Signing Day Celebration

Virginia Athletics Media Relations official release

Virginia head football coach Mike London and his staff will announce the Cavaliers' 2012 recruiting class at a National Signing Day celebration to be held at John Paul Jones Arena on Wednesday, Feb. 1. The event is free of charge and open to the public and parking in the arena's main lot (west lot) is also complimentary. Doors will open at 5:30 p.m. and the one-hour event will begin at 6 p.m. London and his staff will provide commentary and recruiting insights about each of the Cavaliers' prospects.

All fans attending the event will receive a voucher good for a hot dog, bag of chips and a Pepsi product courtesy of the Virginia athletics department. A number of current freshmen and sophomore members of the football team will be greeting fans as they enter the arena.

Fans in attendance will also receive raffle tickets and have the opportunity to win two tickets to each 2012 home game (seven total winners), a tailgate experience for the Richmond game, a signed Chick-fil-A Bowl game helmet and signed footballs. UVa students can win $300 gift certificates for books, the chance to be the Guest Coach for a game and a signed Chick-fil-A Bowl game helmet.

The Cavalier Team Shop will also be open and feature special sale merchandise during the evening.

"We are really looking forward to the opportunity to talk about the young men who will be the future of Virginia football and sharing this day with our fans," London said. "I know our fans are interested in our recruiting efforts and we are very limited on what we can say until this day. There are some very fine young men who make up this class and there are some interesting stories about their recruitment. We are looking forward to sharing those experiences with our fans."

This Week In Recruiting

Signing Day 2012 is now just two days away. No big surprises are expected, though you never want to rule out anything around this time of year.

Right now, Virginia expects to receive 25 letters of intent on Feb. 1. Fans should tune into TheSabre.com's Signees Page, which will be updated continuously Wednesday morning as recruits are officially announced. And, of course, we'll be here for any late breaking news that may come. Also on the agenda for Wednesday:

• A compilation "Notes and Analysis" article on Wednesday evening
• A recap of Mike London's Signing Day press conference
• Checking in at Fork Union with Virginia recruits Ryan Doull and Adrian Gamble

Recruiting season never stops, and with that in mind I'll have a "Strategy Session" focused on the 2013 class out on Friday. This "Session" piece will include a look at which positions the staff may target, important dates/events to remember, and more.

This week won't be all football related, though. Wisconsin Playmakers director Jason Jesperson, older brother of Virginia freshman guard Paul Jesperson, took some time to dish on 2013 class recruit Matt Thomas. The 6'3" guard, a product of Onalaska High School (WI), recently has scored offers from Virginia and Wisconsin.

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 since the last SabreMail ...

Commitment News And Notes
Demeitre Brim discusses how solid he is in his Virginia commitment, Max Valles and Kyle Dockins discuss where they will line up for UVa in the preseason practices, and newsest recruiting commit Divante Walker reflects on the commitment he gave Coach London and company. Check this out and more in this latest "News and Notes" article on Virginia's football commitments.

Recruiting Notes: Morgan Solid
The New Jersey Star-Ledger reported that Rutgers University football hosted seven recruits at the Rutgers/Cincinnati men's basketball game this past Saturday. University of Virginia recruit Kye Morgan was one of those players listed, so naturally there was speculation as to how solid the Franklin (Somerset, N.J.) running back is in his commitment to UVa. TheSabre.com caught up with the standout prospect last night, and it appears the talented back is solid with the Hoos.

2013 Point Guard Reflects On UVa Visit
The University of Virginia men's basketball program extended a scholarship offer to Gil St. Bernard's (Gladstone, N.J.) point guard Jaren Sina in December, and this past Sunday the 6'2", 180-pound junior traveled to Charlottesville for an unofficial visit.

More recent recruiting updates on The Sabre ...

• Mountain View Junior Up To Three Offers
• UVa Lands All-Tidewater Performer

Apex is the 6th largest provider of IT staffing in the nation. Apex employs several hundred full-time recruiters and hundreds of account managers to make certain that everything runs smoothly. They have locations from coast-to-coast, and a National Recruiting Center designed to assist with requests. Their database of candidates is more than 400,000 strong, and growing with a dedicated staff to high-volume customers, as well as to the most in-demand skills (Java, .NET, SAP, project managers, etc.). In need of a customized I.T. Workforce Solution or in search for a perfect career opportunity, contact Apex Systems today!

UVa Ranked No. 1 in All Four Major Preseason Polls

Virginia Athletics Media Relations official release

The Virginia men's lacrosse team is ranked No. 1 in all four of the major preseason polls, entering the 2012 season. The USILA coaches and Nike/Inside Lacrosse media polls were released Monday. The Face-Off Yearbook and Lacrosse Magazine preseason polls were previously released this winter.

The USILA coaches and Nike/Inside Lacrosse media polls will conduct a weekly poll through the season. Head coach Dom Starsia's squad features 30 returning lettermen, including seven starters, from last year's NCAA title team. The Cavaliers went 13-5 and became the lowest seed (No. 7) and first five-loss team to win the NCAA title. UVa has advanced to the national semifinals in four consecutive seasons, but 2011 was the first finals for the Cavaliers since taking home the hardware in 2006.

UVa opens its season on Feb. 18 at Drexel. Faceoff is scheduled for 2 p.m.

For a full composite listing of the rankings, click here.

Don't Forget Sabre Video!

Don't forget, TheSabre.com has formed a media partnership with Charlottesville's CBS 19 to provide you frequent video updates on the Hoos! The video footage includes exclusive interviews, game highlights, and more Virginia updates throughout the week. You can visit the CBS 19 video page on TheSabre.com by clicking here.

Give The EDGE As a Gift!

Give the Perfect Gift to your favorite Wahoo fan this year, an annual subscription to Sabre EDGE! TheSabre.com is your one-stop shop for all UVa sports information, commentary and discussion. Read articles from our excellent staff of sportswriters, including TheSabre.com's editor-in-chief, Kris Wright. Our resident recruiting expert, Chris Horne, will keep you up to date with recruiting from around the state and beyond. No one covers Virginia's premier sports better than TheSabre.com. Take your fanship to the next level with a Sabre Edge subscription! Scroll to the bottom of the page to see what Sabre EDGE has to offer.

Gift Subscriptions are for a full year and cost $59.99. A gift message can be included and you can request a specific date range for the email notification to the gift recipient. All credit card orders are safe and secured through GoDaddy.com Digital Security. Give the Sabre EDGE as a Gift Today!

Advertise With The Sabre!

Our advertising approach is different in that we make it abundantly clear in a direct and honest way that your company's commitment of sponsorship dollars is what enables the site to continue existing and improving into the future.

To learn more, please contact [email protected].

To view a list of our sponsors, please visit our Sponsors Page.

Around the World of Wahoo Sports ...

• Virginia Men's Basketball Team to Travel to Europe in August: The Virginia men's basketball team will play a minimum of four games on a trip to the Netherlands, Belgium and France in August. The Cavaliers are scheduled to leave on August 6 and return on August 16. UVa will play club/professional teams on the trip. The trip is scheduled to begin in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and end in Paris, France. The Cavaliers are allowed 10 practices prior to departing for Europe.
• Virginia Defeats Florida State, 62-52: The Virginia women's basketball team defeated Florida State, 62-52, Sunday at John Paul Jones Arena. The Cavaliers (16-7 overall, 4-5 ACC) improved to 12-2 at home this season and topped the Seminoles for the first time since the 2008-09 season. Senior guard Ariana Moorer was the Cavaliers' leading scorer for the seventh time this season, netting 15 points. She added four rebounds and two assists.
• Dennis Hohenshelt Named Virginia's Head Volleyball Coach: Virginia athletics director Craig Littlepage announced that Dennis Hohenshelt (pronounced HO-en-shelt), the first assistant coach with Penn State's women's team the past six seasons, has been named the Cavaliers' head volleyball coach. Before his six campaigns with the women's program, Hohenshelt spent 10 seasons as the Nittany Lion men's volleyball assistant coach. With the women's program, which won four consecutive NCAA titles from 2007-10, Hohenshelt was involved in match preparation, player development and recruiting. He helped guide Arielle Wilson to set the NCAA Division I record for career hitting percentage at .468 and earn 2007 Big Ten Freshman of the Year and University Park NCAA Regional Championship Most Outstanding Player honors.
• No. 22 Wrestling Hands No. 13 Maryland Its First Loss, 22-14: The 22nd-ranked Virginia wrestling team took victory at six weight classes in scoring a 22-14 upset win over No. 13 Maryland Sunday afternoon in front of boisterous crowd at Memorial Gymnasium. In handing the Terrapins their first loss of the season, UVa earned a share of the ACC regular-season championship for the first time since 2006. Virginia (7-1, 4-1 ACC) took down its highest-ranked opponent in program history and, in doing so, defeated the Terrapins (13-1, 3-1) for the first time since Feb. 17, 2006, snapping a streak of five straight dual losses to Maryland. The Cavaliers have tied for the regular-season crown with Virginia Tech, while Maryland still has one match remaining.
• Chiariello, Robinson Break School Records: Senior Vincenzo Chiariello broke the Wahoo record for the men's weight throw as the Virginia men's and women's track and field began competition at the Penn State National Invitational. Chiariello finished fifth with a mark of 19.38m (63'7"), topping his previous best throw of 18.88m (61'11.5"), set on Feb. 4, 2011. Senior Maureen Laffan set a personal best and earned second in the women's weight throw with a mark of 18.54m (60'10"), the second-best throw in school history. Senior Marcus Robinson qualified for the 2012 NCAA Indoor Championships and broke the school record in the men's triple jump. Robinson's mark of 16.30m (53'5.75") broke Keith Witherspoon's previous record (53'0.25"), set in 1976, by over five inches and is the best jump in the nation so far this season. Robinson was a second-team All-American in the event in 2011. Junior Dallas Rose won the women's triple jump with a leap of 12.65m (41'6"), the fifth-best mark in school history.
• UVa Tennis To Host "Team Night 2012" on Wednesday: Virginia tennis fans are invited to enjoy a fun-filled evening on the court with the UVa men's and women's tennis teams and coaches on Wednesday, February 1. "Team Night 2012" is a free event that will run from 6-8 p.m. at the Boar's Head Sports Club. Boar's Head opens its doors to all Cavalier fans to participate in tennis drills and games. Fans can meet and interact with the student-athletes and coaches and show their support for the 2012 Cavaliers as the teams prepare for another exciting spring season. In other tennis news, the men's tennis program announced that Andres Pedroso has been elevated to the title of Associate Coach. Pedroso is in his second season with the Cavaliers, joining the program as an assistant coach in August of 2010.
• Emily Fraser Named ACC Women's Tennis Player of the Week: Virginia senior Emily Fraser was named the ACC Women's Tennis Player of the Week. Fraser defeated a pair of top 50 opponents in singles as the ninth-ranked Cavaliers opened the season with 4-3 wins over No. 18 Tennessee and No. 21 Texas.
• Lauren Perdue Selected as ACC Performer of the Week: Virginia swimmer Lauren Perdue was selected as the Atlantic Coast Conference women's performer of the week. Perdue, a native of Greenville, N.C., returned to the pool Saturday vs. rival North Carolina for the first time in seven weeks, helping the Cavaliers to a 170-130 victory in a dual meet over the 15th-ranked Tar Heels. She was victorious in the 50 freestyle (22.97, 'B') and 100 freestyle (50.22) and also anchored the 400 freestyle relay team to victory with a NCAA 'B' time of 3:23.53.
• Cavaliers Take Down Pitt: The Virginia men's and women's swimming and diving teams both earned a dual meet victory over Pitt Saturday at the Aquatic and Fitness Center. The 11th-ranked Cavalier women (7-0) defeated the Panthers 159-133 while the No. 15 men (4-3) were victorious 162-130. Sophomore Jan Daniec (500 freestyle, 1000 freestyle), sophomore Taylor Grey (100 breaststroke, 200 breaststroke) and senior Briggy Imbriglia (1-meter, 3-meter diving) paced the men with two individual wins apiece. Leading the way for the Virginia women was Charlotte Clarke (100 backstroke, 100 butterfly) and Meredith Cavalier (50 freestyle, 100 freestyle), who also both won two individual events.
• Virginia Tabbed Third in Coastal Division in ACC Preseason Poll: The Virginia baseball team has been selected third in the Coastal Division in the 2012 ACC Baseball Coaches Preseason Poll, which was announced Friday by the conference office. Receiving 47 total points through voting of the conference's 12 head coaches, the Cavaliers were tied with Miami for third place among Coastal Division teams. Coming off its second College World Series appearance in the last three years, Virginia returns 18 letterwinners from the 2011 squad which went 56-12 and won the ACC Championship. Virginia has won 156 games over the past three seasons - tops of any program in Division I baseball. Virginia has won at least a share of each of the last two ACC Coastal Division championships.

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

UVA Bookstores Clearance Sale

UVA Bookstores, The Sabre's longest running sponsor, is having a clearance sale. Select items are available for up to 50% off! Blankets, sweatshirts, shirts, stocking caps, and more are all part of this great sale. Take a look and support a Sabre sponsor!

Issue No. 463 - Sept. 20, 2010

This Week In Recruiting
By Chris Horne

The 2011 men's basketball recruiting class is almost filled out after head coach Tony Bennett secured a verbal commitment from 6-8, 210-pound power forward Darion Atkins. Atkins, a standout out of the Landon School (Bethesda, MD), chose UVa over Notre Dame and others last week.

With Atkins in the fold, Virginia now has three verbal commitments in its 2011 class. 6-7, 185-pound Merrill (WI) wing forward Paul Jesperson and 6-5, 205-pound Greater Atlanta Christian (Atlanta, GA) guard Malcolm Brogdon have committed as well, giving the Hoos two perimeter prospects to go along with Atkins, who is an athletic addition to the frontcourt.

"[Darion] is extremely long and athletic," Landon School head coach Andy Luther said in an EDGE article earlier in September. "He has incredible timing as a shot-blocker. He has impressive vertical abilities and he gets back up off the floor really fast, which probably explains his gifts as a shot-blocker. He runs the floor very well. He's very active on the offensive glass. He has a good nose for the ball."

Read SabreMail No. 463 here.

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 in action: The Hoos have started ACC play. The Sabre keeps you in the loop on the hoops team!
• Pro Hoos: TheSabre.com debuted a new series. Beyond The Lawn" is a 12-month series found exclusively on TheSabre.com that follows three Virginia Cavaliers through a year as a professional athlete. Baseball's Tyler Wilson (Baltimore Orioles), track and field's Stephanie Marie Garcia (U.S. Olympic hopeful), and football's Clint Sintim (New York Giants) share their experiences throughout the year.
• Greg's Season Report: After handing out grades and tracking trends throughout the 2011 football season in his game reports, Greg Waters takes a look back at the season for the Hoos.

In Case You Missed It ...

Sabre articles since the last SabreMail

Cavaliers Take Down Wolfpack
Tony Bennett's basketball philosophy is rooted in defense. Prevent easy buckets, challenge all shots, and guard as a group not as individuals. So when Virginia's game with NC State on Saturday came down to one final possession, the Cavaliers looked at each other and embraced the defense at the heart of their program. One stop later, the Hoos had a 61-60 victory against the Wolfpack and a 17-3 record to celebrate. Virginia is 4-2 in ACC play.

NC State Primer
After bouncing back from the Virginia Tech loss with a 66-49 win over Boston College, UVa heads down Tobacco Road to face NC State at the RBC Center on Saturday night. Like the Hoos on Thursday night, the Wolfpack are coming off a devastating loss to their in-state rivals, a 74-55 defeat at UNC in a game that was even more of a blowout than the final score indicates. Can the Cavs pull out a tough road win in a game that could end up determining which team finishes in the top 4 of the ACC and maybe even which team makes the Big Dance?

Evans Improves Offense For UVa
Virginia guard Jontel Evans knew he needed to expand his offensive repertoire in order to combat defenses that wanted to focus their attention on UVa's other players. Too often during his sophomore season, defenders would drop off of him to help on other players when he didn't have the ball and they would sag back to cut off driving lanes that lead to drive-and-kick opportunities when he had the ball. While those tactics have continued this season, the junior's offseason work is paying dividends more frequently for the Hoos' offense.

Hoos Bounce Back, Beat BC
On Sunday night, Virginia suffered a heartbreaking loss to arch rival Virginia Tech at John Paul Jones Arena. Several key stats stand out from the defeat. The Cavaliers shot 1-14 from beyond the arc and missed eight free throws in the contest. Fast forward four days later and a completely different story unfolded as Virginia used a big second half to top the Boston College Eagles on Thursday, 66-49. Virginia shot 50.9% on the game and was a perfect 8-8 from the charity stripe.

Boston College Primer
After a heartbreaking home loss to Virginia Tech on Sunday night, the Virginia Cavaliers are back in action Thursday night against the Boston College Eagles. Tabbed by many as the worst Power 6 conference team during out of conference play, BC has looked a bit better in the early stages of ACC competition, winning home contests against Clemson and Virginia Tech. Can the Hoos move back above .500 in ACC play with a win against Steven Donahue's squad?

Defending Virginia
For Virginia fans the aftermath of Sunday's loss to Virginia Tech ranged from disappointment to worry. The frustration heavily hinged on the fact that the loss came to rival VT at home. The concern, on the other hand, stared at the long-term ramifications. In other words, did the Hokies provide a blueprint for knocking off the Cavaliers?

The Transition At Linebacker
The Giants drafted me with the mindset of fitting me in the 4-3. I'm not going to lie, it was different coming in. It's a lot more fluidity as far as movement. At UVa, I was often on the line of scrimmage for the majority of the time and had to take the slot every now and then, but I had designated rules as part of the learning experience. But I think the biggest asset that can help a player who is trying to make that transition from the 3-4 to the 4-3 is really just reps. Repetition.

Get your Wahoo fix. Subscribe to Sabre Edge!

Every week, Sabre Edge provides you with exclusive articles, columns, special features, interviews and recruiting news, including daily recruiting updates. There's even a special message board just for subscribers. And to top it off, you get 10 percent off all of your UVa Bookstores purchases during your subscription.

All of the great Sabre Edge content can be yours for the price of $5.99 per month or $59.99 per year. Try it for a month and cancel if you like. But we think you'll get hooked on the Edge and find out for yourself why the most knowledgeable Cavalier fans are Edge subscribers.

If you're a true Wahoo, then the Sabre Edge is right for you. Check it out!

• Sabre Edge Info and Sign Up