Meet Former Players!

The Sabre and its media partners do a great job of setting up events where you can meet former Cavaliers in person! As you get fired up for the big Florida State game this week, there are several opportunities in Richmond and Charlottesville.

On Saturday, you can meet two former NFL standouts on your way to the game! The Sabre hosts the ChalkTalk series as part of "Football Weekends" at Alumni Hall in Charlottesville. This week The Sabre ChalkTalk, which is open to the public, features Doug Karczewski (Jets) and Elton Brown (Cardinals) at 10:30 a.m. Karczewski played at UVa from 1994-1997, while Brown played at UVa from 2001-2004. Both players served as team captains. Prizes will be awarded through trivia questions.

Hoos Talking, our radio partner in Richmond, is having a live remote broadcast on Wednesday at Richmond BMW (8710 W Broad St.) from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Come out to meet Hoos Fontel Mines and Jameel Sewell. You can also win prizes and enjoy appetizers from TGI Friday's. Hoos Talking will air from 6 to 8 p.m. Check out The Sabre's Hoos Talking page for archived audio from this year's first four shows and for a "listen live" link if you're not in the Richmond area.

The Best Seat in the House, our radio partner in Charlottesville, is having a live remote broadcast on Thursday at Cheeseburger in Paradise in Charlottesville (1101 Seminole Trail) from 6 to 8 p.m. Come out to meet Hoos like Ahmad Hawkins, Marques Hagans, and Tyrone Lewis as well as The Sabre's own Kris Wright. You can also be in the running to win prizes, including tickets to the FSU game. For more information on the show, check out The Sabre's Best Seat page or listen to The Best Seat blitz every weekday on the home page.

This Week In Recruiting
By Chris Horne

FUMA

Fork Union Military Academy postgraduate head coach John Shuman provides an update this week on his 2010 squad, which includes former DeMatha Catholic (Hyattsville, MD) safety Kyrrel Latimer. Latimer, a 5-11, 190-pound prospect, originally committed to UVa in the summer of 2009. He did not sign a letter of intent, however, and was told by UVa that he needed to go to prep school despite having qualified under NCAA guidelines.

According to Shuman, Latimer intends on staying a full year at FUMA and enrolling at UVa. Stay tuned for more from the Fork Union coach in an EDGE update to be posted this week.

Visitors

Hermitage (Richmond, VA) linebacker Curtis Grant did make the trek to Charlottesville on Saturday. Commitments in town included Grant's teammate, Hermitage defensive end Diamonte Bailey, as well as Phoebus (Hampton, VA) linebacker Caleb Taylor and DeMatha Catholic (Hyattsville, MD) standouts Kelby Johnson and Jordan Lomax.

I plan to have reports on all of these prospects throughout the week. So far, I've spoken with Taylor and Johnson and both enjoyed their time in Charlottesville on Saturday.

"I loved everything," said Johnson, a 6-8, 285-pound offensive tackle. "Everything is just so great. I can't wait to get down there, to get on the field playing."

Taylor said, "The team was real energetic. They were hyped. I liked that they didn't lower to the competition. They kept playing throughout the game."

On the target front, I hope to have more this week with a pair of senior linebacker targets out of the state of Georgia - North Cobb (Kennesaw, GA) star Troy Gray and Newton (Covington, GA) standout D.J. Hill.

On The Good Ol Blog

If you're interested in how Virginia's football commitments and their teams did this week on the high school fields, click here!

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 ...

Breaking Down UVa Commit Darion Atkins
In case you missed it, UVa men's basketball scored a verbal commitment last week from 6-8, 210-pound power forward Darion Atkins, a senior out of Landon School in Bethesda, Maryland. Respected Sabre basketball contributor CVillehoops13 took some time to answer questions on UVa's newest commitment.

Commitment Spotlight: CB Brandon Phelps
"You have to have that swagger. I've gotten mine through results on the field. It's a mindset that you will shut down anyone that goes against you." That's Damascus (MD) star senior Brandon Phelps, a Virginia commitment, on playing cornerback. Phelps starts at wide receiver and cornerback at Damascus, but Cavaliers head coach Mike London looks to showcase the standout's defensive abilities on the college level.

More recent recruiting updates on The Sabre ...

• 2012 Profile: Centreville Star Ken Ekanem
• 2012 Profile: LB/RB Trey Edmunds
• 4-Star LB Hughes Shakes Up List

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Blog Banter: More On Dominique Wallace

When news broke last Monday that redshirt freshman running back Dominique Wallace left the football team for personal reasons, message board speculation immediately kicked into high gear despite the fact that Wallace remains enrolled at the University. The main guess about Wallace's departure in those threads? Grades, or more specifically, poor grades. Fans may have been running with the "what is best for me in regards to my academic interests" line in the official news release.

Well, you know what they say about assuming. As mentioned in this article from The Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star, the decision isn't about grades even though it is about academics. "When I was referring to my academics in that article I was referring to the fact that I can truly major in what I want to major in and that's computer science," Wallace told TheSabre.com on Wednesday morning. Wallace wanted to clear up the speculation among fans and he said he is not in academic jeopardy at all.

Wallace appeared in both of the Cavaliers' games this season on special teams; he also had 2 carries for 5 yards against Richmond in the opener. Last season, he appeared in three games and rushed for 49 yards on 14 carries before being sidelined with a foot injury. He eventually received a hardship waiver for the year and redshirted.

"White Out" Florida State!

Virginia's home football game against Florida State on Saturday, Oct. 2 has been dubbed a "white out" by the Virginia athletics department. White Virginia football t-shirts will be distributed for free to fans upon entry to Scott Stadium. All Cavalier fans are asked to wear the t-shirt in support of the 2010 Virginia football team.

"This effort is designed for all of us to show that we're unified in our support of Mike London and our football team," Virginia Executive Associate Director of Athletics Jon Oliver said. "The fans created an exciting atmosphere at the home opener. It's time to take this effort to another level to create a great home field advantage for the first ACC game under Coach London against one of the most storied programs in college football."

Fan of the Week

Every week, theSabre.com features a Fan of the Week photo on the front page of the Web site. (Archives are available in the Wahoowa! section.) So you want to be the fan of the week? It's easy - be the loudest Hoo at a live UVa event, wear some crazy Cavalier gear, or do something else to catch our attention. If Mike or Kris spot you and take your picture, you'll be in the running for Fan of the Week honors!

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Around the World of Wahoo Sports ...

• No. 3 Virginia Edges No. 12 BC, Blasts Cornell: Junior Paige Selenski scored the game-winning goal in the fourth minute of overtime as the third-ranked Virginia field hockey team won at No. 12 Boston College on Friday, 3-2. In a 5-2 win at Cornell on Sunday, freshman Elly Buckley and Selenski each scored twice, while senior Haley Carpenter notched her first goal of the season.
• Late Goal Gives No. 5 UVa 1-0 Victory at Clemson: Sophomore midfielder Ari Dimas scored the game-winning goal with less than three minutes left in the match to lift the fifth-ranked Virginia men's soccer team a 1-0 victory at Clemson Saturday night.
• Cavaliers Win ACC Opener 3-0 at Virginia Tech: The No. 7 Virginia women's soccer team opened ACC play Thursday night with a 3-0 victory at in-state rival Virginia Tech. Gloria Douglas had a goal and an assist to lead the Cavaliers.
• Tony Bennett to Provide 2010-11 Virginia Men’s Basketball Season Tickets to Passionate Fans: Virginia head men's basketball coach Tony Bennett announced an essay contest to award 50 2010-11 season tickets in section 108 at John Paul Jones Arena. Coach Bennett will give away these season tickets for free to 25 fans. The winners will be a part of Tony Bennett's Fanatic Cavalier Club.
• Debbie Ryan to Provide 2010-11 Virginia Women’s Basketball Season Tickets to Passionate Fans: Virginia head women's basketball coach Debbie Ryan announced an essay contest to award 50 2010-11 season tickets in section 115 at John Paul Jones Arena. Coach Ryan will give away these season tickets for free to 25 fans. The winners will be a part of Debbie Ryan's Fanatic Cavalier Club.
• Naurath, Robison Named to U.S. National Team: Two Virginia swimmers, freshman Rachel Naurath and senior Scot Robison, have been named to the 2010-11 United States National Team roster, USA Swimming announced. The list includes also includes Cavalier alumnus Fran Crippen.
• Cavaliers Drop Two Road Volleyball Matches: The Virginia volleyball team dropped a hard-fought four set match at Miami on Sunday afternoon by set scores of 25-22, 18-25, 20-25 and 24-26. Junior Simone Asque topped the offense with a match-high 27 kills and earned 12 digs as well. On Friday UVa fell to No. 13 Florida State, 3-0 (25-13, 25-19, 25-21).
• Virginia Rowing Participates In Two Community Service Efforts: The Virginia rowing team, which won the 2010 NCAA Championship, recently participated in two community service efforts as part of its fall schedule. Members of the team volunteered at Camp Holiday Trails, a camp for children with special health needs, and raised $6,600 for breast cancer research through the Charlottesville Women's 4-Miler.
• Cavaliers win Pair of Singles Titles at Ranked Plus One Invite: The Virginia men's team completed play at the 2010 UVa Ranked Plus One Invitational by winning two singles titles on Sunday. Alex Domijan and Sanam Singh were victorious in flight finals to win titles.

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

UVa Bookstore Football Fan T-Shirt, Cap Bundle

Only $17.99!

Get a fabulous deal with the UVA Bookstore's 2010 UVA Football T-shirt and V-Sabre stretch to fit cap bundle. This is a left chest and full back t-shirt. UVa is imprinted vertically by a football with the V-Sabre inside and Football imprinted underneath. The 3-D embroidered V-Sabre cap, by the Game, is a six panel structured cap with pre-curved visor and stretch to fit back. Virginia is embroidered on the back of the cap.

Issue No. 414 - Oct. 5, 2009

Basketball class wraps up ...

Last week, I wrote about the possibility of Virginia's 2010 recruiting class perhaps wrapping up shortly. Well, it did happen, only the final recruit is not named Kyle Collinsworth or Josh Henderson. Instead, Akil Mitchell, a 6-7, 210-pound forward out of Charlotte Christian (Charlotte, N.C.), rounds out Tony Bennett's 2010 class.

Although he wasn't heavily recruited by many major Division 1 programs, Mitchell is a player the Virginia staff has monitored closely throughout the spring and summer. The heavy interest began after Mitchell turned in a good showing at Virginia's Elite Camp in June. The Cavaliers would check up on Mitchell several more times before deciding to extend an official offer last Tuesday. Mitchell, who has always wanted to play in the ACC, committed a day later.

An outstanding student athlete, Mitchell carries a 4.0 GPA in the classroom. On the basketball court, he has ability on the perimeter and in the post. His coach, Shonn Brown, believes the standout senior's best basketball is yet to come. Mitchell describes himself as a late bloomer and is anxious to prove his worth in his senior season and beyond.

"You see a kid once and he's great. That's good, but you want to see him multiple times," said Brown, who coached the Curry brothers - Stephen and Seth - at Charlotte Christian. "Coach Bennett and his staff have seen him in a 4-man workout setting, an open gym setting and at their camp. They wanted to see him in all phases. They came down at various times to watch him. Coach Bennett has a good grasp of what he wants and he really took his time. He likes Akil's progression."

Check Out SabreMail #414.

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:

• State of the Programs: The Sabre plans to take a look back at a historic sports year for the Hoos, who locked up a record third place finish in the Director's Cup. Where do the various programs stand right now? We'll let you know!
• VMI + FSU: The Sabre's postgame coverage for VMI continues with Greg's Game Report and JHoo's 10 Things. The Sabre also will get you ready for the Florida State contest this weekend.

In Case You Missed It ...

Sabre articles since the last SabreMail

The Sunday Sampler - VMI
In many ways, Virginia's transition to a 4-3 defense this season has gone smoothly. There is a more aggressive attitude. There is more speed on the field by shifting guys to new positions. The numbers certainly look good. With that said, there's still plenty of room for improvement and pocket containment has to be high on the list for the Cavaliers as they prepare for the start of ACC play in October.

Hoos Hammer VMI
The Cavalier football team returned home to a warm reception from the Scott Stadium crowd Saturday afternoon. The mercury was high, as well as the numbers on the scoreboard as Virginia dealt a crushing 48-7 defeat to VMI. Lots of less-experienced players saw the field Saturday, including two brand new quarterbacks. The passing game itself took center stage, as Keydets came prepared to stop the run up front, leaving the secondary exposed.

Minnifield's Big Day Helps Hoos Roll
When Chase Minnifield bungled a first quarter attempt to catch a punt, he quickly thought that he had to put it behind him and then make some plays to atone for the mistake. The junior cornerback delivered on that front, intercepting two passes and making two more tackles as the Cavaliers cruised to a 48-7 victory against VMI on Saturday. Minnifield now has three interceptions this season.

Game Preview 2010: VMI
For the second time this season, the Virginia football team welcomes a Football Championship Subdivision to Scott Stadium and the Hoos are hoping for an outcome similar to the 34-13 win against Richmond in the season opener. Frankly, Virginia Military Institute shouldn't pose as much of a challenge - VMI won just two games last season and is not among the nationally ranked teams on the FCS level. The Hoos aren't looking at the Keydets that way, though.

Press Conference Notes 2010: VMI
The Cavalier football team returns home after a three-week absence, and both the fans and players are eager to see what unfolds at Scott Stadium this Saturday. FCS and in-state foe VMI will pay a visit this week in what can is viewed by some as a final tune-up before ACC play begins on Oct. 2.

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