Jesperson Granted Transfer Release

Virginia forward Paul Jesperson, a rising junior, has been granted a release waiver by UVa to transfer.

"Paul has decided to leave the Virginia basketball program and transfer to another school," Tony Bennett said in an official Virginia news release. "We'd like to thank him for the past two seasons and wish him well in the future."

Jesperson averaged 4.7 points and 2.2 rebounds as a sophomore. He also made 37.0% of his 3-pointers as a wing player for the Cavaliers this season. He started 33 of UVa's 35 games and averaged 25.7 minutes per game this past season as the Hoos made a run to the NIT Quarterfinals in the postseason.

"I would really like to thank my coaches, teammates and all of my supporters for the opportunity I had at UVa," Jesperson said in a news release. "They made my time here unforgettable and I'm extremely grateful for that. I wish them the best and I'm looking forward to continuing my college career at my new school."

The UVa roster appears to be stocked with talented perimeter options in the coming years. Next season will feature stiff competition for guard minutes with Justin Anderson, Joe Harris, Malcolm Brogdon, Teven Jones, Taylor Barnette, London Perrantes, and Devon Hall. Hybrid players like Anthony Gill and Evan Nolte could challenge for some of the perimeter minutes too.

Jesperson originally planned to redshirt during his freshman season (2011-2012). He did not play the season's first 11 games, but suited up in the final 21 games of the season as injuries hit the Virginia roster. He played 220 minutes for an average of 10.5 points per game that year.

This Week In Recruiting With Chris Horne

As expected, Memphis University School (Memphis, TN) rising senior place kicker/punter Gary Wunderlich verbally committed to the University of Virginia. His decision came last Tuesday, three days after he made an unofficial visit to Texas A&M.

Both A&M and UVa offered Wunderlich, who is rated the No. 1 place kicking prospectin the nation in the class of 2014 by Kohl's Kicking Camp and Chris Sailer. Kohl's also rates the talented prospect as the No. 1 punter in the class of 2014.

"Gary has attended a bunch of our camps over the years, and has been a consistent performer. Really started taking off probably the last six to 10 months," Jamie Kohl of Kohl's Kicking told TheSabre.com last week. "On his kickoffs, the distance and the hang times are what separated him from a lot of other competitors. Along with his punting, making him a true rare combo guy, who I think honestly could do both at the Division 1 level. At our underclassmen challenge, he was among the best at camp on field goals. In some real pressure-packed situations he was able to produce, and that's what sold me on Gary. That's why I have him ranked the way we do. He's talented, has a good leg, and his field goal consistency and being able to produce in pressure situations allowed me to feel comfortable ranking him where we do as a kicker and a punter. I have a lot of confidence Gary will do well in college. Coach Larry Lewis is an excellent special teams coach who I've known for years. He should provide a great atmosphere for Gary to really succeed."

Be sure to check out the EDGE for much more on Wunderlich's decision. The Memphis native, whose parents and grandfathers graduated from UVa, is the fourth rising senior commitment the Hoos have received, joining safety Quin Blanding, offensive lineman Steven Moss, and defensive tackle Chris Nelson.

Blanding, Moss, and Nelson were all in Charlottesville for Virginia's Spring Game on April 6. I hope to catch up with Nelson this week for more on his experience. Though he has been committed to the Cavaliers since last August, the Victory Christian Academy (Lakeland, FL) product has visited other schools throughout this year. He has also picked up offers from Central Florida, Kentucky, Louisville, Purdue, and South Florida since his initial commitment.

Also this week, I will have the latest from Ocean Lakes High School (Virginia Beach, VA), which features UVa class of 2013 quarterback recruit Corwin "Turtle" Cutler and top class of 2014 defensive tackle Derrick Nnadi. Virginia has also offered a pair of class of 2015 recruits from the school.

Quarterback isn't a real need for Virginia in the class of 2014, but one of UVa's top targets, Lake Braddock (Burke, VA) star Caleb Henderson, is off the board after committing to UNC last week.

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.

More recent Sabre recruiting updates ...

Wunderlich Realizes Dream
Memphis University School (Memphis, TN) rising senior place-kicker Gary Wunderlich made the call on Tuesday night, informing head coach Mike London of his decision to commit to the University of Virginia. It was a dream come true for the 6'0", 180-pound prospect, who will now get to suit up for the team he grew up rooting for.

Q&A With London Perrantes
Mission League Player of the Year. John Wooden Award Winner for High School Player of the Year (Division IV). LA Times All-Star. The accolades Crespi (Carmelite, CA) senior point guard London Perrantes earned following the 2012/2013 season have been numerous. They reflect the big-time senior season the 6'1", 180-pound point guard enjoyed as he guided the Celts to a 23-10 overall record that included a second place finish in the Mission League. In this "Q&A," the UVa-bound prospect discusses his senior season, his high school career, his upcoming first year at UVa, and more.

More recent recruiting updates on The Sabre ...

• McMillian Names Top Five
• Wunderlich Commits To Virginia
• Sabre Scoop: Spring Game And More

Thank You To Our Sponsors

Sponsorships are a critical component of your fan community and their success will permit us to continually improve our services to you. If you are in the market for any of the products and services offered by your sponsors, please give them first chance at your business. Sponsors power TheSabre.com, the No. 1 media source covering UVa Athletics. Thank you for supporting your Sponsors!

Check out the current site sponsors here. If you would like to sponsor the site, please contact us.

Q&A With London Perrantes

TheSabre.com's Chris Horne caught up with basketball signee London Perrantes recently for an exclusive Q&A article. It's a must read for Virginia fans! Here's a brief excerpt from the piece:

CHRIS: With Jontel Evans leaving, there will be an opportunity for someone to step up and receive a lot of playing time at the point guard spot for Virginia next season. With that in mind, what is your mindset heading into your first year at UVa?

London Perrantes: Definitely one of the reasons I chose UVa was the chance to come in and at least give some type of contribution right away. Even though there will be other point guards, I still think I have a chance to contribute early. It's going to be fun because we all get to play with each other, so hopefully we'll have good chemistry. We'll come in and battle.

CHRIS: How much did Coach Bennett being a former point guard help you in terms of feeling comfortable with him as your potential future coach?

London Perrantes: Most definitely him being a point guard helps us have chemistry as far as me being able to relate to him a lot. Once I get to UVa, we'll take that next step with communication. He played the same position I do, and I feel like he could take me to the next level. That is another reason why I chose UVa.

CHRIS:Can you reflect a little bit more on why you chose UVa?

London Perrantes: UVa kind of stopped recruiting me when Devon committed, but then they came back to me. Even though they got a point guard, they still wanted me, knowing how I would fit in. It made me feel like their interest wasn't a fluke. I just fell in love with the coaching staff, how genuine they are. An example is the situation with Devon. They let me know straight up what happened.

Read the full article on the EDGE!

Cavaliers Post 100th Consecutive ACC Win

UVa Athletics Media Relations Official News Releases

The top-ranked Virginia men's tennis team recorded a milestone win Friday at the Snyder Tennis Center, downing No. 25 Clemson 7-0 for the program's 100th consecutive victory against ACC competition. The Cavaliers, who improved to 18-0 overall and 7-0 in the conference this season, haven't lost to an ACC foe (regular season or postseason) since the 2006 ACC Tournament. The Tigers fell to 15-5 overall and 4-3 in the ACC with the loss.

"We are thrilled to get another ACC win and to reach the 100-win mark is a great milestone," said head coach Brian Boland. "When I first came to the University of Virginia, I thought anything was possible, but I never dreamed that we could win 100 straight matches in this conference. It is a tribute to a lot of great players that have come through this program. It has been a great journey and hopefully it is only the beginning."

The streak is the longest in ACC men's tennis history and the second longest in conference history for all sports. The Duke women's tennis team won 116 straight matches against ACC opponents from 1989 to 2000.

For the sixth consecutive match, Virginia took a 1-0 lead by sweeping all the doubles matches, Justin Shane and Julen Uriguen gave the Cavaliers the edge with an 8-3 win at No. 3 over Hunter Harrington and Gerardo Meza. The other two matches went to a decisive tiebreaker as the Tigers threatened to become just the second team to win a doubles point this year against Virginia. Alex Domijan and Mitchell Frank clinched the point with a 9-8(4) win at No. 2 over Ayrton Wibowo and Zachary Rigsby. At No. 1, Jarmere Jenkins and Mac Styslinger topped brothers Yannick and Dominique Maden 9-8(4) to complete the sweep.

In singles, the Cavaliers won all six first sets and took four of those matches in straight sets. Uriguen quickly doubled the UVa lead with his 6-0, 6-2 victory at No. 6 over Austin Ansari. At No. 3, Frank won 10 straight games after trailing 3-2 in the first set for a 6-3, 6-0 win over Meza. Styslinger sealed the historic win for Virginia as he downed Rigsby 7-6(6), 6-4 at the No. 5 position.

"I think this accomplishment means a lot to the program," said Styslinger. "To be able to clinch the 100th straight ACC victory is something very special to me. I wasn't looking at the scoreboard, so I didn't know I was the clinching point right away. As a first-year, I don't think I can quite grasp how impressive this streak is, but I am proud to have contributed to it."

UVa also topped Georgia Tech over the weekend 6-1.

V-Sabres Worldwide

Have you checked out TheSabre.com's fan zone known as WahooWa!? It includes various interesting areas for the fans by the fans, including Virginia traditions, license plates, and V-Sabres Worldwide.

V-Sabres Worldwide is a cool section where TheSabre.com features a collection of photos sent to us from Hoos as they travel around the globe. There are photos from Mount Rushmore, Kilimanjaro, and Mount Everest for example! For ANY photo to be accepted, the V-Sabres logo must be visible. It can be on any type of merchandise (i.e. sunglasses, hats, shirts, dog collar, etc). Please include some sort of reference to your location in the photo (i.e. standing in front of the Great Wall of China). Also, please include a name that will be visible to all (either your real name or message board username - please specify). It must also fit one or more of the requirements below:

• Any photo taken outside the continental U.S. For example: You're in Japan and you have a photo taken of you with a V-Sabres hat on. Or, you're in Alaska and you have a V-Sabres banner flag hanging on your house.
• Within the United States, but there must be some sort of landmark in view. For example: You're standing in front of the Statue of Liberty, or on top of the Empire State Building with NYC in view.

Check out WahooWa! often for updates!

Around the World of Wahoo Sports ...

• No. 7 Duke Rallies Past UVa: Mark Cockerton scored six goals and Matt White tallied four, but it wasn't enough as the No. 7 Duke Blue Devils (10-4, 2-1 ACC) used a 7-0 run in the fourth quarter to dispatch of the Virginia Cavaliers (5-7, 0-3 ACC) on Friday night, 19-16, in front of 3,072 fans. Virginia is in the midst of a six-game losing streak, the first time the Cavaliers have lost six games in a row in the same season since 1939.
• Virginia to Face Maryland as the No. 4 Seed in the ACC Championship: Pairings for the 2013 Atlantic Coast Conference Men's Lacrosse Championship have been determined, as announced by the league office on Friday. Virginia is the No. 4 seed in the upcoming two-day championship, which will take place April 26 and 28 at Kenan Stadium on the campus of North Carolina.
• No. 20 Johns Hopkins Upsets No. 11 Virginia, 9-8: The No. 11 Virginia women's lacrosse team fell 9-8 to No. 20 Johns Hopkins on Thursday night. Virginia has one game remaining in the regular season. They will host Virginia Tech on Wednesday, April 17 at 7 p.m. on Senior Night.
• No. 4 Baseball Falls 3-2, Drops Series To No. 17 Georgia Tech: The fourth-ranked Virginia baseball team lost 3-2 at No. 17 Georgia Tech on Sunday afternoon in Atlanta. Played from start to finish in a steady rain, the game was called with one out in the bottom of the sixth inning because of poor field conditions. Virginia (31-6, 13-5 ACC) was dealt its first ACC series loss of the season as Georgia Tech (26-10, 11-7) won two of three games in the tightly contested series. Both of the Yellow Jackets' wins were by one run; all six of Virginia's defeats this season have come by two runs or fewer.
• Women's Tennis Splits Matches: No. 17 Virginia defeated No. 19 Georgia Tech, 4-3, in Atlantic Coast Conference women's tennis action Saturday afternoon at Ken Byers Tennis Complex. Freshman Julia Elbaba clinched Virginia's (14-7, 7-1 ACC) sixth consecutive win with a three-set decision over Elizabeth Kilborn at No. 1 singles. UVa's six-match winning streak ended with a 4-3 loss at No. 14 Clemson on Sunday afternoon, though.
• Virginia Drops Doubleheader at No. 25 Florida State: The Virginia softball team dropped two games at No. 25 Florida State on Sunday in Tallahassee, Fla. The Seminoles (33-14, 12-2 ACC) won 3-2 in eight innings, before defeating the Cavaliers (18-21, 3-11 ACC), 10-2 in five innings.

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

Virginia Baseball V-Sabre T-Shirt

The Virginia Baseball V-Sabre T-Shirt features a front chest imprint. A two color Virginia is screened diagonally in the UVA Baseball team font between navy baseball stitches. The V-Sabre logo is imprinted on the bottom left of the baseball. This unique design will look great at Davenport or at your local ballpark.

Issue No. 43 - June 28, 2002

Roger Mason drafted by NBA

Roger Mason, Jr. didn't get picked in the first round, but he was one of the early second round selections in last night's NBA Draft. The Chicago Bulls took Mason as the 31st overall pick. Mason joins two fellow ACC draftees to be selected by Chicago; Jay [the athlete formally known as Jason] Williams (2nd overall pick from Duke) and Lonnie Baxter (44th overall pick from Maryland).

Mason played both guard positions for UVa and was selected to the All-ACC Second Team last season. Mason started for the Cavaliers the past two seasons and figured to be a shoe-in for All-ACC First Team honors had he stayed for his final year at Virginia. Instead, Mason chose to take his chances with the Draft for reasons that are still unclear.

Read SabreMail No. 43 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:

• Spring Football: The Hoos played their annual Spring Game on Saturday. Stay tuned for more articles about UVa's spring practice period and what the 2013 season may hold.
• Basketball In Review: Sabre Editor Kris Wright will take a look back at the Cavaliers' 2012-2013 season.

In Case You Missed It

Recent Sabre articles ...

Sabre Roundtable: Thoughts On QBs, More
Virginia wraps up spring practice this week, but the public and the media got their last look at the Hoos during the Spring Game last weekend. With the quarterback battle still going, linebackers to replace, and more storylines, there's plenty to discuss. That's a perfect time for a Sabre Roundtable so Michael Phillips of the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Frank Maloney of Hoos Talking radio, EDGE subscriber HoosQ, and TheSabre.com Editor Kris Wright answer 5 questions about the Wahoos.

What's Different With UVa This Spring?
The Virginia football team made its last public appearance for spring practice this past Saturday in the Spring Game, which the Orange team won 18-15 over the Blue. Of course, there are new coaches all around the McCue Center this spring, but after Saturday's live action in Scott Stadium, some fans have wondered what's different? The offense is still a pro-style scheme with multiple formations and the defense is still features a 4-3 base look. Let's take a look at some of the variations and some other potential alterations after seeing the Cavaliers in action this past weekend.

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 Wahoo, then the Sabre Edge is right for you. Check it out!

• Sabre Edge Info and Sign Up