Monday night, Antwan Stewart, a 6-0, 180-pound running back/defensive back from Potomac H.S. in Dumfries, VA, committed to the Cavalier football program.

Stewart is a versatile player that Virginia can use at running back, wide receiver or defensive back. His strongest attribute appears to be his speed. He's been timed in the 4.3's in the forty-yard dash.

"He has explosive sprinter's speed. He's versatile," Potomac Head Coach Ben Stutler said. "He catches the ball well, runs well. He's aggressive offensively and defensively. He's got about 1,100 yards rushing. He's got 20 catches and averages about 20-yards per catch. He's caught a few touchdown passes for us this year and he's rushed for 13. He's got three interceptions and returned a punt for a touchdown. He's able to do a number of things for us. He's got a strong work ethic."

Stewart, who did not appear on many recruiting services' radar screens early, is now making the jump up the list. We failed to have him on TheSabre.com Top 40 back in the spring, but we moved Stewart up to #13 in the state a couple of weeks ago. Rivals100.com now has him as a three-star recruit and #33 at his position nationally.

While Doug Doughty of the Roanoke Times still does not have Stewart listed in his Top 25 (he has him currently at 28), some of the nation's top teams did not ignore his talents.

"He had offers from Tennessee, Syracuse, Virginia, Penn State and Maryland," Coach Stutler said. "It came down to Virginia, Tennessee and Syracuse."

Stewart didn't wait too long to make his decision. While camping at Virginia last summer, that seemed to be enough for him.

"I was talking to my friends and teammates and we had fun at camp when we were down there," Stewart said. "[The UVa coaches] made it fun for us to be out there running in the heat. We liked it. It was hard work, but it was a lot of fun."

Stewart claims that the coaching staff had the biggest impact in his decision.

"The coaching staff. They're all cool," said Stewart. "If you enjoy being around people, then that's probably going to bring out the best in you. When I was down there for camp and for the Duke game, I was having a lot of fun. Also, the school is right next to home."

Stewart can play a variety of positions, but UVa is most-likely going to try him out at corner. Stewart says he's best when the ball is in his hands.

"Anything on offense is my best position - just having the ball in my hands," Stewart said. "But, it doesn't matter [where UVa plays me], as long as I'm on the field. I'll play anywhere."

Stewart's teammate, Keenan Carter, committed to UVa a few months ago and that didn't hurt UVa's chances in landing Stewart.

"That helped," Stewart said. "We're teammates and we get along well. We push each other. Four more years of Keenan."

So what can Stewart bring to UVa next season? Some talk highly of his ability to play cover corner, a term that hasn't often been used to describe any player at UVa since Ronde Barber left after the 1996 season.

"I'm quick," said Stewart. "I've heard a lot of people say, 'that boy is fast.'"

Several top recruits at Virginia-Virginia Tech game

I don't know every recruit that was in attendance for the UVa-VT game last Saturday, but here's a list of players that I saw.

Current Commitments

K - Tom Hagan, Cave Spring, Roanoke, VA
QB - Anthony Martinez, Patrick Henry, Ashland, VA
DB - Stefan Orange, Culpeper, Culpeper, VA
OL - Damian Spradlin, Liberty, Bedford, VA
RB - Jason Snelling, L.C. Bird, Chesterfield, VA
DB - Kenneth Tynes, Centreville, Clifton, VA

Other Top Recruits Present

LB - Ahmad Brooks, C.D. Hylton, Woodbridge, VA
CB - Marcus Hamilton, Centreville, Clifton, VA
RB -Michael Johnson, Jr., Heritage, Newport News, VA
LB - Justin London, Northside, Roanoke, VA
TE - Brian Mattes, Wyoming Valley West, Plymouth, PA
DL - Kwakou Robinson, Polytechnic Prop, Brooklyn, NY
WR - Maurice Stovall, Archbishop Carroll, Radnor, PA
QB - Marcus Vick, Warwick, Newport News, VA

Also present were underclassmen Xavier Adibi and Andrew Pearman (brother to Alvin).

Kwakou, where are you?

Rumors of Kwakou Robinson making a commitment to Virginia this past weekend are still unsubstantiated. Mike Farrell, from The Wagon Online, spoke with Robinson on Wednesday. Although Robinson denies committing to Virginia, he did say that he's now leaning to the Hoos. This contradicts his high school head coach, who says he's still leaning to Ohio State.

Mo Young to transfer

University of Virginia men's head basketball coach Pete Gillen announced Monday (Nov. 19) that forward/guard Maurice Young has left the team. Young has asked for and will receive his immediate release.

He plans to remain at Virginia through the end of the fall semester.

"We really appreciate Maurice's contributions to our basketball program," Gillen said. "He's a terrific person, and we wish him well in his basketball career and all of his future endeavors."

Young, a 6-4 sophomore from Mitchellville, Md. (Bishop McNamara High School), played in each of Virginia's two games this season. He scored six points and had four rebounds in 21 minutes of action in the two games.

As a freshman last season, Young played in 25 games and averaged 2.6 points, 1.3 rebounds and 6.7 minutes of playing time a game.

Virginia basketball trounces Howard

In one of the more lop-sided victories since the Ralph Sampson era, the Cavaliers did a little more than take care of business Wednesday night in University Hall. In front of a crowd of over 7,000 (decent, considering the holiday break), the Hoos jumped out to a 30-9 lead right out of the gate. Howard wasn't big enough, strong enough or fast enough to handle the Cavs, who eventually won the contest 115-66. Virginia pulled all of its starters prior to the midway point of the second half.

Here's a brief run down on last night's game:

Roger Mason: Amazing, even though he was pulled with over 10 minutes left in the second half. Hit his first six shots - the first five were all from 3-point range - two of them clearly beyond the NBA 3-point area. His last two 3-point attempts (of the half) missed, and were about 30 feet from the basket, and still looked like they would fall. Perhaps Mason was getting board with those simple 25-foot shots?

Mason's line: 7/11 FG, 5/8 3FG, 2/2 FT, 5 Reb, 6 Asst, 2 TO, 1 Stl.

Chris Williams: He took over where Mason left off, draining four 3's in a row to close out the half. Williams was everywhere on the court, playing great defense and scoring almost at will. He air-balled his first 3-pointer and never missed a shot after that.

Williams' line: 8/9 FG, 5/6 3FG, 1/4 FT, 5 Reb, 3 Asst, 2 Blk, 3 Stl, 0 TO.

Travis Watson: Missed a few point-blank shots, but was very active. Really wanted the ball early. Was a monster on the boards before he left the game early in the second half.

Watson's line: 5/11 FG, 1/1 FT, 7 Reb (first half), 2 Asst, 3 TO, 1 Blk.

Adam Hall: Still doesn't have the spring (or hops as he likes to call them) he needs, but played an great game anyway. Accurate from the outside, hitting all three of his 3-pointers. Played very little in the second half. Still getting over a deep knee bruise and likely needed the rest.

Hall's line: 5/8 FG, 3/3 3FG, 3 Reb, 2 TO, 2 Stl.

J.C. Mathis: Didn't look particularly fluid. Grabbed 3 rebounds before sitting the bench for a majority of the first half. Had one assist, hit 1 of 2 shots from the field, turned the ball over twice.

Elton Brown: Dominated inside. Hit 4/7 from field and 8 of 10 from line. Grabbed four rebounds. Sadly, had 5 turnovers, mostly due to trapping on the blocks and hacking at the ball. The refs weren't calling a lot of low post fouls, so Brown would have likely had another 6-8 free throws had they called the game more closely.

Keith Jenifer: Although he threw the ball away a couple of times really late in the game (when the lead was 53 points), he played with poise. Jenifer tied Mason for a team high 6 assists and only had 3 turnovers. He pushed the ball extremely well, often finding Clark down low. Unfortunately, Clark had a little trouble finishing tonight (missed two dunks) or Jenifer might have a lot more assists. Perhaps the best play from Jenifer came at the defensive end. He stuck to his man like glue. Jenifer shot 2/3 from the field with his only miss coming from 3-point range. He also grabbed 4 rebounds.

Jermaine Harper: Played with speed and poise. Once many of the starters were out, Harper used that time to turn on the juice. He had some nice shake-bake moves, and even brought the ball up the floor a couple of times. Shot 4/7 from FG range, grabbed 4 rebounds. Here's the impressive number... 5 assists NO TURNOVERS! 2 steals, although it felt like he had a lot more than that.

Jason Clark: Very active. 5 rebounds, 1 block, 1 steal, 1 assist. He hit all three of his free throws and shot 3/7 from the field. Made some great moves down low, but missed some easy shots. Probably just needs to settle down a bit. Did I mention that he's an active player?

Jason Rogers: Rogers came into the game with 10 minutes to play. He was joined by all four freshmen. They went on a 19-9 run with this lineup. Rogers was the beneficiary of some great passing and finished strong with 2 monster slams. He had one rebounds and registered two blocked shots. A good effort by Rogers.

Jason Dowling: Was 1/3 from the field. Missed a couple of 3-pointers. He probably didn't know it, but his team would have tied the record for most 3-pointers made in a game with 15 had he dropped just one of those 3's. FYI: UVa shot 11/15 from behind the arc in the first half. Dowling got a steal and assist during his 4 minutes on the floor.

Bret Gladstone: Yep, even Bret got into the scoring column. He nailed his only shot of the game, a 3-pointer from the right corner. He also had an assist.

Overall, the Hoos played under control and with purpose in a win that was a rout from the start. Usually, a team will lose their composure when the lead gets into the 30's, but not UVa. The Cavs worked hard almost every trip up the court and extended their lead to 56 with just under six minutes to play.

During the post-game interviews, Williams and Mason echoed that the real test begins next Wednesday night and that they are responsible for making the freshmen understand the difference between the levels of competition.

Team Stats: 43/73 FG (59 percent), 14/24 3FG, 15-20 FT, 27 Asst, 21 TO, 6 Blk, 10 Stl. 44 Rebounds to 29 for Howard. Howard shot 38 percent for the game, the third team in a row that UVa has held under 40 percent shooting.

For more info on post game news and stats for this game, try the schedule and notes section of the site.

Virginia's next game is November 28th against Michigan State in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge. The game is set for 7:30 PM and will be played at the Richmond Coliseum. ESPN2 is televising the game.

Breakfast with Gillen and Izzo?

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Penn State game

Virginia football will play their last game of the season on December 1st when they face Penn State. The game is sold out. Game time is noon and will be televised nationally by ESPN.

Basketball rankings chart

SN is a monthly e-publication produced by TheSabre.com. We have assembled a great collection of profession writers to give you the finest coverage of the Hoos that you can get. The cost for a one-year subscription is only $24.95.