Sampson Headed To College Hall Of Fame

Virginia legend Ralph Sampson is headed to the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame. The Hall selected Sampson as part of an eight-member class of 2011 inductees.

There is no question, of course, that Sampson belongs in the historic Hall. He earned All-America honors four times at UVa and is one of just three men to be recognized as national player of the year three times (1981-1983); Cincinnati's Oscar Robertson and UCLA's Bill Walton are the other three-time winners. Sampson helped Virginia post a 112-23 record during his career, which including an NIT title and an appearance in the 1981 Final Four. He scored 2,228 points and grabbed 1,511 rebounds in his career.

In his typically humble fashion, Sampson said he was just honored to be in the same induction class with the likes of James Worthy and Chris Mullen. The other inductees for 2011 are coaches Bob Knight and Eddie Sutton, players James Worthy, Cazzie Russell and Chris Mullin, and contributors Joe Vancisin and Eddie Einhorn.

"It's an honor and privilege to be on the list of guys. I know a lot of them very well," Sampson said. "I'm ecstatic that my name is even being recognized with those people. I will cherish it for the rest of my life and my children will cherish it as well. I'm kind of at a loss of words when you think about being inducted in any Hall of Fame. It's definitely a great honor and I hope that everybody that watched me play at the collegiate level or the NBA level or any level at all, high school as well, enjoyed me while I was playing and now after the fact as well. I thank everybody that nominated me or that inducted me. ... It will go, along with my college player of the year awards, in my mother's house and she looks forward to receiving it and putting it with those as well."

You don't have to worry about that Ralph - Virginia fans definitely enjoyed your career then and they still fondly embrace you now as a Hoo!

The National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame is located in the College Basketball Experience at Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo. The sixth annual Hall of Fame induction ceremonies will be held on Sunday, Nov. 20, at the historic Midland Theatre in Kansas City, Missouri.

This Week In Recruiting
By Chris Horne

Virginia hosted another junior day on Saturday. In attendance was one of the top offensive line prospects in the state in 6-5, 240-pound offensive tackle Win Homer, a standout out of Christchurch School. Boston College, Virginia and Virginia Tech have offered Homer, who also plays varsity basketball and lacrosse.

We'll have more with the promising prospect, including reaction on Saturday's experience, early this week.

Another Virginia Independent Schools standout, wide receiver Mario Nixon, received an offer from UVa last Tuesday. The 6-5, 210-pound Norfolk Christian Academy (Norfolk, VA) product is also receiving interest from Virginia Tech and Michigan, among others, but Virginia is the first school to extend an offer.

Virginia has now offered three Norfolk Christian Academy juniors, including Nixon, linebacker Kwontie Moore and defensive tackle/tight end Courtnye Wynn. We'll have more on Nixon in an EDGE article.

Last week, Virginia scored its first commitment of the 2012 class in Green Run (Virginia Beach, VA) linebacker/safety Mark Hall. EDGE subscribers can read more on Hall and his commitment in last week's articles.

Also this week ...

• I'll check in with several prospects from the 2011 class for an update on how they are faring the offseason before their first years on Grounds.
• Good Counsel (Olney, MD) features a top 2012 class. I hope to check in with assistant coach Kevin McFadden for a closer look at the class, including those that Virginia has offered so far.

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 ...

UVa Eyes Ravenscroft Junior PG
Last week, Ravenscroft (Raleigh, N.C.) junior point guard Madison Jones led his team to a 74-44 win over North Raleigh Christian in the TISAC championship game. Tonight, the 6-2, 160-pound prospect will guide the Ravens in the NCISAA state quarterfinals against Providence Day. In the midst of this postseason run, Jones found some time to visit the University of Virginia and watched the Cavaliers defeat arch-rival Virginia Tech last Saturday.

Recruiting Roundtable: 2011 Class
How did Virginia football do in terms of addressing needs in the 2011 class? Which players should see the field next season? Who is the sleeper of the class? What's the number one accomplishment in this class? JHoo, Kamikaze Hoo, and I answer these questions and more in this latest "Recruiting Roundtable."

More recent recruiting updates on The Sabre ...

• Norfolk Christian WR Scores UVa Offer
• Bayside's Cooper Gets It Done In All Phases
• Weekend News and Notes
• Virginia Gains First Commitment In 2012 Class

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UVa Football Schedule

Virginia released the 2011 football schedule last week. TheSabre.com set up its football schedule page for fans; remember that each game will have a game information page once the season begins.

Men's Swimming Wins Fourth Straight Title

UVa Athletics Media Relations, Official Release

The 10th-ranked Virginia men's swimming team used a solid closing performance at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center in Atlanta, Ga. to claim its fourth straight Atlantic Coast Conference championship. It was the 12th time in the last 13 years the Cavaliers have won the crown and is the 14th ACC title in the program's history.

UVa topped the scoreboard with 820 points. North Carolina was the runner up with 588 points and Florida State was third at 511.5 points.

Senior Matt McLean was named the ACC Swimmer of the Meet. It was the third time in his career he has won the honor. He was the MVP at the 2008 and 2009 championships.

The Cavalier men matched the UVa women's team, which won its fourth straight ACC crown last week and the ninth in the history of the program. The feat marks the first time since 1996 that one school swept both the ACC men's and women's swimming titles in four consecutive seasons. North Carolina's programs did it between 1993 and 1996.

"I'm thrilled for the two senior classes," said Virginia coach Mark Bernardino. "It is pretty spectacular.

"This was a team win. It is not about individuals. It is about men stepping up and swimming for one another and caring for one another and sharing a very special bond. We had former Virginia swimming athletes from the 1960s, 70s, 80s, 90s and 2000s here tonight. Five different decades of Virginia swimmers were here tonight. That's part of what we promote and what we believe in. When an athlete swims for their team, with their heart, ultimately they will be better as individuals. I think that was personified by our performance over the last four days."

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Around the World of Wahoo Sports ...

• Cavaliers Top Hokies Before ACC Tournament Begins: The Virginia women's basketball team concluded regular-season play with a 73-71 overtime victory at Virginia Tech on Sunday. UVa finished the regular season in a tie for seventh place in the Atlantic Coast Conference standings and by virtue of a tiebreaker have been awarded the No. 8 seed at the 2011 ACC Tournament. UVa (16-14, 5-9 ACC) will face ninth-seeded Wake Forest (14-16, 5-9 ACC) on Thursday, March 3, at 3 p.m. at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, N.C.
• Stanwick’s Goal Lifts No. 1 UVa over No. 5 Stony Brook in Overtime, 11-10: Steele Stanwick scored five goals, including the game-winning goal, to lead the No. 1 Virginia Cavaliers (3-0) to a thrilling 11-10 triumph over the No. 5 Stony Brook Seawolves (0-1) in overtime, Saturday afternoon, inside LaValle Stadium. Stanwick added two assists for a game-high seven points. The Hoos host the VMI Keydets (1-2) at Klockner Stadium on Monday at 7 p.m.
• No. 12 Virginia Upsets No. 9 Syracuse in the Carrier Dome, 21-11: The No. 12 Virginia women's lacrosse team used smart, clean and efficient play to upset No. 9 Syracuse, 21-11, Sunday afternoon in the Carrier Dome. The win is the seventh-straight for Virginia in the all-time series with Syracuse.
• : Senior Marcus Robinson and freshman Anthony Kostelac won their first-ever individual ACC Championship titles Saturday afternoon on the final day of the 2011 ACC Indoor Track and Field Championships at Virginia Tech's Rector Field House. Robinson used a personal-best leap of 52' 8" on his fifth attempt to claim his first-ever conference crown in the triple jump. Kostelac earned top honors, running away with the 800m title. Earlier in the meet, redshirt junior Ryan Collins became the first conference performer to win three-straight ACC titles in the 5000m and the women's distance medley relay team of junior Morgane Gay, freshman Vanessa Fabrizio, senior Lyndsay Harper and redshirt senior Stephanie Garcia claimed the DMR crown for the Cavaliers for a second-consecutive year, shattering Virginia's 28-year-old program record along the way
• Cavaliers Post Winning Record At Classic: The Virginia softball team (9-5) concluded the 2011 Cathedral City Classic with a 9-3 loss to top-ranked Arizona Saturday. The Cavaliers concluded the tournament with a 3-2 record. The Cavaliers put up three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning in a come-from-behind 6-4 upset of No. 11 Hawaii on Saturday in the event.
• UVa Takes Series With ECU: East Carolina scored four runs with two out in the second inning, and the Pirates made it stand up in a 4-3 win over the No. 10 Virginia baseball team Sunday afternoon at Davenport Field. Virginia, which dropped its first game of the season, won on Friday and Saturday night to take the series. Danny Hultzen struck out a career-high 15 batters and walked none in seven dominating innings during Friday's 10-1 win. The Hoos took Saturday's contest 4-3.
• Shabaz Selected to Travel to Chile as Part of US Davis Cup Team: Virginia senior Michael Shabaz will represent the United States next weekend as play in the 2011 Davis Cup begins. Shabaz will travel with the American team to Santiago where they will meet host Chile in a first-round matchup.Shabaz joins an American squad consisting of world No. 8 Andy Roddick, world No. 32 John Isner (a former NCAA singles runner-up at Georgia), and Bob and Mike Bryan, the world's top-ranked doubles team. The team is led by captain Jim Courier.
• Cavaliers Fall to Notre Dame in Blue Gray Final: The No. 9 Virginia women's tennis team suffered a 4-0 loss to No. 19 Notre Dame in the championship match of the 2011 Blue Gray Tennis Classic on Sunday afternoon.

To read the full stories or gather more information on Virginia athletics, check out Virginiasports.com.

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Issue No. 363 - Oct. 13, 2008

This Week In Recruiting
By Chris Horne

New commitment ...

Western Branch (Chesapeake, VA) standout Javanti Sparrow said he might commit to Virginia if his official visit went well. The visit certainly went well enough, as the 6-1, 185-pound wide receiver/defensive back recruit verbally committed to Cavaliers head coach Al Groh on Sunday.

A wide receiver/safety/returner for Western Branch, Sparrow will likely play wide receiver for the Cavaliers. There is the possibility that he ends up as a defensive back and he could potentially play cornerback or safety.

For more on Sparrow's commitment, be sure to check out the EDGE article posted Sunday.

Sparrow is the 20th high school senior to commit to Virginia. He is the fourth prospect from the talent-rich Tidewater region, joining Phoebus safety/outside linebacker LoVante Battle, Oscar Smith defensive back Perry Jones, and Maury athlete Laroy Reynolds. UVa is very much in contention with another top Tidewater prospect in Oscar Smith wide receiver Tim Smith, who will make an important official visit to Louisville this coming weekend. He has taken officials to West Virginia and Virginia already.

Check Out SabreMail #363.

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:

• Swimming Updates: The Sabre catches up with the winners of the the ACC Championship.
• Hoops Analysis: TheSabre.com gives you the inside look at the Cavaliers like no one else.

In Case You Missed It ...

Sabre articles since the last SabreMail

Eagles Soar in Charlottesville
It's hard to pinpoint just one aspect of Saturday's men's basketball game that stands out as Virginia's Achilles' Heel. Perhaps it was the failure of the team to make a 3-point basket in the second half, or the defensive breakdowns that started before halftime and continued to escalate as Boston College pulled further ahead. Whatever was ailing the Hoos made for one of the most disappointing games of the season, though. The Eagles ran away with a 63-44 victory in Charlottesville, leaving a bewildered Tony Bennett unable to pinpoint exactly what went wrong on the court.

Werman's Work Helps Hoos
"Taking Care of Business" might as well be Keith Werman's motto. The second baseman won't intimidate anyone with his size and strength at 5'7", 150 pounds. But Werman, in his unheralded workhorse style, simply gets the job done.

Zone Defense Makes Rare Appearance
You're more likely to spot a UFO or stumble upon Bigfoot than you are to see a Tony Bennett team play zone defense. Yet when his Virginia men's basketball team needed something else to help pull out a 62-56 at Georgia Tech on Wednesday, there it was: a 2-3 zone. Don't blame UVa fans for rubbing their eyes and doing a double take, though. After all, it was the first time the Hoos used a zone this season.

Hoos Sweep Other Tech Too
Virginia may consider asking all of the schools in the ACC to add "Tech" to their names after the past few days. After all, the UVa men's basketball team finished off a 4-0 sweep of Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech this season with a 62-56 win against the Yellow Jackets on Wednesday night. The back-to-back Tech triumphs gave the Hoos consecutive victories for the first time since the first week of 2011.

More On The VT Win
It has been a few days since Virginia completed the season sweep of Virginia Tech in men's basketball, but I still can't a few of the Cavaliers' clock-beating shots out of my mind. Jontel Evans sank a falling down jumper to the end first half and had a 3-pointer late in the shot clock too. Sammy Zeglinski, who had a high-arching 3-point shot that could have filed for frequent flyer miles in the first half, made a trio of shots to beat the buzzer.

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