Here's hoping that you had a very Merry Christmas and that your New Year is just as pleasant.

Kwakou Robinson, a 6-4, 315-pound defensive lineman from Polytechinic Prep in New York, committed to the Hoos in mid-December. He's listed as the best player in the state of New York, and one of the best defensive linemen in the country.

We spoke with Kwakou last night to get his impressions of his visit, and find out why the SuperPrep All-American chose UVa over Ohio State.

"I chose UVa because of their great academics and great coaching staff with Al Groh," Robinson said. "Virginia's in a great conference for defensive linemen. It's a pass rush conference. And, I just loved my visit to Virginia."

It must have been really good visit, since Kwakou had been leaning heavily to Ohio State just days prior.

"The school is beautiful and my mom loved it. There are no words for it. It was just big and beautiful."

Robinson also said that the staff played an important role in his decision. Coach Danny Rocco was his recruiting coach, and Robinson was impressed with him and the rest of the staff.

"Coach Rocco's a great guy. Ron Prince, the offensive line coach, also another great guy - just the whole staff - Al Golden, Mike London - all great guys."

So where would Robinson play once he gets into the system? Many believe that he'll play defensive tackle, but Robinson said on CavTalk radio last week that he could possibly play defensive end.

"Coach Golden said I would fit in well there. As long as I'm on the defensive line, I don't really care what position I play. I wouldn't have any problems playing defensive tackle. They can move me inside or outside."

We spoke with Kwakou about what he plans to achieve on and off the field, and this is what he had to say.

"I just want to have four great seasons. The goal that I'm setting is just to come out and play hard. I don't really see any big goals in my future until I actually get into the system and see where I fit, then go from there. I just want to play well my first year and do well in the classroom."

Robinson is just another highly rated recruit in a long list of 3-star and 4-star rated prospects on Virginia's commitment list. The month of January will determine whether UVa has a top ten class or one of the top two nationally.

"The recruiting is going pretty well, with UVa getting D'Brickashaw [Ferguson] and [Lance Evans] out of New Jersey [recently]. Now, three major parts of the class are Marcus [Hamilton], Ahmad [Brooks] and Kai [Parham], and the defense is done for four years. That's it right there. When I go to San Antonio, I'm going to talk to Kai and Ahmad and try and see where they are, and if they'll come to Virginia."

So, what's this all-important date in San Antonio?

"That's the All-American Bowl, being played January 5th on ESPN2. I leave Sunday the 30th so we can get three of four days of practice. I'm looking forward to it. I'm ready to go."

Panic? No need to panic if you're a Hoo

Lot's of second and third party rumors have been spreading that UVa might not get many of the super six recruits to round out the class. Considering that it's the dead period, it's odd that anyone would believe much has changed with regard to the thoughts of Ahmad Brooks, Kai Parham, Michael Johnson, Jr., Marcus Vick, Maurice Stovall and Marcus Hamilton.

If anything, the dead period has allowed many of these prospects to speak with each other and think about committing earlier in the process, perhaps even before January 18th. January 18th is the weekend that marks the official visits of all of those players except Maurice Stovall. Jonathan Lewis, a recruit that had earlier said he was leaning to VT, has decided to take the rest of his visits before making a determination on his destination. He will be on his official visit to UVa along with the above-mentioned players.

Virginia defeats Georgetown

The Hoos took care of business on their first really tough road game of the season last Thursday, defeating the Georgetown Hoyas, 61-55. The Hoos also took defeated Rutgers Sunday afternoon, by a score of 76-68. The game was as close as many predicted, but the Cavaliers came together in the end and pulled out an important non-conference win, their third against Big East competition this season. For more info on each game, as well as games for the rest of the season, please see schedule and notes.

Virginia Basketball moves to #4 in the polls

With their win over Georgetown, the Cavaliers moved up to 4th place in both major polls on Sunday and Monday. For a look at UVa's progression through the rankings this year, check out our poll chart.

When is the next basketball game?

We've revised our football recruiting section a bit. On the football commitments list, we've added a couple of extra columns to help you understand where each player rates on a national scale. We used Rivals100's rankings in order to maintain consistency. One column shows where the recruit is ranked at his position nationally and the other shows the number of stars that each recruit was given.

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