Report: Sims Headed To UVa

If a report on ESPN.com is accurate, Phillip Sims is headed to the University of Virginia.

Sims, a 6'2", 210-pound quarterback, announced last Friday that he had been given a release to transfer from the University of Alabama. Multiple sources, including Jerry Ratcliffe of The Daily Progress and Doug Doughty of The Roanoke Times, then reported that UVa had been given a release to speak with the former 5-star prospect out of Oscar Smith (Chesapeake, VA). And this morning, Joe Schad of ESPN.com reports that Sims indeed will transfer to UVa.

Sims redshirted his freshman year at Alabama. He saw action in eight games last season as a redshirt freshman, finishing with 163 yards passing and two interceptions. He is reportedly applying for an NCAA hardship waiver that would allow him to be immediately eligible to play at a major FBS school, which appears will be Virginia. If the waiver is granted, he will have three years of eligibility remaining beginning this season.

A 4-year starter for one of the state's top high school football programs, Sims enjoyed a 48-4 record as a starter in high school. He left Oscar Smith rated a 5-star prospect by Scout.com and a 4-star recruit by Rivals.com and ESPN.com. Sims, an Under Armour All-American, concluded his high school career as the state's all-time leader in passing yards (10,725 yards) and touchdown passes (119). Sims led Oscar Smith to a Group AAA Division 6 State Championship as a junior, when he threw for 3,167 yards with 38 touchdowns and only four interceptions. As a senior, he had 2,960 yards passing and 33 scores.

TheSabre.com's message boards are buzzing with the news! Join the conversation: Football board | EDGE subscriber board.

This Week In Recruiting

Football Recruiting

• I'll have the latest on Woodberry Forest (VA) junior linebacker Doug Randolph this week. Randolph originally committed to Stanford and remains committed, but he is certainly exploring other options, including UVa.

Basketball Recruiting

• Basketball recruiting - outside of the Sims' news - will take to the forefront this week. TheSabre.com was at the Saturday Session of the Nike EYBL, which stopped in Hampton this past weekend. EDGE subscribers can read articles on top Virginia point guard targets Devon Hall (class of 2014) and Anthony "Big Cat" Barber (class of 2013). I'll also have a full article on combo guard Stanford Robinson, who is another top Virginia target in the class of 2013.
  
  I'll have video up on all three players, so stay tuned to SabreTV for highlights. Here's the first video of the group featuring Hall:
  
  


• UVa has offered 6'7" wing Justin Jackson, a class of 2014 prospect out of Texas. Jackson, who showed a sweet outside shooting touch, has eight scholarship offers in the fold so far. On Tuesday, I'll have a "News and Notes" feature on the EYBL that will include quotes from Jackson and examine other prospects (2013 and 2014 class) on Virginia's radar.

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 ...

Devon Hall Talks Recruiting, Basketball
Class of 2014 point guard Devon Hall averaged 16 points, 7 assists and 7 rebounds per game this past season, when he helped Cape Henry Collegiate (Virginia Beach, VA) capture the VIS Division II state championship. The 6'5", 200-pound Hall earned VIS Division II Player of the Year honors for his performance in the 2011/2012 high school season, and he is looking to continue his consistent and solid play on the AAU circuit this spring and summer.

More On New Commit Zack Jones
Ever since he received a scholarship offer from the University of Virginia in December of 2011, Oscar Smith's (Chesapeake, VA) Zack Jones was thought to be leaning to the Cavaliers. As it turns out, the prevailing opinion was accurate, and the 5'11", 190-pound wide receiver prospect is the latest 2013 class commitment for the Cavaliers.

More recent recruiting updates on The Sabre ...

• Zack Jones To UVa
• Hamilton Recaps Latest Visit
• UVa Recruits Talk Capital Classic, Future

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San Francisco Selects Johnson

Virginia Athletics Media Relations, Official Release

Virginia senior defensive end Cam Johnson was selected by the San Francisco 49ers during Saturday's National Football League Draft. Johnson was taken in the seventh round as the 237th overall pick. It marks the 29th consecutive year (dating back to 1984) a Virginia player has been drafted. That is the second longest streak in the ACC, trailing only Miami at 37 years. Johnson is the first Cavalier taken by the 49ers since tight end Patrick Estes was chosen in the seventh round by San Francisco in 2005. It is just the fourth time the franchise has drafted a Cavalier.

Johnson appeared in 42 games, starting 34 times, during his four-year collegiate career that spanned the 2008 through 2011 seasons. He did not redshirt any year at UVa. Johnson finished his career with 130 tackles, 12.5 sacks and 33.5 tackles for loss. He forced three fumbles, recovered three fumbles and broke up seven passes.

Johnson played in both 3-4 and 4-3 schemes at UVa. He moved from outside linebacker to defensive end starting in the 2010 season.

Fahringer, Robinson Win At Penn Relays

Virginia Athletics Media Relations, Official Release

Senior Andy Fahringer won the men's championship javelin throw and fellow senior Marcus Robinson captured the men's championship triple jump title on the final day of the Penn Relays Saturday at chilly Franklin Field in Philadelphia.

Fahringer, who finished second at the ACC Championships a week ago, was in third place going into the final throw before he reached a distance of 74.63m (244' 10") in his final attempt. Fahringer broke his own program record and the mark is the seventh-longest throw at the Penn Relays since they went to the new javelin implement in 1986.

Fahringer becomes the first Virginia male to win the javelin at the Penn Relays. His mark of 74.63m is the seventh-best distance in the nation this year, based on marks going into this weekend.

"I've been denied this championship for a long time," Fahringer said. "I've been coming here [to the Penn Relays for] a long time since I was a junior in high school and the weather is usually bad and I didn't compete very well. This was the first time I was able to come back-to-back with ACCs healthy and with confidence. Today, the series [of throws] wasn't great, but I was able to compete very well and it sets me up very well for the first round of nationals. I'm looking forward to taking a down week, graduating, getting some good training in and hopefully break some more school records at nationals."

Robinson won the men's championship triple jump with a mark of 16.13m (52' 11"), which came on his second attempt. Robinson is the first Cavalier to win the triple jump championship in the 118-year history of the Penn Relays.

"It means a lot," Robinson said of the win. "It's my senior year and I'm trying to go out with a bang as much as I can. It felt alright given the conditions, but I'm just happy to get the win."

For more results from this event for the Hoos, click here.

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Around the World of Wahoo Sports ...

• Ashley Earley Joins Virginia Women's Basketball Staff: Virginia women's basketball coach Joanne Boyle announced that Ashley Earley has been hired as an assistant coach with the Cavalier program. At Virginia, Earley will mentor the post players and assist in all recruiting efforts.
• Cavaliers Sweep Top ACC Men’s Tennis Honors: The Virginia men's tennis team swept the ACC's top honors as the conference announced the 2012 ACC men's tennis awards on Thursday. Junior Jarmere Jenkins was named ACC Player of the Year, Mitchell Frank was named ACC Freshman of the Year and Brian Boland was named ACC Coach of the Year. The Cavaliers also led all schools with three players on the 18-player All-ACC team with sophomore Alex Domijan joining Jenkins and Frank on the squad.
• No. 2 Virginia Wins Eight Races Against Top Competition: The No. 2 Virginia rowing team picked up four wins against No. 3 Michigan in the morning and four more wins versus No. 4 Ohio State in the afternoon Saturday (April 28) in Columbus, Ohio.
• No. 25 Virginia Clinches Series at No. 15 Miami with 7-4 Win: Shane Halley pitched six scoreless innings of relief and held No. 15 Miami at bay as the No. 25 Virginia baseball team rallied from an early 4-0 deficit to claim a 7-4 win over the Hurricanes on Sunday. Winners of six-consecutive games, Virginia (30-14-1, 13-10 ACC) clinched its third straight series win over Miami (27-16, 12-11). The third game of the set is scheduled for Monday night.
• Virginia Softball Tops NC State, 5-1: In the final Atlantic Coast Conference game of the season, the Virginia softball team (25-24, 8-13 ACC) topped NC State 5-1 Sunday at The Park. With the win, the Cavaliers clinched the series with the Wolfpack.
• Stanwick Elevates No. 6 UVa to Victory Over Penn in Mile High Classic: Steele Stanwick scored a career-high six goals and finished with seven points to lead the No. 6 Virginia Cavaliers (11-3) to a 10-8 victory over the Penn Quakers (3-10) on Friday in the Mile High Classic. With the seven points, Stanwick now moves up to No. 22 all-time in NCAA Division I career points with 260. Virginia is now 7-0 all-time in Inside Lacrosse events.
• Briggs and Stanwick Named Tewaaraton Nominees: The Tewaaraton Foundation has announced the 2012 Tewaaraton Award men's nominees, presented by Panama Jack. UVa senior midfielder Colin Briggs and senior attackman Steele Stanwick are two of 25 nominees narrowed down from the massive preseason watch list.
• No. 9 Virginia Falls At No. 1 Northwestern, 13-6: The ninth-ranked Virginia women's lacrosse team dropped a close contest at No. 1 Northwestern on Saturday. Ainsley Baker led Virginia with two goals, while Kim Kolarik finished with six saves in goal for the Cavaliers.
• Josie Owen Named a Tewaaraton Award Nominee: Virginia women's lacrosse senior Josie Owen has been named a nominee for the 2012 Tewaaraton Award. After being named one of 57 players on the women's watch list for the award, which is given to the nation's top female collegiate women's lacrosse player, Owen has now been named one of 25 nominees.
• Morgane Gay Competes in 1,500 at Payton Jordan Invitational: Virginia track and field junior All-American Morgane Gay finished eighth in her heat and 19th overall in the 1,500 meters at the Jordan Payton Invitational on Sunday.

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

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Issue No. 7 - October 18, 2001

Anthony Martinez

Good news came Monday when it was confirmed that Virginia Football had received two new recruiting commitments: Anthony Martinez, a 6-4, 220-pound quarterback from Patrick Henry H.S. in Ashland and Jason Snelling, a 6-1, 215-pound running back from L.C. Bird H.S. in Chesterfield.

The two players are friends, and elected to contact Coach Mike Groh on a three-way call to inform him of the good news. Hats off to Coach Groh for getting these two fine young players.

As many of your have already heard, Martinez was in a car accident just days before he made his commitment. Before the accident, Martinez had said that he would wait until January to make his decision and keep his options open. Martinez said that the accident caused him to reflect on things that were more important, and he decided to make his commitment sooner than expected. So, is this a firm commitment, or did Martinez rush into this decision?

"I don't think I rushed myself," Martinez said. "I knew that's where I wanted to go the whole time. I just wanted to weigh my options and see what else was out there. I knew the whole time that Virginia was the best fit for me. It's close to home. I just knew from the beginning that's probably where I would end up. I like Virginia."

Martinez will be in attendance for this Saturday's game against Florida State. It is rumored that many of Virginia's top recruits will be in attendance. Most are likely to hear from Martinez and his quest to reel in more top players in this recruiting class.

"Jonathan Lewis, Kai Parham, Ahmad Brooks, Jason Snelling and Keenan Carter [are expected to be there]," Martinez said. "I'm not sure about Marcus Vick. Michael Johnson might come up.

"The other night I called Maurice Stovall and Jonathan Lewis. They both said they were going to take their visits and see how things played out for them. Jason and I are still going to come up on December 1st for our official visit to UVa. I hope that my commitment will help bring some players here. I want to play with the best players in the country."

Read SabreMail No. 7 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:

• Frank Quayle: TheSabre.com catches up with Frank Quayle for a future article on the site.

In Case You Missed It ...

Sabre articles since the last SabreMail

Fisher Finding Freshman Groove
Virginia freshman Derek Fisher started off the season slowly going 4-20 in his first eight games (.200) including seven hitless games. In fact, his first two at-bats as a Wahoo came in clutch situations with the bases loaded. He went 0-2. Since Virginia's series win over Clemson, however, Fisher has been on a tear.

Diamond Scouting Report: Miami
The Virginia baseball team got a dramatic, come-from-behind 7-5 win over VCU in Richmond on Wednesday night thanks to 3 runs in the top of the 9th inning with one out. The rally was capped by Derek Fisher's towering 2-run home run well over the right field fence. Now, the Hoos travel to Miami for another crucial ACC weekend series moved a day later by TV to Saturday through Monday.

Is Reynolds Underappreciated?
Perhaps Virginia linebacker LaRoy Reynolds is underappreciated. How else can you explain a defense's leading tackler generating such little buzz among Cavalier fans? Despite an impressive spring where noticeable improvement lurked and despite a Spring Game where he made some of the day's most electric plays, Reynolds isn't a hot topic very often. It doesn't seem to make much sense.

Diamond Scouting Report: VCU
The Virginia baseball team got a win over a tough Radford squad 3-2 on Tuesday night at Davenport Field thanks to a walk-off hit in the bottom of the 11th inning by Nate Irving to score Mitchell Shifflett. Wednesday night, the Hoos travel to The Diamond, home of the Richmond Squirrels minor league team, to play VCU in the first of two games against this quality in-state team. The Rams come to Davenport on May 15th for the return matchup this season.

Diamond Scouting Report: Radford
The Virginia baseball team swept a double-header from the Duke Blue Devils last Saturday to win that important away ACC series two games to one. Now the Cavaliers return home for a game on Tuesday at 6 p.m. against the Radford Highlanders. In addition to being a key intra-state matchup, Tuesday's game marks another Werman family reunion since Keith's older brother Kyle, a Virginia baseball alumnus himself, is one of the Radford assistant coaches. Here is a brief scouting report on the Radford Highlanders.

Cavs Score Heralded Transfer Gill
Score one for the University of Virginia in the transfer department. 6'8", 235-pound power forward Anthony Gill, a freshman who decided to transfer from the University of South Carolina after the firing of Darrin Horn, has committed to UVa over Ohio State. Gill's former AAU coach, Rick Lewis, first reported the info via Twitter after speaking with Gill's father.

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