Dowling Picked By Patriots In NFL Draft

UVa Athletics Media Relations, Official Release

Virginia cornerback Ras-I Dowling (Cheaspeake, Va.) was selected by the New England Patriots in the second round of the 2011 National Football League Draft. He was the 33rd overall selection, the first pick of the second round.

Dowling becomes the highest drafted defensive back in Virginia history. A year ago Chris Cook had that honor when he was selected 34th overall by the Minnesota Vikings.

Dowling entered his final season at UVa on three national award watch lists that are handed out by the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA). He was on the Chuck Bednarik Award, Nagurski Trophy and Thorpe Award Watch Lists. He was also a finalist for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award.

Dowling was injured most of 2010 after earning his second-straight second team All-ACC nod, anchoring the ACC's No. 4 and the nation's No. 21 pass defense in 2009. Dowling finished the 2009 season ranked No. 6 in the ACC in passes defended (11) and No. 11 in interceptions (three). Entering 2010 he was a College Football Insider preseason All-American (second team).

He appeared in five games in 2010 and made 15 tackles, including a season-best eight against Florida State.

Listen to the Patriots' Conference Call with Dowling here.

This Week In Recruiting
By Chris Horne

North Crowley (Fort Worth, TX) senior point guard Kyan Anderson has decided to stay close to home, committing to TCU according to a report on sportDFW.com. UVa put the full court press on the 5-11, 165-pound standout, who in turn made a visit to Charlottesville in the middle of last week. It wasn't enough to sway the talented backcourt prospect, though.

Landon School (Bethesda, MD) power forward Darion Atkins, Greater Atlanta Christian (Atlanta, GA) guard Malcolm Brogdon, and Merrill (WI) guard/forward Paul Jesperson are the three recruits in Virginia's 2011 class. No other seniors appear to be on the radar at this point.

On the 2012 front, I hope to have more from Episcopal (Fairfax, VA) combo guard Kethan Savage this week. The 6-3, 190-pound junior is on Virginia's watch list, and we'll catch up for the latest on his recruitment.

Football recruiting

The Virginia football coaches are on the road in this, the Evaluation Period, which lasts through the month of May. I spoke with St. Joseph (Hammonton, N.J.) linebacker Kaiwan Lewis, who appears to be one of UVa's top overall targets on the defensive side of the ball. Lewis, who expects Virginia to stop by his school this week, will discuss the experience he had in Charlottesville the weekend of the Spring Game, give a general recruiting update, and more in a feature article.

One of the most highly recruited juniors in the Garden State, Lewis boasts in the neighborhood of 26 FBS scholarship offers.

Also this week ...

• Varina (VA) head coach Stu Brown breaks down the Blue Devils' 2012 class, which features big-time defensive tackle Tyrell Chavis. Chavis has offers from Boston College, Vanderbilt, and Virginia. Brown will also preview his coming 2013 class, which includes promising prospects such as offensive lineman Kris Wilson, defensive back Tim Harris, and linebacker Larry Spears.
• Goochland (VA) junior place-kicker Colby Cooke talks recruiting, including where he stands with the University of Virginia. The consensus all-state prospect has no offers at this point, but don't be surprised if schools come through this spring or summer. Cooke impressed at UVa's camp last summer.

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 ...

Catching Up: Jennings, Jones, Phelps and Whitmire

Q&A: Brim Goes In-Depth On Commitment

More recent recruiting updates on The Sabre ...

• PA Offensive Tackle Visits UVa
• Four Schools Currently Top Cooper's List

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Blog Banter: Shamel Bratton Dismissed From Team

After the rumor mill swirled during the week, official news out of Virginia this afternoon indicates that senior Shamel Bratton has been dismissed from the Virginia men's lacrosse team. Here is the official news release from UVa Athletics Media Relations from Friday afternoon:

Virginia men's head lacrosse coach Dom Starsia announced today (April 29) that senior midfielder Shamel Bratton has been dismissed from the team for the violation of team policies.

"I want to wish Shamel the very best in his future endeavors," Starsia said. "He has made many contributions to the program. At the same time, there are standards of behavior within the framework of the team that we expect to be met by all of our student-athletes. Failure to do so on a consistent basis has resulted in the loss of the privilege of being a member of this team."

Bratton concludes his UVa career with 89 goals, which ranks No. 3 all-time among Virginia midfielders. The Huntington, N.Y., native also finishes with 40 career assists and 129 career points, ranking No. 5 and No. 1 respectively among UVa midfielders all-time. Bratton finishes the season with 20 goals and eight assists on 22.2 percent shooting.

Virginia's first game following the Bratton decision came Saturday against Penn at Klockner Stadium where the Hoos defeated the Quakers 11-2. "I thought it was the best full 60 minutes we have played the entire season," Starsia said of the win. "We picked a good time to do that. I have said before that there may be no big games in our season, but there are big wins and this is one of them."Read the full UVa Athletics Media Relations news release.

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Around the World of Wahoo Sports ...

• No. 1 Cavaliers Blank Boston College 4-0 to Win Series: Will Roberts tossed eight shutout innings and John Hicks knocked in three runs to propel the No. 1-ranked Virginia baseball team to a 4-0 win over Boston College on Sunday afternoon. Virginia captured two of three games for the series win.
• No. 11 Virginia Tops No. 13 Penn on Senior Day, 11-2: Steele Stanwick matched his career high with five assists to lead the No. 11 Virginia Cavaliers (9-5) to a Senior Day win over the No. 13 Penn Quakers (8-5) on Saturday afternoon, 11-2, inside Klockner Stadium.
• No. 11 Virginia Drops Hard Fought Contest to No. 5 Northwestern on Senior Day: The No. 11 Virginia women's lacrosse team closed out its regular season Saturday afternoon, dropping an 8-4 contest to No. 5 Northwestern at Klockner Stadium. The game was evenly matched throughout, with four tied scores, before Northwestern used a four-goal streak in the final six minutes to close out the game.
• Mitchell Frank Reaches USTA Futures Final: Future Virginia men's tennis player Mitchell Frank, who signed a National Letter of intent with the Cavaliers in November, had a strong performance last week at the USTA Futures Circuit Event in Vero Beach. Frank advanced from qualifying and reached the tournament final.
• No. 5 Virginia Wins Varsity Four vs. No. 1 Princeton: Racing against No. 1 Princeton on the Tigers' home course, No. 19 Tennessee and Columbia, the fifth-ranked Virginia rowing team won two races on Saturday on Lake Carnegie. The Cavaliers' Varsity Four and Second Varsity Four won those races, while the top-ranked Tigers claimed victories in the Varsity Eight, Second Varsity Eight and Third Varsity Eight.
• Virginia Track to Close Beginning May 9 for Construction of New Track and Field Facility: The track at Virginia's Lannigan Field will be closed to all use beginning May 9 when construction starts on UVa's new track and field facility. The completion of the project's first phase is scheduled for early December. The Park at North Grounds is a suggested alternate jogging and walking location at the University for individuals who use the track at Lannigan Field. Individuals may also want to explore other alternatives in the Charlottesville area.
• Andrews Named Penn Relays Athlete of the Meet for Relay Events: Virginia All-American Robby Andrews was named the College Men's Athlete of the Meet for Relay Events at the 117th running of the Penn Relays. Andrews, a sophomore from Englishtown, N.J., anchored the Cavaliers' 4x800m relay team to its second-straight Championship of America relay title in front of 48,836 fans Saturday afternoon.
• Anding and Smith Named to All-ACC Academic Indoor Track and Field Team: The Virginia track and field team placed two Cavaliers on the 2011 All-ACC Academic Indoor Track and Field Teams, as announced by the conference office. Senior Ayla Smith was named to the women's all-academic team, while junior Kevin Anding was honored on the men's side.
• Virginia Golfers Win Cavalier Classic; Rusch Sets Tourney Record: The 22nd-ranked Virginia men's golf team won its third tournament of the season and successfully defended its Cavalier Classic title at Birdwood Golf Course on Saturday. The Cavaliers shot 2-under 574 to better runner up Coastal Carolina by seven shots. Virginia freshman Ben Rusch, who played for the Virginia B team, won medalist honors by shooting 9-under 135. Rusch had rounds of 2-under 70 and 7-under 65. His second round score and 36-hole total were Cavalier Classic records for Birdwood Golf Course.
• Nielson and Altomare Named to All-ACC Golf Team: Senior Calle Nielson and sophomore Brittany Altomare have been named to the All-Atlantic Coast Conference women's golf team. Nielson has been honored all four seasons she has competed at Virginia. Altomare picked up the accolade for the second consecutive year. Nielson becomes just the second Cavalier to be named to the all-conference team four times. Former Cavalier Leah Wigger was an all-ACC performer four years in a row from 2004-2007.

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

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Issue No. 424 - December 14, 2009

This Week In Recruiting
By Chris Horne

Prior to being introduced as the new Cavaliers coach, Mike London met with 6-3, 215-pound quarterback Michael Strauss. Strauss, who was concluding an unofficial visit, would verbally commit to London late last Monday night, becoming London's first commitment as head coach and the 11th high school senior to commit to the Cavaliers.

Strauss was a 2-year starter at Gulliver Prep (Miami, FL), which is coached by former Virginia linebacker Earl Sims.

London was also scheduled to meet with massive offensive tackle Morgan Moses last week. We'll check in with Fork Union postgraduate head coach John Shuman for the latest on the 6-7, 340-pound prospect, who signed with Virginia in February of 2009 but enrolled at FUMA when he did not qualify.

Seeking a qualifying standardized test score, Moses took the ACT last weekend. He has taken an official visit to South Carolina and reportedly may be on an official visit at LSU today. Florida is also heavily in the mix, Shuman reported last week.

Virginia 2010 commits continue to enjoy outstanding success this season. West Rowan (Mount Ulla, N.C.), led by running back Kevin Parks Jr., captured the Class 3-A State Championship for the second consecutive season. Parks had four touchdowns in the win. He'll now participate in the NC/SC Shrine Bowl, which takes place this Saturday.

Belen Jesuit (Miami, FL), led by UVa defensive back recruit Pablo Alvarez, won a Class 3A state semifinal match-up and will face Pensacola for the state crown this weekend.

Previously, linebacker/H-back Ryan Cobb (Don Bosco Prep in Ramsey, N.J.) and wide receiver E.J. Scott (Good Counsel in Olney, MD) went out as champions. Don Bosco captured a state crown, while Good Counsel won the WCAC title.

Check Out SabreMail #424.

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:

• Shabaz Shines: TheSabre.com will feature men's tennis star Michael Shabaz in a feature in the coming days.
• FanWatch: Our feature on you the fan makes a return this week.
• Depth Chart Discussion Spring 2011: Defense Last week, Editor Kris Wright took a look at the post-spring depth chart for the offense. This week, it is the defense's turn.

In Case You Missed It ...

Sabre articles since the last SabreMail

Depth Chart Discussion Spring 2011: Offense
Trips to Hampton and Alexandria have come and gone. Morning practices are done for the spring too. The Virginia football team already held its Spring Game and put away the official practice plans for another offseason semester. The only thing left? The updated depth chart, which UVa released on Monday. Let's take a look at the offense following Mike London's second spring with the Cavaliers.

Catching Up With Kevin Coffey
Almost every Wahoo fan can remember where they were, who they were with, and what they were doing on November 26, 1998. That was the day that the Cavalier football team walked away from Lane Stadium after the greatest comeback in UVa history. It also marked the day that wide receiver Kevin Coffey cemented his place as a Virginia legend. Coffey is now fulfilling a lifelong dream of teaching, but to this day garners recognition as one of the heroes of the '98 comeback.

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