UVa, VT Continue to Eye Stanton
• Mathis Sets Official Visit to UVa
• Watkins Talks Official Visit Plans

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Issue No. 241 - May 12, 2006

This Week In Recruiting By Chris Horne

Mike Scott, a 6-8 standout at Deep Creek, re-opened his recruitment after John Chaney retired at Temple.

A number of UVa targets were on hand for last weekend's Southern Invitational. Notable 2007 recruits include St. John's College (Washington, D.C.) guard Chris Wright, Huntington (W.V.) power forward Patrick Patterson and power forward Mike Scott.

The 6-1 Wright is a point guard who could also play the shooting guard position on the next level. He originally committed to N.C. State before the departure of head coach Herb Sendek and is now open. Virginia has offered and is among the programs he is considering at this point.

Patterson is a solid 6-8, 235 pounds, and he possesses good strength, rebounding ability and a nice touch from the foul line on in. He would add a good low post scoring presence if UVa were able to land him. Patrick would like to make official visits before making a decision and mentioned Florida, Kentucky, Virginia, Virginia Tech, and Wake Forest as serious contenders right now.

Scott is a super athletic 6-8, 215-pound prospect out of Deep Creek High School. A senior this year, he signed with Temple last fall but decided to re-open his recruitment following the retirement of head coach John Chaney. Scott claims offers from George Mason, Maryland, Oklahoma, Virginia, and Virginia Tech. He is leaning toward going to Hargrave Military Academy next fall.

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:

• Basketball Analysis: The basketball men's basketball team plays Brown and Virginia Tech this week and The Sabre will have coverage of the Cavaliers.
• Jed Williams: Columnist Jed Williams is working on his next article for the site.
• Looking Back At Football Season: Greg Waters looks back at the 2008 football season with his season stock report plus we have a jam-packed roundtable in the works.

In Case You Missed It ...

Sabre articles since the last SabreMail

Xavier Topples Virginia
Less than one week after a surprising overtime win at Georgia Tech, the Virginia men's basketball team produced another head scratcher Saturday against Xavier. Inconsistent defense and sluggish offense led to a huge deficit - the 16-point halftime margin was the largest of the season - and the Cavaliers never recovered against the Musketeers, who eventually picked up a deceptively close 84-70 victory.

JHoo's 10 Things I Learned ... 2008 Season
The season is over. There are no more plays to break down. Instead, it is the full 2008 season that we will take a closer look at, a season that began painfully, had an uplifting middle, and then came crashing back to earth. So what did we learn from another ride on the UVa roller coaster?

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