While preparing for the 2002 football and basketball seasons, please don't forget to check out TheSabreShop.com for Virginia apparel, novelties and gifts. We are currently running our Summer Sale and have marked down dozens of items well below retail price.

Outside the sale, we still have hundreds of items at reasonable prices with flexible shipping options. Shop safely online from the comfort of your home or office. TheSabreShop.com uses the highest level of digital security available for eCommerce, so your credit card number is safe with us.

And remember, purchasing from our store not only supports the efforts of TheSabre.com, it supports the athletic department of your favorite school, UVa.

Check out TheSabreShop.com today, and GO HOOS!

Chris Johnson, an offensive/defensive line prospect from Charlottesville High School, recently returned from the University of Virginia's summer camp.  According to Johnson, the camp was an excellent experience.  

"I had a great experience," said Johnson of his time at the UVa camp.  "We mainly did drills, working on offensive and defensive line techniques.  We worked a lot on hand positioning for both offensive line and defensive tackles.  I also learned how to maintain blocks."  

While Johnson can play both offensive line and defensive tackle, he prefers defense, and says that is where most schools are recruiting him.  

"Most schools are looking at me to play defensive tackle," said Johnson, who recently ran a 4.9 in the forty to complement his 6'4" 255 lb frame.  

Being from Charlottesville, many feel Johnson may be a lean to the Cavaliers.  And while he certainly does like what the Cavaliers have to offer, Johnson may wait a while before making a final decision.  

"Virginia is a good school," said Johnson.  "But I am looking at Virginia, Maryland, Notre Dame, Virginia Tech, Stanford and UCLA - if I decide to look out west.  I probably will decide before February, but I want to look around and take my time."  

Currently, Johnson has two official scholarship offers, including one from the Cavaliers. He has been unofficially offered two more scholarships.  For the summer, Johnson has not decided whether or not he will visit any more camps.

In other news.

Recruiting guru Mike Farrell of Rivals.com is reporting on this week on TheWagonOnline that top in-state linebacker Vince Hall has put Virginia back on his list. TheSabre.com reported May 9th that Hall had taken the Cavaliers off his list of schools for consideration.

Hall, a 6-1, 240-pound linebacker from Western Branch H.S. in Chesapeake, says that he likes UVa because of Coach Al Groh's NFL coaching experience. Virginia Tech is still a strong contender for Hall's services, as are Clemson and Maryland.

If you're in the market for a new or used car, please be sure to check out Brown of Charlottesville, major sponsor of TheSabre.com.

Brown is offering visitors of TheSabre.com a certificate for $300 off their next automobile purchase at any of Brown of Charlottesville locations. The certificate CAN BE used in conjunction with discounts and additional offers.

And for those of you looking for a dependable used car at a great price, check out Brown of Charlottesville's BEST BUY SALE, going on now through June 30th.

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.

For more on Mason and the Draft, see the Sabre Newslink.

Lineman Mike Mullins back on track

It was reported on TheSabre.com football message board today that senior UVa starting offensive lineman Mike Mullins is back from his knee surgery and is participating in summer drills. Mullins is close to 100 percent, sources say. Mullins used the off season to have arthroscopic knee surgery.

Mullins (6-8, 292), started for the Cavaliers last season and has contributed on Virginia's offensive line since he was a red-shirt freshman. Mullins is one of Virginia's top returning offensive linemen, along with junior Kevin Bailey (6-6, 300) and sophomore Elton Brown (6-4, 315).

UVa finishes in Top 30 of Sears Cup Standings for ninth consecutive year
Official UVa media release

The University of Virginia intercollegiate athletics program ranked 27th in the final 2001-02 Division I Sears Directors' Cup standings. Virginia finished 30th last year and has finished in the Top 30 each year in the nine-year history of the Sears Directors' Cup program.

UVa finished 27th among NCAA Division I schools with 626.5 points based on the combined performances of men's and women's sports during the 2001-02 academic year. Stanford finished first in the NCAA Division I standings for the eighth consecutive year, winning the Sears Directors' Cup with a total of 1,499 points. A total of 261 of the 323 eligible NCAA Division I colleges and universities earned points in the Sears Directors' Cup competition.

Virginia was one of four Atlantic Coast Conference schools to finish in the Sears Directors' Cup Top 30. North Carolina finished fourth (1,065.5 points), Clemson was 26th (630.5 points) and Duke tied for 30th (600 points).

Teams or individuals in 16 sports represented Virginia in NCAA post-season play during the 2001-02 athletic year. Those sports included women's basketball, men's and women's cross country, field hockey, men's golf, men's and women's lacrosse, women's rowing, men's and women's soccer, men's and women's swimming and diving, men's and women's outdoor track and field, women's indoor track and field, and wrestling. In addition, the men's basketball team participated in the National Invitation Tournament.

There are four Sears Directors' Cup Awards, one to honor the institution with the best overall athletics program in each of the NCAA's Divisions I, II and III, and the NAIA. The University of California-Davis (Division II), Williams College (Division III) and Oklahoma City University (NAIA) received the other Sears Directors' Cup Awards. The Sears Directors' Cups are presented annually by Sears, Roebuck and Company and the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA).

Due to the increase in message board abuse by people who register with free email accounts like Hotmail, we are banning the ability for message board users register using these accounts. In the very near future, our registration page will begin to kick back any request for registrations with these emails.

Future registrations will only be accepted with real email accounts. What we mean by 'real' is any email account that is provided from a legitimate Internet Service Provider, or AOL and MSN. Accounts from Mail.com, Yahoo.com, Excite.com, Hotmail.com or any other free email service that allows anonymous registration will not be considered an acceptable address for registration on our boards.

There is one situation where free email accounts can be used, and this is mainly for those who like to use these accounts to prevent others from knowing their primary email or work email when they check the 'include email address' feature while posting a message. We would still require a poster to register with their primary email account, but they can go into the USER PREFERENCES area (linked at the top of the message boards) and change their email address to another account, such as Hotmail. Our system retains the original email for accountability purposes, but will only print the newest email address if the 'include email address' feature is selected when posting. So, if security of your primary email account is needed, we have you covered.

For those who simply do not have a legitimate email address, we will require some sort of verification of your identity in order to process your registration. There are several ways to provide this verification. You may subscribe to the Sabre Newsletter. You may purchase a product through TheSabreShop.com. Or, you may send a copy of your driver's license to the following address and request registration with our message boards. Other than that, you will need to retain a valid email address through an ISP in order to establish an account with us.

Since the free email account rejection feature is not currently active, we are currently suspending every new account that is registered using free email addresses. The only way to avoid this is to register with a legitimate email address.

We work hard to keep the discussion on our message boards at a high level. It is always our goal to provide forums where everyone can enjoy responsible discussion of UVa sports. We appreciate your patience and understanding with our policies. If you have any questions, please contact me at [email protected]. Oh, and as usual, before registering please read the Terms of Service (linked at the top of the message boards) for message board conduct. This is also linked at the top of the message board.

Check out our user preferences area

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